A relatively high WO3 content, reaching 0.5 wt. %, is determined in two representative samples of brown iron ore, which were taken from a borehole drilled in the oxidation zone probably developed after skarns of the Balkanskoe deposit (Gumbeyka group, South Urals). Using X-ray diffraction method, it is established that the W-enriched ochre-clayey rocks of the upper part of the supergene profle consist of the smectite group minerals, kaolinite, Fe3+ and Mn oxyhydroxides, quartz and mica. Goethite aggregates with network structure are dominant in the lower part of the profle, whereas clay minerals and quartz, as well as Mn oxyhydroxides, are less common. According to results of local SEM-EDS microanalysis, the maximum WO3 content of Fe3+ and Mn oxyhydroxides are 4.44 and 6.54 wt. %, respectively. The average WO3 content of Fe and Mn minerals in the upper and lower parts of the supergene profle are 0.13 and 1.19 and 1.57 and 2.13 wt. %, respectively. No W minerals are found. According to results of phase chemical analysis, hübnerite is the main mode of occurrence of W in the studied samples, which is inconsistent with results of mineralogical analysis. This is probably explained by the formation of tungstate clusters as a result of recrystallization of primary gel-like Mn and Fe3+ oxyhydroxides. These features of W chemical behavior in poor oxidized ores should be taken into account under evaluation of similar objects.

Keywords: tungsten, oxidation zone, Fe3+ and Mn oxyhydroxides, phase chemical analysis.

Funding. This work was supported by the Russian Science Foundation, project no. 24-27-20030.

Acknowledgments. We are grateful to LLC UralWolfram for the possibility of working with samples and access to archive materials.

Confict of interests. The authors declare that they have no confict of interest.

Author contribution. E.V. Belogub – X-ray diffraction analysis, writing and editing the manuscript, general organization of work; V.M. Moseychuk – selection of objects, geological interpretation; K.A. Novoselov – writing and editing the manuscript; G.F. Lonshchakova – phase chemical analysis; I.A. Blinov – SEM-EDS microanalysis. All the authors approved the fnal version of the manuscript prior to publication.

For citation: Belogub E.V., Moseychuk V.M., Novoselov K.A., Lonschakova G.F., Blinov I.A. Mineralogy of oxidized ores of the Balkanskoe tungsten deposit (South Urals). Mineralogy, 2025, 11(3), 20–36. DOI: 10.35597/2313-545X-2025-11-3-2

Received 27.07.2025, revised 26.08.2025 , accepted 06.09.2025

E.V. Belogub, South Urals Federal Research Center of Mineralogy and Geoecology UB RAS, Miass, Chelyabinsk district, Russia; belogub@mineralogy.ru 

V.M. Moseychuk, LLC NTPP Geopoisk, Chelyabinsk, Russia;

K.A. Novoselov, South Urals Federal Research Center of Mineralogy and Geoecology UB RAS, Miass, Chelyabinsk district, Russia;

G.F. Lonschakova, South Urals Federal Research Center of Mineralogy and Geoecology UB RAS, Miass, Chelyabinsk district, Russia;

I.A. Blinov, South Urals Federal Research Center of Mineralogy and Geoecology UB RAS, Miass, Chelyabinsk district, Russia;

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