Secondary arsenates from the Ľubietová-Svätodušná copper deposit in Slovakia

Abstract

In the vicinity of Lubietová in the Banská Bystrica region in Slovakia, copper was mined in three deposits: Podlipa, Svätodušná, and Kolba. The study concerns the association of secondary arsenates of the Lubietová-Svätodušná copper deposit. The Lubietová-Svätodušná deposit contains a large number of secondary minerals, formed as a result of weathering in the hypergene zone. Among them, copper arsenates are the most important, due to the rare occurrence of some of them. Four secondary arsenates have been characterized: chalcophyllite, euchroite, olivenite and pharmacosiderite. The minerals were identified using X-ray diffraction (XRD), whereas observations under a scanning electron microscope (SEM) and chemical analysis (EDS) showed that some of them are heterogeneous, contain different substitutions, and show significant variability in the content of individual elements within single specimens.