Zinc- and tin-bearing silicates in metasomatites of the Pitkäranta ore district (South Karelia, Russia)
М.О. Bulakh, Е.I. Gerasimova, V.О. Yapaskurt, S.А. Ushakova, N.N. Korotaeva
| UDK549.02 + 549.6 (470.22) | https://doi.org/10.35597/2313-545X-2026-12-3-1 | PDF (ENG) |
Together with oxides and sulfides, silicates host Sn and Zn in ore-bearing skarns and metasomatites after skarns of the Pitkäranta ore district (South Karelia). Tin is mainly hosted by silicates of calcareous skarn assemblages: garnets of the andradite-grossular series (up to 2.6 wt. % SnO2), epidote (up to 0.55 wt. % SnO2) and magnesiohastingsite (up to 1.0 wt. % SnO2). A rare Sn-rich diopside (up to 1.0 wt. % SnO2) is found in fluorite-vesuvianite metasomatites. Zinc is detected in silicates of both skarn and pneumatolytic-hydrothermal (after skarn) assemblages: diopside (up to 0.3 wt. % ZnO), garnets of the andradite-grossular series, vesuvianite, chondrodite (up to 0.4 wt. % ZnO), Ca amphiboles (up to 0.7 wt. % ZnO), F-rich phlogopite (up to 1.2 wt. % ZnO), clinochlore (up to 1.4 wt. % ZnO), antigorite (up to 3.1 wt. % ZnO), serpentines of the lizardite-amesite series (up to 3.7 wt. % ZnO), greenalite (up to 18.7 wt. % ZnO), as well as helvine group beryllosilicates (up to 41.2 wt. % ZnO, i.e., up to genthelvite). Isomorphism schemes involving Sn and Zn in various silicates are discussed.
Keywords: isomorphism, Sn-bearing skarns, Sn-bearing andradite, Sn-bearing diopside, Zn-bearing serpentine.
Funding. This work was supported by state contract of the Lomonosov Moscow State University (Moscow, Russia), project no. 121061600049-4.
Acknowledgements. The authors are grateful to N.N. Kononkova and I.A. Bryzgalov for their participation in microporbe studies and I.V. Pekov and I.A. Baksheev for consultations.
Conflict of interest. The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.
Author contribution. M.O. Bulakh – concept development, research, writing the draft and editing the final version of the manuscript; E.I. Gerasimova – research, editing the final version of the manuscript;
V.O. Yapaskurt, S.A. Ushakova, N.N. Korotaeva – microprobe studies. All the authors approved the final version of the article before publication.
For citation: Bulakh М.О., Gerasimova Е.I., Yapaskurt V.О., Ushakova S.А., Korotaeva N.N. Zinc- and tin-bearing silicates in metasomatites of the Pitkäranta ore district (South Karelia, Russia). Mineralogy, 2026, 12(3), 5–27. https://doi.org/10.35597/2313-545X-2026-12-3-1
Received 06.04.2026, revised 23.04.2026, accepted 31.07.2026
Мaria О. Bulakh – Cand. Sci. (Geol.-Mineral.), Junior Researcher, Department of Mineralogy, Faculty of Geology, Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia; aregon27@mail.ru
Ekaterina I. Gerasimova – Cand. Sci. (Geol.-Mineral.), Deputy Head of the Department of Mineralogical Expertise, Professor Shlyakhov Russian Federal Center for Forensic Expertise of the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation, Moscow, Russia; ekaterina-gera@inbox.ru
Vasily О. Yapaskurt – Cand. Sci. (Geol.-Mineral.), Leading Researcher, Laboratory of Local Analytical Methods, Faculty of Geology, Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia; yvo72@geol.msu.ru
Sof’ya А. Ushakova – Junior Researcher, Institute of Experimental Mineralogy RAS; Engineer, Laboratory of Local Analytical Methods, Faculty of Geology, Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia; sonya.ushakova.2017@gmail.com
Natalia N. Korotaeva – Cand. Sci. (Geol.-Mineral.), Leading Engineer, Laboratory of Local Analytical Methods, Faculty of Geology, Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia; nkorotaeva@gmail.com
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