Introduction
The iron and titanium ore deposit in the Piedra Alta region, near Florida, has been known for quite some time and was explored and exploited simultaneously around 1935, for the purpose of being used as iron ore.
Situation
The deposit is located in the Department of Florida, about 10 kilometres south of the city of the same name, approximately one kilometre west of Route 5, according to the Uruguayan highway system and a short distance from the railway line that leads to that city, on flat and accessible terrain. In addition, it is very well located in terms of access roads, as it is only about 90 kilometres north of the capital.
General geology
The Piedra Alta deposit is a typical example of an ore formed by magmatic segregation. In its surroundings, there is a granite intrusion and the site itself is closely associated with an irregular mass of gabbro without olivine.
Within this mass of gabbro are veins mineralized with iron oxides and ilmenite of varying size, which constitute the deposit itself.
Mineral Quality
The mineral presents an intimate and intertwined mixture of hematite and ilmenite with strong gradations from one to the other.
It is mainly ilmenite with a mixture of hematite. The dominant mineral is ilmenite, which appears to have crystallized first and the excess iron crystallized later in the form of hematite, filling the interstices between its crystals.
Resume
The rospid gabbro is part of the post-orogenic plutonic magmatism of the Paleoprterozoic age of the Piedra Alta Territory. The main mineralogy consists of hornblende amphibole, altered plagioclase, ilmenite, magnetite, apatite, garnet, and scant quartz. From the textural point of view, fine-grained, coarse-grained and very coarse-grained facies were recognized. Associated with this basic body there is an iron-titanium mineralization which is presented in the form of dikes with orientations ranging from vertical to sub-horizontal. The analyzes carried out gave average values in Fe₂O₃ concentration of 64%. On the other hand, there is an enrichment in vanadium.
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