Full Description

Product Code: MPB58

By A.R. Woolley

Apart from their scientific interest, the alkaline rocks and carbonatites are of major, and growing, economic importance. They are significant repositories of certain metals and commodities, indeed the only source of some of them, including Nb, the rare earths, Cu, V, diamond phosphate, vermiculite, bauxite, raw materials for the manufacture of ceramics, and potentially for Th, U, Diamonds, and many more. The economic potential of these rocks is now widely appreciated, particularly since the commencement of the very lucrative mining of the Palabora carbonitite for copper, a host of valuable by-products, and it the exploration efforts of mining companies that have led to the discovery of many important new localities.

This book describes and provides ready access to the literature for all known occurrences of alkaline igneous rocks and carbonatites of Africa. Africa is the continent most richly endowed with alkaline rocks and carbonatites. Over 1000 occurrences are described from 40 countries. The descriptions include geographical co-ordinates and information of structure, general geology, rock types, petrography, mineralogy, ages, economic aspects and principal references. There are 348 geological and distribution maps and a locality index.

The present volume is likely to be of considerable interest to mineral exploration companies because there appears to be no published reviews of the economic aspects of the alkaline rocks. 

Readership: Research scientists in the fields of igneous petrology and volcanology, geologists interested in the regional distribution of igneous rocks and their relationship to tectonics and economic and exploration geologists.

Parts 1 and 2 were published by Springer.