-t: 

ln. 

a> 

GEOLOGY AND RESOURCES 

OF TITANIUM 

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY PROFESSIONAL PAPER 959- A, B, C, D, E, F tl' 

Pl. .. URN, 

TO LIBRAR.~ 
COVER PHOTOGRAPHS 

1 2 3 4 

5 6 

7 8 

9 10 

11 12 13 14 

1. Asbestos ore 

2. Lead ore-Balmat Mine. N.Y. 

3. Chromit~-chromium ore. Wash. 

4. Zinc ore-Friedensville. Pa. 

5. Banded iron formation. Palmer. 

Michigan 

6. Ri.bbon asbestos ore. Quebec. Canada 

7. Manganese ore. banded 

rhodochrosite 

8. Aluminum ore. bauxite. Georgia 

9. Native copper ore, Keweenawan 

Peninsula. Mich. 

10. Porphyry molybdenum ore. Colo. 

11. Zinc ore. Edwards. N. Y. 

12. Manganese nodules. ocean floor 

13. Botryoidal fluorite ore. 

Poncha Springs. Colo. 

14. Tungsten ore. North Carolina 
Titanium Contents and Titanium Partitioning in Rocks 

By E. R. FORCE 

Metamorphic Source Rocks of Titanium Placer Deposits--

A Geochemical Cycle 

By E. R. FORCE 

Rutile and Sphene in Blueschist and Related High-PressureFacies Rocks 

By M. C. BLAKE, JR., and BENJAMIN A. MORGAN 

Titanium Deposits in Anorthosite Massifs 

By NORMAN HERZ 

Titanium Deposits in Alkalic Igneous Rocks 

By NORMAN HERZ 

Titanium Minerals in Deposits of Other Minerals 

By E. R. FORCE 

GEOLOGY AND RESOURCES O.F TITANIUM 

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY PROFESSIONAL PAPER 959-A, B, C, D, E, F 

UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE, WASHINGTON 1976 
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

THOMAS S. KLEPPE, Secretary 

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 

V. E. McKelvey, Director 

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data 

Main entry under title: 

Geology and resources of titanium. 

(Geological Survey Professional Paper ; 959) 

CONTENTS: Force, E. R. Titanium contents and titanium partitioning in rocks.-Force, E. R. Metamorphic source rocks of titanium placer deposits, a geochemical cycle.-Blake, M. C., Jr., and Morgan, Benjamin. A. Rutile and sphene in blueschist and related high-pressure-facies rocks.-Herz, Norman. Titanium deposits in anorthosite massifs.-Herz, Norman. Titanium deposits in alkalic igneous rocks.-Force, 

E. R. Titanium minerals in deposits of other minerals. 

Includes bibliographies. 

Supt. of Docs. no.: I 19.16 :959 A-F 

1. Titanium ores-United States. 2. Petrology-United States. I. Series: United States. Geological Survey. 

Professional Paper ; 969. 

QE390.2. T5G46 553' 462 75-619269 

For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office 

Washington, D.C. 20402 

Stock Number 024-001-02891-3 
APPRAISAL OF MINERAL RESOURCES 

Continuing appraisal of the mineral resources of the United States is 

conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey in accordance with the provisions 

of the Mining and Minerals Policy Act of 1970 (Public Law 91-631, Dec. 

31, 1970). Total resources for purposes of these appraisal estimates include currently minable resources (reserves) as well as those resources 

not yet discovered or not presently profitable to mine. 

The mining of mineral deposits, once discovered, depends. on geologic, 

economic, and technologic factors; however, identification of many deposits yet to be discovered, owing to incomplete knowledge of their distribution in the Earth's crust, depends greatly on geologic availability and 

man's ingenuity. Consequently, appraisal of mineral resources results in 

approximations., subject to constant change as known deposits are depleted, 

new deposits are found, new extractive technology and uses are developed, 

and new geologic knowledge and theories indicate new areas favorable for 

exploration. 

This professional paper discusses aspects of the geology of titanium as a 

framework for appraising resources o.f this commodity in the light of today's technology, economics, and geologic knowledge. 

Other Geological Survey publications relating to the appraisal of resources of specific mineral commodities include the following: 

Professional Paper 820-"United States Mineral Resources" 

Professional Paper 907 -"Geology and Resources of Copper" 

Professional Paper 926-"Geology and Resources of Vanadium 

Deposits" 

Professional Paper 933-"Geology and Resources of Fluorine in 

the United States" 

CONTENTS 

[Letters designate the chapters] 

Page 

(A) Titanium contents and titanium partitioning in rocks, by E. R. Force ___ _ Al 

(B) Metamorphic source rocks of titanium placer deposits-A geochemical cycle, 

by E. R. Force -------------------------------------------------- Bl 

(C) Rutile and sphene in blueschist and related high-pressure-facies rocks, by 

M. C. Blake, Jr., and Benjamin A. Morgan -------------------------

(D) Titanium deposits in anorthosite massifs, by Norman Herz --------------

(E) Titanium deposits in alkalic igneous rocks, by Norman Herz --------------

(F) Titanium minerals in deposits of other minerals, by E. R. Force ---------

Cl 

Dl 

El 

Fl , 

METRIC-ENGLISH EQUIVALENTS 

l\:lett·le unit 

mlllhuetre (mm) metre (m) 

kilometre (km) 

squure metre (m~) 

square kllomett·e (km~) 

hectare (ha) 

cubic centimetre ( cma) 

litre (l) 

cubic metre (ma) 

cubic metre cubic hectometre ( hm:l) 

litre 

litre 

litre 

t:ublc metre 

cubic metre 

grnm (g) 

grnm 

tonne (t) tonne 

English 

Length 

o.o::m:n = H.28 

= .62 

Area 

= 10.7(1 

= .::186 

= 2.47 

Volume 

= 0.0(11 = Ul.OH = 3G.Bl = .000i31 

=81.0.7 

= 2.11i{ - l.O(i 

= .2U 

= .noo:w 

= n.:wo 

= 

= 

= 

= 

Weight 

O.OH5 

.0022 

1.1 

.!I~ 

equivalent 

Inch (In) 

feet (ft) 

mile (ml) 

squure feet (ft2) 

squure mile (mi~) 

acres 

cubic Inch (ln3) 

cubic inchcl; 

cubic feet (ft3 ) 

acre-foot ( at:re-ft) acre-feet 

pints (pt) 

quurts (qt) gallon (gul) million gnllonH (l\:lgal or 100 gal) hnrt·•~ls (bhl) (1 hhl=42 gal) 

onncc. avoirdupois ( oz a vdp) JWIInd, avoirdupois (lb nvdp) 

tons, shot·t (2,000 lb) 

ton, long (2,240 lb) 

Specific combinations 

kllogrnm per squure centimetre ( kg/cm2) kilogram per square centimetre 

cubic metre per second 

(m3/s) 

= 

= 

= 

O.!IU 

.ns 

H5.B 

ntmOSllhere (ntrn) 

hnr (O.fl86!l ntm) 

cubic feet per second (ftn/s) 

Metric unit English equivalent 

Specific combinations-Continued 

litre per second (1/s) cubic metre per second 

per square kilometre 

( (ma;s) /km2] 

metre per da,y ( m/cl) 

metre per kilometre 

(m/km) kilometre per honr 

(km/h) metre per second (m/s) metre squared per day 

(m2/d) 

cubic metre per second 

(ma;s) 

eubic metre per minute 

(m3/min) 

litre per second (1/s) 

litre per second per metre [(1/s)/ml 

kilometre per hour 

(km/h) metre per second (m/s) 

gram per cubic 

centimetre (g/cma) 

gt·nm per square centimetre (g/em~) 

gram per square centimetre 

degt·ee Celsius (°C) 

degrees Celsius 

(temperature) 

.0353 

!11.47 

=~.28 

.!)11::; 

:-1.28 

10.764 

= 22.826 

=264.2 

15.85 

4.81l 

.62 

2.237 

2.04.8 

.0142 

cubic foot per second 

cnblc feet per second per 

square mile [ (fta;s) /mill] 

feet per day (hydraulic conductivity) (ft/d) 

f1~1!t Jler mile (ft/ml) 

foot per second (ft/s) 

feet per second 

feet squared per day (ft~/d) 

(transmissivity) 

million gallons per day (Mgal/d) 

gallons per minute (gnl/min) 

gallons per minute 

gallons per minute per foot 

[(gal/min) /ft] 

mile per hour (ml/h) 

miles per hour 

J101lnd>; per cubic foot (lb/ft3 ) 

Jlotmds ller square foot (lb/ft2) 

pound per square Inch (lb/in2) 

Temperature 

1.R degrees Fahrenheit (°F) 

=[(1.sx•c) +32] degt·ees Fahrenheit 

v 
Titanium Contents and 

Titanium Partitioning 

in Rocks 

By E. R. FORCE 

GEOLOGY AND RESOURCES OF TITANIUM 

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY PROFESSIONAL PAPER 95.9-A 
I 
CONTENTS 

Page 

~bstract ------------------------------------------------------------~---- ~1 Distribution of titanium among rock types ----------------------------------- 1 

Earth's crust --------------------------------------------------------- 1 

Igneous rocks -------------------------------------------------------- 1 

Sedimentary rocks ------------------~--------------------------------- 1 

]detamorphic rocks ---------------------------------------------------- 2 Distribution of titanium among minerals __________ .:._________________________ 2 

Oxides -------------------------------------------------------------- 2 

Silicates ------------------------------------------------------------- 3 

Partitioning of titanium between oxides and silicates --------------------- 3 

References cited -------------------------------------------- 7 ------------- 9 

ILLUSTRATION 

Page 

FIGURE 1. Variation diagram of Ti02 content and its partitioning in some 

metamorphic rocks ___________________ ----- _ -- __ - -- __ - --- ~8 

TABLES 

Page 

TABLE 1. ~verage -titanium abundance in the Earth's crust -------------- ~1 

2-4. Average Ti02 content of some: 

2. Igneous rocks ---------------------------------------- 2 

3. Sedimentary rocks -------------------------.,.--.:. __ _:____ ·2 

4. Metamorphic rocks ----------------------------------- 2 

5-8. Partitioning of titanium: 

5. ~mong minerals of igneous rocks -:-------------------- 4 

6. ~mong minerals· of high-grade metamorphic rocks from 

northwestern ~dirondacks, New York -------------- 5 

7. Between rutile and biotite in some gneisses from Mason 

Mountain, Macon County, N.C --------------------- 6 

8. ~mong minerals of some other metamorphic rocks _______ · 6 

9. Economic cutoff grades for some titanium ores in the United States 8 

Ill 
GEOLOGY AND RESOURCES OF TITANIUM 

TITANIUM CONTENTS AND TITANIUM PARTITIONING IN ROCKS 

By E. R. FoRCE 

ABSTRACT 

Basic (but not ultrabasic) and alkalic rocks tend to have the 

highest Ti02 contents of igneous rocks. Few igneous, sedimentary, or metamorphic rock types have an average T-i02 

content as much as an order of magnitude different from the 

crustal average. 

In many rocks, common silicate minerals rather than oxides 

contain most of the Ti02 in the rock. Because only oxide 

minerals are economically useful at present, the economic 

geology of titanium .js as much a function of mineralogy as it 

is of chemistry. 

DISTRIBUTION OF TITANIUM AMONG 

ROCK TYPES 

EARTH'S CRUST 

The elemental abundance of titanium in the 

Earth's crust has been estimated to be about 0.45 

percent, or 0.75 percent as Ti02 (Clarke and Washington, 1924; Goldschmidt, 1954; Vinogradov, 1962; 

Wedepohl, 1967). Lee and Yao (1970) revised these 

estimates to 0.64 and 1.07 percent, respectively, par~ 

titioned as shown in table 1. Titanium is reported in 

chemical analyses of rocks and minerals as Ti02; all 

subsequent discussion refers to Ti02 rather than 

elemental titanium. 

IGNEOUS ROCKS 

Vinogradov ( 1962) stated that the average Ti02 

content of some igneous rock types is 0.05 percent 

TABLE 1.-Average titanium abundance in the Earth's crust 

from Lee and Yao (.1970) 

Crust type 

Total crust ------------- Oceanic crust ------ Continental crust ---

Shields --------- Fold belts ------

Titanium content (weight percent) 

Ti Ti02 

0.64 

.81 

.53 

.55 

.50 

1.07 

1.35 

.88 

.92 

·.83 

Percent of 

total 

crustal 

volume 

100 

37 

63 

44 

19 

for ultramafic rocks, 1.5 percent for mafic rocks, 1.3 

percent for rocks of intermediate composition, and 

0.38 perc€1Ilt for felsic rocks. Nockolds (1954) and 

Beus1 (1971) averaged Ti02 analyses of a large number of samples of each type for a wide variety of 

igneous rocks; the results are given in table 2. 

Basic and intermediate igneous rocks generally 

contain more Ti02 than ultramafic or acidic igneous 

rocks ; for most rock types, alkalic varieties are 

richer in Ti02 than the nonalkalic varieties. Variations are subtle, however, and departures of an order 

of magnitude from average crustal abundance are 

remarkable (table 2). 

Economic concentrations of titanium occur in the 

igneous rocks anorthosite, norite, and nepheline syenite, although the average Ti02 content of all three 

rocks is lower than the average crustal abundance 

(table 2). Apparently, the average Ti02 content of 

the rock and the formation of local concentrations of 

valuable titanium minerals are quite separate in 

igneous rocks. Because of the local prominence of 

titanium minerals in Precambrian gabbro and anorthosite, however, Rose (1969, p. 41) thought that 

these rocks contain most of the titanium in the crust; 

the foregoing analyses show this is not the case. 

SEDIMENTARY ROCKS 

According to Goldschmidt ( 1954) and Vinogradov 

( 1962), sedimentary rocks contain an average of 

0.75 percent Ti02; this is slightly lower than the 

average abundance in continental crust (table 1). 

Considerable variation is found among the average 

percentages of Ti02 in different sedimentary rocks 

(table 3). Shales have the highest average Ti02 content and limestones the lowest. Of the sandstones, 

those of low textural and (or) mineralogic maturity 

have the highest average values; placer concentrations of heavy minerals, however, are normally mature and have a high Ti02 content. 

Al 
A2 GEOLOGY AND RESOURCES OF TITANIUM 

TABLE 2.- Average TiOz content (in we{ght percent) of some TABLE 4.-Average Ti02 content (in weight percent) of some igneous rocks metamorphic rocks 

Rock typ.e 

Ultramafic rocks: 

Dunite -------------- Peridotite ----------- Alkali peridotite ____ _ 

Pyroxenite ---------- Alkali pyroxenite ___ _ 

Hornblendite --------

Kimberlite ----------

Basic rocks: 

Tholeiitic basalt ----- Olivine tholeiite 

Normal alkali basalt __ Continental basalt __ _ Geosyncline basalt __ _ 

Oceanic basalt -------

Gabbro ------------- Norite -------------- Alkali gabbro 

Anorthosite ----------

Intermediate rocks : 

Diorite ------------- Andesite ------------ Tholeiitic andesite ___ _ Alkali andesite _____ _ 

Acidic rocks: 

Tonalite ------------ Dacite -------------- Granodiorite -------- Rhyodacite ---------- Adamellite ---------- Dellenite ------------ Granite ------------- Rhyolite ------------

Alkalic rocks: 

Syenite -------------

Trachyte ------------ Monzonite ----------- Latite -------------- Nepheline syenite ___ _ 

Phonolite -----------

Nockolds' (1954) 

value 

Beus' (1971) 

value recalculated 

0.20 

.81 

1.30 

.53 

3.31 

2.86 

1.43 

2.03 

1.65 

2.63 

1.32 

.89 

2.86 

.32 

1.50 

1.31 

2.60 

2.84 

.62 

.64 

.57 

.66 

.56 

.42 

.37 

.22 

.83 

.66 

1.12 

1.18 

.66 

.59 

Number Number ana- ana- ::tyzed TiOz lyzed 

9 0.07 118 

23 .53 196 

12 

46 .83 294 

21 

15 

14 2.17 4.21 

137 

28 

96 

1.50 445 

1.67 360 

2.67 148 

160 1.13 762 

39 

42 

17 

50 

49 

26 

37 

58 

50 

137 

115 

121 

58 

72 

22 

18 

24 

46 

42 

80 

47 

1.00 678 

.83 866 

.77 426 

.57 480 

.62 523 

.33 1967 

.33 138 

.68 

.67 

.50 

.40 

426 

292 

584 

245 

METAMORPHIC ROCKS 

The range of Ti02 content of metamorphic rocks 

appears to reflect the diversity of parent rocks. The 

data are much less complete for metamorphic rocks 

(table 4) than for parent materials (tables 2 and 

Rock type 

Amphibolite --------- Gneiss --------------

Schi~ --------------- Slate ----------------

Greenschist ----------

Quartzite ------------

Serpentinite ---------

Glaucophane schist __ 

Eclogite -------------

1.3.7 

.58 

.60 

.80 

1.64 

.23 

.015 

.78 

1.27 

Number 

analyzed 

370 

410 

538 

8 

13 

7 

91 

5 

16 

Reference 

Beus ( 1971) . Do. 

Do. 

Billings and 

Wilson 

(1965). 

Hutton 

(1940). 

Billings and 

WUson 

(1965), 

Clarke 

(1924). 

Clarke (1924), 

Abdullayev 

and Gusey- nova 

(1970). 

Clarke (1924). 

Beus (1971). 

3); a better compilation would be useful when the 

possible mobility of titanium during metamorphism 

is considered. Engel and Engel ( 1958, 1962a) have 

demonstrated slight decreases in the titanium content of paragneis·s and amphibolite with increasing 

metamo.rphis.m. 

DISTRIBUTION OF TITANIUM AMONG 

MINERALS 

OXIDES 

The polymorphs of Ti02-rutile, anatase, and 

brookite-are all fairly common in nature. Rutile is 

the stable phase ( Schuiling and Vink, 1967; Jamieson and Olinger, 1969), this fact helping to explain 

the presence of rutile in .such diverse geologic environments as alteration products (leucoxene) 

formed at surface temperatures and pres·sures, various metamorphic rocks, and igneous rocks. 

Ilmenite (FeTiO:l) is a common accessory mineral 

in a wide variety of rocks. Analyses of natural ilmenTABLE 3.-Average Ti02 content (in weight percent) of some sedimentary rocks 

Rock type 

Sandstone: 

Orthoquartzite 

Lithic arenite ___ _ 

Graywacke ------

Arkose ---------- Siltstone ______ .:. ____ _ 

Shale --------------- Limestone -----------

Pettijohn's (1963) value 

0.25 

.2 

.3 

.6 

.3 

.59 

.65 

Number analyzed 

253 

. 26 

20 

61 

32 

235 

78 

Turekian and 

Wedepobl's (1961) 

value 

0.25 

.77 

.07 

Beus' (1971) value recalculated 

0.52 

.63 

.20 

Number analyzed 

211 

252 

364 
TITANIUM CONTENTS AND TITANIUM PARTITIONING IN ROCKS A3 

ites fall on both sides of the theoretical Ti02 content 

of 52.5 percent (see Mackey, 1972) ; variations are 

due, among other things, to the presence of intergrowths with hematite and magnetite and to solid 

solution with hematite (low values) or leaching of 

iron during alteration (high values). Material called 

ilmenite in the literature on beach-sand mining can 

contain more than 60 percent Ti02 as a result of enrichment during weathering and transport. Much of 

thi·s material actually consists of alteration products 

pseudomorphous after ilmenite (see Markewicz, 

1969; Garnar, 1972). 

Leucoxene is a loose term for the end products of 

this alteration of ilmenite. The titanium is contained 

in fine-grained aggregates of rutile, brookite, anatase, hematite, and (or) sphene (Bailey and others, 

1956; Baker, 1962; Temple, 1966). Leucoxene can 

form by hydrothermal alteration as well as by 

weathering (Ross, 1941). 

Another oxide of titanium, perovskite (CaTi03), 

is a rock-forming mineral in ~some alkalic rocks Bind 

has economic importance. Normally, it has less Ti02 

than its theoretical content of 59 percent because of 

the presence of rare earths and niobium. 

SILICATES 

Although many rock-forming silicate minerals 

contain Ti02, those most important to the geochemistry of titanium are sphene, biotite, hornblende, and 

titan augite. 

Sphene (CaTiSiOs) ideally has 41 percent Ti02 

but may contain less (Leonova and Klassova, 1964). 

It is a common accessory mineral in a large number 

of igneous and metamorphic rocks. 

Biotite and hornblende contain relatively small 

amounts of titanium, but, because they are usually 

much more abundant than titanium-rich accessory 

mJnerals, they are important carriers of titanium. In 

common igneous rocks of calc-alkalic compositions, 

biotite has as much as 5.9 percent Ti02, and hornblende as much as 2.7 percent Ti02 (Deer and others, 

1962b, 1963a; Al'mukhamedov, 1967; Lyakhovich, 

1970). In common metamorphic rocks, biotite contains as much a:;; 5 percent Ti02, and hornblende as 

much as 3 percent; in both minerals, Ti02 increases 

with metamorphic grade (Force, 1976). The concentration of Ti02 in hornblende and biotite is largely independent of the Ti02 content of the rock in 

both igneous and metamorphic rocks .. 

In many volcanic and (or) alkalic rocks, titanaugite is a charactedstic phase and may contain as much 

as 9 percent Ti02 (Deer and others, 1963a). 

In alkalic igneous rocks, two more unusual minerals may also contain titanium. Melanitic andradite 

garnet contains as much as 17.1 percent Ti02 (Deer 

and others, 1962a), and kaersutitic amphiboles as 

much as 10.3 percent Ti02 (Deer and others, 1963a). 

The common rock-forming silicates that do not 

contain much titanium also require comment preparatory to a discussion of the geochemical partitioning 

of titanium. The work of Dee·r and others ( 1962a, b, 

c, 1963a, b) was used as a source of this information, 

as were the following references cited. In general, 

minerals that lack large amounts of titanium include 

silica minerals, feldsparts, and other framework silicates (Rankama and Sahama, 1950), muscovite, 

chlorite, and s·erpentine (Kwak, 1968 ;· Ernst and 

others, 1970; Lyakhovich, 1970; Abdullayev and 

Guseynova, 1970), common garnets (Howie, 1955; 

Engel and Engel, 1960), kyanite-group minerals, 

olivine, and epidote-group minerals. Orthopyroxene 

and metamorphic clinopyroxene contain ·little titanium, although metamorphic clinopyroxene consistently contains more than coexisting orthopyroxene ( Eskola, 1952; Howie, 1955). 

PARTITIONING OF TITANIUM BETWEEN OXIDES 

AND SILICATES 

For any element that occurs in valuable nonsilicate 

minerals, the amount of the element available to 

form these valuable minerals depends on the extent 

to which host rocks used the element in silicates 

(Sullivan, 1948). This is applicable to titanium, 

since all presently mined titanium minerals are 

oxides. A study of the partitioning of titanium is 

thus of potential significance to economic geologists. 

Following Ramdohr (1940), authors have traditionally said that oxide minerals contain most of the 

titanium in rocks (cf. Rankama and Sahama, 1950; 

Rose, 1969). It will be 1shown in this section that 

such a situation is a special, though interesting, case. 

Several treatises cover the partitioning of titanium between oxides and silicates in a ge11-eral way. 

Ramberg (1948, 1952, p. 72-75, 156-161) approaches the subject from the viewpoint of thermal 

stability of titanium-bearing silicates (as does. Force 

(1976)). Verhoogen (1962) discussed the effect of 

oxidation on the partitioning. Shcherbina (1971) 

mentioned the effect of high Mg/Fe ratio in limiting 

the stability of ilmenite and of high alumina (Al20:1) 

in limiting the stability of sphene and clinopyroxene 

relative to plagioclase and orthopyroxene. Others 

have noted that magmatic rocks having a high ratio 

of orthopyroxene to clinopyroxene are richer in il-
A4 

Rock type (weight percent 

in parentheses) 

GEOLOGY AND RESOURCES OF TITANIUM 

TABLE 5.-Partitioning of titanium among minerals of igneous rocks 

Reference Mineral 

Ti02 

in 

mineral 

(weight 

percent) 

-------------------------------- ---- 1. Olivine pyroxenite 

(0.085). 

2. Olivine pyrorxenite 

(0.073). 

3. Peridotite (0.048) -----

4. Olivine norite (0.79) __ _ 

5. Picritic diabase (0.59) __ 

6. Diabase (1.32) -------

7. Biotite pyroxenecalcite carbonatite. 

8. Amphibole-pyroxenecalcite carbonatite. 

9. Ijolitic carbonatite -----

10. Nepheline syenite ------

11. Syenite ---------------

12. Syenite (0.57) --------

13. Granite ---------------

14. Granite (0.20) --------

15. Granite (0.14) 

Abdullayev and 

Guseynova (1970). 

____ do --------------

____ do --------------

W age.r and Mitchell 

(1951, p. 142). 

Al'mukhamedov 

(1967). 

____ do --------------

Samoylov and 

Razvozzhayeva 

(1972). 

____ do 

____ do 

Popolitov, Kovalenko, 

and Znamen.sky 

(1966). 

____ do --------------

Leonova and Klassova 

(1964). 

Znamensky (1957). 

Leonova and Klassova 

(1964). 

____ do --------------

Diopside 

~nstatite 

Olivine 

Serpentine 

Magnetite 

Diopside 

Enstatite 

Olivine 

Serpentine 

Magnetite 

Diopside 

Enstatite 

Olivine 

Serpentine 

Magnetite 

Hypersthene 

Olivine 

Plagioclase 

Pyroxene 

Olivine 

Biotite 

Plagioclase 

Magnetite 

Ilmenite 

Clinopyroxene 

Olivine 

Plagioclase 

Magnetite 

Ilmenite 

Pyroxene 

Biotite 

Pyroxene 

Amphibole 

Sphene 

Pyroxene and 

amphibole 

Biotite 

Titanomagnetite 

and ilmenite 

Pyroxene and 

amphibole 

Biotite 

Titanomagnetite 

and ilmenite 

Biotite 

Pyriboles 

Magnetite 

"Silicates" 

Biotite 

Sphene 

Magnetite 

Biotite 

Sphene 

Magnetite 

0.134 

.073 

.00 

.017 

.080 

.105 

.070 

.00 

.027 

.087 

.102 

.080 

.00 

.060 

.108 

.93 

.50 

.07 

5.86 

.23 

3.72 

52.6 

.79 

.19 

.13 

18.88 

49.56 

.64-1.29 

1.89-3.49 

.64-1.29 

.62-3.34 

3.45 

.78 

4.64 

2.06 

22.42 

.8 

4.2 

17.8 

1.2 

Mineral 

in rock 

(weight 

percent) 

47.4 

22.2 

16.3 

11.0 

3.1 

42.8 

32.3 

12.5 

10.9 

1.5 

22.0 

13.3 

44.4 

18.3 

2.3 

28.5 

21.5 

48.0 

23.38 

41.37 

3.12 

19.83 

3.86 

.13 

36.36 

7.85 

48.71 

1.43 

1.26 

3.0 

13.0 

4.5 

3.9 

.3 

.7 

2.7 

.14 

.3 

Percent 

rock Ti02 

in each 

mineral 

74.0 

20.0 

.0 

2.4 

2.4 

61.6 

30.1 

.0 

4.1 

1.4 

47.9 

22.9 

.0 

22.9 

4.2; 

25 

20.34 

5.09 

30.53 

8.47 

23.72 

11.85 

21.96 

.76 

4.54 

20.54 

47.03 

13-58 

39-72 

90 

5-8 

54-90 

11-19 

32-42 

29-41 

16-25 

15-19 

53-57 

18.2 

17.8 

36.6 

69-77 

40.2 

33.6 

3.0 

80.7 

17.8 

2.5 
TITANIUM CONTENTS AND TITANIUM PARTITIONING IN ROCKS A5 

menite (Goldschmidt, 1954, p. 413; Deer and others, 

1962c, p. 31). 

Relatively few sources, however, give precise 

figures for the partitioning of titanium because precise figures require chemical and modal analyses of 

a rock a;s well as chemical analyses of all titaniumbearing phases in the rock. Such data have seldom 

been acquired. 

Table 5 shows some published information for the 

partitioning of titanium in igneous rocks. The type 

of data varies considerably and consists of unsupported statements (No. 13), summaries of partitioning studies of rock suites (Nos. 7-11), and partitioning analyses of individual rocks (the others). Not 

all rocks listed. are common. 

Table 6 shows the partitioning of titanium among 

minerals of some high-grade quartzofeldspathic paragneisses of simple mineralogy. Information is selected from Engel and Engel ( 1958, 1960) ; the 

calculations are mine. Titanium oxide not present in 

the silicate phases probably is in ilmenite (rutile is 

not present). Table 6 also ·shows Ti02 present in 

hornblende of associated amphibolites (Engel and 

Engel, 1962a, b) ; again, the remainder must be in 

ilmenite. 

Table 7 shows the partitioning of titanium in a 

suite of high-grade gneisses of simple mineralogy 

from the North Carolina Blue Ridge. Titanium is 

present virtually only in rutile and biotite in these 

rocks; thi·s situation is unusual but allows an easy 

calculation of partitioning without mineral analyses. 

