Silica with a Disordered Structure from Drainage Water of the Antonova Gora Tungsten Deposit, Eastern Transbaikal Region

摘要

A newly formed mineral substance with obvious genetic links to the drainage runoff from the adit was found in the process of hydrogeochemical sampling at the previously mined Antonova Gora tungsten deposit. During low-water periods, surface runoff with a discharge of 1-2 l/s occurs only near the adit mouth. Fresh sediments are accumulated as oblong (1-2 cm) bar-shaped and clotty fine-grained aggregates (up to 5 mm in diameter) on stones along the water stream 1 m above the water level and 1 m under the water. The sediments disappear at a distance of 100 m from the adit mouth, where the runoff is lost in the scoured dumps and tailing storage. The main mass of the sediment is concentrated at the upper reaches of the stream. The newly formed substance is loose, very light, and fragile. Therefore, it easily disintegrates during sampling. It is light gray and bluish gray under water. The substance is virtually insoluble in the distilled water. In HCl, the substance is slightly soluble and the solution becomes yellowish, most likely because of Fe~(3+) impurity.