3D mineralogical mapping of the Kovdor phoscorite–carbonatite complex (Russia)

The Kovdor baddeleyite–apatite–magnetite deposit in the Kovdor phoscorite–carbonatite pipe is situated in the western part of the zoned alkali-ultrabasic Kovdor intrusion (NW part of the Fennoscandinavian shield; Murmansk Region, Russia). We describe major intrusive and metasomatic rocks of the pipe and its surroundings using a new classification of phoscorite–carbonatite series rocks, consistent with the IUGS recommendation. The gradual zonation of the pipe corresponds to the sequence of mineral crystallization (forsterite–hydroxylapatite–magnetite–calcite). Crystal morphology, grain size, characteristic inclusions, and composition of the rock-forming and accessory minerals display the same spatial zonation pattern, as do the three minerals of economic interest, i.e. magnetite, hydroxylapatite, and baddeleyite. The content of Sr, rare earth elements (REEs), and Ba in hydroxylapatite tends to increase gradually at the expense of Si, Fe, and Mg from early apatite–forsterite phoscorite (margins of the pipe) through carbonate-free, magnetite-rich phoscorite to carbonate-rich phoscorite and phoscorite-related carbonatite (inner part). Magnetite displays a trend of increasing V and Ca and decreasing Ti, Mn, Si, Cr, Sc, and Zn from the margins to the central part of the pipe; its grain size initially increases from the wall rocks to the inner part and then decreases towards the central part; characteristic inclusions in magnetite are geikielite within the marginal zone of the phoscorite–carbonatite pipe, spinel within the intermediate zone, and ilmenite within the inner zone. The zoning pattern seems to have formed due to both cooling and rapid degassing (pressure drop) of a fluid-rich magmatic column and subsequent pneumatolytic and hydrothermal processes.