Partitioning for some other metamorphic rocks is 

shown in table 8. For those rock types that are unusual even in the terranes in which they occur (tectonic inclusions and eclogites), representative analyses were selected from those available. The figures 

TABLE 6.-Partitioning of titanium among minerals of high-grade metamorphic rocks from northweste1·n 

Adi1·ondacks, New York, calculated from Engel and Engel (1958, .1960, 1962a, b) 

Rock number 

Qb 228 -----------

Qb 235 M ---------

Qb 230 ------------ Qb 231 ------------

Qb 236 ------------ Qb 3 -------------- Bgn 27 ------------

Bgn 14 ------------ Bgn 4 ------------- Bgn 9 -------------

Bgn 6 ------------- Bgn 25 ------------

Bgn 20 ------------ Bgn 19 ------------

Bgn 21 ------------

Rock number 

QUARTZOFELDSPATHIC PARAGNEISS 

Ti02 Percent of rock Ti02 present in mineral (remainder presumably in ilmenite) 

(weight percent) -Biotite Garnet Sphene 

Emeryville and West Halmat groups (amphibolite facies) 

0.87 

.67 

.65 

.66 

.81 

. 62 

. 70 

79 

81 

83 

82 

86 

95 

94 

0 

Absent 

0 

Absent 

______ do ______ do ______ do 

Russell and Pierrepont groups (intermediate) 

1.02 

.56 

. 51 

.68 

.76 

0.67 

.57 

.52 

89 

82 

77 

88 

98 

Colton group (granulite faciu) 

74 

62: 

74 

AMPHIBOLITE 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

1 

1 

Absent 

Do. 

Do. 

Do. 

Do. 

Do . Do . 

Absent 

Do. 

Do· . Do. 

3 

Ti0 2 T~~~·nchl~~~:t of Horn~~~~de in ~~rc:~;nb~~d;'i&~- (weight percent) (weight percent) (weight percent) mainder presumably in ilmenite) 

--------------------------------- ----------------------------- Emeryville group (amphibolite facies) 

-----------------------------------

A3 ---------------- AE317 ------------ AE415 ------------ AE334 ------------ AE337 ------------ AE326 ------------ AE338 ------------

A10 --------------

A67 -------------- A104 ------------- A105 ------------- AC342 ------------ AC358 ------------ AC348 ------------ AC341 ------------ AC362 ------------

1.20 

1.17 

2.48 

2.11 

2.07 

2.13 

2.04 

1.40 

.99 

1.60 

1.56 

1.71 

1.74 

1.78 

1.55 

1.74 

1.37 73 

1.32 66 

1.32 77 

1.19 76 

1.45 75 

1.27 71 

1.30 68 

Colt~n group (granulite facies) 

2.49 31 

2.26 12 

2.24 23 

2.26 21 

2.61 41 

2.49 58 

2.30 26 

2.71 44 

2.42 24 

85 

75 

41 

43 

53 

42 

43 

56 

28 

32 

31 

64 

83 

34 

72 

34 
A6 GEOLOGY AND RESOURCES OF TITANIUM 

TABLE 7.-Partitioning of titanium between rutile and biotite 

in some quartz-garnet-feldspar-biotite-sillimanite-cummingtonite-pyroxene-graphite gneisses from Mason Mountain, 

Macon County, N.C. 

[Mineral percentage established by 2,000-point counts corrected for spe- cific gravity; rapid-rock analyses by U.S. Geological Survey, samples pro- Tided by F. G. Lesure] 

Percent 

rock 

Ti02 

Biotite Rutile in 

in in rutile 

TiO: rock rock (remainder 

(weight (weight (weight mostly 

Number percent) percent) percent) biotite) 

MM 1 ------ 0.84 3.3 0.36 43 

MM 4 ------ 1.6 18.5 .72 45 

MM 8 ------ .96 3.6 .94 98 

MM 11 1.0 absent 1.05 100 

MM 14 . 78 do . .72 92( ?) 

MM 17 -·---- .73 30.1 .43 59 

are inexact; the analyses are not sufficiently accurate 

for this purpose, and I attempted to correct the 

modal analyses for specific gravity. As is the situation for igneous rocks, information on most common 

types of metamorphic rocl~s cannot be found. A vailable analyses necessarily are heavily biased toward 

higher grade assemblages having grains coarse 

enough to be easily counted. 

On the basis of tables 5-8, it can be said that, in 

general, silicates contain much of the titanium in 

most rocks. Silicates contain more than 90 percent 

of the TiOz in the ultrabasic rocks listed, about half 

the TiOz in basic volcanics, almost all the TiOz in 

carbonatites, and more than 60 percent of the Ti02 

TABLE B.-Partitioning of titanium among minerals of some other metamwrphic rocks 

Rock type and number (weight percent 

Ti02 in parentheses) Mineral Ti02 in mineral Mineral in rock (w~ight percent) (weight percent) 

Tectonic blocks from California serpentinites (Ernst and others, 1969, 1970) 

Glaucophane schist 50CZ60 (2.17) --------

Amphibolite 189B (1.26) -----------------

Garnet amphibolite CAT 4 (2.41) -------~ 

Glaucophane 

White mica 

Chlorite 

Actinolite 

Garnet 

Epidote 

Sphene 

Rutile 

Hornblende 

Sphsne 

Hornblende 

Garnet 

Rutile 

0.22 

.27 

.09 

.11 

.25 

1.07 

.90 

.34 

Mafic quartzo-feldspathic schist, oligoclase zone (Mason, 1962) 

Callery-Waiho R. ( 1. 72) Quartz 

Plagioclase 

Hornblende 

Biotite 

Almandine 

Opaque 

1.03 

1.70 

.57 

Madras charnockites (Howie, 1955; Howie and Subramaniam, 1957) 

Garnet enderbite Chl13 (0.99) 

Charnockite 4639 (0.56) -----------------

Chamockite 6436 (0.40) -----------------

Garnetiferous leptynite 3708 (0.31) ------

Quartz 

K-feldst>ar 

Plagioclase 

Garnet 

HYPersthene 

Biotite 

"Ores" 

Quartz 

K-feldsnar 

Plagioclase 

H vpel'lsthene 

"Ores" 

Quartz 

K-feldspar 

Plagioclase 

Hypersthene 

"Ores" 

Quartz 

K-feldspar 

Garnet 

"Ores" 

.03 

.30 

.02 

.94 

.02 

.16 

1.78 

.0 

.07 

17 

15 

7 

21 

13 

20 

g.1 } 

99 

1 

40 

50 

1 

14 

34 

2 

22 

25 

5 

20 

14 

32 

14 

13 

1 

2 

41.8 

28.5 

19.5 

.7.9 

2.2 

34.6 

26.5 

31.8 

4.8 

2.1 

50.5 

38.7 

4.5 

2.1 

Percent rock TiO: 

in each mineral 

2 

2 

0 

1 

1 

Remainder? 

83 

Remainder? 

15 

6 

Remainder? 

1 

22 

8 

Remainder? 

0 

4 

0 (probably) 

Remainder? 

1 

13 

Remainder? 

1 

'13 

2 

Remainder? 

0 

1 

Remainder? 
TITANIUM CONTENTS AND TITANIUM PARTITIONING IN ROCKS 

TABLE B.-Partitioning of titanium among minerals ·of some other metamorphic rocks-Continued 

Rock type and number (weight percent TiO~ in parentheses) Mineral 

Ti02 in mineral Mineral in rock (weight percent) (weight percent) 

Madras charnockites (Howie, 1955; Howie and Subramaniam, 1957)-Continued 

---------------------------------

Intermediate rock 137 (0.77) -------------

Intermediate rock 2270 (1.61) ------------

Diol.'itic charnockite 4642a (1.12) --------

"Norite" 2941 (1.18) --------------------

"Pyroxenite" 3709 (1.32) ----------------

Mafic charnockite, Sudan 7286 (1.04) ____ _ 

Hypersthene diorite, Uganda S347 (1.52) __ 

Quartz 

K-feldspar 

Plagioclase 

Hornblende 

Hypersthene 

"Ores" 

Quartz 

K-feJdspar 

Plagioclase 

Hornblende 

Biotite 

Hypersthene 

Augite 

Magnetite 

llmenJite 

Plagioclase 

Hornblende 

Hypersthene 

Augite 

Ilmenite 

Magnetite 

Plagioclase 

Hornblende 

Hypemthene 

Augite 

"Ores" 

Hornblende 

Hypersthene 

Augite 

Hercynite 

"Ores" 

2.06 

.15 

.0 

.0 

1.85 

4.61 

.15 

.24 

1.53 

43.55 

.0 

1.72 

.11 

.30 

48.90 

6.38 

.05 

.50 

.65 

.70 

1.48 

.10 

.68 

1.42 

Other charnockites (Howie, 1958, 1'965) 

Hornblende 

Augite 

Ferrohypersthene 

Hypersthene 

Augite 

Hornblende 

Almandine 

Plagioclase 

Orthoclase 

Magnetite, 

Ilmenite 

Biotite 

Quartz 

2.10 

.38 

.18 

20.7 

33.5 

36.6 

1.7 

3.4 

3.6 

6.1 

3.8 

52.9 

1.4 

7.9 

5.5 

13.7 

4.8 

2.8 

45.0 

0.9 

25.2 

24.8 

2 

2 

37.8 

9.3 

30.0 

19.4 

3.2 

8.7 

56.4 

25.4 

4.2 

5.1 

20 

17 

15 

Eclogite (Coleman and others, 1965; Ernst and others, 1969, 1970) 

B102A (0.98) 

36NC62 (2.1) --------------------------

102RGC58 (1.5) ------------------------

Garnet 

Clinopvroxene 

Hornblende 

Rutile 

Omt>hacite 

Garnet 

Glaucophane 

Sphene 

Rutile 

Omphacite 

Garnet 

Chlorite 

Sphene 

Rutile 

0.26 

.79 

.87 

.18 

.54 

.31 

.15 

.38 

61 

13 

18 

1 

34 

29 

18 

1.5l 

2.o r 

67 

16 

10 

2.5} 

.5 

Percent rock Ti02 in each mineral 

4 

1 

Remainder? 

0 

0 

2 

22 

1 

2 

4 

76? 

0 

0 

2 

7 

85 

10 

2 

4 

16 

12 

Remainder? 

10 

4 

13 

5 

Remainder? 

40 

6 

3 

1 

3 

15 

1 

0 

0 

1 

68 

14 

0 

16 

10 

15 

Remainder? 

3 

7 

3 

Remainder? 

7 

4 

Remainder? 

A7 
AS GEOLOGY AND RESOURCES OF TITANIUM 

I 

1.8 1-

1.6-

- • 

1.4- ~ 

(..) 

0 

0:: r5:2 

~ 1.2 r- 0:: 

0 

~ 1- 0 ct 

1-

LJ.J 

~ 1.0 IXo z X 

ON Ii= 

1-

z 0.8 ILJ.J ox (..) 

0:: 

LJ.J 

0.. 

1-

ao.6-

w 

3: 1-

0.4-

-

0.2 

0 

0 

I I I I+ + I +' + I 

( 2.56 \-6 6 66.~ 2.41 ) percent)( 3.06 '\ ~.39 percent 

( + \percent} ~p;rcent 2.73 ) percent 

0 

0 

I 

20 

0 X 

+ 

0 

0 • 

• 

• X 

X 

• 

0 

I I I I 

40 60 

WEIGHT PERCENT Ti02 IN 

EXPLANATION 

0 

• 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 ~0 0 

0 

oo 

I I I 

80 

SILICATES 

High-grade paragneiss from the Adirondack Mountains. New York (Engel and Engel, 1958, 1960) 

X 

High-grade gnei-ss from Mason Mountain, Macon 

County, North Carolina 

0 

Charnockites of Madras. India (Howie, 1955; Howie 

and Subramaniam, 1957) 

6 

Amphibolites from California coast ranges (Ernst 

and others. 1969. 1970) 

• 

Eclogites from Japan (Ernst and others. 1969, 1970) 

+ 

Eclogites from California (Coleman and others. 1965) 

6 

6 

0 

6 

100 

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

FIGURE 1.-Variation diagram of TiO: content and its partitioning in some metamorphic rocks. 

in felsic intrusive rocks. In metamorphic rocks, the 

partitioning varies rather widely; this variation will 

be discussed by Force (1976). 

Figure 1 shows that, for some metamorphic rock 

suites, the partitioning is quite independent of the 

Ti02 content of the rocks involved (some suites partly listed in table 8 are fully represented in fig. 1) . 

The diagram as a·whole, and the data for each suite, 

shows a scattering of point1s. For two rocks having 

a given Ti02 content (and, in fact, most rock types 

do have Ti02 contents within the same order of magnitude), the mineralogy of the titanium can be ·strikingly different. The processes that control the mineralogy are most worthy of attention. 

Ore deposits of titanium are all examples of an 

extreme of partitioning in which the titanium occurs 

in oxide form. Although some titanium ores are enriched in titanium far beyond the average crustal 

abundance, others are not, as is shown in table 9. In 

fact, the rutile sands of eastern Australia now being 

mined have Ti02 values well under the average crustal abundance! The value of these low TiOz ores is 

in their mineralogy and ease of beneficiation. 

It is misleading to assume that the TiOz content of 

potential titanium resources is an indicator of their 

value. For example, Thomas and Berryhill (1962) 

reported high Ti02 values in Alaskan beach sands; 

probably very little titanium of economic value is 

present because the high Ti02 values occur in nonmagnetic fractions of the sand in which sphene, augite, and hornblende are reported as prominent components and titanium-bearing oxides are sparse or 

absent. Therefore, it would be wasted effort to prospect here by chemical analysis for Ti02. 

TABLE 9.-Economic cutoff grades for some titanium ores 

in the United States 

Location Host rock 

Sanford Lake Ilmenite r1ock 

(Tahawus), in anorthosite 

N.Y.1 and norite 

Ti02 cutoff grade 

Ore mineral (percent) 

Ilmen:ite and 13.5 

ilmenitemagnetite 

intergrowths 

Lakehurst, 

N. J.2 

Fossil river ( ?) Altered --1.5 

sand! placer ilmenite 

Trail Ridge, Fossil beach 

Fla.:1 sand placer 

1 Gross (1968). 2 Mnrkewicz (1969). 

a Pirkle and Yoho (1970). 

Altered 

ilmenite 

--1.5 
TITANIUM CONTENTS AND TITANIUM PARTITIONING IN ROCKS A9 

REFERENCES CITED 

Abdullayev, Z. B., and Guseynova, S. F., 1970, Trends in the 

distribution of titanium and vanadium in the ultrabasites of the low Caucasus in Azerbaijan: Geochemistry 

Internat., v. 7, p. 1012-1016. 

Al'mukhamedov, A. L., 1967, Behavior of titanium during differentiation of basaltic magma: Geochemistry Internat., 

v. 4, p. 47-56. 

Bailey, S. W., Camemn, E. N., Spedden, H. R., and Weege, 

R. J., 1956, The alteration of ilmenite. in beach sands: 

Econ. Geology, v. 51, .P· 263-279. 

Baker, George, 1962, Detrital heavy minerals in natural accumulates: Australasian Inst. Mining and Metallurgy 

Mon. Ser. 1, 146 p. 

Beus, A. A., 1971, Titanium distribution in the lithosphere: 

Chern. Geology, v. 8, p. 2:47-275. 

Billings, M. P., and Wilson, J. R., 1965, Chemical analyses of 

rocks and rock minerals from New Hampshir·e: New 

Hampshire Div. Econ. Devel. Mineral Resources Survey, 

pt. 19, 104 p. 

Clarke, F. W., 1924, The data of geochemistry (5th ed.): 

U.S. Geol. Survey Bull. 770, 841 p. 

Clarke., F. W., and Washington, H. S., 1924, The compositio~ 

of the Earth's crust: U.S. Geol. Survey Prof. Paper 

127, 117 p. 

Coleman, R. G., Lee, D. E., Beatty, L. B., and Brannock, 

W. W., 1965, Eclogites and eclogites-Their differences 

and similarities: Geol. Soc. America Bull., v. 76, p. 483-

508. 

Deer, W. A., Howie, R. A., and Zussman, Jack, 1962a, Rockfanning minerals, v. 1, Ortho- and ring silicates: New 

York, John Wiley and Sons, 333 p. 

--- 1962b, Rock-forming minerals, v. 3, Sheet silicates: 

New York, John Wiley and Sons, 270 p. 

--- 1962c, Rock-forming minerals, v. 5, Non-silicates: 

New York, John Wiley and Sons, 371 p. 

--- 1963a, Rock-forming minerals, v. 2, Chain silicates: 

New York, John Wiley and Sons, 379 p. 

--- 1963b, Rock-forming minerals, v. 4, Framework silicates: New York, John Wiley and Sons, 435 p. 

Engel, A. E. J., and Engel, C. G., 1958, Progressive metamorphism and granitization of the major paragneiss, 

northwest Adirondack Mountains, New York. pt. 1, Total 

rock: Geol. Soc. America Bull.,· v. 69, p. 1369-1414. 

--- 1960, Progressive metamorphism and granitization of 

the major paragneiss, northwest Adirondack Mountains, 

New York .. pt. 2, Mineralogy: Geol. Soc. America Bull., 

v. 71, p. 1-58. 

--- 1962a, Progressive metamorphism of >amnhiholite, 

northwest Adirondack Mountains, New York, in Petrologic studies, a volume in honor of A. F. Buddington: 

New York, Geol. Soc. America, p. 37-82. 

--- 1962b, Hornblendes formed during progressive metamorphism of amphibolites, northwest Adirondack Mountains, New York: Geol. Soc. America Bull., v. 73, p. 

1499-1514. 

Ernst, W. G., Seki, Yota.ri, Onuki, Hitoshi, and Gilbert, M. C., 

1969, Pha1se proportions and physical properties of 

minerals and rocks from the Franciscan and Sanbagawa 

metamorphic terranes: Tokyo, Japanese Soc. Promotion 

Science, 85 p. 

--- 1970, Comparative study of low-grade metamorphism 

in the California coast ranges and the outer metamorphic 

belt of Japan: Geol. Soc. America Mem. 124, 276 p. 

Eskola, P. E., 1952, On the granulites of Lapland: Am. Jour. 

Sci., Bowen Volume, p. 133-171. 

Force, E. R., 1976, Metamorphic source rocks of titanium 

placer deposits-A geochemical cycle, in Geology and resources of titanium: U.S. Geol. Survey Prof. Paper 959-

B, 16 p. 

Garnar, T. E., Jr., 1972, Economic geology of Florida heavy 

mineral deposits, in Puri, H. S., ed., Proc. 7th Forum on 

Goology of Industrial Minerals: Florida Bur. Geology, 

Spec. Pub. 17, p. 17-21. 

Goldschmidt, V. M., 1954, Geochemistry: Oxford, Clarendon 

Press, 730 p. 

Gross, S. 0., 1968, Titaniferous ores of the Sanford Lake 

District, New York, in Ridge, J. D., ed., Ore deposits in 

the United States 1933-1967 (the Graton-Sales volume), 

v. 1: New York, Am. Inst. Mining Metall. Petroleum 

Engineers, p. 140-153. 

Howie, R. A., 1955, The geochemistry of the charnockite 

series of Madras, India: Royal Soc. Edinburgh Proc., 

v. 62, p. 725-768. 

--- 1958, African charnockites and related rocks: Congo 

Beige Service Geol. Bull., v. 8, pt. 2, 14 p. 

--- 1965, The geochemistry and mineralogy of some charnockites from Baffin Island, Brazil, British Guiana, 

Congo, Madras, and Uganda: Indian Minerals, v. 6, p. 

67-76. 

Howie, R. A., and Subramaniam, A. P., 1957, The paragenesis of garnet in charnockite, enderbite, and related 

granulites: Mineralog. Mag., v. 31, p. 565-587. 

Hutton, C. 0., 1940, Metamorphism in the Lake Wakatipu 

region, western Otago, New Zealand: New Z·ealand Dept. 

Sci. and Indus. Res. Geol. Mem. 5, 90 p. 

Jamieson, J. C., and Olinger, Bart, 1969, Pressure-temperature studies of anatase, brookite, rutile, and TiO~, pt. 2: 

Am. Mineralogist, v. 54, p. 1477-1481. 

Kwak, T. A. P., 1968, Titanium in biotite and muscovite as 

an indication of metamorphic grade in almandine-amphibolite facies rocks from Sudbury, Ontario: Geochim. 

et Cosmochim. Acta, v. 32, p. 1222-1229. 

Lee, Tan, and Yao, Chi-lung, 1970, Abundance of chemical 

elements in the Earth's crust and its major tectonic units: 

Internat. Geology Rev., v. 12, p. 778-786. 

Leonova, L. L., and Klassova, N. S., 1964, On the geochemistry 

of titanium during the intrusive process: Geochemistry 

Internat., v. 1, no. 2, p. 290-295. 

Lyakhovich, V. V., 1970, The mean contents of Ta, Nb, and 

Ti in granitoid biotite: Geochemistry Internat., v. 7, p. 

825-834. 

Mackey, T. S., 1972, Alteration and recovery of ilmenite and 

rutile, pt. 1, World occurrence, production, reserves, demand: Australian Mining, v. 64, no. 11, p. 18-26. 

Markewicz, F. E., 1969, Ilmenite deposits of the New Jersey 

coastal plain, in Geology of selected area1s in New Jersey 

and ·eastern Pennsylvania and guidebook of excursion 

(field trip 6) : New Brunswick, N.J., Rutgers Univ. 

Press, p. 363-382. 
AlO GEOLOGY AND RESOURCES OF TITANIUM 

Mason, Brian, 1962, Metamorphism in the Southern Alps of 

New Zealand: Am. Mus. Nat. History Bull., v. 123, p. 

211-248. 

Nockolds, S. R., 1954, Average chemical compositions of some 

igneous rocks: Geol. Soc. America Bull., v. 65, p. 1007-

1032. 

Pettijohn, F. J., 1963, Chemical composition of sandstonesexcluding carbonate and volcanic sands: U.S. Geol. Survey Prof. Paper 440-S, 21 p. 

Pirkle, E. C., and Yoho, W. H., 1970, The heavy mineral 

ore body of Trail Ridge, Florida: Econ. Geology, v. 65, 

p. 17-30. 

Popolitov, E. I., Kovalenko, V. I., and Znamensky, E. B., 

1966, Geochemi_stry of titanium in the middle Paleozoic 

intrusives of northeastern Tuva: Geochemi,stry Internat., 

v. 3, p. 253-260. 

Ramberg, Hans, 1948, Titanic iron ore formed by dissociation of silicates in granulite facies [Greenland]: Econ. 

Geology, v. 43, p. 553-569. 

--- 1952, The origin of metamorphic and metasomatic 

rocks: Chicago, Ill., U niv. of Chicago Press, 317 p. 

Ramdohr, Paul, 1940, Die . erzmineralien im gewohnlichen 

magmatischan gesteinen: Akad. Wiss. Gottingen Abh., 

Math.-Phys. Kl., no. 2, 43 p. 

Rankama, Kalervo, and Sahama, Th. G., 1950, Geochemistry: 

Chicago, Ill., Univ. of Chicago Press, 912 p. 

Ros~e, E. R., 1969, Geology of titanium and titaniferous deposits of Canada: Canada Geol. Survey Econ. Geology 

Rept. 25, 177 p. 

Ross, C. S., 1941, Occurrence and origin of the titanium deposits of Nelson and Amherst Counties, Virginia: U.S. 

Geol. Sunney Prof. Paper 198, 59 p. 

Samoylov, V. S., and Razvozzhayeva, E. A., 1972:, Behavior of 

rare elements in formation of carbonatites of rare metals: 

Internat. Geology Rev., v. 14, p. 440-449. 

Schuiling, R. D., and Vink, B. W., 1967, Stability relations of 

.some titanium minerals (sphene, perovskite, rutile, and 

anatase): Geochim. et Cosmochim. Acta, v. 31, p. 2399-

2411. 

Shcherbina, V. V., 1971, Geochemistry of titanium: Geokhimiya, no. 3, p. 302-309. 

Sullivan, C. J., 1948, Ore and granitization: Econ. Geology, 

v. 43, p. 471-498. 

Temple, A. K., 1966, Alteration of ilmenite: Econ. Geology, 

v. 61, p. 695-714. 

Thomas, B. I., and Berryhill, R. V., 1962, Reconnaissance 

studies of Alaska beach sands, eastern Gulf of Alaska: 

U.S. Bur. Mines Rept. Inv. 5986, 40 p. 

Turekian, K. K., and Wedepohl, K. H., 1961, Distribution of 

the ·elements in some major units of the Earth's crust: 

Geol. Soc. America Bull., v. 72, p. 175-192. 

Verhoogen, John, 1962, Distribution of titanium between silicates and oxides in igneous rocks: Am. Jour. Sci., v. 

260, p. 211-220. 

Vinogradov, A. P., 1962, Average contents of chemical elements .il:n the principal types of igneou:s rocks of the 

Earth's crust: Geokhimiya, no. 7, p. · 641-664. 

Wager, L. R., and Mitchell, R. L., 1951, The distribution of 

trace elements during strong fractionation of bas.ic 

magma-A further study of the Skaergaard intrusion, 

East Greenland: Geochim. et Cosmochim. Acta, v. 1, p. 

129-208. 

Wedepohl, K. H., 1967, Geochemie: Berlin, Walter de Gruyter 

and Co., 220 p. 

Znamensky, E. B., 1957, Distribution of titanium in granites: 

Geokhimiya, no. 2, p. 112. 
Metamorphic Source Rocks of 

Titanium Placer DepositsA Geochemical Cycle 

By E. R. FORCE 

.. 

GEOLOGY AND RESOURCES OF TITANIUM 

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY PROFESSIONAL PAPER 959-B 

CONTENTS 

~bstract -----------------------------------------

Introduction -------------------------------------- Low-grade metamorphism -------------------------

The lowest grades ----------------------------

Greenschist facies ----------------------------

Lower amphibolite facies ----------------------

Rutile in lower grade metamorphic rocks ---------

Higher grade metamorphism -----------------------

Titaniwn oxides in the sillimanite zone ---------

Titanium oxides in the granulite facies --------- Weathering _____________________________________ _ 

Chemical behavior during weathering ----------

Weathering of titaniferous silicates --------

Weathering of titanium oxides ------------- Economic significance of weathering ___________ _ 

Page 

B1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

2 

2 

2 

2 

3 

5 

5 

5 

5 

6 

Formation of placer deposits ----------------------

Streaxn placers -------------------------------

Beach placers -------------------------------- Prelithification diagenesis of placers ------------

Influence of source rock on placer deposits ______ _ 

Application of the source-rock model to titanium 

rriineral provinces --------------------------- Western coast of Australia ____ ---- ___ ------ __ _ 

Eastern coast of ~ustralia ---------------------

Southern India and Ceylon --------------------

Western Africa ------------------------------- Eastern ~frica ______________________________ _ 

Eastern Un~ted States ------------------------

References cited ____ ------------- _ ---- ____ --------

ILLUSTRATIONS 

TABLE 

1. Rutile in the Blue Ridge-Great Smoky part of the Knoxville 2-

degree quadrangle --------------------------------------- 2. Photomicrographs of rutile in high-grade metamorphic rocks ----

3. Relationship of placers, dratnage, and metamorphism along the 

western coast of ~ustralia -------------------------------

4. Relationship of placers, dlra.inage, and metamorphism in southern 

Page 

B3 

4 

9 

India and Ceylon ---------------------------------------- 11 

5. Relationship of fossil and modern placers and metamorphism in 

the southeastern United States --------------------------- 12 

TABLE 

Page 

1. Provenance and types of deposits in some Ti02 provinces ------- B8 

III 

Page 

B6 

6 

7 

7 

7 

8 

8 

8 

10 

10 

10 

10 

13 
GEOLOGY AND RESOURCES OF TITANIUM 

METAMORPHIC SOURCE ROCKS OF TITANIUM PLACER DEPOSITSA GEOCHEMICAL CYCLE 

By E. R. FoRCE 

ABSTRACT 

Progressive normal (Barrovian) metamorphism shifts titanium from sphene, biotite, and hornblende in lower metamorphic grade rocks to ilmenite and rutile in rocks of sillimanite and higher metamorphic grade. Ilmenite and rutile, if 

present in the parent rock, are Tesidually concentrated in its 

weathered product; when freed, they can form placer concentrates in situations where contamination by other mineral 

suites is low and when hydraulic energy i·s great but hydraulic equivalence is not attained. 

Many valuable placers are the result of an optimal geochemical cycle of high-grade metamorphism, repeated intense 

weathering, and short dispersal path. Complicating factors in 

thiJS model are rock composition and oxygen pressure during 

metamorphism and intermediate sedimentary hosts during dispersal. 

Titanium mineral provinces consist of different weathering 

and erosion products of the same source terrane. Saprolite 

and fluvial and beach placer deposits (of any age, if unmetamorphosed) may each form resources in the millions of tons 

of contained Ti02. 

INTRODUCTION 

In this paper, one possible geochemical cycle of 

titanium is followed from Barrovian metamorphism 

through weathering into the realm of sedimentation. 

The purpose is to. put the formation of titanium 

placer deposits into a geologic context that may have 

predictive value. The cycle starts with the beginning 

of metamorphism because, although the parent-rock 

types may vary widely, metamorphism of even the 

lowest grades usually repartitions the titanium in 

the rock. Even during slight metamorphism of placer 

deposits, the mineralogy of titanium is usually reset, 

an indication that the "cycle" is complete. 

LOW-GRADE METAMORPHISM 

This section includes discussion of metamorphic 

grades as high as the kyanite zone, which is substantially higher than common usage of the term "lowgrade metamorphism." 

The most important carrier of titanium in the 

lower grade metamorphic rocks is fine-grained 

sphene; intergrown anatase is also a significant carrier. As prograde reactions produce biotite and hornblende, they become important carriers. 

At low metamorphic grades, ilmenite and rutile 

from precursor rocks are unstable with respect to 

sphene and anata·se, even in rocks rich in TiOz such 

as sljghtly metamorphosed placer deposits or magmatic ~segregations of titanium minerals (Harker, 

1932, p. 6; Ross, 1941; Goldschmidt, 1954, p. 415; 

Carroll and others, 1957; Carpenter and others, 

1966). In heavy-mineral laminations of sandstone 

from the Great Smoky Group in the biotite zone of 

metamorphism, intergrowths of sphene and an unknown opaque mineral form pseudomorphs of titanium oxides. 

