What is the difference between Merensky & UG2?
Composition. The UG2 Reef, the composition of which is relatively consistent throughout the BIC, is rich in chromite. However, the UG2 Reef lacks the Merensky’s gold, copper and nickel by-products, though its reserves may be almost twice those of the Merensky Reef.
What is igneous complex?
An assemblage of intimately associated and roughly contemporaneous igneous rocks differing in form or in petrographic type; it may consist of plutonic rocks, volcanic rocks, or both.
In which province is the Bushveld Complex?
It encompasses most of Limpopo Province and a small part of the North West Province of South Africa, the Central and North-East Districts of Botswana and the Matabeleland South and part of the Matabeleland North provinces of Zimbabwe. Kruger National Park in South Africa has a number of ‘Bushveld’ camps.
What is mined at the Bushveld Complex?
About 70 percent of the world’s platinum is mined in the Bushveld Igneous Complex in South Africa—a geological formation roughly the same size as West Virginia. The Bushveld also supplies significant quantities of palladium, rhodium, chromium, and vanadium.
What are the main rock forming minerals that are found in the Merensky Reef?
The rock-forming minerals of the Merensky Reef comprise approximately equal amounts of dark iron-magnesium silicate minerals and lighter calcium-aluminium-sodium silicate minerals (called a feldspathic pyroxenite) under- and overlain by thin (5 to 15 mm) often discontinuous layers of chrornite concentrations, see …
What type of rock is lopolith?
A lopolith is a large igneous intrusion which is lenticular in shape with a depressed central region. Lopoliths are generally concordant with the intruded strata with dike or funnel-shaped feeder bodies below the body.
Which biome is known as the bushveld?
The Bushveld (from Afrikaans: bosveld, Afrikaans: bos ‘bush’ and Afrikaans: veld) is a sub-tropical woodland ecoregion of Southern Africa….
| Bushveld | |
|---|---|
| Realm | Afrotropical |
| Biome | tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands |
| Borders | show List |
| Geography |
Which biome is known as Bushveld?
| Bushveld | |
|---|---|
| Extent of bushveld in Southern Africa. | |
| Ecology | |
| Realm | Afrotropical |
| Biome | tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands |
What is the Merensky Reef?
It is a norite with extensive chromitite and sulfide layers or zones containing the ore. The Reef contains an average of 10 ppm platinum group metals in pyrrhotite, pentlandite, and pyrite as well as in rare platinum group minerals and alloys. The Merensky and UG-2 reefs contain approximately 90% of the world’s known PGM reserves.
What is the average grade of a bushveld reef deposit?
Principal Bushveld Reef-type deposits: The Merensky Reef and the UG2. Average grade: 7 g/ton PGE. Contact-type: Heterogenous and diffused sulphide-hosted PGE deposits in mafic/ultramafic rock formed at the contact between the RLS and the country rock.
How old is the Bushveld Complex?
It is approximately 2 billion years old and is divided into four different limbs: the northern, southern, eastern, and western limbs. The Bushveld Complex comprises the Rustenburg Layered suite, the Lebowa Granites and the Rooiberg Felsics, that are overlain by the Karoo sediments. The site was first discovered around 1897 by Gustaaf Molengraaff.
What is the UG2 and the Merensky Reef?
The UG2 and the Merensky Reef occur in the Upper Critical Zone, with the UG2 occurring 15 – 400 m below the Merensky Reef. The Merensky Reef marks the boundary between the Upper Critical Zone and the overlying Main Zone. The Merensky Reef has been the world’s most important platinum resource since extraction began in 1928.