THE LOWEST GRADES 

For those rocks that show zeolite facies and prehnite-pumpellyite facies metamorphism, sphene is 

present as a metamorphic mineral in many rock 

types (Coombs and others, 1959, p. 60; Seki, 1961; 

Turner, 1968, p. 265-266). In some literature (see 

Hutton, 1940, p. 62; Seki and others, 1971), sphene 

in these lowest grade rocks is referred to as "leucoxene" because of its occurrence in very fine 

grained aggregates and dusty coatings. 

GREENSCHIST FACIES 

Sphene continues as a stable metamorphic phase 

through the greenschist facies and is present in 

many rock types (Turner, 1968, p. 271-284). Hutton ( 1940) described a transition within the chlorite 

zone; in the low-grade textural subzone, fine-grained 

"leucoxene" is in skeletal aggregates as pseudomorphs after ilmenite and, together with chlorite, 

replaces titanaugite, biotite, and matrix. In the 

higher grade textural subzone, sphene occurs as 

rounded or spindle-shaped coarse and discrete 

grains. 

Bl 
B2 GEOLOGY AND RESOURCES OF TITANIUM 

Although partitioning of titanium among minerals 

of low-grade rocks is difficult to study because of the 

fine grain siz·es involved, most of the titanium in 

rocks of the chlorite zone of the greenschist facies 

must be in sphene because other minerals that contain titanium are absent, unless relict minerals persist. Anatase may be present as intergrowths with 

sphene. Magnetite may be present but contains very 

little titanium in these low-grade rocks (Abdullah 

and Atherton, 1964). If metamorphism reaches the 

biotite zone of the greenschist facies, some of the 

titanium can enter biotite. Brown (1967) showed 

that chlorite from the chlorite zone averaged 0.1 

percent Ti02, whereas biotite in adjacent rocks of 

the biotite zone averaged 1.2 percent Ti02. 

LOWER AMPHIBOLITE FACIES 

Partitioning of titanium in biotite-bearing rocks 

of the lower amphibolite facies probably remains unchanged from that of the biotite zone of the greenschist facies. Force ( 1976a, table 8) shows a partitioning analysis for such a rock; the analysis was 

calculated from data gathered by Mason (1962). In 

mafic rocks, hornblende is a carrier of significant 

amounts of titanium. 

RUTILE IN LOwrER GRADE METAMORPHIC ROCKS 

Rutile can occur in the lower grade rocks-it is 

common, for example, in slate as an alteration product of clastic biotite (Harker, 1932, p. 46), but it 

appears to be restricted to pelitic or other aluminous 

rocks (Hutton, 1940; Zen, 1960; Espenshade and 

Potter, 1960; Mason, 1962; Albee and others, 1965). 

In mineral assemblages from which rutile has been 

described, the CaO content is low, which inhibits the 

formation of sphene, and (or) the Al203 content is 

high (Shcherbina, 1971). In the rutile-bearing rocks 

investigated by Zen an!] by Espenshade and Potter, 

the ratio Al20:~: CaO is over 200. In other rocks of 

lower metamorphic grades, rutile forms by introduction of fluids that cause the breakdown of ilmenite 

or biotite. The fluids may contain magnesium (Chidester, 1962, p. 69; Southwick, 1968), sulfur (Force, 

1976b), or C02 (Schuiling and- Vink, 1967). 

Occurrences of rutile in lower grade terranes may 

be numerous, but, because they are controlled by 

local alteration or special rock chemistry, they are 

not comparable to regional occurrences of rutile in 

higher grade terranes. Detrital rutile is generally destroyed in the lower grades of metamorphism, exc-ept 

in special circumstances where rutile is stable relative to sphene at a low grade, as it is in an extremely 

aluminous sediment. Rutile in higher grade rocks is 

thus generally metamorphic rather than detrital. 

HIGHER GRADE METAMORPHISM 

Several texts (Rankama and Sahama, 1950, p. 

563; Deer and others, 1962b, p. 31; Turner, 1968, p. 

325, 329) discuss in a general way the formation at 

the onset of granulite-facies metamorphism of titanium oxides at the expense of titaniferous silicates. 

Ramberg (1948, 1952, p. 72-75, 156-161) has covered the topic in more detail than others. Except for 

Ramberg's (1948) work, diiscussions of the process 

in a context of economic geology are few and 

obscure. 

The mechanism for the segregation of titanium 

into oxides seems clear on a superficial level. The 

titanium-rich silicates-biotite, hornblende, and 

sphene-have progressively restricted stability fields 

at the higher grades of metamorphism and may not 

be present at all in pyroxene granulites (Howie, 

1955; Turner, 1968, p. 329). Silicates that form in 

their place (hypersthene, diopside, pyrope-almandine 

garnet, plagioclase, and potash feldspar) contain 

much smaller amount's of titanium that their precursors ; the excess Ti 02 in the rock then forms oxides. Which oxides form is partly a function of 

oxygen pressure. 

TITANIUM OXIDES IN THE SILLIMANITE ZONE 

Some autho-r:s have said that, in rocks of sillimanite grade, biotite breaks down to sHlimanite and other mi,nerals including ilm·enite and rutile (Harker, 

1932, p. 58; Abdullah and Atherton, 1964; Overstreet and others, 1968, p. 15). This point r~mains 

moot, however, because other authors have interpreted the same textural evidence as growth of sillimanite without destruction of biotite (Chinner, 

1961; Evans and Guidotti, 1966). 

Reports of quartzofeldspathic gneisses and schists 

containing both sillimanite and rutile are too numer-

. ous to list. In many ·such rocks, sphene becomes unstable with respect to rutile at a slightly higher grade 

than that at which sillimanite appears but, apparently, before the onset of granulite facies. Figure 1 

shows the distribution of rutile in metamorphic 

rocks in parts of the Blue Ridge and Great Smoky 

Mountains of North Carolina. Rutile is primarily 

restricted to the sillimanite zone and is most common 

in or near sillimanite-orthoclase- or hypersthenezone rocks. Rutile in the kyanite zone was found only 

in pelitic rocks; none was found in staurolite and 

lower zones. The fact that isograd.s and rutile dis-
METAMORPHIC SOURCE ROCKS OF TITANIUM PLACER DEPOSITS B3 

84°00' 

36"00' 

30' 

EXPLANATION 

X 

Rutile present 

Rutile absent 

(sphene present in most 

Metamorphic isograd, 

dashed where approximate 

Rock-unit boundary 

(shown only near isograds) 

30' 

.Gatlinburg 

• N~wport 

COCKE 

0 10 

a3•oo· 

'GREENE: r 

~v 

~ r 

r 

20 KILOMETRES 

30' 

SPARTANB(JRG 

FIGURE 1.-Rutile in the Blue Ridge-Great Smoky part of the Knoxville 2-degree quadrangle (Hadley and Nelson, 1971). 

All rock-unit boundaries and zoned isogyrads except hypersthene after Hadley and Nelson. Rutile distribution and hypersthene isograd (boundary of granulite facies) based on st:udy of about 500 thin sections obtained from Richard Goldsmith, F. G. Lesure, J. B. Hadley, and A. E. Nelson (U.S. Geological Survey). Hypersthene is roughly coextensive with 

sillimanite-orthoclase pairs. Information from Franklin (F) and Dellwood (D) 7%-min quadrangles (shaded areas) is 

summarized. 

tribution together cross num.erous lithologic boundaries in the ·sHlimanite zone implies limits to the influence of stratigraphic or compositional control of 

rutile appearance. In the area shown, many rocks 

have either sphene or rutile, but rocks having both 

are rare. A few rocks in zones lower in grade than 

sillimanite-orthoclase have rutile rimmed by sphene 

or ilmenite, but sphene probably is not in equilibrium with rutile even in these rocks. Biotite is present 

in both sphene- and rutile-bearing rocks. 

Overstreet and others (1968, pl. 2) also observed 

that rutile distribution directly correlates with sillimanite distribution from the Piedmont province in 

North Carolina and South Carolina. Sphene is present in rocks of all grades locally present, but rutile 

is common only within the sillimanite zone (Overstreet and Griffitts, 1955, p. 561). 

TITANIUM OXIDES IN THE GRANULITE FACIES 

Rutile and ilmenite are apparently stable phases 

in metamorphic facies lower than granulite, but they 

are much more common in granulite-facies rocks. In 

that facies, the stability fields of the titanium-rich 

silicates-sphene, hornblende, and biotite-are 

greatly restricted. Magnetite may also decrease. The 

disappearance of each mineral will be discussed in 

turn. 

Sphene.-Many authors have mentioned the disappearance of sphene in the granulite facies ( cf. 

Howie, 1955). Cooray (1962) found that rutile takes 

the place of sphene in leucocratic granulites. The 

most thorough treatment is given by Ramberg 

(1952, p. 72-75), who discussed reactions in which 

rutile and ilmenite form by the breakdown of sphene. 

In some lime-rich rocks, however, sphene remains a 
B4 GEOLOGY AND RESOURCES OF TITANIUM 

stable phase in the granulite facies (Ramberg, 1952, 

p. 160; Deer and others, 1962a, p. 75). 

Turner (1968, p. 325) has stated that the disappearance of sphene in amphibolites is a useful indication of granulite facies. Engel and Engel (1962a, 

p. 53-57) found that the di-sappearance of sphene in 

amphibolite coincides roughly with the appearance 

of metamorphic clinopyroxene and precedes the appearance of orthopyroxene. The titanium thus liberated from sphene apparently is incorpora-ted in 

ilmenite, which shows an increase in average abundance from 2 percent in the lower grade rocks to 3.5 

percent in the granulite facies. The difference is attributable to reactions involving hornblende and 

magnetite as well as sphene. 

H ornblende.-By definition, hornblende is stable 

with orthopyroxene .in the hornblende granulite subfacies (lower grade than pyroxene granulite subfacies (Turner, 1968)). Hornblende contains as much 

as 3.9 percent Ti02 in granulite-facies rocks (Ramberg, 1948, table 1; Eskola, 1952, p. 133; Howie, 

1955, table 6), whereas in lower grade rocks hornblende contains less Ti02 (Engel and Engel, 1962b; 

Bushlyakov, 1970). The increase of Ti02 in hornblende is more than compensated for by the decrease 

in the amount of hornblende (Force, 1976a, table 6), 

and the Ti02 present as hornblende decreases as 

metamorphic grade increases. In the pyroxene granulite subfacies, the silicates that replace hornblende 

as stable phases contain little Ti02, and the Ti02 

from hornblende forms oxides (Force, 1976a, table 

8). In mafic rocks, ilmenite is the most common mineral to form, but rutile is present in mafic granulites 

near Franklin in Macon County, N.C., and presumably elsewhere. In more -silicic hypersthene gneisses, 

rutile is a more common metamorphic mineral (fig. 

2A). 

Biotite.-Biotite is also stable in the lower subfacies of the granulite facies ; in quartzofeldspathic 

gneis1ses it may be the major mafic mineral (cf. 

Engel and Engel, 1958). Biotite in granulite-facies 

rocks has a Ti02 content as great as 6 percent (Ramberg, 1948, table 2; Kretz, 1959; Engel and Engel, 

1960, table 13). Although the titanium content of 

biotite increases with metamorphic grade (Engel 

and Engel, 1960; Kwak, 1968; Zakrutkin and Grigorenko, 1968; Bushlyakov, 1970), the total amount 

of Ti02 present in biotite (as in hornblende) decreases as the amount of biotite decreases (Force, 

1976a, ·table 6). Garnet, sillimanite, pyroxene, 

quartz, and feldspar that take the place of biotite are 

low in Ti02, and the excess Ti02 forms oxides (rutile 

in fig. 2B) . 

Magnetite.-Metamorphic grade is one of the 

two factors that control the amount of magnetite in 

a metamorphic rock ; the other is oxygen pressure. 

As metamorphic grade increases, the amount of magnetite decreases and the amount of Ti02 present in 

the magnetite increases (Overstreet and Griffitts, 

1955, p. 561; Buddington and others, 1963; Abdullah and Atherton, 1964). The overall effect is to de~ 

crease the Ti02 present in magnetite in granuliteFIGURE 2.-Photomicrographs of rutile in high-grade metamorphic rocks from the Franklin area of Macon County, N.C. A, 

Rutile (R) with pyroxene (P), pale amphibole (A), quartz, and two f eldspars in gneiss of intermediate composition. 

Plane-polarized light, 250 X . B , Rutile (R) with sillimanite (S), garnet (G), biotite (B) , and perthitic potash f eldspar 

( K) in sillimanite gneiss. Plane-polarized light, 250 X . 
METAMORPHIC SOURCE ROCKS OF TITANIUM PLACER DEPOSITS B5 

facies rocks (calculations from Buddington and others, 1963, table 2). Under ideal conditions, the progress of reactions reducing magnetite (and increasing ilmenite) might be mapped by using textures 

on aeromagnetic maps. 

High oxygen pressure also has the effect of decreasing the amount of magnetite and increasing the 

amounts of hematite, ilmenite, rutile, or intergrowths of these minerals (Buddington and others, 

1963; Lindsley, 1962). 

Sphene, hornblende, and biotite may disappear altogether, and the abundance of magnetite may decrease in rocks of pyroxene granulite subfacies, in 

which no silicates contain appreciable amounts of 

TiO:!, and the rock's titanium is mostly in ilmenite 

and (or) rutile. Where eclogites are associated with 

granulites (Coleman and others, 1965), the characteristic high rutile content of eclogite makes it an · 

end member along with pyroxene granulite (Goldschmidt, 1954; Turner, 1~68; cf. Force, 1976a, table 

8) 0 

WEATHERING 

The behavior of titanium and titanium-bearing 

minerals during weathering is not understood in 

detail. It ·seems clear, however, that titania as a 

chemical entity is residually enriched and that grains 

of rutile and "ilmenite" are residually enriched. Ilmenite begins its alteration to "leucoxene" during 

weathering .. 

CHEMICAL BEHAVIOR DURING WEATHERING 

The ratio of ionic charge to iOinic radius of titanium is such that during weathering it forms insoluble 

compounds (Mason, 1966, p. 163) that remain in the 

weathered rock. A classical study by Goldich ( 1938) 

showed Ti02 enriched over granitic gneiss parent 

rock by a factor of 4 in a residual clay (constant 

weight calculation) . Studies in temperate and tropical zones show residual enrichment of Ti02 in 

weathered felsic and mafic rock (Goldich, 1938; 

Jackson and Sherman, 1953; Wells, 1960; Short, 

1961 ; Dennen and Anderson, 1962; Loughnan, 1969, 

p. 90, 112; Parker, 1970). In Hawaii, Sherman 

(1952) observed soils over basalt that contain 25 

percent Ti02, present mostly as coillcretions; only 

under extraordinarily reducing conditions is Ti02 

leached from these soils. In bauxites, enrichment of 

TiO:! over parent rocks by factors of 2 to 4 is characteristic (Patterson, 1967, table 4; Valeton, 1972, 

table 32). 

The chemical enrichment of titanium during 

weathering is reflected mineralogically by two processes: (1) Titanium-beariillg silicates and titaniferous magnetite alter to clays, iron oxides, and finegrained dispersed titanium oxides and (2) titanium 

oxides resist weathering. 

WEATHERING OF TIT ANIFEROUS SILICATES 

Titanium-bearing silicates, with the exception of 

some occurrences of sphene ( c.:f. Overstreet and others, 1963), break down during weathering. Goldschmidt ( 1954, p. 419-420) recorded that ~sagenitic 

rutile is a product of weathering of biotite and that 

other fine rutile needles are a product of weathering 

of other silicate minerals. In bauxite, Ti02 occurs 

·mostly in grains finer than 325 mesh (40ft), which 

form by weathering of titaniferous silicates (Hartman, 1959, p. 1380). Anatase is the most common alteration product containing titanium in both tropical (Valeton, 1972, p. 32,· 186) and temperate soils 

(McLaughlin, 1955). 

WEATHERING OF TITANIUM OXIDES 

Ilmenite is a relatively ,stable mineral in the weathering process (Jackson and Sherman, 1953, p. 232-

235 ; Loughnan, 1969, p. 25). In Liberia, West 

Africa, rocks that contain both ilmenite and magne-

·dte weather to saprolite that contains ilmenite but 

not mag!Jletite (cf. White, 1972, p. 86). Gullies cut in 

saprolite are floored with ilmenite and quartz grains. 

In Cleveland County, N.C., Overstreet and others 

( 1963) found ilmenite to be a common constituent 

and magnetite a rare constituent of saprolite over 

many types of metamorphic rock; Goldich ( 1938) 

recorded an enrichment of ilmenite and impoverishment of magnetite in ~soil over a Minnesota gneiss. 

Ilmenite is also a residual mineral in high-alumina 

saprolite over basalt (Roedder, 1956; Hosterman, 

1969, p. 35; Patterson, 1971, p. 26). In other baux-

. ites over a variety of parent rocks, ilmenite grains 

are present, though commonly altered (Hartman, 

1959) 0 

"Ilmenite" as mined in placer deposits commonly 

contains much more Ti02 than the chemical formula 

for ilmenite allows and actually consists partly of 

fine-grained Ti02 minerals,, which form as alteration 

products (Force, 1976a). Some studies show that in 

situ weathering of parent rock can produce "ilmenite" that consists partly of fine-grained anatase 

and rutile alteration products (Hartman, 1959 

(bauxite) : Carroll and others, 1957, p. 180; Houston 

and Murphy, 1962, p. 31 (weathered sandstone) ; 
B6 GEOLOGY AND RESOURCES OF TITANIUM 

Rumble, 1973 (weathered schist)). Jackson and 

Sherman (1953, p. 289-290) show that "leucoxene," 

the Ti02-rich end product of this alteration process, 

can form if weathering is intense. Cannon (1950, p. 

209) noted that some alteration of ilmenite grains to 

material richer in Ti02 takes place during alluvial 

transport. Leucoxene can also be the result of postdepositional weathering of an unconsolidated placer 

deposit above the water table (Pirkle and Yoho, 

1970). 

Rutile is considered by some (summarized by Pettijohn, 1957, p. 502-508) to be among the minerals 

most resistant to weathering. It is a constituent of 

saprolite in Cleveland County, N.C. (Overstreet and 

others, 1963), and Virginia (Fish, 1962). In Macon 

County, N.C., gullies cut in gneiss saprolite are 

floored with grains of quartz, garnet, and rutile. Unlike ilmenite grains, rutile grains normally do not 

form other alteration products; microcrystalline 

rutile itself is an alteration product formed in the 

weathering zone, so metamorphic (or igneous) rutile 

is generally already stable there. Where weathering 

is intense, rutile high in niobium and iron may be 

unstable and recry,stallize to aggregates of fine 

anatase~ 

ECONOMIC SIGNIFICANCE OF WEATHERING 

Probably Ti02 is enriched by all normal weathering processes over all rocks, and the amount of enrichment is proportional to the intensity of weathering. Where the parent rocks contain Ti02 in potentially useful form-that is, oxides coarser than silt 

size, as in the high-grade metamorphic rocks previously described-the friable weathering product is 

enriched in these minerals, which may even be 

leached of undesirable elements. Saprolite deposits 

of titanium are potential ores in some areas (Fish, 

1962; Herz, 1976), and, because so little attention 

has been directed toward saprolite, the discovery of 

more titanium resources in saprolite is likely. 

FORMATION OF PLACER DEPOSITS 

The formation of placer deposits is a complicated 

topic approached here only in the context of the geochemical cycle of titanium. 

Udden (1914) observed that heavy minerals are 

finer than the light minerals with which they occur 

in clastic deposits; Rubey (1933) noted that small 

heavy minerals and large light minerals have equal 

settling velocities in water. Since then, most di,scussions of placer deposits have been approached from 

the viewpoint of Rittenhouse's (1943) concept of 

hydraulic equivalence (cf. Baker, 1962; Briggs, 1965, 

p. 940-941; Tourtelot, 1968). Simply stated, hydraulic equivalence prevails when minerals of the 

same settling velocity are found together. 

More detailed sedimentologic studies, discussed 

herein, show that, in general, hydraulic equivalence 

does not prevail in natural deposits and that hy:-

draulic facto.rs other than settling velocity enter in. 

Certainly, complications are involved in the formation of rich placer concentrates; any single hydraulic 

mechanism can, at best, explain only the observed 

size relations of heavy minerals to light minerals but 

not the concentration of heavy minerals relative to 

light minerals that characterizes a rich placer. The 

complications may be hydraulic, such as local erosion 

or wind ablation, or partially hydraulic, such as natural heavy-media separations or lack of constant 

relative availability of mineral sizes. 

STREAM PLACERS 

The first possible site of placer concentration is in 

upstream deposits near the mineral source. Stream 

deposits of this type are most important for minerals 

having specific gravity greater than 7, such as gold 

and cassiterite (Emery and Noakes, 1968). Locally, 

they offer possibilities for significant concentrations 

of the titanium minerals rutile and ilmenite (Herz 

and others, 1970) and other heavy minerals having 

specific gravity around 5, such as monazite (Overstreet and others, 1968). Upstream placer deposits 

are closely tied to particular source rocks, and the 

small drainage basin limits dilution by barren debris 

to a minimum. In the small drainage basins, however, hydraulic sorting is generally poor. The volume 

of placer deposits may be small because of either bedrock stream beds or narrow valleys or both. In 

Sierra Leone, an exceptional rutile deposit, probably 

a weathered upstream placer, is of both large volume 

and hig,h grade (Spencer and Williams, 1967). 

Farther downstream, dilution by sediment poor in 

valuable minerals is more severe (see summary of 

this and related processes by Pettijohn ( 1957, p. 

556-573)). Hydraulic sorting, however, is commonly more effective downstream than in upstream areas 

and may locally have produced placer concentrations (cf. McGowen and Groat, 1971). Van .Andel 

( 1950) showed that deposition patterns of heavy 

minerals in rivers are not always in accord with 

predictions fro.m hydraulic equivalency; sorting by 

size but not density is prevalent, and concentration 

of a given mineral occurs because it is supplied to 

the stream in a size that is locally concentrated 
METAMORPHIC SOURCE ROCKS OF TITANIUM PLACER DEPOSITS B7 

(Briggs, 1965; White and Williams, 1967). Experimental and theoretical work (Grigg and Rathbun, 

1969; Brady and Jobson, 1973) has shown that erosional ( "reentrainment") processes, which produce 

residual enrichments of fine-grained particles independent of density, are a factor in producing alluvial concentrations (cf. Hjulstrom, 1939). 

BEACH PLACERS 

Most important placer concentrations of ilmenite 

and rutile are modern or fossil beach deposits. Dunes 

associated with beach placers may also contain concentrations of titanium minerals. In the beach depOisits, titanium minerals are concentrated along 

with other heavy minerals in lenses of black sand. 

Concentrations of heavy minerals can be observed 

to form in the upper swash zone during storms~; differential erosion of larger light-mineral grains 

leaves behind a residue of heavy minerals (Cannon, 

1950, p. 206 ;, Whitworth, 1956; Gillson, 1959, p. 

425). Overstreet (1972) !Stated that a natural jigging action of the sand on the beach by normal wave 

energy improves the concentrate by subjecting the 

rising light minerals to erosion. Differential removal of large light grains by wind may also improve the 

concentrate. 

Storm-generated beach concentrates may be dispersed between storms, unless they are deposited beyond normal high tide (Whitworth, 1956). Deposits 

may be preserved from erosion by wind transport 

into the dune system beyond the beach (Cannon, 

1950, p. 207). Neiheisel (1958) and Gillson (1959, 

p. 425) noticed that the heavy-mineral fraction of 

dune sands is poor in the heaviest minerals and that 

the highest dunes contain the least amount of heavy 

minerals. Apparently, wind cannot concentrate 

heavy minerals as efficiently as waves, but it can carry most of a concentrate formed on the beach well 

above high tide. Where modern beach placers are 

mined, the deposit is renewed to some extent by 

storm waves (Whitworth, 1956; Gillson, 1959, p. 

428; Overstreet, 1972). 

The grain .siz.e of a mineral in beach deposits is 

generally in inverse proportion to its density. Rutile, 

however, is commonly of finer grain size than its 

density would predict, probably because rutile is fine 

grained in original source rocks (Gillson, 1959, p. 

423) . Some detailed studies have shown that light 

and heavy minerals are generally not hydraulically 

equivale:r · in beach deposits, and the difference has 

been ascr11.:1~d to the lack of constant relative availability of minerals of all sizes (McMaster, 1954, p. 

197, 211) or to the effects of preferential wave· erosion of coarser light grains that stick up out of the 

bed (Mcintyre, 1959, p. 294-296; Hand, 1967, p. 

516). 

Hand (1967) found that the heaviest minerals departed the most from hydraulic equivalency with the 

light minerals. Martens ( 1935) · found that the 

heavy-mineral suites of lean natural concentrates 

are poor in the heaviest minerals, whereas those of 

the richest concentrates consist almost entirely of 

the heaviest minerals. The combination of both lines 

of evidence suggests that rich concentrates are the 

result of significant departures from hydraulic 

equivalence. 

PRELITHIFICATION DIAGENESIS OF PLACERS 

During early diagenesis of placer deposits, unstable heavy minerals may disappear or become 

skeletal in shape (Hutton, 1959; Neiheisel, 1962) 

and thus enrich a placer concentrate in the more 

stable titanium minerals. Ilmenite may be leached of 

iron and other elements (Dryden and Dryden, 1946; 

Temple, 1966) or even complete its alteration to 

"leucoxene" if it is above the water table (Pirkle 

and Yoho, 1970), but ilmenite and rutile are resistant to complete destruction by intrastratal solution (Pettijohn, 1957, p. 502-520). 

INFLUENCE OF SOURCE ROCK ON PLACER 

DEPOSITS 

The mineralogy of placer deposits is inherited 

from source rocks, with modifications by the weathering process. Formation of a heavy-mineral concentrate is apparently the result of several hydraulic 

and some nonhydraulic factors, one of which, the· 

relative abundance of different sizes of each mineral, 

is largely inherited from source rocks. Although the 

formation of placer deposits can be studied from a 

hydrodynamic viewpoint, the influence of source 

rocks is certainly strong enough to warrant a search 

for optimal conditions where mineralogy and grain 

size of the source rock are favorable and dilution by 

other debris is low. 

Formation of placer concentrates of ilmenite and 

rutile raises the Ti02 content of the deposit far beyond its average value in sandstone. The converse, 

however, is not true; anomalous Ti02 values in 

heavy-mineral concentrates need not reflect the 

presence of ilmenite and rutile but may be caused by 

fine magnetite-ilmenite intergrowths (Talati, 1971), 

titaniferous magnetite (Wright, 1964), or sphene 

(Thomas and Berryhili, 1962), all of which locally 
B8 GEOLOGY AND RESOURCES OF TITANIUM 

form heavy-mineral concentrations. In unusually 

immature deposits, a high Ti02 content may even 

reflect the abundance of titanaugite and hornblende 

(Thomas and Berryhill, 1962). 

APPLICATION OF THE SOURCE-ROCK MODEL 

TO TITANIUM MI~ERAL PROVINCES 

Where processes of metamorphism, weathering, 

and sedimentation are optimal, provinces of titanium deposits can occur. In these provinces, titanium 

deposits are likely to be of several types, including 

saprolites, modern or fossil fluvial placers,- and mod.-

ern or fossil marine placers (table 1) . Any type may 

contain millions of tons of Ti02, as in saprolite near 

Roseland, Va.; river deposits at Sherbro, Sierra 

Leone; modern beach deposits of India; or fossil 

beach deposits at Trail Ridge, Fla. (values from 

Klemic and others, 1973). The most valuable deposits may consist of titanium minerals that have 

passed through many of these stages without substantial dilution, such as, for example, a weathered 

fossil beach deposit, material for which was· derived 

from weathered older sedimentary rocks, which 

were, in turn, derived from a deeply weathered 

acidic granulite-facies terrane. Relations between 

source rocks and placer deposits can be studied in 

some detail where intermediate host rocks are not 

important or where ancient dispersal patterns are 

known. 

WESTERN COAST OF AUSTRALIA 

For ilmenite and rutile beach placer deposits on 

the western coast of Australia, an almost direct connection can be made between placers and source 

rocks. The rivers drain limited areas along the coast; 

the interior is poorly drained. Placer deposits are 

thus near their possible source rocks, and dilution by 

other debris is low. 

Beach placer deposits of ilmenite at Capel and 

Bunbury (fig. 3) occur in a suite, which also contains zircon, garnet, sillimanite, and pyroxene similar to detritus from the Cape Naturaliste area and 

gneisses to the east (Carroll, 1939). Granulite-facies 

metamorphic rocks are common in both areas, and 

laterite cover is widespread (Lowry and others, 

1967; Wilson, 1964, 1969). Nearby Tertiary and 

Permian sedimentary rocks also have probably contributed debris to the placer deposits but have a relatively impoverished heavy-mineral suite (Carroll, 

1939); they could not have been the predominant 

source! 

A recently discovered rutile-ilmenite placer deposit at Eneabba, western Australia (fig. 3), is an 

immature Tertiary beach deposit formed by the reworking of a fossil alluvial fan (Baxter, 1972). The 

immediate source rocks for the fan and beach deposit are continental Mesozoic sandstones. The Mesozoic rocks and the placer deposit are lateritized. The 

ultimate source rocks are gneisses that are locally of 

granulite facies and predominantly of acidic composition (Wilson, 1964, 1969). 

Whitworth (1956) mentioned a beach placer rutile deposit near Albany (fig. 3) that apparently is 

not being worked. Near by streams drain smaN areas 

in which granulite-facies gneisses are prominent 

(Wilson, 1964, 1969). 

EASTERN COAST OF AUSTRALIA 

The beach deposits of rutile on the eastern coast 

of Australia, at pres·ent the world's most important 

rutile reserve, only very weakly support a case connecting placer to source rock; despite some careful 

v.rork, the full transportation history of this rutile is 

not known. Streams draining Permian and Mesozoic 

sandstones are the immediate source of the rutile 

(Whitworth, 1956; Connah, 1961), but the mineral 

assemblage in the placer deposits is unlike that in 

TABLE !.-Provenance and types of deposits in some Ti02 provinces 

[X, titanium resource; ?, not documented but likely; (2), two sedimentary cycles; P, present; --• not known] 

Capel and Bunbury, western coast of 

Australia. 

Eneabba, western coast of Australia __ 

Eastern coast of Australia --------- Southern India and Ceylon ---~----­

Sherbro, Sierra Leone -------------- Man, Ivory Coast ------------------ Roseland, Va. --------------------- Franklin, N.C. -------------------- Lakehurst, N.J. ------------------- Trail Ridge, Florida~Georgia -- __ _ 

High-grade 

metamorphic 

bedrock 

p 

p 

? 

p 

p 

p 

X 

p 

p 

p 

Intensely 

weathered 

bedrock 

p 

? 

? 

p 

X,? 

p 

X 

p 

p 

Old sedimentary 

host rock 

p 

(2)' p p 

X 

X 

X 

X 

(2), P, X 

(2), P, X 

Weathered old 

sedimentary 

host rock 

? 

X 

? 

X 

X 

p 

X 

X 

Modern 

stream 

placer 

? 

? 

? 

X 

X 

X 

Modern 

marine 

placer 

X 

X 

X 
METAMORPHIC SOURCE ROCKS OF TITANIUM PLACER DEPOSITS B9 

25 

30° 

35° 

110° 

EXPLANATION 

Ilmenite (I) or rutile (R) deposit being mined 

Occmrence of ilmenite or rutile, economic 

significance unknown 

Granulite facies metamorphic terrane 

Other high-grade metamorphic terrane 

Possible intermediate sedimentary host 

0 100 

115° 

INDIAN OCEAN 

WESTERN AUSTRALIA 

Sandstone • ' • Kalgoorlie 

200 300 400 MILES 

0 100 200 300 400 KILOMETRES 

FIGURE 3.-Relationship of beach placer titanium deposits: modern drainage, possible intermediate sedimentary hosts, 

and granulite-fa,cies metamorphic terrane along the western coast of Australia. Metamorphism is from the Geologic Map of Western Australia (Horwitz, 1966) and Wilson (1969). Titanium deposits are from Regional Divisions 

and Repo'rted Mineral Occ'urrences in Western Australia (Western Australia Department of Mines, 1968} and Baxter 

(1972). 

any local primary rocks (Whitworth, 1956). Overstreet (1967, p. 84-91) found, on the basis of monazite composition, that rocks of higher metamorphic 

grade than any locally present must have formed 

the source. Mesozoic drainage patterns (Brown and 

others, 1968) were such that the assemblage may 
B10 GEOLOGY AND RESOURCES OF TITANIUM 

have been derived from far in the interior where 

several large areas of granulite-facies rocks are 

present (Wilson, 1964, 1969). Most of these hypothetical source areas are at present poorly drained, 

but nearby desert sand contains rutile (Layton, 

1966). A better picture of possible source rocks 

could be given if the distribution of sillimanite-bearing rocks were known, since reactions at sillimanite 

grade are known in other areas to produce rutile, as 

reactions at granulite grade do. 

SOUTHERN INDIA AND CEYLON 

India has long been an important producer of 

high-Ti02 ilmenite. Figure 4 shows the locations of 

the mining operations, all of which are on modern 

beaches. Rutile and monazite are coproducts; garnet, 

sillimanite, and hypersthene are also common; magnetite is present but in small amounts (Jacob, 1956). 

The deposits are localized by headlands and, in 

most places, can be linked to specific streams (Jacob, 

1956). The immediate sources of the ilmenite are 

young but weathered coastal plain sands (Jacob, 

1956; Gillson, 1959; Overstreet, 1972, p. 48-57) and 

thick laterite deposits (Gillson, 1959); these have 

the same heavy-mineral assemblage as the beach 

placers (Menon, 1966; Rajamanickam, 1968). The 

ultimate source is deeply weathered crystalline rock 

of the interior, of which granulite-charnockite terrane forms a prominent part. The most important 

sources of ilmenite, rutile, and monazite are apparently leptynites (quartz-garnet-feldspar gneisses) 

and charnockites (Jacob, 1956; Menon, 1966). The 

distribution of placer deposits matches fairly well 

the small drainages having headwaters in granulite 

terrane (fig. 4) ; the fit in sillimanite-bearing rocks 

might be better. 

Relatively modern geomorphic evolution of the 

drainage has been important in controlling precise 

deposit locations in India (Gillson, 1959, fig. 2, p. 

429) . Unknown geomorphic changes are likely to 

have had great effect on the dispersal of titanium 

minerals into older intermediate sedimentary host 

rocks. Fine tuning of relations between source rocks 

and placers is probably not worthwhile. 

It might be thought that ilmenitic placers could be 

derived from the Deccan traps, but heavy-mineral 

concentrates on the coast near the traps consist partly of titaniferous magnetite and titanaugite (Talati, 

1971). The previously discussed placers mined in 

southern India are deficient in these two minerals 

(Jacob, 1956). 

Placer deposits of ilmenite, rutile, and monazite 

are also important in Ceylon. The major deposit is 

at Pulmoddai, on the eastern coast. Metamorphic 

rocks of the pyroxene granulite facies are so prevalent in Ceylon that relating them to the location of 

placer deposits becomes trivial. Coo ray ( 1962, table 

1, p. 263) found that leptynites and khondalites common within the granulite facies contain rutile, 

whereas other gneisses at lower grades contain 

sphene. Overstreet (1972) stated that the location of 

modern placers is controlled to a significant degree 

by an intermediate Pleistocene host, which is itself 

an important ilmenite resource. 

WESTERN AFRICA 

The literature on western African metamorphic 

belts and titanium deposits is insufficient to make a 

definitive association between them. Some information from Sierra Leone and the Ivory Coast is 

suggestive. 

Sherbro, in Sierra Leone, is a large rutile deposit, 

probably formed as an alluvial placer in a small 

drainage area. Some saprolite may be present in the 

deposit also. The deposit itself has been lateritized. 

Besides rutile, the sands contain zircon, ilmenite, 

monazite, sillimanite, and kyanite (Spencer and Williams, 1967) . Local source rocks are the Kasila belt 

of gneisses in the granulite facies (Andrews-Jones, 

1966, p. 22-23). Rutile in alluvial concentrates is 

closely associated with granulite terrane throughout 

the belt (Junner, 1929). 

In the Ivory Coast, alluvial placer deposits of rutile near Danane are found in a restricted drainage 

and are reportedly derived from rutile-bearing leptynites (Bagarre, 1964). In the whole district, the 

occurrence of alluvial rutile is closely associated with 

the granulite-charnockite province of Man. 

EASTERN AFRICA 

Bloomfield (1958) noted that, in the granulitefacies terrane (Morel, 1961) of Malawi, rutile occurs in biotite-free varieties of acidic garnet-pyrox- · 

ene gneiss and in associated migmatite and garnet 

pegmatite. Colluvium of the adjacent Shire River 

plain contains rutile, ilmenite, and garnet; resource 

information has apparently not been published. 

EASTERN UNITED STATES 

Deposits of ilmenite in the coastal plains of New 

Jersey and Florida-Georgia are the most important 

placer deposits of titanium minerals in the United 

States. Alluvial deposits, probably of less impor-
METAMORPHIC SOURCE ROCKS OF TITANIUM PLACER DEPOSITS Bll 

14° 

12° 

10° 

a· 

60 

74° 

EXPLANATION 

Ilmenite deposit being mined 

Concentration of ilmenite, economic 

significance unknown 

Granulite-charnockite terrane 

Possible intermediate 

sedimentary hosts 

0 

', I I 

100 

I 

I 

76° 

MANAVALAKURICHI X 

200 MILES 

I 

0 100 200 KILOMETRES 

78° ao· 82° 

BAY OF 

BENGAL 

INDIAN OCEAN 

FIGURE 4.-Relationship of beach placer titanium deposits, modern drainage, possible intermediate sedimentary hosts, and 

granulite-facies metamorphic terrane in southern India and Ceylon. Metamorphism and sedimentary rocks are from the 

India Geological Survey (1963), Narayanaswami and Mahadevan (1964), and Cooray .(1968). Titanium deposits are 

from Jacob (1956) and the U.N. Economic Commission for Asia and the Far East (1963). 

tance, in the Blue Ridge province will be discussed 

first, however, since the asso.ciation between deposits 

and source rocks is simpler. 

In the Blue Ridge province near Roseland, Va., a 

Precambrian alkalic anorthosite body is intruded 

into gneisses that locally are in. the granulite facies 
B12 GEOLOGY AND RESOURCES OF TITANIUM 

(Herz, 1968). Anorthosite and adjacent gneiss contain rutile; anorthosite, dike rocks, and gneiss contain ilmenite. This area was formerly an important 

titanium mining district (Ross, 1941). Much of the 

titanium resource of the area is in saprolite over 

anorthosite, dike rocks, and gneiss (Fish, 1962). A 

Cambrian sandstone nearby contains a fossil placer 

of ilmenite and subordinate rutile (Bloomer and de 

Witt, 1941). Modern placer deposits of ilmenite and 

rutile are forming in streams draining anorthosite 

and gneiss (Herz and others, 1970). Ilmenite placers 

are also forming in streams draining gneiss alone. 

Near Franklin, in Macon County, N.C.,-also in the 

Blue Ridge province, some gneisses of upper amphibolite facies (sillimanite grade) and most gneisses of 

granulite facies contain rutile (fig. 1). Saprolite over 

these gneisses is residually enriched in rutile and ilmenite, and alluvium from natural washing of saprolite in small gullies consists primarily of quartz, garnet, rutile, and ilmenite. Larger streams draining 

GULF 

0 50 100 150 MILES 

0 50 100 150 KILOMETRES 

the area carry the heavy minerals garnet, ilmenite, 

kyanite-sillimanite, zircon, and monazite in average 

order of abundance. Five short channel samples of 

sandy alluvium from the Little Tennessee River and 

six samples fro·m the river's larger tributaries in 

this area average about 0.25 percent rutile and about 

1.0 percent ilmenite. Large-volume deposits of this 

material have not been discovered; placer and residual accumulations of rutile have been mined at 

nearby Shooting Creek. Precambrian ( ?) sandstones 

to the north and east locally contain detrital concentrations of titanium minerals (Carpenter and others, 

1966), pseudomorphous after rutile and ilmenite. 

"Ilmenite" deposits in young coastal plain formations near Lakehurst, N.J., were discovered by 

Markewicz (1969), who used a source-rock and dispersal-path model. A major hypothetical source rock 

is gneiss, much of it in granulite facies, of the New 

Jersey highlands, and the hypothetical dispersal 

path is an ancestral Delaware River. The depositionEXPLANATION 

X 

Ilmenite deposit being mined 

~ 

Concentration of ilmenite, economic 

significance unknown 

Sillimanite zone 

• 

75" 

Possible intermediate sedimentary hosts 

FIGURE 5.-Relationship of fossil and modern placer titanium deposits, possible intermediate sedimentary hosts, and metamorphic terrane in the southeastern United States. Metamorphism is from Morgan (1972). 
METAMORPHIC SOURCE ROCKS OF TITANIUM PLACER DEPOSITS B13 

al environment of the main formation in which "ilmenite" was finally deposited is in dispute; it may 

have been a beach. "Ilmenite" here was formed by 

weathering and is actually a black, slightly magnetic 

aggregate of fine rutile and iron oxides much higher 

in Ti02 than is true ilmenite (Markewicz, 1969). 

"Ilmenite" deposit.s of Trail Ridge, in Florida and 

Georgia, are in a Pleistocene beach deposit probably 

formed as a spit connected to an eroding headland 

of older coastal plain deposits (Pirkle and Yoho, 

1970). "Ilmenite" is a weathered aggregate containing fine-grained rutile ( Garnar, 1972) and occurs 

with rutile and zircon. There were probably two 

main sources of titanium minerals (fig. 5) ; one is 

the previously discussed high-grade metamorphic 

terrane in the Blue Ridge of North Carolina, and the 

other is a high-grade metamorphic terrane in the 

Piedmont province of North and South Carolina 

(Overstreet and others, 1968). Their relative contribution as sources is 1:1ncertain. A history of the 

Trail Ridge deposits would probably record transportation and deposition in intermediate host rocks. 

REFERENCES CITED 

Abdullah, M. I., and Atherton, M. P., 1964, The thermometric 

significance of magnetite in low-grade metamorphic rocks: 

Am. Jour. Sci., v. 262, p. 904-917. 

Albee, A. L., Bingham, Elizabeth, Chodos, A. A., and Maynes, 

A. D., 1965, Phase equilibria in three assemblages orf 

kyanite-zone pelitic schists, Lincoln Mounta-in quadrangle, 

central Vermont: Jour. Petrology, v. 6, p. 246-301. 

Andrews-Jones, D. A., 1966, Geology and mineral resources 

of the northern Kambui schist belt and adjacent granulites: Sierra Leone Geol. Survey Bull. 6, 100 p. 

Bagarre, E., 1964, Prospection pour rutile au sud-ouest de 

Man, region Ganleu-S"ingouine: Soc. pour le Devel. Minier 

de la Cote d'Ivoire Rap. 70, 11 p. 

Baker, George, 1962, Detrital heavy mi.nerals in natural accumulates: Australasian Inst. Mining and Metallurgy, 

Mon. Ser. 1, 146 p. 

Baxter, J., 1972, The geology of the Eneabba area, western 

Australia, in Report of the Department of Mines, western 

Australia, for the year 1971: Perth, Western Australia· 

Dept. Mines, p. 105-106. 

Bloomer, R. 0., and de Wxtt, Wallace, Jr., 1941, Titaniferous 

sandstone near Buena Vista, Virginia: Econ. Geology, 

v. 36, p. 745-747. 

Bloomfield, Keith, 1958, The geology of the Port Herald area 

[Nyasaland]: [Nyasaland] Geol. Survey Dept. Bull. 9, 

. 76 p. 

Brady, L. L., and Jobson, H. E., 1973, An experimental study 

of heavy-mineral segre,gation under alluvial-flow conditions: U.S. Geol. Survey Prof. Paper 562-K, 30 p. 

Briggs, L. I., 1965, Heavy mineral correlations and provenances: Jour. Sed. Petrology, v. 35, p. 939-955. 

Brown, D. A., Campbell, K. S. W., and Crook, K. A. W., 

1968, The geological evolution of Australia and New 

Zealand: London, Pergamon Press, 409 p. 

Brown, E. H., 1967, The greenschmt facies in parts of eastern Otago, New Zealand: Contr. Mineralogy and Petrology,v. 14,p. 259-292. 

Buddington, A. F., Fahey, Joseph, and Vlisidis, Angelina, 

1963, Degree of oxidation of Adironda.ck iron oxide and 

iron-titanium oxide minerals in relation to, petrogeny: 

Jour. P·etrology, v. 4, p. 138-169. 

Bushlyakov, I. N., 1970, Titanium content of amphibole and 

biotite from granitoids as an indicator of the conditions 

under which they formed: Acad. Sci. USSR Doklady, 

Earth Sci. Sec., v. 186, p. 171-174. 

Cannon, H. B., 1950, Economic minerals in the beach sands 

of the southeastern United States, in Snyder, F. G., ed., 

Proceedings of the symposium on mineral resources of the 

southeastern United States: Knoxville, Univ. of Tennessee 

Press, p. 202-210. 

Carpenter, R. H., Wedow, Helmuth, Jr., and Maher, S. W., 

1966, "Fossil" placers in the Pre,cambria.n Ocoee Series, 

Cocke County, Tennessee [abs.]: Geol. Soc. America, 

Southeastern Sec., Ann. Mtg., Athens, Ga., April 13-16, 

1966, Abs. with program, p. 17-18. 

Carroll, Dorothy, 1939, Beach sands from Bunbury, western 

Australia: Jour. Sed. Petrology, v. 9, p. 95-104. 

Carroll, Dorothy, Neuman, R. B., and Jaffe, H. W., 1957, 

Heavy minerals in arenaceous beds in parts of the Ocoee 

Series, Great Smoky Mountains, Tennessee: Am. Jour. 

Sci., v. 255, p. 175-193. 

Chidester, A. H., 1962, Petrology and geochemistry of selected 

talc-bearing ultramafic rocks and adjacent country rocks 

in north-central Vermont: U.S. Geot Survey Prof. Paper 

345, 207 p. 

Chinne,r, G. A., 1961, The origin of sillimanite in Glen Clova, 

Angus: Jour. Petrology, v. 2, p. 312-323. 

Coleman, R. G., Lee, D. E., Beatty, L. B., and Brannock, 

W. W., 1965, Eclogites and edcgites-their differences and 

similarities: Geol Soc. America Bull., v. 76, p. 483-508. 

Connah, T. H., 1961, Beach sand heavy mineral deposits of 

Queensland: Queensland Geol. Survey Pub. 302, 31 p. 

Coombs, D. S., Ellis, A. J., Fyfe, W. S., and Taylor, A. M., 

1959, The zeoli:te facies, with comments on the interpretation of hydrothermal syntheses: Geochim. et Cosmochim. 

Acta, v. 17, p. 53-107. 

Cooray, P. G., 1962, Charnockites and their associated gneisses 

in the Pre-Cambrian of Ceylon: Geol. Soc. London Quart. 

Jour., v. 118, p. 239-273. 

---· 1968, Provisional geologic map of Ceylon: scale 

1 :2,000,000. 

Deer, W. A., Howie, R. A., and Zussman, Jack, 1962a, Rockforming minerals, v. 1, Ortho- and ring silii':!ates: New 

York, John Wiley and Sons, 333 p. 

--- 1962b, Rock-forming minerals, v. 5, Non-silicates: New 

York, John Wiley and Sons, 371 p. 

Dennen, W. H., and Anderson, P. J., 1962, Chemical changes 

in incipient rock weathering: Geol. Soc. America Bull., 

v. 73, p. 375-384. 

Dryden, A. L., Jr., and Dryden, Clarissa, 1946, Comparative 

rates of weathering of some common heavy minerals: 

Jour. Sed. Petrology, v. 16, p. 91-96. 

Emery, K. 0., and Noakes, L. C., ·1968, Economic placer deposits of the continental shelf: U.N. ECAFE CCOP 

T·ech. Bull., v. 1, p. 95-111; reprinted in Offshore, v. 

29, no. 3, 1969. 
B14 GEOLOGY AND RESOURCES OF TITANIUM 

Engel, A. E. J., and Engel, C. G., 1958, Progressive metamorphism and granitization of the major paragneiss, 

northwest Adirondack Mountains, New York, pt. 1, Total 

rock: Geol. Soc. America Bull., v. 69, p. 1369-1414. 

--- 1960, Progressive metamorphism and granitization of 

the major paragneiss, northwest Adirondack Mountains, 

New York, pt. 2, Mineralogy: Geol. Soc. America Bull., 

v. 71, p. 1-58. 

--- 1962a, Progressive metamorphism of amphibolite, 

northwest Adirondack Mountains, New York, in Petrologic 

studies, a volume in honor of A. F. Buddington: New 

York, Geol. Soc. America, p. 37-82. 

--- 1962b, Hornblendes formed during progress•ive metamorphism of amphibolites, northwest Adirondack Mountains, New York: Geol. Soc. America Bull., v. 73, p. 1499-

1514. 

Eskola, P. E., 195·2, On the granulites of Lapland: Am. Jour. 

Sci., Bowen Volume, p. 133-171. 

Espenshade, G. H., and Potter, D. B., 1960, Kyanite, sillimanite, and andalusite deposits of the southeastern States: 

U.S. Geol. Survey Prof. Paper 336, 121 p. 

Evans, B. W., and Guidotti, C. V., 1966, The sillimanitepotash feldspar isograd in western Maine, U.S.A.: Contr. 

Mineralogy and Petrology, v. 12, p. 25-62. · 

Fish, G. E., Jr., 1962, Titanium resources of Nelson and Amherst Counties, Virginia, pt. 1, Saprolite ores: U.S. Bur. 

Mines Rept. Inv. 6094, 44 p. 

Force, E. R., 1976a, Titanium contents and titanium partitioning in rocks, in Geology and resources of titanium: 

U.S. Geol. Survey Prof. Paper 959-A, 10 p. 

--- 1976b, Titanium minerals in deposits of other minerals, 

in Geology and resources of titanium: U.S. Geol. Survey 

Prof. Paper 959-F, 5 p. 

Garnar, T. E., Jr., 1972, Economic geology of Florida heavy 

mineral deposits, in Puri, H. S., Proc. 7th Forum on 

Geology of Industrial Minerals:_ Florida Bur. Geology, 

Spec. Pub. 17, p. 17-21. 

Gillson, J. L., 1959, Sand deposits of titanium minerals: Mining Eng., v. 11, p. 421-429. 

Goldich, S. S., 1938, A study in rock weathering: Jour. 

Geology, v. 46, p. 17-58. 

Goldschmidt, V. M., .1954, Geochemistry: Oxford, Clarendon 

Press, 730 p. 

Grigg, N. S., and Rathbun, R. E., 1969, Hydraulic equivalence of minerals with a consideration of the reentrainment process-: U.S. Geol. Survey Prof. Paper 650-B, p. 

B77-B80. 

Hadley, J. B., and Nelson, A. E., 1971, Geologic map of the 

Knoxville quadrangle, North Carolina, Tennessee, and 

South Carolina: U.S. Geol. Survey Misc. Geol. Inv. Map 

1-654, scale 1:250,000. 

Hand, B. M., 1967, Differentiation of beach and dune sands, 

usi:ng settling velocities of · light and heavy minerals: 

Jour. Sed. Petrology, v. 37, p. 514-520. 

Harker, Alfred, 1932, Metamorphism-A study of the transformations of rock masses: London, Metheun, 360 p. 

Hartman, J. A., 1959, The titanium mineralogy of certain 

bauxites and their parent materials: Econ. Geology, v. 

54, p. 1380~1405. 

Herz, Norman, 1968, The Roseland alkalic anorthosite massif, 

Virginia, in Isachsen, Y. W., ed., Origin of anorthosite 

and related rocks: New York State Mus. and Sci. Service Mem. 18, p. 357-367 [1969]. 

--- 1976, Titanium deposits in alkalic igneous rocks, in 

Geology and ll"esources of titanium: U.S. Geol. Survey 

Prof. Paper 959-E, 6 p. 

Herz, Norman, Valentine, L. E., and lberall, E. R., 1970, 

Rutile and ilmenite placer deposits, Roseland district, 

Nelson and Amherst Counties, Virginia: U.S. Geol. Survey Bull. 1312-F, 19 p. 

Hjulstrom, Flip, 1939, Transportation of detritus by moving 

water, in Trask, P. D., ed., Recent marine sediments: 

Tulsa, Okla., Am. Assoc. Petroleum Geologists, p. 5-31. 

Horwitz, R. C., 1966, compiler, Geologic map of western 

Australia: Ea.st Perth, Western Australia Geol. Survey, 

scale 1: 2,500,000. 

Hosterman, J. W., 1969, Clay deposits of Spokane County, 

Washington: U.S. Geol. Survey Bull. 1270, 96 p. 

Houston, R. S., and Murphy, J. F., 1962, Titaniferous black 

sandstone deposits of Wyoming: Geol. Soc. Wyoming 

Bull. 49, 120 p. 

Howie, R. A., 1955, The geochemistry of the charnockite 

series of Madras, India: Royal Soc. Edinburgh Proc., v. 

62, p. 725-768. 

Hutton, C. 0., 1940, Metamorphism in the Lake Wakatipu 

region, western Otago, New Zealand: New Zealand Dept. 

Sci. and Indus. Res. Geol. Mem. 5, 90 p. 

--- 1959, Mineralogy of beach sands between Halfmoon 

and Monterey Bays, California: California Div. -Mines 

and Geology Spec. Rept. 59, 32 p. 

India Geological Survey, 1963, Geologic map of India: Delhi, 

scale 1:2,000,000. 

Jackson, M. L., and Sherman, G. D., 1953, Chemical weathering of minerals in soils, in Norman, A. G., ed., Advances 

in agronomy, v. 5: New York, Academic Press, p. 217-

319. 

Jacob, K., 1956, Ilmenite and garnet sands of the Chowghat, 

Tinnevelly, Ramnad, and Tanjore coasts: India Geol. 

Survey Rec., v. 82, p. 567-602. 

Junner, N. R., 1929, Report of the Geological Departt-r{ent for 

part of the year 1927 and for the year 1928: Sierra 

Leone Geol. Survey Dept. Rept., p. 1-17. 

Klemic, Harry, Marsh, S. P., and Cooper, Margaret, 1973, 

Titanium, in Brobst, D. A., and Pratt, W. P.,·eds., United 

States mineral resources: U.S. Geol. Survey Prof. Paper 

820, p. 653-665. 

Kretz, R. A., 1959, Chemical study of garnet, biotite, and 

hornblende for gneisses of southwestern Quebec with 

emphasis on distribution of el•ements in coexisting minerals: Jour. Geology, v. 67, p. 371-402. 

Kwak, T. A. P., 1968, Titanium in biotite and muscovite as 

an indication of metamorphic grade in almandine-amphibolite facies rocks from Sudbury, Ontario: Geochim. 

et Cosmochim. Acta, v. 32, p. 12.22-1229. 

Layton, W., 1966, Prospects of off-shore mineral deposits 

on the eastern seaboard off Australia: Mining Mag., 

v. 115, p. 344-351. 

Lindsley, D. H., 1962, Investigations of the system Fe0-

F~Oa-Ti02: Carnegie Inst. Washington Year Book, v. 

61, p. 100-106. 

Loughman, F. C., 1969, Chemical weathering of the silicate 

minerals: New YOII"k, American Elsevier Publshing Co., 

154 p. 
METAMORPHIC SOURCE ROCKS OF TITANIUM PLACER DEPOSITS B15 

Lowry, D. C., Horwitz, R. C., and Gemuts, I., 1967, Busselton 

and Augusta, western Australia: Australia Bur. Mineral 

Resources, Geology and Geophysics Bull., 1:250,000 geological series, Australian national grid, sheets Sl/50 and 

Sl/50-9. 

Markewicz, F. E., 1969, Ilmenite deposits of the New Jersey 

coastal plain, in Geology of selected Meas in New Jersey 

and eastern Pennsylvania: New Brunswick, N.J., Rutgers 

Univ. Press, p. 363-382. 

Martens, J. H. C., 1935, Beach sands between Charleston, 

South Carolina, and Miami, Florida: Geol. Soc. America 

Bull., v. 46, p. 1563-1596. 

Mason, Brian, 1962, Metamorphism in the Southern Alps of 

New Zealand: Am. Mus. Nat. History Bull., v. 123, p. 

211-248. 

--- 1966, Principles of geochemistry (3d ed.): New York, 

John Wiley and Sons, 320 p. 

McGowen, J. H., and Groat, C. G., 1971, Van Horn Sandstone, west Texas-An alluvial fan model for mineral 

exploration: Texas Univ. Bur. Econ. Geology Rept. Inv. 

72, 57 p. 

Mcintyre, D. D., 1959, The hydraulic equivalence and size 

distributions of some mineral grains from a beach [Ontario]: JoUJr. Geology, v. 67, p. 278-301. 

McLaughlin, R. J. W., 1955, Geochemical changes due· to 

weathering under varying climatic conditions: Geochim. 

et Cosmochim. Acta, v. 8, p. 109-130. 

McMaster, R. L., 1954, Petrography and genesis of the New 

Jersey beach sands: New Jersey Dept. Conserv., Ser. 

Bull. 63, 239 p. 

Menon, K. K., 1966, Sequence and source of the Tertiaries 

neaJr Karrachal, Trivandrum District: Geol. Soc. India 

Bull., v. 3, p. 75-78. 

Morel, S. W., 1961, Amphibolite-granulite facies assemblages 

in southern Nyasaland: Mine:ralog. Mag., v. 32, p. 725-

730. 

Morgan, B. A., 1972:, Metamorphic map of the Appalachians: 

U.S. Geol. Survey Misc .. Geol. Inv. Map I-724, scale 

1:2,500,000. 

Narayanaswami, S., and Mahadevan, T. M., 1964, Geology of 

Trivandrum and Madras areas: lnternat. Geol. Cong., 

22d, New Delhi,· India, 1964, Guide to excursion C-23, 

13 p. 

Neiheisel, James, 1958, Origin of the dune system on the Isle 

of Palms, S.C.: South Carolina Div. Geology Mineral 

Industries Lab. Bull., v. 2, p. 46-51. 

--- 1962, Heavy-mineral investigations Olf Recent and 

Pleistocene sands of the lower coastal plain of Georgia: 

Geol. Soc. America Bull., v. 73, p. 365-374. 

Overstreet, W. C., 1967, The geologic occurrence of monazite: U.S. Geol. Survey P~of. Paper 530, 327 p. 

--- 1972, Ilmenite beach placer, Pulmoddai, Ceylon, and 

ihnenite resources of the Pleistocene and Holocene formations of Ceylon: U.S. Geol. Survey open-file rept., 

70 p. 

Overstreet, W. C., and Griffitts, W. R., 1955, Inner Piedmont belt, in Russel, R. J., ed., Guides to southeastern 

geology: Boulder, Colo., Geol. Soc. America, p. 549-577. 

Overstreet, W. C., Yates, R. G., and Griffitts, W. R., 1963, 

Heavy minerals in the saprolite of the crystalline rock·s 

in the Shelby quadrangle, North Carolina: U.S. Geol. 

Survey Bull. 1162-F, 31 p. 

Overstreet, W. C., White, A. M., Whitlow, J. W., Theobald, 

P. K., Jr., Caldwell, D. W., and Cuppels, N. P., 1968_, 

Fluvial monazite deposits in the southeastern United 

States: U.S. Geol. Survey Prof. Paper 568, 85 p. 

Parker, Andrew, 1970, Chemical and mineralogical analyses 

of some basic and ultrabasic rocks and their initial 

weathering produ.cts: Reading Univ. Dept. Geology Geol. 

Rept. 4, 44 p. 

Patterson, S. H., 1967, Bauxite reserves and potential aluminum resources of the world: U.S. Geol. Survey Bull. 1228, 

176 p. 

--- 1971, Investigations of ferruginous bauxite and other 

mineral resources on Kauai and a ~econnaissance of 

ferruginous bauxite deposits on Maui, Hawaii: U.S. Geol. 

Survey Prof. Paper 656, 74 p. 

Pettijohn, F. J., 1957, Sedimentary rocks (2d ed.): New York, 

Harper and Row, 718 p. 

Pirkle, E. C., and Yoho, W. H., 1970, The heavy mineral ore 

body of Trail Ridge, Florida: Econ. Geology, v. 65, p. 

17-30. 

Rajamanickam, G. V., 1968, Heavy mineral studies of the 

Cretaceous-Tertiary formations of Pondicherry, South 

India, in Cretaceous-Tertiary formations. of South India.: 

Geol. Soc. India Mem. 2, p. 234-242. 

Ramberg, Hans, 1948, Titanic iron ore formed by dissociation 

of silicates in granulite facies [Greenland]: Econ. Geology,v.43, p. 553-569. 

--- 1952, The origin of metamorphic and metasomatic 

rocks: Chicago, Ill., Univ. of Chicago Press, 317 p. 

Rankama, K. K., and Sahama, Th. G., 1950, Geochemistry: 

Chicago, Ill., Univ. of Chicago Press, 912 p. 

Rittenhouse, Gordon, 1943, Transportation and deposition of 

heavy minerals: Geol. Soc. America Bull., v. 54, p. 1725-

1780. 

Roedder, Edwin, 1956, Report on the mineralogy of the titanium in bauxite from Salem Hills, Oregon, in Corcoran, R. E., and Libbey, F. W., eds., Ferruginous bauxite 

deposits in the Salem Hills, Marion County, Oregon: 

Oregon Dept. Geology and Mineral Industries Bull. 46, 

53 p. 

Ross, C. S., 1941, Occurrence and origin of the titanium deposits of Nelson and Amherst Counties, Virginia: U.S. 

Geol. Surve.y Prof. Paper 198, 59 p. 

Rubey, W. W., 1933, The size distribution of heavy minerals 

within a waterlaid sandstone: Jour. Sed. Petrology, v. 3, 

p. 3-29. 

Rumble, Douglas, III, 1973, Fe-Ti oxide minerals from regionally metamorphosed quartzites of western New Hampshire: Contr. Mineralogy ·and Petrology, v. 42, p. 181-

195. 

Schuiling, R. D., and Vink, B. W., 1967, Stability relations 

of some titanium minerals (sphene, perovskite, rutile, 

and anatase): Geochim.· et Cosmochim .. Acta, v. 31, p. 

2399-2411. 

Seki. Yotaro, 1961, Pumpellyite in low-grade metamorphism: 

Jour. Petrology, v. 2, p. 407-423. 

Seki, Yotaro, Onuki, Hitoshi, Oba, Tadamichi, and Mori, R., 

1971, Sanbagawa metamorphism itn the central Kii Penin-

.sula, Japan: Japanese Jour. Geology and Geography, v. 

41, p. 65-78. 

Shcherbina, V. V., 1971, Geochemistry of titanium: Geokhimiya, no. 3, p. 302-309. 
B16 GEOLOGY AND RESOURCES OF TITANIUM 

Sherman, G. D., 1952, The titanium content of Hawaiian soils 

and its significance: Soil Sci. Soc. America Proc., v. 16, 

p. 15-18. 

Short, N. M., 1961, Geochemical variations in four residual 

soils: Jour. Geology, v. 69, p. 534-571. 

Southwick, D. L., 1968, Mineralogy of rutile- and apatitebearing ultramafic chlorite rock, Harford County, Maryland: U.S. Geol. Survey Prof. Paper 600-C, p. C38-C44. 

Spencer, R. V., and Williams, F. R., 1967, The development 

of a rutile mining industry in Sierra Leone: Commonwealth Mining and Metallurgical Cong., 8th, Australia 

and New Zealand, 1965, Proc.-General: v. 6, p. 1337-

1341. 

Talati, D. J., 1971, Ilmenite sands of Gujarat coast: Mineral 

Wealth (Gujarat Div. Geol. Min.), v. 7, p. 9-13. 

Temple, A. K., 1966,. Alteration of ilmenite: Econ. Ueology, 

v. 61, p. 695-714. 

Thomas, B. I., and Berryhill, R. V., 1962, Reconnaissance 

studies of Alaska beach sands, eastern Gulf of Alaska: 

U.S. Bur. Mines Rept. Inv. 5986, 40 p. 

Tourtelot, H. A., 1968, Hydraulic equivalence of grains of 

quartz and heavier minerals, and implications for the 

study of placers: U.S. Geol. Survey Prof. Paper 594-F, 

p. F1-F13. 

Turner, F. J., 1968, Metamorphic petrology-Mineralogical 

and field aspects: New York, McGraw-Hill Book Co., 

403 p. . 

Udden, J. A., 1914, Mechanical composition of clastic sediments: Geol. Soc. America Bull., v. 25, p. 655-744. 

U.N. Economic Commission for Asia ·and the Far East, 1963, 

Minerals map: sheet 3, scale 1:500,000. 

V aleton, Ida, 1972, Bauxites: New York, American Elsevier 

Publishing Co., 226 p. 

Van Andel, Tj. H., 1950, Provenance, transport, and deposition of Rhine sediments-A heavy mineral study on 

river ,sands from the drainage area of the Rhine: W ageningen, Germany, Veenman and Zonen, 129 p. 

Wells, N., 1960, Total elements in topsoils from igneous 

rocks-An extension of geochemistry: Jour. Soil Sci., 

v. 11, p. 409-424. 

Western Australia Department of Mines, 1968, Regional divisions and reported mineral occurrences in western 

Australia: East Perth, Western Australia Dept. Mines, 

scale 1:2,534,400. 

White, J. R., and Williams, E. G., 1967, The nature of a 

fluvial process as defined by settling velocities of heavy 

and light minerals: Jour. Sed. Petrology, v. 37, p. 530-

. 539. 

White, R. W., 1972, Progressive metamorphism .of ironformation and associated rocks in the Wologizi Range, 

Liberia: U.S. Geol. Survey open-file rept., 90 p. 

Whitworth, H. F., 1956, The zircon-rutile deposits on the 

beaches of the east coast of Australia Wilth special reference to their mode of occurrence and the origin of the 

minerals: New South Wales Dept. Mines Tech. Rept., 

v. 4, p. 7-61. 

Wilson, A. F., 1964, The petrological features and structural 

setting of Australian granulites and charnockites: Internat. Geol. Cong., 22d, New Delhi, 1964, Rept., pt. 13, p. 

21-44. 

--- 1969, Granulitic terrains and their tectonic setting 

and relationship to associated metamorphic rocks in 

Australia: Geol. Soc. Australia Spec. Pub. 2, p. 243-

258. 

Wright, J. B., 1964, Iron-titanium oxides in some New Zealand iron sands: New Zealand Jour. Geology and Geophysics, v. 7, p. 42'4-444. 

Zakrutkin, V. V., and Grigoreriko, M. V., 1968, Titanium and 

alkalies in biotite in metamorphic facies: Acad. Sci. 

USSR Doklady, Earth Sci. Sec., v. 178, p. 124-127. 

Zen, E-an, 1960, Metamorphism of lower Paleozoic rocks in' 

the vicinity of the Taconic range in west-central Vermont: Am. Mineralogist, v. 45, p. 129-175. 

\ 
Rutile and Sphene in Blueschist and 

Related High-Pressure:.Facies Rocks 

By M. C. BLAKE, JR., and BENJAMIN A. MORGAN 

GEOLOGY AND RESOURCES OF TITANIUM 

G E 0 L 0 G I C A L S U R V E Y P R 0 .F E S S I 0 N A L P A P E R 9 5 9 - C 

CONTENTS 

Page 

~bstract ---------------------------------------------------------------- C1 

Introduction -------------------------------------------------------------- 1 

Description of individual localities ------------------------------------------ 1 

Western California -------------------------------------- _____ ___ _ _____ 1 

New Caledonia -------------------------------------..... ----------------- 2 Sanbagawa belt, Japan ____ __ _ ___ _ _ __ _ _ _ __ __ _ __ __ ___ __ _ __ _ _ ___ _ _ __ _ __ _ _ 2 

Central ~Ips --------------~------------------------------------------ 3 Soviet Union ____ ----- __ ___ __ _ __ __ _ __ __ _ __ _ _ __ __ _ _ _ __ __ __ _ __ _ _ _ __ __ _ _ 3 

Venezuela ------------------------------------------------------------ 3 

Discussion --------------------------------------------------------------- 3 Resource potential ------ _______________ ----- ___ ___ _____ __ __ _ __ __ _ __ _ _ _ __ _ 5 

References cited ---------------------------------------------------------- 5 

ILLUSTRATION 

Page 

FIGURE 1. Photomicrographs of rutile-sphene relations in high-pressure metamorphic rocks --------------------------------------------- C3 

III 
GEOLOGY AND RESOURCES OF TITANIUM 

RUTILE AND SPHENE IN BLUESCHIST AND RELATED HIGH-PRESSURE-FACIES ROCKS 

By M. C. BLAKE, JR., and BENJAMIN A. MoRGAN 

ABSTRACT 

Sphene and rutile are characteristic accessory minerals 

of blueschist-facies metamorphic rocks. Only sphene, however, is present in lower grade blueschist assemblages. 

In many areas of the world, these blueschists pass into, or 

are in fault contact with, higher grade glaucophane schists, 

rutile-bearing amphibolites, and eclogites. The origin of the 

rutile may be related to a prograde metamorphic reaction 

that alters sphene to rutile, but few data are available to support this hypothesis. It seems more probable that the rutile 

crystallized directly from ilmenite or titanium-rich clinopyroxene and magnetite in basalts and gabbros during the conversion of these rocks to amphibolites and eclogJl'tes containing omphacite, amphibole, and garnet. Regardless of its 

origin, rutile in the higher grade blueschists is a potential 

titanium resource and is currently being mined from eclogi~ 

and glaucophane-ecologite rocks in the Soviet Union, where resources of contained Ti02 could range as high as millions of 

tons. 

INTRODUCTION 

Low-grade metamorphic rocks of the blueschist 

facies, characterized by minerals such as glaucophane, jadeitic pyroxene, aragonite, and sphene, 

have been described from many parts of the world 

(Irwin and Coleman, 1972). According to most 

workers, blueschist-facies rocks formed under conditions of relatively high pressure and low temperature (5 to 7 kbar and 150° to 300°C) and are most 

likely the products of subduction in island arcs and 

active continental margins (Coleman, 1972). Detailed petrologic studies in a number of areas, including California (Coleman and Lee, 1963; Blake 

and others, 1967; Ernst and others, 1970), Japan 

(Hashimoto and others, i970; Ernst and others, 

1970), New Caledonia (Brothers, 1970; Brothers 

and Blake, 1973), Venezuela (Morgan, 1969, 1970), 

and the Alps (van der Plas, 1959; Bearth, 1959, 

1966; Ernst, 1971, 1973), have demonstrated that, 

with increasing metamorphism, these rocks locally 

pass into amphibolites, eclogites, or glaucophane 

I 

eclogites containing garnet, blue-green hornblende, 

epidote, omphacite, and rutile in addition to glaucophane. Oxygen isotope studies suggest that the high-

. er grade rocks formed at temperatures on the order 

of 400° to 550°C and at pressures of 9 to 10 kbar 

(Taylor and Coleman, 1968). Belts containing these 

higher grade amphibolites and eclogites usually lie 

closer to the inferred subduction zones than the lower grade blueschists do, and the sense of the ·metamorphic progression is believed to mark the direction of lithospheric underthrusting (Ernst, 1971). 

Although this division into two high-pressure mineral facies appears to be reasonably well established, 

differentiation in specific geographic areas is difficult. Problems include: (1) Differences in mineral 

assemblages related to host-rock chemistry (for example, epidote is known to occur in low-grade blueschists containing abundant ferric iron as well as in 

higher grade rocks), (2) faulting of the higher 

grade rocks such that they occur as either isolated 

fault blocks or tectonic inclusions in lower grade 

blueschists, and ( 3) retrogression of many higher 

grade blueschists to low-grade mineral assemblages. 

No documentation of a prograde reaction converting sphene to rutile was found in this review of 

detailed studies on the petrography of blueschists. 

In fact, only the retrograde sequence has been described from many areas; rutile in high-grade blueschist rocks is rimmed and partially replaced by 

sphene. If the sphene-rutile transition is to represent 

a potentially valuable isograd, the reaction must be 

defined. The present data strongly suggest that rutile 

does not form at the expense of sphene in blueschist-

. facies metamorphic terranes. 

DESCRIPTION OF 'INDIVIDUAL LOCALITIES 

WESTERN CALIFORNIA 

The presence of rutile and sphene in metamorphic 

rocks of the Franciscan assemblage has long been 

Cl 
C2 GEOLOGY AND RESOURCES OF TITANIUM 

known (Taliaferro, 1943, p. 170; Bailey and others, 

1964, p. 97). Borg (1956) pointed out the association of sphene with glaucophane and lawsonite 

schists and of rutile with eclogites in part of northern California. Coleman and Lee (1963) subdivided 

similar rocks into three metamorphic types in part 

on the basis of the presence of sphene versus rutile. 

They showed that rutile-bearing high-grade schists 

and eclogites are metabasalts occurring as tectonic 

inclusions ("knockers") in less metamorphosed 

Franciscan rocks; subsequent studies have verified 

this conclusion over large areas of the Coast Ranges 

(Bailey and others, 1964; Ernst and others, 1970). 

In a very detailed study, Lee and others (1966) 

described one of these "knockers," a glaucophane 

schist, from the Cazadero area and showed that the 

primary metamorphic mineral assemblage, which 

consists of glaucophane, actinolite, epidote, garnet, 

and rutile, was more or less replaced by retrograde 

pumpellyite, chlorite, and sphene. Modal analyses of 

four parts of this rock showed sphene ranging from 

6.1 to 8.1 volume percent, whereas rutile made up 

only 0.1 to 0.3 percent (fig. 1A). Coleman and Lee 

(1963, p. 286) suggested the following retrograde reactions: ( 1) Pumpellyite+ lawsonite+ sphene 

:=:;epidote+rutile+water+quartz and (2) lawsonite 

+ sphene:=:;epidote +rutile+ water+ quartz. Both reactions suggest that the rutile-bearing assemblages 

would be favored by higher pressures and (or) higher temperatures; this inference is supported by the 

previously mentioned isotopic· studies. Chemical 

analyses of the rutile- and sphene-bearing metabasalts, as well as of unmetamorphosed basalts from 

the Franciscan assemblage, indicate that these rocks 

are all very similar and suggest that the metamorphism was essentially isochemical. 

Undoubtedly, the most extensive area of rutilebearing "high-grade" metamorphic rocks in the California Coast Ranges is found on Catalina Island, 

where Bailey (1941) mapped an area of about 10 

km2 of gneisses containing· albite, hornblende, diopside, rutile, and rare kyanite and structurally over-

· lying lower grade lawsonite- and sphene-bearing 

schists along a low-angle fault. Detailed mineralogical and chemical studies of coexisting phases from a 

few of these rocks were described by Ernst and 

others (1970) ; the titanium-bearing phases, however, were not included in their study. 

Rutile-bearing metamorphic rocks also occur in 

the Sierra Nevada foothills in central California. In 

this area, tectonic blocks of garnet amphibolite and 

rare eclogite are found along serpentinite-marked 

fault zones. Neither lawsonite nor glaucophane has 

been reported from these rocks, but recent work by 

Morgan (1973) suggested that, in many respects, 

these rocks are similar both chemically and mineralogically to high-grade amphibolite "knockers" in 

the Franciscan assemblage to the west. The higher 

grade assemblage studied by Morgan consists of garnet-amphibole-albite-rutile that is being retrograded 

to epidote, chlorite, ilmenite, and sphene. Rutile in 

these rocks occurs as scattered grains as large as 0.5 

mm and is either retrograded to sphene or to ilmenite and minor sphene (fig. 1B). 

NEW CALEDONIA 

A remarkably continuous metamorphic terrane is 

present in the northwestern part of New Caledonia 

(Espirat, 1963; Coleman, 1967; Lillie and Brothers, 

1970). Here one can walk from unmetamorphosed 

Eocene cherts and siliceous shales to Cretaceous 

phyllites with lawsonite-glaucophane-sphene and on 

to schists and gneisses containing several mappable 

metamorphic isograds including garnet, epjdote, and 

blue-green hornblende within a radius of 15 km. The 

rocks strike northwest and dip to the southwest; 

their structural thickness is on the order of 20,000 m 

(Lillie, 1970). The highest grade part of this sequence crops out along the northwestern coast between Balade and Touho, a distance of about 100 km. 

Locally, these rocks consist of extremely coarse 

grained schists and gneisses with individual crystals 

of glaucophane, blue-green hornblende, epidote, omphacite, albite, phengite, and garnet locally as large 

as 2.5 em. Rutile is found as 1- to 2-mm grains in 

glaucophane-rich metabasalt and amphibolite (fig. 

1C) and in veins cutting these rocks. At least some 

of these coarse-grained rocks are found in serpentinite-rich melange zones and may not be conformable 

with the enclosing schists. The detailed mineralogy 

and chemistry of these rocks and included phases 

were being studied in 1973 by ·Phillipa Black at 

Auckland University in New Zealand. 

SANBAGAWA BELT, JAPAN 

Numerous detailed studies have been carried out 

on the metamorphic rocks of the Sanbagawa belt of 

Japan, which extends along the Pacific Ocean side of 

the Japanese islands for more than 1,000 km. The 

width of the belt is 20 to 50 km. The highest grade 

rocks are to the north and west, and metamorphic 

grade decreases south and east into upper Paleo;loic 

and Mesozoic sedimentary rocks (Miyashiro, 1972; 

Seki and others, 1964; Ernst and others, 1970). In 

Sikoku, where numerous detailed studies have been 
RUTILE AND SPHENE IN BLUESCHIST AND RELATED ROCKS C3 

FIGURE !.-Photomicrographs of rutile-sphene relations in high-pressure metamorphic rocks. A, Garnet-glaucophane amphibolite (sample 50CZ60) from Cazadero, Calif.; plane-polarized light showing cluster of rutile grains mantled by sphene. 

Other minerals include garnet, phengite, and glaucophane. Field of view is 1.4 mm. B, Garnet amphibolite (sample 2126) 

from Chinese Camp 7%-min quadrangle, western Sierra Nevada, California; plane-polarized light showing two grains 

of rutile mantled by ilmenite, which in turn is mantled by minor sphene. Large gray grains are amphibole. Field of 

view is 1.4 mm. C, Glaucophane amphibolite (sample 9677) from New Caledonia; plane-polarized light showing a 

group of dark rutile crystals with no mantling by sphene. Other minerals are phengite and glaucophane. Field of view 

is 1.4 mm. D, Eclogite-amphibolite (sample 1115) from Puerto Cabello, Venezuela (Morgan, 1970); plane-polarized light 

showi.ng grain of rutile completely mantled by sphene. Other minerals include paragonite and amphibole. Field of view 

is 0.35 mm. 

made (Hide, 1961; Iwasaki, 1963; Suzuki, 1964; 

Ernst and others, 1970), three metamorphic mineral 

zones have been mapped. In zone I, mafic schists contain epidote, chlorite, actinolite, albite, sphene, and 

minor glaucophane. Farther north in zone II, the 

mafic rocks are characterized by coarser grain size 

and the assemblage of epidote, chlorite, calcic amphibole (actinolite grading northward into blue-green 

hornblende), sphene, white mica, garnet, and sodic 

amphibole.-Within zone III, the mafic rocks contain 

abundant porphyroblasts of albite plus blue-green 

hornblende, with epidote, chlorite, garnet, rutile, and 

sphene; rutile also has been reported from siliceous 

rocks of this zone (Ernst and others, 1970). Elsewhere in Sikoku, rutile-bearing eclogites represent 

an even higher grade of metamorphism (Banno, 
C4 GEOLOGY AND RESOURCES OF TITANIUM 

1964, 1966), but these rocks seem to be tectonic 

slices similar to those described from California. 

CENTRAL ALPS 

The metamorphic zonation in the central Alps is 

not developed in a simple, roughly continuous succession but represents a series of complex· nappes, 

metamorphosed ~nd emplaced over a long period of 

time (Ernst, 1971, 1973). In the north, the Pennine, 

Sesia-Lanzo, and Helvetic nappes collectively form 

a relatively high pressure metamorphic terrane, 

which is structurally overlain to the south and east 

by the Austroalpine nappes (and southern Alps) 

representing a relatively high temperature metamorphic terrane. The tectonic contact between these 

two contrasting terranes has been named the Alpine 

Suture (Ernst, 1973). Within the high-pressure 

terrane, three metamorphic events have been recognized, which began during the Cretaceous and continued into the Oligocene: (1) Early Alpine blueschist-type facies, (2) a later greenschist-type facies, 

and (3) a late Alpine higher temperature event 

ranging from greenschist to amphibolite facies. During the early Alpine event, a progressive metamorphic sequence was formed with zeolite- and prehnite-pumpellyite-facies rocks grading southward 

through a zone composed of both greenschists and 

blueschists into an albite-amphibolite facies containing eclogite. The southernmost rocks contain rutile 

and grade northward into sphene-bearing lawsonite 

blueschists and laterally into greenschists (Bearth, 

1962, 1966; Chatterjee, 1971). The details of this 

transition, however, are not given. 

SOVIET UNION 

Rutile-bearing eclogite and garnet-glaucophane 

schists are found in the southern Ural Mountains of 

the Soviet Union (Chesnokov, 1960). The rocks occur as scattered blocks or slabs as long as 1 km and 

as thick as 150 to 200 m surrounded by quartzmuscovite schists, graphite-mica schists, and garnetglaucophane-muscovite-quartz schists. According to 

Chesnokov, the rocks probably represent isolated 

metamorphosed gabbro bodies in a metasedimentary 

terrane. 

The amount of rutile in the eclogite and garnetglaucophane schists ordinarily does not exceed 1 or 2 

percent, but locally higher values exist, and Ti02 

content is as high as 5.3 percent, presumably all as 

rutile. Size analyses show that the rutile crystals 

generally fall between 0.1 and 0.2 mm. Four potential orebodies are mentioned and described by Chesnokov, and, according to N. L. Dobretsov (oral 

commun., 1973), at least one of these deposits is currently being mined. 

VENEZUELA 

Eclogite, eclogite-amphibolite, garnet-amphibolite, 

and garnet-glaucophane schist are found in northern Venezuela in a broad belt extending along the 

coast west from Caracas for nearly 200 km ( Dengo, 

1950; Morgan, 1969, 1970). The eclogites and related rocks occur as irregular lenses in rocks of the 

epidote-amphibolite facies. This terrane is structurally overlain to the south by thrust sheets of greenschist- and lower grade blueschist-facies rocks 

(Shagam, 1960; Piburn, 1968). Although field relations are complicated by extensive. thrust faulting, 

the regional metamorphism can be attributed to 

former subduction zones that presumably lay north 

of the present coastline (Bell, 1972). 

Within the lower grade blueschist rocks, rutile is 

absent and sphene is rare. Rutile as small (less than 

0.5 mm) round grains, however, is a common accessory mineral in the eclogites and related high-grade 

rocks. Rutile grains are rimmed by sphene in those 

eclogites that are boudins in marble. This alteration 

may be related to the reaction rutile+ quartz+ calcite~sphene+ C02 (fig. 1D). According to Morgan 

(1970), the conditions of metamorphism for the 

eclogites and associated rocks include temperatures 

of about 525°C and pressures of about 7 kbar. 

DISCUSSION 

Rutile-bearing eclogites, amphibolites, and garnetglaucophane schists occur in the areas just described 

as ( 1) tectonic inclusions in lower grade sphenebearing blueschists (California) and (2) thrust 

sheets overlying lower grade rocks (central Alps) 

and in (3) relatively coherent metamorphic terranes 

(New Caledonia, Venezuela, and Japan), where 

rutile is presumably replaced by sphene at a lower 

grade, although the details of this transition are not 

known. In nearly every area, there is petrographic 

evidence for retrograde metamorphism of rutile to 

sphene, but nowhere has the progression from sphene 

to rutile been documented. Because sphene is stable 

in Barrovian metamorphic terranes well into the 

sillimanite zone, it might appear that the formation 

of rutile is related to unusual chemistry of the host 

rocks. As Force (1976) pointed out, however, rutile 

is found in low-grade metamorphic rocks low in 

CaO; in the blueschists, nearly all of the rocks are 

metamorphosed basalts high in CaO. A more con-
RUTILE AND SPHENE IN BLUESCHIST AND RELATED ROCKS C5 

vincing hypothesis is that the rutile is derived from -- 1962, Versuch einer Gliederung alpinmetamorpher 

titanium-rich minerals such as ilmenite, magnetite, Serien den Westalpen: Schweizer. Mineralog. u. Petrog. 

d 1

. . th . . l b It D . Mitt., v. 42, p. 127-137. 

an c 1nopyroxene In e origina asa · unng ___ 1966, Zur mineralfaziellen Stellung der Glaukophangemetamorphism, titaniferous augite and plagioclase steine der Westalpen: Schweizer. Mineralog. u. Petrog. 

are converted to omphacitic pyroxene, amphibole, Mitt., v. 46, p. 13-23. 

and garnet, the titanium being left to form rutile. Bell, J. S., 1972, Geotectonic evolution of the southern CaribExamples of the conversion of titanium-bearing bean area: Geol. Soc. America Mem. 132, p. 369-386. 

1 Blake, M. C., Jr., Irwin, W. P., and Coleman, R. G., 1967, 

clinopyroxene to omphacite and ruti e in the central Upside-down metamorphic zonation, blueschist facies, 

Alps have been documented by Miller (1970) and by along a regional thrust in California and Oregon: U.S. 

Chinner and Dixon ( 1973). Duri~g subsequent retro- Geol. Survey Prof. Paper 575-C, p. C1-C9. 

grade metamorphism, the breakdown of omphacite-.. · ·Borg,· 'I. Y.,- '1956, Glaucophane···'scliists·· 'ahd" ·eclogites near···· 

and other minerals releases calcium, which reacts Healdsburg, California: Geol. Soc. America Bull., v. 67, 

p. 1563-1584. 

with the rutile to form rims of sphene. This hypothe- Brothers, R. N., 1970, Lawsonite-albite schists from northernsis certainly fits the observed field and petrographic most New Caledonia: Contr. Mineralogy and Petrology, 

data for tectonic slices from California, but it re- v. 25, p. 185-202. 

mains to be seen whether rutile is derived directly Brothers, R. N., and Blake, M. C., Jr., 1973, Tertiary plate 

from primary minerals in more coherent terranes tectonics and high-pressure metamorphism in New Caledonia: Tectonophysics, v. 17, p. 337-358. 

where gradational cases might be observed. Chatterjee, N. D., 1971, Phase equilibria in the Alpine metaRESOURCE POTENTIAL 

The large grain size and abundance of rutile in 

many eclogites and related high-pressure rocks warrant its classification as a titanium resource. As was 

mentioned earlier, rutile is currently being mined 

from these kinds of rocks in the Urals, and similar 

potential ore bodies may exist in New Caledonia, on 

Catalina Island (California), and in northern Venezuela. In all of these areas, the mineral potential is 

greatly enhanced by the possibility of shoreline placer deposits of rutile. 

The magnitude of rutile resources in deposits of 

high-pressure rocks has not been published, but the 

figures cited above for grade and size of low-grade 

resources in eclogitic tectonic blocks of the Urals 

imply millions of tons of contained rutile. 

REFERENCES CITED 

Bailey, E. H., 1941, Mineralogy, petrology and geology of 

Santa Catalina Island, California: Unpub. Ph.D. dissert., 

Stanford Univ., Palo Alto, Calif. 

Bailey, E. H., Irwin, W. P., and Jones, D. L., 1964, Franciscan 

and related rocks, and their significance in the geology of 

western California: Californi.a Div. Mines and Geology 

Bull. 183, 177 p. 

Banno, Shohei, 1964, Petrologic studies on Sanbagawa crystalline schists in the Bessi-Ino district, central Sikoku, 

Japan: Toyko Univ. Fac. Sci. Jour., sec. 2, v. 15, p. 

203-319. 

--- 1966, Eclogite and eclogite facies: Japanese Jour. 

Geology and Geography, v. 37, p. 105-122. 

Bearth, Peter, 1959, Uber Eklogite Glaukophanschiefer und 

metamorphe Pillowlaven: Schweizer. Mineralog. u. 

Petrog. Mitt., v. 39, p. 267-286. 

morphic rocks of the environs of the Dora-Maira Massif, 

western Italian Alps, pts. 1 and 2: N eues J ahrb. Mineralogie Abh., v. 114, p. 181-245. 

Chesnokov, B. V., 1960, Rutile bearing eclogites from the 

Shubino village deposit in the southern Urals: Internat. 

Geology Rev., v. 2, p. 936-945. 

Chinner, G. A., and Dixon, J. E., 1973, Some high-pressure 1 paragenesis of the Allalin Gabbro, Valais, Switzerland: 

Jour. Petrology, v. 14, p. 185-202. 

Coleman, R. G., 1967, Glaucophane schists from California 

and New Caledonia: Tectonophysics, v. 4, p. 479-498. 

--- 1972, Blueschist metamorphism and plate tectonics, 

in Internat. Geol. Congress, 24th, Montreal 1972, Proc.: 

sec. 2, p. 19-26. 

Coleman, R. G., and Lee, D. E., 1963, Glaucophane-bearing 

metamorphic rock types of the Cazadero area, California: 

Jour. Petrology, v. 4, p. 260-301. 

Dengo, Gabriel, 1950, Eclogitic and glaucophane amphibolites 

in Venezuela: Am. Geophys. Union Trans., v. 31, p. 

873-878. 

Ernst, W. G., 1971, Metamorphic zonations on presumably 

subducted lithospheric plates from Japan, California and 

the Alps: Contr. Mineralogy and Petrology, v. 34, p. 

43-59. 

--- 1973, Interpretative synthesis of metamorphism in the 

Alps: Geol. Soc. AIT).erica Bull., v. 84, p. 2053-2078. 

Ernst, W. G., Seki,Yotaro, Onuki, Hitoshi, and Gilbert, M. C., 

1970, Comparative study of low-grade metamorphism 

in the California Coast Ranges and the outer metamorphic 

belt of Japan: Geol. Soc. America Mem. 124, 276 p. 

Espirat, J. J., 1963, Etude geologique de regions de NouvelleCaledonie septentrionale: Unpub. thesis, Univ. of Clermont, France, 210 p. 

Hashimoto, Mitsuo, Igi, Sachio, Seki, Yotaro, Banno, Shohei, 

and Kojima, 1970, Metamorphic facies map of Japan: 

Kawasaki City, Japan Geol. Survey, map ser. no. 13, 

scale 1:2,000,000. 

Hide, Kei, 1961, Geologic structure and metamorphism of the 

Sanbagawa crystalline schists of the Besshi-Shirataki 

mining district in Sikoku, southwest Japan: Hiroshima 
C6 GEOLOGY AND RESOURCES OF TITANIUM 

Univ. Geol. Rept. 9, p. 1-87 [in Japanese with English 

abs.]. 

Irwin, W. P., and Coleman, R. G., 1972, Preliminary map 

showing global distribution of alpine-type ultramafic 

rocks and blueschists: U.S. Geol. Survey Misc. Field 

Studies Map MF-340, scale 1:40,000,000. 

Iwasaki, Masao, 1963, Metamorphic rocks of the Kotu-Bizan 

area, eastern Sikoku: Tokyo Univ. Fac. Sci. Jour., sec. 

2, v. 15, p. 1-90. 

Force, E. R., 1976, Metamorphic source rocks of titanium 

placer deposits-A geochemical cycle, in Geology and 

resources of titanium: U.S. Geol. Survey Prof. Paper 

959.,..B, 16 p. 

Lee, D. E., Coleman, R. G., Bastron, Harry, and Smith, V. C., 

1966, A two-amphibole glaucophane schist in the Franciscan Formation, Cazadero area, Sonoma County, California: U.S. Geol. Survey Prof. Paper 550-C, p. C148-

C157. 

Lillie, A. R., 1970, The structural geology of lawsonite and 

glaucophane schists of the Ouegoa di'Strict, New Caledonia: New Zealand Jour. Geology and Geophysics, v. 

13, p. 72-116. 

Lillie, A. R., and Brothers, R. N., 1970, The geology of New 

Caledonia: New Zealand Jour. Geology and Geophysics, 

v. 13, p. 145-183. 

Miller, Christine, 1970, Petrology of some eclogites and metagabbros of the Oetztal Alps, Till'ol, Austria: Contr. Min-

,eralogy and Petrology, v. 28, p. 42-56. 

Miyashiro, Akiho, 1972, Metamorphism and related magmatism in plate tectonics: Am. Jour. Sci., v. 272, p. 629-

656. 

Morgan, B. A., 1969, Geologia de la region de Valencia, Carabobo, Venezuela: Venezuela Direccion Geologia, Bol. 

Geologia, v. 10, no. 20, p. 3-136. 

--- 1970, Petrology and mineralogy of eclogite and garnet 

amphibolite f.rom Puerto Cabello, Venezuela: Jour. 

Petrology, v. 11, p. 101-145. 

--- 1973, Tuolumne River ophiolite, western Sierra Nevada, California [abs.]: Geol. Soc. America Abs. with 

program, v. 5, p. 83. 

Piburn, M. D., 1968, Metamorfismo y estructura del grupo 

Villa de Cura, Venezuela septentrional: Venezuela Direccion Geologia, Bol. Geologia, v. 9, no. 18, p. 183-289. 

Seki, Yotaro, Oba, Tadamichi, Mori, Ryuji, and Kuriyagawa, 

S., 1964, Sanbagawa metamorphism in the central part of 

the Kii Peninsula: Japanese Assoc. Mineralogists, Petrologists, and Econ. Geologists Jour., v. 52, p. 73-89. 

Shagam, Reginald, 1960, Geology of central Aragua, Venezuela: Geol. Soc. America Bull., v. 71, p. 249-302. 

Suzuki, T., 1964, The Mikabu greenrocks in Sikoku (1): 

Petrology and geology of the Mikabu greenrocks in the 

district of Osugi, Kochi Prefecture: Kochi Univ. Res. 

Rept., v. 13, p. 93-102 [in Japanese with English abs.]. 

Taliaferro, N. L., 1943, Franciscan-Knoxville problem: Am. 

Assoc. Petroleum Geologists Bull., v. 27, p. 109-219. 

Taylor, H. P., Jr., and Coleman, R. G., 1968, 0 18/016 ratios of 

coexisting minerals in glaucophane-bearing metamorphic 

rocks: Geol. Soc. America Bull., v. 79, p. 1727-1756. 

van der Plas, L., 1959, Petrology of the Northern Adula 

region, Switzerland: Leidse Geol. Meded., v. 24, pt. 2, p. 

418-598. 
Titanium Deposits in 

Anorthosite Massifs 

By NORl\tiAN HERZ 

GEOLOGY AND RESOURCES OF TITANIUM 

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY PROFESSIONAL PAPER 959-D 

CONTENTS 

Page 

Abstract __ --------- _ __ __ ___ _ _ ____ __ __ _ __ _ __ __ _ __ __ _ __ __ _ __ _ _ __ _ _ __ _ ___ _ _ _ Dl 

Introduction -------------------------------------------------------------- 1 

Types of anorthosite massifs ---------------------------------------------- 2 

Labradorite anorthosite massifs ---------------------------------------- 2 

Andesine anorthosite massifs ------------------------------------------ 3 

Adirondack Mountains, New York -------------------------------- 3 

Allard Lake, Quebec, Canada -------------------------------------- 3 

Roseland, Virginia ------------------------------------------------ 4 

Prospecting for titanium deposits in anorthosite ------------------------------ 5 

References cited ---------------------------------------------------------- 6 

TABLE 1. 

2. 

TABLES 

Analysis of Lac Tio ilmenite ore ---------------------- ____ ----- __ _ 

Analyses of selected rutile samples --------------------------------

Page 

m 

D4 

5 
GEOLOGY AND RESOURCES OF TITANIUM 

TITANIUM DEPOSITS IN ANORTHOSITE MASSIFS 

By NORMAN HERZ 

ABSTRACT 

Anorthosite massifs are economically important sources of 

titanium minerals. The most valuable titanium deposits occur in andesine anorthosite massifs rather than in labradorite 

anorthosite massifs or stratiform anorthosites and are of two 

types: ( 1) Ilmenite bodies associated with gabbro in the 

border zones of nonalkalic andesine anorthosite massifs and 

(2) rutile and ilmenite disseminated along the borders of 

alkalic andesine anorthosite massifs. Deposits of titanium minerals in anorthosite commonly contain millions of tons contained TiO~. 

INTRODUCTION' 

The term anorthosite has been applied to all igneous rocks that are composed almost entirely of 

plagioclase of calcic to intermediate composition, 

though different processes can form a rock that conforms to this definition. Anorthosites occur both as 

massifs and in stratiform complexes, the latter developing by gravity stratification in ultramafic and 

mafic complexes. These stratiform complexes, generally Precambrian but occasionally as young as 

Tertiary, are characterized by rhythmic layering, 

show many cumulate features, do not develop giant 

megacrysts, and have a plagioclase composition in 

the bytownite-anorthite range. Associated rocks are 

olivine- and pyroxene-rich ultramafics, generally 

layered and gravity stratified and occurring with 

chromitite and sulfides. 

Nearly all the important igneous deposits of titanium minerals, however, are associated with massif-type anorthosites and their related rocks. The 

largest ilmenite deposit in the United States occurs 

in the Adirondack anorthosite of New York, and the 

largest rutile deposit in the Roseland anorthosite of 

Virginia. The largest ilmenite deposit in Canada is 

the Lac Tio deposit in the Allard Lake anorthosite of 

Quebec. Large rutile deposits are associated with the 

Pluma Hidalgo anorthosite of Oaxaca, Mexico, and 

the St. Urbain anorthosite of Quebec, Canada. Large 

ilmenite deposits occur in anorthosite at EgersundSogndal, Norway, and in the Ukraine, U.S.S.R. Noritic gabbro, an end member of common anorthositic 

assemblages, contains ilmenite deposit , such as 

those at Otanmaki, Finland. Deposits in granulitefacies wall-rock gneisses may be closely related to 

those in adjacent anorthosite, as they are at 

Roseland. 

Some massif anorthosites, such as those in N ain 

and Michigamau, Labrador, show gravity layering, 

but, in most complexes, gravity layering is generally 

poorly developed or absent. Ages determined to date 

on all massif anorthosites are Precambrian, about 

1,300 ± 200 m.y. ( Herz, 1969) . These rocks crystallized under slow cooling conditions in the upper mantle or lower crust; the resulting megacrysts are commonly tens of centimeters in length. The feldspars 

are andesine, in places antiperthitic, or labradorite; 

pyroxenes are the most common accessory minerals, 

but olivine may be present, as it is in the Laramie 

anorthosite of Wyoming. Some of the minerals show 

kink banding, and plagioclase twin lamellae may be 

bent or broken. 

The name applied to a rock of the anorthosite suite 

depends on the amounts of mafic minerals present. 

The name anorthosite is reserv,ed for rocks containing 90 percent plagioclase or more; gabbroic, noritic, 

or troctolitic anorthosites have 10 to 22.5 percent 

mafic minerals; anorthositic gabbro, no rite, or troctolite have 22·.5 to 35 percent mafic minerals (Isachsen, 1968, p. 435). 

According to the terminology of Buddington and 

others ( 1963), titanium-bearing oxides in anorthosites can include ilmenite, rutile, ilmeno-magnetite 

(ilmenite as fine intergrowths in magnetite) , ilmenohematite (ilmenite as fine intergrowths in hematite), 

hemo-ilmenite (hematite as fine intergrowths in 

ilmenite), titano-magnetite (titanium present in 

magnetite structure), and ulvospinel (Fe2 TiO .. ). TiDl 
D2 GEOLOGY AND RESOURCES OF TITANIUM 

taniferous magnetite is a generic term that does not 

specify presence or type of phases other than magnetite. 

The titanium-rich minerals crystallize late in the 

magmatic history of anorthositic complexes. The behavior of titanium during the crystallization of any 

magma is controlled by several factors, including the 

initial abundance of titanium in the magma, the 

chemical activities of silicon, aluminum, and iron, 

the partial pressure of oxygen, the formation of ti-

-tanium-:rich immiscible· ·melts, ·and the--temperature 

of crystallization (Verhoogen, 1962). In a normally 

crystallizing tholeiitic magma having sufficiently 

high oxygen fugacity, titanium and iron will form 

oxides early in the magmatic history. These oxide 

minerals may segregate out and accumulate by gravity settling because of their high specific gravity. 

Another possible factor in the formation of titanium 

oxide minerals is the formation of an immiscible 

liquid that has the composition of iron and titanium 

oxides plus phosphate within a predominantly silicate liquid magma chamber (Philpotts, 1967). The 

formation of some ilmenite- and titaniferous magnetite-apatite orebodies has been ascribed to this 

phenomenon. 

The early crystallization history of anorthositic 

plutons is a much debated topic (Yoder, 1968; Green, 

1969), but it is generally agreed that the rocks rich 

in iron-titanium oxide and mafic minerals are emplaced later than the anorthosites themselves (Isachsen, 1968). If the later rocks have crystallized from 

a magma, it must be one enriched in iron and titanium either by processes of differentiation or by formation of an immiscible liquid. 

TYPES OF ANORTHOSITE MASSIFS 

Anorthosite massifs can be divided into two distinct types based on their plagioclase and oxide compositions (Anderson .and Morin, 1968). At St. Urbain, Quebec, one type can be seen intruding the 

other, but this relationship. is exceptional; any one 

massif generally consists of only one type. The two 

types recognized are ( 1) labradorite anorthosite 

massifs characterized by plagioclase of An6 s-45 composition and either titano-magnetite or its oxidized 

equivalent, magnetite+ ilmenite, and (2) andesine 

anorthosite massifs containing plagioclase An4s-25 , 

hemo-ilmenite, and En: An ratios (En content of 

orthopyroxene and An content of plagioclase) greater than one. The latter is generally called "Adirondack type" (Buddington, 1931) and is associated 

with the world's principal ilmenite deposits. An 

unusual type of andesine anorthosite massif, found 

in Roseland, Pluma Hidalgo, and St. Urbain, contains feldspar megacrysts that are strongly antiperthitic and has a K20 content of 3 to 4 percent, which 

is about double the normal amount. This type has 

been called "alkalic anorthosite" (Herz, 1968) and 

has associated deposits of rutile as well as ilmenite. 

Some typical labradorite anorthosite massifs include the Michigamau of Labrador (Emslie, 1970) 

and the Duluth Gabbro Complex of Minnesota (Taylor, 1964) ; andesine anorthosites include massifs of 

the Adirondack Mountains in New York (Buddington, 1931), Allard Lake in Quebec (Hargraves, 

1962), and Roseland, Va. (Herz, 1968). These massifs will be discussed below as typical examples of 

the two types of anorthosite massifs. 

LABRADORITE ANORTHOSITE MASSIFS 

The Michigamau anorthosite pluton occurs in 

west-central Labrador and covers an area of 65 X 40 

km (Emslie, 1970). The main rock units, in order of 

crystallization, are a border zone of olivine gabbro, 

which is fine grained at the contact and probably 

chilled, a thick series of layered leucotroctolite, a 

considerable thickness of anorthosite that grades upward into leucogabbro and gabbro, and ferrous ironrich rocks. Structures and textures indicative of 

crystal accumulation are developed in leucotrocto-

. lite, anorthosite, and leucogabbro. The ferrous 

iron-rich rocks range from mafic diorite through 

granodiorite to syenite and locally transgress the 

anorthosite. The compositions of the mafic minerals 

indicate a fractionation trend toward enrichment in 

iron. Concentrations of ilmenite and vanadium-bearing magnetite are in the gabbroic border zone in pods 

and layers forming a subzone 300 m wide and several 

kilometers long. They are clearly a product of the 

trend toward iron enrichment that became pronounced after the crystallization of the main mass 

of the anorthosite. 

The Duluth Gabbro Complex (Taylor, 1964) underlies more than 2,500 km2, is about 15,000 m thick, 

and consists, in large part, of anorthosite and anorthositic gabbro. The oldest part of the complex is a 

coarse-grained anorthositic gabbro that intrudes 

Keweenawan flows and makes up the upper part of 

the complex. It contains 75 to 90 percent calcic 

labradorite and generally abundant titanaugite, olivine, and fine magnetite-ilmenite intergrowths. The 

anorthositic gabbro was intruded by basaltic magma 

of a second period of magmatic activity, which 

formed layered rocks consisting chiefly of troctolite, 

olivine gabbro, feldspathic gabbro, and syenogab-
TITANIUM DEPOSITS IN ANORTHOSITE MASSIFS D3 

bro. These rocks are 4,500 m thick and show local 

rhythmic layering, fluxion structure, and gravity 

stratification. The entire series is cut by bodies of 

ferrogranodiorite and granophyre and late dikes of 

basalt and aplite. The iron-titanium oxide minerals 

are most abundant near the top of the series, in olivine metagabbro where distinct layers of "iron ores" 

are seen and in magnetite syenogabbro where magnetite averages 12 percent by volume. The oxide 

minerals are apparently a product of the trend of 

iron-titanium enrichment during the course of differentiation and fractionation, as at Michigamau. 

Both the Michigamau and the Duluth complexes 

contain fairly large bodies that are high in TiOz, but 

no economic titanium deposits have been found in 

them despite intensive search. The fine-grained intergrowths of magnetite and ilmenite rather than 

discrete ilmenite grains (Grout, 1950; Grout and 

others, 1959) render the deposits an economically 

unimportant source of titanium at present. 

ANDESINE ANORTHOSITE MASSIFS 

The andesine anorthosites are the most widespread massifs and contain the largest known titanium deposits (lsachsen, 1968). They generally occur 

as intrusives in granulite or upper amphibolite metamorphic terranes and are, in turn, intruded by a 

suite of charnockitic rocks, which are characterized 

by perthitic feldspars and orthopyroxene rather than 

by two feldspars and hydrous mafic minerals. The 

anorthositic and charnockitic rocks may be interlayered, as they are in the Lake Placid area of the 

Adirondack Mountains (Crosby, 1968), or they may 

be gradational from anorthosite through noritic 

anorthosite, norite, and mangerite to charnockite, as 

they are in the Snowy Mountain Dome of the Adirondack Mountains (DeWaard and Romey, 1968). 

In many places, the charnockite suite only borders 

the anorthosite, and the exact relations are not too 

clear. 

ADIRONDACK MOUNTAINS, NEW YORK 

The Marcy Massif is the main anorthosite pluton 

in the Adirondack Mountains (Buddington, 1931) 

and consists predominantly of andesine anorthosite. 

Plagioclase averages An45 in composition and occurs 

as megacrysts and groundmass, both of which show 

evidence of cataclasis. Gabbroic or noritic anorthosite, in which are found the ilmenite-magnetite orebodies, forms a border facies against mangerite ... 

charnockite, which surrounds the anorthosite massif 

for about three-quarters. of its perimeter. Anorthosite grades into and is cut by gabbro or norite and 

then by ilmenite-magnetite-rich gabbro and pyroxenite. Although the initial composition of the material that produced the anorthosite series is unknown, 

xenoliths and crosscutting relations show that the 

trend of the later mafic rocks was towards enrichment in iron and titanium and the eventual production of ilmenite-magnetite orebodies. 

The ilmenite deposits of the Sanford Lake (Tahawus) mining district in the Adirondack Mountains 

have produced more titanium ore than any anorthosite deposit in the world. Through 1964, 33,500,000 

tons of ore had been produced from the South Extension area of Sanford Lake alone (Gross, 1968) . 

Anorthosite of the Sanford Lake mining district 

grades into gabbroic anorthosite, and this, in turn, 

grades into anorthositic gabbro containing varying 

percentages of mafic minerals (Gross, 1968) . The 

TiOz content of anorthosite at the mine is 0 to 5.4 

percent, that of gabbro is 5.5 to 9.4 percent, and that 

of the ores is 13.5 percent or more. Two types of 

ore bodies are described: ( 1) "Anorthositic ore" asso-ciated with anorthosite is found as irregular massive lenses that show no flow structures, are coarse 

grained, and have sharp contacts with the anorthosite, and (2) "gabbroic ore" occurs as oxide-enriched 

layers within gabbro. These are fine to medium 

grained and have a well-defined flow structure similar to that of the gabbro. The thickness of individual 

layers ranges from a few millimeters to several 

meters. Contacts are sharp or gradational with gabbro. The anorthositic type forms a football ore body, 

and the gabbroic type a hanging wall separated by 

varying amounts of anorthosite and gabbro. The 

anorthositic ore and gabbroic ore are chemically different; the anorthositic ore has an Fe: TiO~ ratio of 

2:1 or greater, whereas the ratio in gabbroic ore is 

invariably less than 2: 1. 

Discrete grains of ilmenite are present as well as 

ex-solution intergrowths of ilmenite and magnetite 

containing as much as 35 percent FeTi03 molecule 

and of ulvospinel and magnetite. 

Although there is no agreement on the origin of 

these ores, Gross ( 1968) stated that they were originally formed by magmatic processes and reworked 

during later metamorphic events. 

ALLARD LAKE, QUEBEC, CANADA 

The largest operating ilmenite mine in Canada is 

in the Allard Lake anorthosite massif on the northern shore of the St. Lawrence River, about 800 km 

northeast of Quebec City (Hargraves, 1962). The 
D4 GEOLOGY AND RESOURCES OF TITANIUM 

massif is andesine anorthosite surrounded by mangerites; a mafic zone is in the contact area. Three 

main rock types are exposed in the northeastern 

borde.r area of the massif : 

1. Coarse-grained massive anorthosite, generally 

more than 95 percent calcic andesine, which 

shows considerable cataclasis. Plagioclase 

matrix grains 3 to 6 mm long and megacrysts 

2 to 35 em long have about the same composition (An.w-s2). Bronzite is irregularly distributed in the anorthosite as poikilitic crystals 

enclosing plagioclase or as alined aggregates 

that transgress primary foliation in the 

anorthosite. 

2. Medium-grained oxide-rich norite consisting 

of protoclastically deformed plagioclase 

(An4o-4r.), pyroxenes with hypersthene>augite, apatite (8-10 percent), and two oxides 

with hemo-ilmenite>magnetite (20-54 percent). This rock occurs in sheets as much as 6 

km long by 1 km thick that intrude the anorthosite. The oxide minerals are interpreted 

by Hargraves as the product of an immiscible 

melt in the silicate liquid. 

3. Pyroxene syenite gneiss that borders the anorthosite massif. The contact zone is characterized 

by conformable gneis:Sosity and enrichment in 

mafic minerals. 

The ilmenite orebody at Lac Tio in the Allard 

Lake district occurs as a large sheet or lens of hemoilmenite located a few kilometers inside the margin 

of the anorthosite (Lister, 1966). The anorthosite 

near the deposit is coarse grained, unfoliated, and 

composed of andesine (An4o-44) containing less than 

2 percent pyroxenes and ilmeno-hematite. The ore 

sheet is made up of massive hemo-ilmenite capped by 

layered hemo-ilmenite and anorthosite. The lower 

part of the sheet is over 90 m thick and contains 

blocks of anorthosite as large as 4.5 m in diameter. 

The upper part of the orebody is less than 60 m 

thick and consists of alternating layers of pure 

ilmeno-hematite and anorthosite containing disseminated hemo-ilmenite; individual layers vary from a 

few centimeters to a few meters thick. 

Typical high-grade ore (table 1) consists of hemoilmenite with about 3 percent·· iron spinel, 0.5 percent pyrite, and a few feldspar remnants. The hemoilmenite consists of ilmenite with 20 to 22 percent 

titanium-bearing hematite disks exsolved in (0001) 

(Bergeron, 1972). 

The immiscible liquid said to have formed the deposit must have had the general composition of the 

TABLE 1.-Analysis of Lac Tio ilmenite ore (from Bergeron, 

1972) 

Ti02 --------------------------------------- FeO --------------------------------------- FezOa --------------------------------------- Si02 --------------------------------------- Al20a --------------------------------------- CaO ---------------------------------------- ~gO --------------------------------------- Cr20a --------------------------------------- Vz05 --------------------------------------- MnO --------------------------------------- S ------------------------------------------ Na20 and K20 ------------------------------ P:~Oo ---------------------------------·------

Weight 

(percent) 

34.3 

27.5 

25.2 

4.3 

3.5 

.9 

3.1 

.10 

·.27 

.16 

.3 

.35 

.015 

orebody, and later hydrothermal replacement was 

minor (Lister, 1966, p. 285). The ore magma was 

injected into a dilation zone that formed within a 

shear zone in hot anorthosite. In the upper part, the 

ore sheet developed as the liquid invaded closely 

spaced shear planes and permeated fractures in 

crushed anorthosite to form the layered and disseminated deposit. 

ROSELAND, VIRGINIA 

The Roseland alkalic andesine-anorthosite massif 

is about 15 km long in a northeasterly direction and 

4 km wide (Herz, 1968). It occurs in country rock 

that had been metamorphosed to the pyroxenegranulite facies but later partly retrograded to 

greenschist facies during a Paleozoic metamorphism. 

Charnockite, noritic anorthosite, norite, and pyroxene-rich rocks are found largely in the border zone 

but are also scattered irregularly throughout the 

anorthosite massif. The anorthosite itself consists of 

large bluish-gray megacrysts, as long as 20 em, of 

andesine antiperthite, Or25Ab51An23.5Celsiano,s, and 

lighter colored granulated zones containing andesine-oligoclase and microcline. Pyroxenes, blue 

quartz (generally rutilated), clinozoisite, and muscovite are common accessory minerals. Thi.s anorthosite and its associated ores are remarkably similar· 

to those in Pluma Hidalgo (Paulson, 1964; T. P. 

Thayer, written commun., 1973). 

Ilmenite and rutile occur in the border area of the 

alkalic anorthosite massif. Hemo-ilmenite is found 

disseminated in the contact rocks of the anorthosite, 

including mafic border phases and possible contactmetamorphosed granulites. Ilmenite also occurs together with apatite in nelsonite dikes, which range 

as large as 600 m in length by 60 m in width (W atson and Taber, 1913). These dikes form the richest 

ilmenite deposits in the area and are always found 
TITANIUM DEPOSITS IN ANORTHOSITE MASSIFS D5 

outside the anorthosite body in charnockites and 

granulites of the border zone. The dikes appear to be 

later than either the anorthosite or the border rocks 

but were also deformed together with these rocks in 

later metamorphic events (Herz, 1968). The dikes 

approximate a possible eutectic composition in an 

iron-titanium oxide and phosphate system (Philpotts, 1967) and may represent the later emplacement of an immiscible liquid, which formed in the 

silicate magma that produced the bordering·rocks. 

Rutile occurs as disseminated deposits within the 

anorthosite and other rocks in the contact zone. 

Much of it is present where anorthosite is interlayered with granulite or is enriched in mafic dikes that 

cut both rocks. Some rutile appears to have been introduced in fractured zones, and the anorthosite is 

invariably saus,suritized where rutile is abundant. 

In these zones, rutile grains range from 0.2 mm to 4 

em across and form deposits of an estimated grade 

of about 5 percent (D. N. Hillhouse, written commun., 1960). Rutile formed in the anorthosite appears to have an unusually large amount of Ti02 

(99.43 percent) (see also Ross, 1941), which is higher than any shown by Deer and others ( 1962, p. 36), 

whose Ti02 values in rutile range from 45.79 to 

98.96 percent, and higher than samples from Magnet 

Cove, Ark., Trail Ridge, Fla., and Shooting Creek, 

N.C. (table 2) .·. 

Saprolite resources over anorthosite, nelsonite, 

and adjacent rocks near Roseland were estimated by 

Fish (1962) as 20 million tons of ilmenite and rutile. 

PROSPECTING FOR TITANIUM DEPOSITS 

IN ANORTHOSITE 

Prospecting for titanium deposits in anorthosite 

should take into account the fact that different types 

of anorthosites have different types of titanium occurrences. Titanium minerals are associated with all 

types of anorthosites, but, as of yet, economic mineral deposits have been found only in andesine anorthosite massifs, not in labradorite anorthosite massifs or in stratiform anorthosites. The economic 

massifs form batholithic plutons that appear to be 

concordant to country rock in Precambrian terranes. 

Andesine, both as deformed megacrysts as large as 

2m in diameter and as granulated groundmass, comprises more than 90 percent of the rock. Andesine 

anorthosite massifs are associated with noritic gabbros, other igneous rocks of the charnockite suite, 

and metamorphic rocks of the pyroxene granulite 

facies. Gravity measurements over these anorthosite 

mas,sifs show a substantial negative Bouguer anomaly. Magnetic patterns are featureless. Departures 

from these norms, however, may occur in border 

areas. Radiometric absolute ages of the massifs and 

country rocks are about 1,300±200 m.y. 

Once an andesine anorthosite massif has been located, titanium deposits can be found by considering that: 

1. Ore deposits occur in peripheral areas of the 

massif, especially bordering mafic differentiates, and in adjacent country rock. 

2. Ilmenite is associated with magnetite and apatite 

in gabbroic rocks .. If plagioclase megacrysts 

are antiperthitic, rutile may be present as disseminations in anorthosite and country rock or 

in mafic veins and segregations. 

3. Gravity and magnetic features may be anomalously high over iron-titanium ore deposits and 

associated mafic rocks, in contrast to the rest 

of the anorthosite (Rose·, 1969, p. 30-40). 

4. Detrital heavy minerals from small streams can 

serve as a guide to the distribution of ilmenite 

and rutile (Herz and others, 1970). 

Prospecting by chemical analysis alone is deceptive, since anorthosites themselves generally have 

very little Ti02, and, in many of the bordering mafic 

rocks, Ti02 is present in unusable mafic silicate minTABLE 2.-Analyses of selected rumle samples (weight perrcent) 

[Analysts: A, A. C. Vlisidis; B-D, John Marinenko, U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, Va. ND,not detected] 

Sample 

TiOn --------------------------------- FeO --------------------------------- Fen03 -------------------------------- PnOn --------------------------------- VnOa --------------------------------- Nb2011 --------------------------------

H20 ---------------------------------

1 All Fe reported as FeOa. 

A 

Anorthosite 

(Roseland, Va.) 

99.43 

.55 

ND 

ND 

l2) 

(2) 

ND 

B Phonolite 

(Magnet Cove, Ark.) 

93.9 t1) 

1.2 

.1 

.9 

3.8 

.2 

c 

Detrital mixture 

(Trail Ridge, Fla.) 

98.3 

(1) 

.2 

<.1 

.4 

.4 

.2 

D 

Garnet schist 

(Shooting Creek, N.C.) 

86.1 

12.1 

.9 

<.1 

.4 

.3 

ND 

n Re~JUlts of semiquantitative analysis in parts per million: Si=150, Al=lOO, Mg=:20, Ca=l5, B=:30, Ba=3, Cr=200, Mo=:15, Nb=200, V=500, 

Zr=300. Analysts: W. B. Crandell and Helen Worthing, U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, Va. 
D6 GEOLOGY AND RESOURCES OF TITANIUM 

erals. Mineralogic studies are necessary to establish 

the mode of occurrence of titanium and the type of 

anorthosite. 

REFERENCES CITED 

Anderson, A. T., Jr., and Morin, M., 1968, Two types of 

massif anorthosites and their implications regarding the 

thermal history of the crust, in Isachsen, Y. W., ed., 

Origin of anorthosite and related rocks: New York State 

Mus. and Sci. Service Mem. 18, p. 57-69 [1969]. 

Bergeron, M., 1972, Quebec Iron and Titanium Corporation 

ore deposit at Lac Tio, Quebec: Internat. Geol. Cong., 

24th, Montreal 1972, Guidebook excursion B-09: 8 p. 

Buddington, A. F., 1931, The Adirondack magmatic stem: 

Jour. Geology, v. 39, p. 240-263. 

Buddington, A. F., Fahey, Joseph, and Vlisidis, Angelina, 

1963, Degree of oxidation of Adirondack iron oxide and 

iron-titanium oxide minerals in relation to petrogeny: 

Jour. Petrology, v. 4, p. 138-169. 

Crosby, Percy, 1968, Petrogenetic and statistical implications 

of modal studies in Adirondack anorthosite, in Isachsen, 

Y. W., ed., Origin of anorthosite and related rocks: New 

York State Mus. and Sci. Service Mem. 18, p. 289-303 

[1969]. 

Deer, W. A., Howie, R. A., and Zussman, Jack, 1962, Rockforming minerals, v. 5, Non-silicates: New York, John 

Wiley and Sons, 371 p. 

deWaard, Dirk, and Romey, W. D., 1968, Petrogenetic relationships in the anortho·site charnockite series of Snowy 

Mountain Dome, south-central Adirondacks, in Isachsen, 

Y. W., ed., Origin of anorthosite and related rocks: New 

York State Mus. and Sci. Service Mem. 18, p. 307-315 

[1969]. 

Emslie, R. F., 1970, The geology of the Michigamau intrusion, Labrador (13L, 23I): Canada Geol. Survey Paper 

68-57, 85 p. 

Fish, G. E., Jr., 1962, Titanium resources of Nelson and 

Amherst Counties, Va., pt. 1, Saprolite ores: U.S. Bur. 

Mines Rept. Inv. 6094, 44 p. 

Green, T. H., 1969, High-pressure experimental studies on 

the origin of anorthosite: Canadian Jour. Earth Sci., v. 

6, p. 427-440. 

Gross, S~ 0., 1968, Titaniferous ores of the Sanford Lake district, New York, in Ridge, J. D., ed., Ore deposits of the 

United States 1933-1967; v. 1: New York, Am. Inst. 

Mining, Metall., and Petroleum Engineers, p. 140-153. 

Grout, F. F., 1950, The titaniferous magnetites of Minnesota: 

St. Paul, Office of Comm. Iron Range Resources and 

Rehabilitation 1949-1950, 117 p. 

Grout, F. F., Sharp, R. P., and Schwartz, G. M., 1959, The 

geology of Cook County, Minnesota: Minnesota Geol. Survey Bull. 39, 163 p. 

Hargraves, R. B., 1962, Petrology of the Allard Lake anorthosite suite, Quebec, in Petrologic studies-A volume in 

honor of A. F. Buddington : New York, Geol. Soc. 

America, p. 163-189. 

He1rz, N o~man, 1968, The Roseland alkalic anorthosite massif, 

Virginia, in Isachsen, Y. W., ed., Origin of anorthosite 

and related rocks: New York State Mus. and Sci. Service 

Mem. 18, p. 357-367 [1969]. 

--- 1969, Anorthosite belts, continental drift, and the 

anorthosite event: Science, v. 164, p. 944-947. 

Herz, Norman, Valentine, L. E., and Iberall, E. R., 1970, 

Rutile and ilmenite placer deposits, Roseland district, 

Nelson and Amherst Counties, Virginia: U.S. Geol. Survey Bull. 1312-F, 19 p. 

Isachsen, Y. W ., 1968, Origin of anorthosite and related 

rocks-A summarization, in Isachsen, Y. W., ed., Origin 

of anorthosite and related rocks: New York State Mus. 

and Sci. Service Mem. 18, p. 435-445 [1969]. 

Lister, G. F., 1966, The composition and origin of selected 

iron-titanium deposits: Econ. Geology, v. 61, p. 275-310. 

Paulson, E. G., 1964, Mineralogy and origin of the titaniferous deposit at Pluma Hidalgo, Oaxaca, Mexico: Econ. 

Geology, v. 59, p. 753-767. 

Philpotts, A. R., 1967, Origin of certain iron-titanium oxide 

and apatite rocks: Eeon. Geology, v. 62, p. 303-315. 

Rose, E. R., 1969, 'Geology of titanium and titaniferous deposits of Canada: Canada Geol. Survey Econ. Geology 

Rept. 25, 177 p. 

Ross, C. S., 1941, Occurrence and origin of the titanium deposits of Nelson and Amhe.rst Counties, Virginia: U.S. 

Geol. Survey Prof. Paper 198, 59 p. 

Taylor, R. B., 1964, Geology of the Duluth Gabbro Complex 

near Duluth, Minnesota: Minnesota Geol. Survey Bull. 

44, 63 p. 

Verhoogen, John, 1962, Oxidation of iron-titanium oxides in 

igneous rocks: Jour. Geology, v. 70, p. 168-181. 

Watson, T. L., and Taber, Stephen, 1913, Geology of the titanium and apatite deposits of Virginia: Virginia Geol. 

Survey Bull. 3A, 308 p. 

Yoder, H. S., Jr., 1968, Experimental studies bearing on the 

origin of anorthosite, in Isachsen, Y. W., ed., Origin of 

anorthosite and related rocks: New York State Mus. and 

Sci. Service Mem. 18, p. 13-22 [1969]. 
Titanium Deposits in 

Alkalic Igneous Rocks 

By NORl\IIAN HERZ 

GEOLOGY AND RESOURCES OF TITANIUM 

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY PROFESSIONAL PAPER 959-E 

CONTENTS 

Page 

)lbstract ---------------------------------------------------------------- El 

Introduction -------------------------------------------------------------- 1 Description of individual localities ________________ _:__________________________ 2 

n{agnet Cove, )lrkansas ------------------------------------------------ 2 Kola Peninsula, U.S.S.R. ___ __ _____ ___ __ _ __ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ __ __ _ __ _ _ __ _ __ __ _ ___ 3 

Tapira, n{inas Gerais, Brazil ------------------------------------------- 4 

Outlook -------------------------------------~---------------------------- 6 

References cited ---------------------------------------------------------- 6 

FIGURE 

TABLE 

ILLUSTRATIONS 

Page 

1. Geologic map of the n{agnet Cove area of )lrkansas ------------ E2 

2. Generalized geologic map of the Kola Peninsula and northern 

Karelia in the U.S.S.R ---------------------------------- 3 

3. Location and ages of alkalic rocks from southern Brazil --------- 5 

TABLE 

Page 

1. Titanium deposits associated with alkalic complexes ------------- El 

Ill 
GEOLOGY AND RESOURCES OF TITANIUM 

TITANIUM DEPOSITS IN ALKALIC IGNEOUS ROCKS 

"By. NoRMAN HERZ 

ABSTRACT 

Many types of alkalic rocks are enriched in Ti02 relative 

to the average content of the crust. Silicate minerals in 

alkalic rocks may have high Ti02 content, but the oxides ilmenite, rutile, brookite, and perovskite are chMacteristic 

primary phases. These oxides tend to be higher in niobium 

than the same minerals from other rock suites. 

At Tapira, Brazil, titanium minerals in a carbonatite complex comprise tens of millions of tons contained Ti02. Anatase 

(as "leucoxene") is present in laterite lying over parent rocks 

containing perovskite, ilmenite, and rutile. At Magnet Cove, 

A'rk., and the Kola 'Peninsula in the U.S.S.R., production of 

titanium minerals is, at best, economically marginal. 

INTRODUCTION 

In many alkalic rocks, .titanium is enriched several times beyond the normal concentration in igneous · 

rocks (the normal being about 0.7 to 1.0 percent 

TiOz). Nockolds (1954) listed the following average 

Ti0 2 contents of alkalic rock types, in percent: 

Alkali pyroxenite ~-------- 3.31 

Nepheline monzonite ______ 2.49 

Ess·exite ----------------- 2.81 

Ijolite ------------------- 1.41 

Average subsilicic ________ 1.9 

igneous rock 

(721 analyses). 

Several silicate minerals characteristic of alkalic 

rocks are high in TiOz. Except for sphene, melanite 

garnets from alkalic rocks contain the highest 

amount of Ti02 found in silicate minerals; melanite 

from ijolite in Iron Hill, Colo., has 5.08 percent TiOz; 

elsewhere, melanite contains as much as 17 percent 

(Deer and others, 1962, p. 91). Kaersutite, an amphibole containing 5 to 10 percent TiOz, and titanaugite, a pyroxene containing 3 to 6 percent TiOz, 

are common in, but not restricted to, ~lkalic rocks. 

The principal titanium minerals found in alkalic 

rocks, ilm.enite, titano-magnetite, sphene, perovskite, 

rutile, anatase, and brookite, commonly contain significant amounts of niobium (Nb) and rare earths 

(Fleischer and others, 1952). Typical alkalic rocks 

and deposits are shown in table 1. 

Most titanium-oxide minerals form late in the 

crystallization history of alkalic complexes. Chemical 

activities of silicon, aluminum, and iron and the 

partial pressure of oxygen are especially important 

in determining whether titanium will ·enter silicate 

minerals or form independent oxides. Some dikes 

consisting of iron-titanium oxides and apatite in 

alkalic rocks have been ascribed to. the formation of 

immiscible melts having the composition of iron and 

titanium oxides plus phosphate within a predominately silicate liquid magma chamber (Philpotts, 

1967). On the basis of extrapolation of experimental 

data, Philpotts deduced that liquids of magnetiteilmenite-apatite composition can form immiscible 

melts in silicate magmas that are enriched in sodium, 

TABLE !.-Titanium deposits associated with alkalic complexes (modified from Routhier, 1968, p. 958-959) 

Type Locality 

Nepheline syenite Iveland-Evje region, south Norpegmatites. way; Kola Peninsula, U.S.S.R.; 

Ilmen Mountains (Urals), U.S.S.R. 

Intermediate and basic Khibiny, Kola Peninsula, U.S.S.R.; 

alkalic rocks. Oka, Quebec, Canada; Jacupiranga, 

Sao Paulo, Brazil; Tapira, Minas 

Gerais. Brazil. 

Rutile veins in carbonatite__ Magnet Cove. Ark. 

Titanium mineralogy 

Nb-rutile, euxenite, and other Y-rich 

titanates. 

In ijolite and pyroxenites, titanomagnetite and ilmenite; in "silexocarbonatites," sphene and perovskite 

with secondary anatase. 

Nb-rutile with .secondary brookite 

and "leucoxene." 

Related 

minerals 

Apatite. 

Albite. 

El 
E2 GEOLOGY AND RESOURCES OF TITANIUM 

have a dioritic composition, and are undergoing 

strong differentiation. Some titanium orebodies 

found in alkalic rocks of the Kola Peninsula and 

Brazil may have formed by such a process. 

DESCRIPTION OF INDIVIDUAL LOCALITIES 

Titanium production of any significance has been 

attempted only in deposits in alkalic rocks at Magnet 

Cove, Ark.; the Kola Peninsula in the U.S.S.R.; and 

Tapira, Minas Gerais, Brazil. 

Potential domestic resources of titanium include 

occurrences at Iron Hill, Colo. (Larsen, 1942), and 

Lemhi County in Idaho (Anderson, 1960). ·Perovskite and ilmenite have been described in mafic 

alkalic rocks and carbonatite from Iron Hill. 

Niobium-rich ilmenite (as much as 1 percent Nb) 

and ilmeno-rutile (niobium-bearing rutile, Nb as 

much as 13 percent) are found in Lemhi County in a 

rock type that ~ppears to be a carbonatite. 

Mt\GNET COVE, ARKANSAS 

The alkalic complex of Magnet Cove, Ark., consists of a variety of feldspathoid-rich rocks that 

have intruded sediments of Paleozoic age (Erickson 

and Blade, 1963). The complex has been dated as 

early Late Cretaceous (95±5 m.y.) (Zartman and 

others, 1965), as have some alkalic rocks in Brazil. 

The intrusion is essentially a ring-dike complex 

(fig. 1) that has metamorphosed the country rock as 

far as 800 m. The core of the ring dike consists of 

ijolite and carbonatite. The ijolite is a feldspar-free 

rock, which averages 2.20 percent TiOz and is composed of nepheline, sodium-rich pyroxene, titanium-garnet, biotite, sphene, and magnetite; the 

carbonatite is a coarse-grained calcite rock containing accessory sodium-rich perovskite and zirconiumrich garnet. The intermediate ring is composed of 

trachyte and phonolite, which average 1.8 percent 

TiOz and contain feldspar, feldspathoids, aegirine, 

diopside, and sphene. The . outer ring consists of 

sphene-bearing nepheline syenite, garnet pseudoleucite syenite, and j acupirangite. Smaller dikes of 

alkalic rocks are abundant, both within and outside 

the complex, as are veins of various types. Quartzbrookite-rutile veins are most common in recrystallized novaculite on the eastern edge of the complex, 

and feldspar-carbonate, feldspar, quartz-feldspar, 

and fluorite veins containing rutile occur within the 

complex. Titanium deposits include the Magnet Cove 

rutile deposit, the Christy brookite deposit, the Hardy-Walsh brookite deposit, and the Mo-Ti brookitemolybdenite deposit. Of these, the only titanium 

92°53' 52' 92°51' 

0 500 1000 1500 FEET 

f,J,•, I I' I I I I 

0 500 1000 1500 METRES 

EXPLANATION 

u G H Carbonatite Sedimentary .. rocks, 

D metamorphosed 

near intrusives p.., 

Ijolite 

0 IX if] 

:::::> Magnet Cove 

Phonolite 0 rutile deposit t:il 

B u 

< E-< 2X t:il Garnet pseudoleucite 0::: Christy brookite deposit 

syenite u 

G 3~ 

Hardy-Walsh 

Nepheline syenite brookite deposit 

D 4X 

J acupirangite Mo-Ti brookite deposit 

FIGURE 1.-GeoJogic map of the Magnet Cove area of Arkansas (after Erickson and Blade, 1963). 

deposit of any economic significance is the Magnet 

Cove deposit, which produced 5,000 tons of rutile 

concentrates from 1932 through 1944 (Erickson and 

Blade, 1963, p. 89). No production of brookite ha.s 

been reported from any of the other deposits. 

The Magnet Cove rutile deposit consists largely of 

phonolite that has been intruded, brecciated, and 

hydrothermally altered by a number of veins of 

different types. Rutile is contained in feldspar-carbonate-rutile veins and vein masses that range from 

several inches to tens of feet in thickness. About 15 

to 20 percent of the TiOz in the veins is. present as 
TITANIUM DEPOSITS IN AL~ALIC IGNEOUS ROCKS E3 

"leucoxene" (Fryklund and Holbrook, 1950). The 

average grade of the deposit is 3 percent rutile. Most 

of the exposed material has been weathered to a 

clay-rich, highly friable material; information from 

drill cores shows that weathering has penetrated to 

a depth of a:t least 45 m. 

The estimated reserves of rutile-bearing material 

at Magnet Cove are 7.75 million tons containing approximately 100,000 tons of rutile concentrate containing 95 percent TiOz (E. C. Toewe and others, 

written commun., 1971). Before the deposit can be 

economically exploited, however, two serious problems must be solved: ( 1) The best present beneficiation techniques result in a recovery of less than 60 

percent of the contained rutile, and ( 2) the rutile 

averages 2.2 percent Nb, 1.8 percent Fe, and 0.6 

percent V (Herz, 1976, table 2; Erickson and Blade, 

1963, p. 80-81)-a composition that cannot be used 

for welding rod coatings or for the chloride process 

of pigment and metal manufacturing. 

KOLA PENINSULA, U.S.S.R. 

Important titanium deposits are found in alkalic 

rocks of the extreme northwestern part of the Soviet 

Union, in the Kola Peninsula and in the Karelian 

Autonomous S.S.R. Specific information on . grade 

and tonnages is not available, although general descriptions of the geology of the mining areas do exist 

(Malyshev, 1957, p. 204-207; Vlasov and others, 

1966; Yudin and Zak, 1971). The area is part of the 

Precambrian Baltic Shield and consists largely of 

Archean gneisses., granites, migmatites, and granulites and Proterozoic metasedimentary and volcanic 

formations, gabbro-anorthosites, basalts, granites, 

and alkalic gabbros and granites. These are overlain 

by upper Precambrian and Lower Cambrian platform sediments. Paleozoic alkalic rocks, including 

ultra basic-alkalic rocks 340 to· 590 m.y. old and 

nepheline syenites about 290 m.y. old, intrude the 

Archean and Proterozoic rocks (fig. 2). 

The ultrabas,ic-alkaline group of plutons consists 

of an earlier phase of olivinite, pyroxenite, and 

nepheline pyroxenite and a later group of ijolite and 

related rocks. The earlier ultrabasic rocks include 

large stocklike bodies of late magmatic perovskitetitanomagnetite ores that are enriched in rare elements (Yudin and Zak, 1971). In the largest deposit, 

Afrikanda, a pipelike orebody can be traced to a 

depth of more thari 400 m. These ores are characterized by high amounts of TiOz (8.5-18.0 percent) 

and total iron (11-18 percent). The rocks of this 

phase are generally high in major elements Ca, Mg, 

Na, Fe, and Ti and in minor elements P, C, Sr, and 

38" 40" 

0 100 200 300 MILES 

0 100 200 300 KILOMETRES 

EXPLANATION 

Hercynian nepheline syenite plutons: 

Kh=Khibiny 

L=Lovozero 

K = Kontozero 

Caledonian ultrabasic-alkaline plutons: 

1. Mount Turley 

2. Kovdozero 

3. Vuorjarvl 

4. Sallanlatvlysk 

5. Pesochnyy 

6. Ingozero 

7. Salmagorsk 

8-10. Khabozero group 

11. Mavrugubinsk 

12. Kovdor 

13. Kurginsk 

14. Seblyavr 

.Jotnian and Lower Cambrian subplatform and platform 

deposits 

Proterozoic rocks including metasedimentary, metavolcanics, 

granites, alkaline gabbros, alkaline granites, basalts, and 

ultramafics 

Lower Proterozoic gabbro-anorthosite massifs 

Archean rocks including gneisses, granites, migmatites, and 

granulites 

FIGURE 2.-Generalized geologic map of the Kola Peninsula and northern Karelia in the U.S.S.R. (after Yudin 

and Zak, 1971). 
E4 GEOLOGY AND RESOURCES· OF TITANIUM 

Ba; they are deficient in Si and AI. Younger alkalic 

plutons caused a contact metasomatism-metamorphism of some of the perovskite-titanomagnetite 

bodies that locally produced high-quality magnetite 

ores. 

The younger (Hercynian) group of alkalic intrusives consists of nepheline syenite and forms 

larger bodies than the earlier ultrabasic-alkalic 

rocks; the Lovozero and Khibiny massifs are typical 

(fig. 2). The Khibiny is over 800 km2 and is made up 

of-seven distinct phases, which are listed in order of 

decreasing age (Turner and Verhoogen, 1960, p. 

393) : 

1. Syenites and nepheline syenites that have fenitized adjacent Archean gneisses. 

2. Coarse aegirine-nepheline syenite injected as a 

peripheral ring dike. 

3. Trachytoid aegirine-nepheline syenite forming 

an imperfect ring within the peripheral ring 

dike. 

4. Poikilitic micaceous nepheline syenite forming an 

imperfect ring and consisting of alkali feldspar, nepheline, mica, aegirine, and astrophyllite. 

5. A massive cone sheet of nepheline-rich ijolite. 

6. Foyaite (feldspathic rock) making up the central 

core of the massif. 

7. Dikes of leucocratic and melanocratic alkalic 

rocks.; 

The mas~sif is characterized by concentrations of N ~' 

K, AI, P, F, Ti, Zr, Nb, Sr, and rare earths, especially the Ce group, and is deficient in Si, Mg, Cr, V, Co, 

and Ni. Segregations of ore minerals have formed in 

the complex as distinct rock types, including one 

body that is 2.4 km long and 160 m thick and com: 

posed of 45 to 65 percent apatite, nepheline, aegirine, sphene, and titanomagnetite. Zones that are 

enriched in sphene are 5 to 30 m thick and have an 

/" average Ti02 content of 8 to 11 percent. Apatite and 

nepheline are pres·ently mined in large quantities., 

and Yudin and Zak ( 1971, p. 871) suggested that 

large amounts of titanomagnetite concentrate having 13.5 percent Ti02, 0.65 percent V 205, and 42 percent total Fe are available from the tailings, as is 

sphene concentrate having 26 percent Ti02. 

The nearby Lovozero massif is similar to the Khibiny massif in age and overall geology but is different in titanium mineralogy. Niobium-rich perovskite (loparite) at this locality is an ore mineral of 

niobium and is in nepheline-rich syenite and trachytoid nepheline syenite (Vlasov and other<s, 1966; 

Parker and Adams, 1973). 

TAPIRA, MINAS GERAIS, BRAZIL 

Belts of alkalic rocks and widespread tholeiitic 

basalt are found in the southern part of Brazil 

(Herz, 1966). The basalt plateau o.f the Parana 

basin, which is the largest of its kind, covers 

(122-133 m.y.) and the other Late Cretaceousness of 1,530 m. The peak of activity responsible for 

this volcanism occurred about 125 m.y. ago ; the 

span of activity was 119 to 147 m.y. (Amaral and 

others, 196.6 ) .... The alkalic volcanism· intruded the 

crystalline Precambrian basement of the Brazilian 

Shield around the margin of the basalt, mostly to 

the east of it (fig. 3). Ages obtained by Amaral and 

others ( 1967) on alkalic plutons suggest two distinct episodes of volcanism, one Early Cretaceous 

(122-133 m.y.) and the other Late Cretaceousearly Tertiary (51""""82 m.y.). Most o.f the volcanism, 

however, coincides with the younger age, and no 

genetic relationship is immediately evident between 

the alkalic rocks and the tholeiitic basalt flows. 

The Brazilian alkalic rocks. are mineralogically 

highly variable but can be grouped into four general 

types: (1) Nonfeldspathic rocks, including ijolites 

and jacupirangites, which consist largely of pyroxenes and nepheline, and titaniferous magnetite, apatite, and sphene, which are locally abundant, as they 

are at J acupiranga; (2) feldspathic rocks, including 

nepheline syenites, tinguaites, and phonolites that 

consist largely of alkali feldspars, nepheline, and 

sodium-rich pyroxenes and sphene, apatite, and rare 

earth minerals that are locally abundant, as they are 

at Poc;os de Caldas; (3) carbonatites composed dominantly of carbonate minerals (calcite and dolomite), 

with the accessory minerals apatite, pyrochlo·re, perovskite, rutile, and ilmenite (examples include 

Jacupiranga, Araxa, and Tapira); and (4) feldspathic rocks (fenites) formed locally in place 

around many alkalic complexes by alkali metasomatism of country rock. 

The Tapira complex was discovered in 1955 during a reconnaissance study for manganese (Alves, 

1960). Alves noted strong similarities between that 

complex and the one just to the north at Araxa. Both 

are primarily carbonatites and have "explosive" intrusive characteristics such as extensive ultramylonite and breccia zones in the area of contact with 

Proterozoic sericite schists and quartz-sericite 

schists. The intrusion itself is in the form of a complex· of concentric rings about 6 km in diameter. 

Weathering of all the rocks of the complex has been 

I intense, so few rock types can be identified with certainty. Among those that can be identified are bos-
52° 

20° 

24 

TITANIUM DEPOSITS IN ALKALIC IGNEOUS ROCKS 

48° 

0 

I I 

0 

46° 44° 42° 

+ + + + + ... + + 

+ + + + + + + + + 

+ + + + + + + . ... + 

+ + + + + + + + + + 

+ + + ... + + 

+ + + + + 

+ + + + + + + + 

+ + + + + + + + 

+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + 

HORIZONTE + ~-

~ + + + + + + + + + ~ + + -

+ + + + + + + + + + T + + -

+ + + + + + + + + + 

+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + -

+ + + + + + + + + + + . + + + + ~ + -

+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + 

+ ~ + + + + + + + ~ + + + + + + ~ 

+ ~ ~ + + + + ~ + + + ~ + + ~ + ~ + 

+ Po~os de Caldas + • + + + + + ·+ + + + + + 

• 

++-+-++++++++ +-+-+ 

63-30+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + 

+ ... + I tatiaia + + + + + + + + + + + .,. 

>254 M?gi 9u:1:~u + + + + + *-.66+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + 

+ + + + + + 1.- + + + Rio Bonito Casi + + + + + + + Tingua + 59 d Ab + + + + + + + + 66• + +69 + +• ~ reu + + + + + + Pi co Marapicu 72• + ~ • + •....:;- + + + + + + + + + + + + + + ~ . 

+ SAO PAULO -+a. + + c::2::> · 51 Cabo Fr10 + b .,. + + ' + ... RIO DE + + + ·• JANEIRO 

100 200 MILES 

I' I J 

100 200 KILOMETRES 

rJ) 

:::> 

0 

Basaltic 

sedimentary 

rocks and 

rocks 

later} 

P::: 

~ 

D 

Sedimentary rocks 

Precambrian rocks 

m 

Alkaline rocks 

(and age in m.y.) 

u 

u 

H ....:l 

< 

~ 

FIGURE 3.-Location and ages of alkalic rocks from southern Brazil (after Amaral and others, 1967). 

E5 

tonite, which forms part of a ring in the southern 

part of the complex; volcanic breccia, which forms 

much of a ring to the south~est; and carbonatite, 

which is abundant throughout the central part of 

the complex. Large masses. of other types occur, including an apatite rock of abundant perovskite and 

subordinate sphene and magnetite, which forms 

parts of two rings, an inner one, 2,000 m long and 

as high as 300 m on the western side, and another 

similar one on the eastern side. 

The Brazilian Ministry of Mines and Energy 

( Companhia de Pesquisa de Recursas Minerais, 

1972) has extensively explored the area and estimated that it contains almost 132 million tons of ore 

reserves (measured, indicated, and inferred) averaging 21.6 percent Ti02. The greatest concentration 

of titanium minerals at Tapira is in an area about 

3 x 4 km on which a lateritic cover about 100 m thick 

has formed. The primary titanium minerals of this 

deposit are perovskite, ilmenite, magnetite, and, 

rarely, rutile, but the bulk of the reserves are anatase and "leucoxene," the weathering products of 

the primary minerals. At least 60 percent of the 
E6 GEOLOGY AND RESOURCES OF TITANIUM 

total Ti02 measured in laterite samples is present as 

anatase. 

Perovskite occurs in veins and disseminations in 

the country rock; it and its weathered products form 

as much as 5 percent of the laterite. Magnetite and 

ilmenite also occur in veins and in the alkalic country rock; they and their weathered products comprise from 20 to 70 percent of some laterite. 

The Tapira deposit formed mainly as a result of 

two processes: (1) Development of a titanium-rich 

segregation in the carbonatite plug, presumably as 

an immiscible liquid in the melt, and (2) tropical 

weathering, which enriched the tenor of titanium in 

the pro tore minerals at the expense of calci urn and 

iron and perhaps also niobium. Fresh rutile from 

Tapira has 0.5 percent Nb20s as well as 3.5 to 6.8 

percent Fe (Alves, 1960, p. 16), which renders fresh 

rutile from Tapira as economically handicapped a~ 

rutile from Magnet Cove, Ark. The composition of 

fresh perovskite is not known but is likely to be high 

in niobium also. 

OUTLOOK 

Titanium is enriched in many alkalic rocks. In 

many alkalic complexes, however, much of the titanium is in silicates, especially garnet and clinopyroxene; in other·s, where titanium forms primary 

minerals like perovskite and rutile, the accessory 

elements niobium and iron have made the minerals 

unusable for chloride-process manufacturing of pigment and titanium metal. Titanium at present can 

be considered a resource in alkalic rocks in two circumstances : ( 1) Where tropical weathering has 

produced an economic titanium product by leaching 

out the undesirable elements, as it has in Tapira and 

elsewhere in Brazil, and (2) where titanium can be 

obtained as a byproduct, as it can in mining for 

niobium and for phosphate, rare earths, and aluminum in the Kola Peninsula. 

REFERENCES CITED 

Alves, B. P., 1960, Distrito ni6bio-titanifero de Tapira: Brazil 

Divisao de Fomento da Produ~ao Mineral., Boletim 108, 

48 p. [in Portuguese]. 

Amaral, G., Cordani, U. G., Kawashita, K., and Reynol~s, 

J .. H., 1966, Potassium-argon dates of basaltic rocks from 

southern Brazil: Geochim. et Cosmochim. Acta, v. 30, p. 

159-189. . 

Amaral, G., Bushee, J.-, Cordani, U. G., Kawashita, K., and 

Reynolds, J. H., 1967, Potassium-argon dates of alkaline 

rocks from southern Brazil: Geochim. et Cosmochim. 

Acta, v. 31, p. 117-142. 

Anderson, A. L., 1960, Genetic aspects of the monazite and 

columbium-bearing rutile deposits in northern Lemhi 

County, Idaho: Econ. Geology, v. 55, p. 1179-1201. 

Companhia de Pesquisa de Recursos Minerais, 1972, J azidas 

de niquel e de alguns nao ferros em Minas Gerais: Belo 

Horizonte, Brazil Agencia de Minas Gerais, op~n-file rept., 

p. 7-11 [in Portuguese]. 

Deer, W. A., Howie, R. A., and Zussman, Jack, 1962, Rockforming minerals, v. 1, Ortho- and ring silicates: New 

York, John Wiley and Sons, 333 p. 

Erickson, R. L., and Blade, L. V., 1963, Geochemistry and 

petrology of the alkalic igneous complex at Magnet Cove, 

Arkansas: U.S. Geol. Survey Prof. Paper 425, 95 p. 

Fleischer, Michael, Murata, K. J., Fletcher, J. D., and Narten, 

P. F., 1952, Geochemical association of niobium (columbium) and titanium and its geological and economic significance: U.S. Geol. Survey Circ. 225, 13 p. 

Fryklund, V. C., and Holbrook, D. F., 1950, Titanium ore deposits of the Magnet Cove area, Hot Springs County, 

Arkansas: Arkansas Research Devel. Comm. Div. Geology 

Bull. 16, 173 p. 

Herz, Norman, 1966, Tholeiitic and alkalic volcanism in southem Brazil, in Internat. Field Inst., Brazil, 1966, Guidebook: Am. Geol. Inst., chapter 5, p. V-1-V-6. 

--- 1976, Titanium deposits in anorthosite· massifs, in 

Geology and resources of titanium: U.S. Geol. Survey 

Prof. Paper 959-D, 6 p. 

Larsen, E. S., Jr., 1942, Alkalic rocks of Iron Hill, Gunnison 

County, Colorado: U.S. Geol. Survey Prof. Paper 197-A, 

64 p. 

Malyshev, I. I., 1957, Zakonomernosti obrazovaniya i razmeshcheniya mestorozhdenii titanovykh rud [Regularities 

of formation and distribution of deposits of titaniferous 

ores]: Moscow, Gosudar. Nauch.-Tekh. Izd. Lit. Geol. i 

Okhrane Nedr., 272 p. [in Russian]. 

Nockolds, S. R., 1954, Average chemical compositions of some 

igneous rocks: Geol. Soc. America Bull., v. 65, p. 1007-

1032. 

Parker, R. L., and Adams, J. W., 1973, Niobium (columbium) 

and tantalum, in Brobst, D. A., and Pratt, W. P., eds., 

United States mineral resources: U.S. Geol. Survey Prof. 

Paper 820, p. 443-454. 

Philpotts, A. R., 1967, Origin of certain iron-titanium oxide 

. and apatite rocks: Econ. Geology, v. 62, p. 303-315. 

Routhier, Pierre, 1963, Les gisements metalliferes-Geologie 

et principes de recherche: Paris, Masson et Cie, 1295 p. 

[in French]. 

Turner, F. J., and Verhoogen, John, 1960, Igneous and metamorphic petrology (2d ed.): New York~ McGraw-Hill 

Book Co., 694 p. 

Vlasov, K. A., Kuz'menko, M. V., and Es'kova, E. M., 1966, 

The Lovozero alkalf massif: New York, Hafner Publishing Co., 627 p. 

Yudin, B. A., and Zak, S. I., 1971, Titanium deposits of northwestern USSR (eastern part of Baltic Shield): Internat. 

Geol. Rev., v. 13, p. 864-872. 

Zartman, R. E., Marvin, R. F., Heyl, A. V., and Brock, 

Maurice, 1965, Age of alkalic intrusive rocks from eastem and mid-continent States, in Geological Survey research 1965: U.S. Geol. Survey Prof. Paper 525-A, p. 

A162. 
Titanium Minerals in Deposits · 

Of Other Minerals 

By E. R. FORCE 

GEOLOGY AND RESOURCES OF TITANIUM 

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY PROFESSIONAL PAPER 959-F 

CONTENTS 

Page 

Abstract ----------------------------------------------------------------- F1 

Magnitude- of potential byproduct recovery -------------------------------- 1 

Sand and gravel mining operations ----------------------------------------- 1 

Titanium mineral'S in bauxite ---------------------------------------------- 2 

Rutile in porphyry copper and related deposits ------------------------------- 3 

Rutile in kyanite deposits __________________________ -------- ________________ · 3 

Titanium minerals in nepheline·· syenites -------------'----------------------- 3 

Rutile in anorthositic feldspar deposits ------------------------------------- 4 

Titanium minerals in marine phosphorite ________________ . ____ ._______________ 4 

Titanium minerals with vanadium, platinum, and chromium in stratiform mafic 

igneous ~ocks -------------------------------------------------------- 4 

References cited __ --------------------------- ____________ --·-- ___ _ _ ___ _ _ ___ 4 

TABLE 

Page 

TABLE 1. Estimated resources and potential yearly production of titanium minerals from some deposits of other minerals -------------------- F2 

III 
GEOLOGY AND RESOURCES OF TITANIUM 

TITANIUM MINERALS IN DEPOSITS OF OTHER MINERALS 

By E. R. FoRcE 

ABSTRACT 

Titanium minerals in quantities equivalent to a significant 

percentage of present world production are moved but not 

recovered from mines of other minerals. Resources of this 

type amount to millions of tQ11s of contained Ti02. Some possible sources of byproduct titanium are (1) ilmenite and 

minor rutile detrital concentrations in deposits of tin, monazite, gold, platinum, uranium, and sand and gravel, (2) leucoxenitiz,ed ilmenite and, locally, rutile in some bauxites, (3) 

rutile in porphyry copper and related deposits, ( 4) rutile in 

kyanite deposits, ( 5) perovskite and other titanium minerals 

in deposits of niobium, apatite, and nepheline in nepheline 

syenites, ( 6) rutile in alkalic anorthosite deposits of feldspar, 

and (7) titanium minerals in marine phosphorite. 

MAGNITUDE OF POTENTIAL BYPRODUCT 

RECOVERY 

The recovery of titanium minerals as byproducts 

of other minerals is of interest because limited resources are best conserved by recovery of byproducts and because competing land use and environmental considerations limit new mining of known 

resources. The appraisal here is intended to include 

only those situations in which the major product is 

being mined or has recently been mined; thus, considerations of the major-product economics are 

eliminated. 

Information is available for only a small minority 

of specific deposits of the general types discussed. 

Therefore, these specific deposits are just examples. 

Even so, if all the ilmenite were recovered from 

these deposits, the present world production of ilmenite could be increased by 20 percent or more 

(table 1). The percentage for rutile recovery is poorly defined but is probably far greater than 7 percent; 

the values are limited partly by lack of majorproduct production figures for deposits in the 

U.S.S.R. and partly by lack of grade information in 

several other cases. Some mining operations are already contributing, as byproducts, at least 5 percent 

of present world titanium production; in still others, 

titanium minerals are major coproducts. 

SAND AND GRAVEL MINING OPERATIONS 

Ilmenite and rutile are common minor minerals in 

a great many fluvial and marine sands and in sandstones. If some other mineral could be miried from 

these sands and sandstones, ilmenite and (or) rutile 

could also be recovered; the cost of byproduct recovery, however, is not evaluated herein. 

Scant information is available about the presence 

of titanium minerals or the feasibility of their recovery for certain types of large sand-mining operations, particularly gold and platinum placers and 

uranium mines in sandstone. Types of deposits for 

which more information is available are described 

below. 

Tin placers and their "amang" byproducts.-In 

Malaya, and to a lesser extent in Thailand, alluvial 

placer deposits mined primarilyfor cassiterite (tin) 

are also the source of byproduct ilmenite and other 

minerals, which are collectively called "amang." All 

the recovered minerals are apparently derived from 

granitic stocks. 

The ilmenite concentrate from amang is low in 

chromium and contains about 53 percent Ti02; thus, 

it is good raw material for the manufacture of pigment (Industrial Minerals, 1972). As a result of byproduct recovery alone, Malaya currently ranks fifth 

in the world among ilmenite producers (Noe, 1973). 

Production of ilmenite from amang could increase 

about 30 percent if recovery were increased "in Thailand and Indonesia, if it is assumed that ilmenite 

contents are similar throughout the province (from 

values given by Noe (1973) and in Industrial Minerals (1972)). Hypothetical resour~es of ilmenite 

are on the order of 20 million tons (from figures 

Fl 
F2 GEOLOGY AND RESOURCES OF TITANIUM 

TABLE !.-Estimated resources and potential yearly production of titanium minerals from some deposits of other minerals 

[H, hypothetical; I, identified; R, reserves] 

Type Deposit Country 

Tin placers ----- Malaya, Thailand, 

Indonesia. 

Mineral 

Estimated 

:resource 

(lOU tons) 

Ilmenite ------------- 15 (H) 

Potential 

yearly Recovered? production 

(1()3 tons) 

240 Mostly. 

M ulti.product 

placers. 

Valley County, 

Idaho. 

Nigeria ----------- United States ------ ____ do -------------- .2 (H) Low Ti02 ilmenite ____ 1 (I) 

1 NOi? 

30 When 

mined. 

Sand and graveL_ Southeastern United High Ti02 ilmenite _______ _ 186 No. 

States. Rutile --------------- , ____ _ 17 No. 

Bauxite -------- High Ti02 ilmenite __ _ 100 No. 

Porphyry copper_ 

Kyanite --------

Madras and Orissa __ 

Bagdad, Ariz ------ India ------------- United States ------ Rutile --------------- .06 (R) No. 

__ . __ do -------------- 3 No. Quartzites ________ _ _ ___ do ------------ ____ do -------------- .4 (I) 2 No·? 

Anorthosite ____ _ Montpelier, Va ----- ____ do ------------ ____ do -------------- 2 Heavy 

Marine 

phosphorite. Aurora, N.C ------- Bone Valley Formation, Fla. 

____ do ____ do 

given by Sainsbury and Reed (1973) and Noe 

(1973)). 

Alluvial cassiterite deposits o.f Nigeria also contain ilmenite and rare rutile; ilmenite recovery could 

amount to roughly one-third to one-sixth of the cassiterite production (Mackay and others, 1949). 

Here, the titanium minerals and the cassiterite apparently have different source rocks, and some lean 

cas1siterite resources have abundant ilmenite and 

rutile (Raeburn, 1926). 

Multiproduct placers of /daho.-Alluvial placers 

in and near Valley County in Idaho have been intermittently worked for monazite, euxenite, columbite, 

tantalite, zircon, ilmenite, and garnet. The deposits 

are in immature gravel derived from granitic rocks 

of the Idaho batholith; some of the minerals are 

locali:r;ed around specific sources. The placers contain 

more than 1 million tons of ilmenite (Savage, 1961, 

1964), but the average grade is too low to justify 

mining for ilmenite alone. The "ilmenite" averages 

45 percent TiOz and has not been used for pigment 

(Storch and Holt, 1963). 

Sand and gravel pits in southeastern United 

States.-Davis and Sullivan ( 1971) showed that ilmenite, rutile, and other heavy minerals could be 

recovered from sand and gravel mined mostly from 

Cretaceous sands·tone and modern alluvium in the 

southeastern United States. Total heavy minerals 

average 1 to 2 percent; ilmenite is the most abundant 

heavy mineral. The TiOz contents of ilmenite varied 

from 51 to 68 percent. 

The southeastern States produce only 2 percent of 

the Nation's sand and gravel. The potential production of ilmenite and rutile from sand and gravel pits 

in other areas of the United States is unknown; the 

southeast, however, is probably the most favorable· 

tailings. 

Ilmenite ------------- 10 No. 

High Ti02 ilmenite __ _ 10 No. Rutile _____ .:____ _ __ 1 No. 

area because the intense weathering there produces 

high TiOz ilmenite. Sand and gravel operations in · 

some tropical countries would likewise be promising 

sources of titanium mine·rals. 

TITANIUM MINERALS IN BAUXITE 

The chemical enrichment o.f TiOz and the residual 

enrichment of ilmenite and rutile during w·eathering 

are particularly evident in bauxitization, and many 

authors have discussed the pos.s~ibility of recovering 

titanium minerals as well as alumina from bauxite 

(Calhoun, 1950; Patterson, 1967; Stamper, 1970, p. 

449). According to Hartman (1959), titanium in 

bauxite commonly occurs both as grains of ilmenite 

greatly enriched in TiOz ("leucoxene") and as TiOz 

polymorphs finer than 40 J-t· The fine-grained material is difficult to separate, and perhaps separation 

would require chemical means. Some Hawaiian bauxites (Sherman, 1952; Patterson, 1971) and some red 

mud waste from Indian bauxites. (Patterson, 1967, 

p. 7) contain more than 20 percent Ti0 2 • 

Grains of ilmenite or of "leucoxene" consisting of 

anatase and rutile are present in most bauxites, and, 

in bauxite over parent rocks containing significant 

amounts of ilmenite (such as volcaniC rock, sandstone, schist, and syenite), the grains commonly 

comprise more than 0.5 percent of the bauxite 

(Hartman, 1959). Such bauxites amount to about 

one-third of the total bauxite production (from data 

given by Patterson (1967) and Kurtz (1973, table 

16)). It :seems plausible that 100,000 tons of ilmenite and "leucoxene" are being discarded each year 

from these bauxites. 

Bauxite in Madras. and Orissa States in India 

(Roy Chowdhury, 1955, p. 210-211) is derived from 
TITANIUM MINERALS IN DEPOSITS OF OTHER MINERALS F3 

weathering of leptynite (quartz-garnet-feldspar 

gneiss) and khondalite (quartz-sillimanite-garnetgraphite gneiss). These rocks probably contain rutile, as do similar rocks nearby; if so, rutile is probably present in the bauxite. On the basis of bauxite 

reserve estimates (Patterson, 1967, p. lOa) and the 

assumption that fresh rock contains 0.5 percent rutile, the maximum amount of rutile present is about 

60,000 tons. Rutile may also be present in bauxite 

over gneiss in Guinea in West Africa. 

RUTILE IN PORPHYRY COPPER AND 

RELATED DEPOSITS 

Rutile is a common product of hydrothermal alteration in the porphyry copper deposits of the 

southwestern United States (Creasey, 1966; 

Schwartz, 1966). At Bagdad, Ariz., it is present in 

copper ore (Anderson and others, 1955). This rutile 

contains about 2 percent Nb. Creasey ( 1966) found 

that, in propylitic zones of alteration, rutile is present only as "leucoxene," whereas single grains of 

rutile are present in the argillic zones. Thin sections 

collected by R. G. Schmidt and D. P. Cox (U.S. Geological Survey) from San Manuel and Ajo porphyry 

copper deposits show that grains of rutile coarser 

than 20 ,.., are limited to the zone of potash feldspar; 

in this zone, these grains are as coarse as 0.3 mm. 

Sphene i.s present with or in place of rutile in several .specimens containing carbonate from Ajo; in two 

such specimens, the weight percent of rutile was 

0.08 and 0.10. 

Some other types of porphyry and related deposits 

also contain rutile. A quartz dioritic porphyry copper deposit in Puerto Rico contains rutile (Cox and 

others, 1973, fig. 4). Rutile, high in niobium, is present in the Climax, Colo., molybdenum porphyry deposit (Wallace and others, 1968, p. 626) and the 

Urad, Colo., tungsten molybdenum porphyry deposit 

(P. K. Theobald, oral commun., 1974). Rutile is being produced (A. L. Clark, oral commun., 1973), 

along with copper, apatite, vermiculite, baddeleyite, 

monazite, Ti-magnetite, and pyrite, from a mafic 

alkalic deposit at Palabora, South Africa (South 

African Mining and Engineering Journal, 1970). 

Possibly two reactions are responsible for rutile in 

hydrothermally altered porphyries. The first involves the introduction of sulfur. Kullerud and 

Yoder ( 1963) found that mafic minerals, such as 

biotite and hornblende, break down in the presence 

of sulfur to form pyrite, magnetite, and stripped 

silicates. Although Kullerud and Yoder did not observe titanium minerals among the reaction products, a balanced equation having biotite or hornblende among the reactants would imply their presence. In p~rphyry copper deposits, high-TiOz magmatic biotite breaks down to low-Ti02 hydrothermal 

biotite (Moore and Czamanske, 1973), and magmatic titaniferous magnetite breaks down to stoichiometric hydrothermal magnetite (Hamil and 

Nackowski, 1971). Since sulfides are present, the 

similarity to Kullerud and Yoder's reactions is apparent; the liberated Ti02 apparently forms rutile. 

· ·· Probably :rutile· aiid ·:copper ore·<minerals. are.-,.to some· .. 

extent products of the same reaction. Rutile in altered mafic intrusives associated with replacement 

sulfide copper deposits at the Haile mine (Pardee 

and Park, 1948, p. 112; Ti02 polymorph is actually 

anatase, Norman Herz, written commun., 1970) and 

at the Fontana mine in the southeastern United 

States also indicates the importance of sulfur in reactions producing rutile. 

The second reaction involves the introduction of 

C02. Schuiling and Vink ( 1967) found that equilibrium between rutile, sphene, and carbonate is a function of C02 pressure; high C02 pressure pushes the 

reaction toward rutile and carbonate. At Ajo, the 

coexistence of all three phases implies unusually high 

C02 pressure. 

RUTILE IN KYANITE DEPOSITS 

Espenshade and Potter (1960) reported the presence of rutile in kyanite quartzites of the southeastern United States. The rutile content averaged about 

0.5 percent in the quartzites analyzed. Identified resources are on the order of 400,000 tons. of rutile 

(from figures given by Espenshade and Potter 

(1960) and Espenshade (1973)). 

Rutile is present in the important kyanite deposits 

of northern India, but the grade has not been reported (Varley, 1965). Rutile of grades locally as 

high as 3 percent is commonly present in other deposits of alumino-silicate minerals (Varley, 1965; 

Espenshade, 1973). 

TITANIUM MINERALS IN NEPHELINE 

SYENITFS 

Alkalic rocks of the Kola Peninsula are mined for 

a variety of commodities by means of techniques not 

common outside the U.S.S.R. Herz (1976b) discusses 

a situation in which titanium minerals could be a 

byproduct of mining nepheline (aluminum) and 

apatite (phosphate and rare earth) from nepheline 

syenite at· the Khibiny massif and of mining Nb-

\ 
F4 GEOLOGY AND RESOURCES OF TITANIUM 

perovskite (niobium) from nepheline syenite at the 

Lovozero massif. 

RUTILE IN ANORTHOSITIC FELDSPAR 

DEPOSITS 

Antiperthitic andesine feldspar is mined from alkalic anorthosite in two areas of Piedmont Virginia. 

One is the Roseland district, a formerly important 

source of rutile (Herz, 1976a). Figures for the 

amount of rutile in the feldspar ore are not available, 

but, since the areas of the best feldspar and the most 

rutile are not coextensive, the amount is probably 

small. The other area is near Montpelier. Rutile was 

formerly mined here also, from the same pit1s in 

which feldspar is now mined. The rutile is coarse 

grained and occurs as rods in intensely lineated 

anorthosite. Rutile, sphene, apatite, and ilmenite are 

presently accumulating in a "heavy tailings" pond. 

TITANIUM MINERALS IN MARINE 

PHOSPHORITE 

Ilmenite, rutile, and other valuable heavy minerals 

are present in the waste products from phosphate 

mining in Florida (Stow, 1968). These minerals are 

present as clastic grains in phosphate pebble conglomerate of the Bone Valley Formation, where they 

compose, on the average, 0.23 percent of the conglomerate (Pirkle and others, 1967). The Ti02 content of ilmenite is. more than 60 percent (Stow, 

1968), probably because of ·weathering alteration. 

Lamont and others (1972) found recovery of the 

heavy minerals to be limite~ by their fine grain size. 

Lewis ( 197 4; written commun., 1975) found that 

phosphate at Aurora, N.C., contains about 0.1 percent ilmenite and that tailings from the flotation 

plant contain 2.5 percent ilmenite. The Ti02 content 

of the ilmenite is 52 percent. A channel sample taken 

by F. W. Whitmore (U.S. Geological Survey) across 

about 9 m of Pleistocene ( ?) silty sand overburden 

at the mine contains about 0.4 percent fine-grained 

ilmenite (overburden is not included in table 1). 

TITANIUM MINERALS WITH VANADIUM, 

PLATINUM, AND CHROMIUM IN STRATIFORM 

MAFIC IGNEOUS ROCKS 

Titanium minerals occur within the Bushveld complex of South Africa in some of the world's most imnorta.nt reserves of vanadium, platinum, and 

chromium. 

Vanadium ore occurs as magnetite in plugs and 

cumulative layers in the upper part of the complex. 

The ore contains ilmenite as discrete cumulate grains 

and both ilmenite and ulvospinel as intergrowths in 

magnetite (Willemse, 1969). The coarser ilmenite 

comprises from 1 to 10 percent of the ore (Molyneux, 1970). An average of 1 percent would imply 

about 2 million tons of ilmenite in the ore reserves. 

Platinum ore occurs in the Merens·ky Reef, downsection in the compfex. Platinum is present as many 

compounds in pyroxenite. Other platinoids, gold, 

nickel, and copper are byproducts. Ilmenite and rutile are present as accessory minerals; a maximum 

amount o.f about 2 percent (Cousins, 1969) is set by 

Ti02 content. 

Cumulate chromite forms chromitite in the lower 

part of the complex. Rutile is present in some seams 

as interstitial crystals, but a maximum of 0.4 to 0.7 

percent is s·et by Ti02 content (Cameron and Emerson, 1959). Because the chromite is smelted in bulk 

form, rutile cannot presently be recovered. 

Similar possibilities of titanium mineral recovery 

probably exist in other complexes. The chromite deposit~ of Fiskenaesset, Greenland, contain rutile 

(Ghisler and Windley, 1967). In some deposits of 

ilmenite in mafic igneous rocks, vanadium is a byproduct, as it is. at Otanmaki, Finland; in other 

similar rocks, titanium could possibly be· the byproduct. 

REFERENCES CITED 

Anderson, C. A., Scholz, E. A., and Strobell, J. D., Jr., 1955, 

Geology and ore deposits of the Bagdad area, Yavapai 

County, Arizona: U.S. Geol. Survey Prof. Paper 278, 

103 p. 

Calhoun, W. A., 1950, Titanium and iron minerals from black 

sands in bauxite: U.S. Bur. Mines Rept. Inv. 4621, 16 p. 

Cameron, E. N., and Emerson, M. E., 1959, The origin of 

certain chromite deposits of the eastern part of the 

Bushveld complex: Econ. Geology, v. 54, p. 1151-1213. 

Cousins, C. A., 1969, The Merensky Reef of the Bushveld 

igneous complex, in Wilson, H. D. B., ed., Magmatic ore 

deposits: Econ. Geology Mon. 4, p. 239-251. 

Cox, D. P., Larson, R. R., and Tripp, R. B., 1973, Hydrothermal alteration in Puerto Rican porphyry copper deposits: Econ. Geology, v. 68, p. 1329-1334. 

Creasey, S. C., 1966, Hydrothermal alteration, in Titley, 

S. R., and Hicks, C. L., eds., Geology of the porphyry 

copper deposits, southwestern North America: Tucson, 

Univ. of Arizona Press, p. 51-74. 

Davis, E. G., and Sullivan, G. V., 1971, Recovery of heavy' 

minerals from sand and gravel operations in the southeastern United States: U.S. Bur. Mines Rept. Inv. 7517, 

25 p. 

Espenshade, G. H., 1973, Kyani.te and related minerals, in 

Brobst, D. A., and Pratt, W. P., eds., United States 

mineral resources: U.S. Geol. Survey Prof. Paper 820, 

p. 307-312. 
TITANIUM MINERALS IN DEPOSITS OF OTHER MINERALS F5 

Espenshade, G. H., and Potter, D. B., 1960, Kyanite, sillimanite, and andalusite deposits of the southeastern 

States: U.S. Geol. Survey Prof. Paper 336, 121 p. 

Ghisler, Martin, and Windley, B. F., 1967, The chromite 

deposits of the Fiskenaesset region, West Greenland : 

Gronlands Geol. Undersogelse Rap. 12, 39 p. 

Hamil, B. M., and Nackowski, M. P., 1971, Trace-element distribution in accessory magnetite from quartz monzonite 

intrusives ·and its relation to sulfide mineralization in the 

Basin and Range province of Utah and Nevada-A preliminary report, in Boyle, R. W., and McGerrigle, J. I., 

eds., Geochemical exploration: Canadian Inst. Mining 

and Metallurgy Spec. V. 11, p. 331-333. 

Hartman, J. A., 1959, The titanium mineralogy of certain 

bauxites and their parent materials: Econ. Geology, v. 

54, p. 1380-1405. 

Herz, Norman, 1976a, Titanium deposits in anorthosite 

massifs, in Geology and resources of titanium: U.S. Geol. 

Survey Prof. Paper 959-D, 6 p. 

--- 1976b, Titanium deposits in alkalic igneous rocks, in 

Geology and resources of titanium: U.S. Geol. Survey 

Prof. Paper 959-E, 6 p. 

Industrial Minerals, 1972, By-product minerals from tin mining [Thailand]: no. 57, p. 35. 

Kullerud, Gunnar, and Yoder, H. S., Jr., 1963, Sulfide-silicate 

relations: Carnegie Inst. Washington Year Book, v. 62, p. 

215-218. 

Kurtz, H. F., 1973, Bauxite, in U.S. Bureau of Mines minerals yearbook 1971; v. 1, p. 199-214. 

Lamont, W. E., Brooks, D. R., Feld, I. L., and McVay, T. N., 

1972, Rutile and associated heavy minerals in Florida 

phosphate flotation plants: U.S. Bur. Mines open-file rept., 

35 p. 

Lewis, R. M., 1974, Recovery of heavy minerals from North 

Carolina phosphate tailings: North Carolina State Univ. 

Minerals Research Lab. Rept. MRI:r-4, 10 p. 

Mackay, R. H., Greenwood, R., and Rockingham, J. E., 1949, 

The geology of the plateau tin fields, resurvey 1945-48: 

Nigeria Geol. Survey Bull. 19, 80 p. 

Molyneux, T. G., 1970, The geology of the area in the vicinity 

of Magnet Heights, eastern Transvaal, with special reference to the magnetic iron ore, in Bushveld igneous complex and other layered intrusions, symposium: Geol. Soc. 

South Africa Spec. Pub. 1, p. 228-241. 

Moore, W. J., and Czamanske, G. K., 1973, Compositions of 

biotites from unaltered and altered monzonitic rocks in 

the Bingham mining district, Utah: Econ. Geology, v. 68, 

p. 269-274. 

Noe, F. E., 1973, Titanium, in U.S. Bureau of Mines minerals 

yearbook 1971; v. 1, p. 1167-1180. 

Pardee, J. T., and Park, C. F., Jr., 1948, Gold deposits of the 

southern Piedmont: U.S. Geol. Survey Prof. Paper 2.13, 

156 p. 

Patterson, S. H., 1967, Bauxite reserves and potential aluminum resources of the world: U.S. Geol. Survey Bull. 

1228, 176 p. 

--- 1971, Investigations of ferruginous bauxite and other 

mineral resources on Kauai and a reconnaissance of ferruginous bauxite deposits on Maui, Hawaii: U.S. Geol. 

Survey Prof. Paper 656, 74 p. 

Pirkle, E. C., Yoho, W. H., and Webb, S. D., 1967, Sediments 

of the Bone Valley phosphate district of Florida: Econ. 

Geology, v. 62, p. 237--261. 

Raeburn, Colin, 1926, The geology of Mama, N assarawa 

Province: Nigeria Geol. Survey Bull. 9, p. 9-19. 

Roy Chowdhury, M. K., 1955, Bauxite deposits of India and 

their utilization: Indian Minerals, v. 9, p. 195-221. 

Sainsbury, C. L., and Reed, B. L., 1973, Tin, in Brobst, D. A., 

and Pratt, W. P., -eds., United States mineral resources: 

U.S. Geol. Survey Prof. Paper 820, p. 637-651. 

Savage, C. N., 1961, Economic geology of central Idaho 

blacksand placers: Idaho Bur. Mines and Geology Bull. 

17, 160 p. 

--- 1964, Titanium, zirconium, and hafnium, in Mineral· 

and water resources of Idaho: Rept. for U.S. Cong., 

Senate Comm. Interior and Insular Affairs, U.S. 88th 

Cong., 2d sess., p. 217-223. 

Schuiling, R. D., ·and Vink, B. W., 1967, Stability relations 

of some titanium minerals (sphene, perovskite, rutile, 

anatase): Geochim. et Cosmochim. Acta, v. 31, p. 2399-

2411. 

Schwartz, G. M., 1966, The nature of primary and secondary 

mineralization in porphyry copper deposits, in Titley, 

S. R., and Hicks, C. L., eds., Geology 'of the porp.hyry 

copper deposits, southwestern North America: Tucson, 

Univ. of Arizona Press, p. 41-50. 

Sherman, G. D., 1952., The titanium content of Hawaiian soils 

and its significance: Soil Sci. Soc. America Proc., v. 16, 

p. 15-18 .. 

South African Mining and Engineering Journal, 1970, On 

the trail of zirconium oxide: v. 81, pt. 1, no. 4043, p. 

1085-1091. 

Stamper, J. W., 1970, Aluminum, in Mineral facts and problems, 1970: U.S~ Bur. Mines Bull. 650, p. 437-462. 

Storch, R. H., and Holt, D. C., 1963, Titanium placer deposits 

of Idaho: U.S. Bur. Mines Rept. Inv. 6319, 69 p. 

Stow, S. H., 1968, The heavy minerals of the Bone Valley 

Formation and their potential value: Econ. Geology, v. 

63, p. 973-977. 

Varley, E. R., 1965, Sillimanite: London, Ov-erseas Geol. Surveys, Mineral Resources Div., 165 p. 

Wallace, S. R., Muncaster, N. K., Jonson, D. C., MacKenzie, 

W. B., Bookstrom, A. A., and Surface,. V. E., 196~ 

Multiple intrusion and mineralization at Climax, Colorado, in Ridge, J. D., ed., Ore deposits of the United 

States 1933-1967: New York, Am. Inst. Mining, Metallurgy, and Petroleum Engineers, v. 1, p. 605-640. 

Willemse, J., 1969, The vanadiferous magnetic iron ore of the 

Bushveld igneous complex, in Wilson, H. D. B., ed., Magmatic ore deposits{ Econ. Geology Mon. 4, p. 187-208. 

-k U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE: 1976 0-240-961/l 5