New insights on mineralogy and genesis of kaolin deposits: The Burela kaolin deposit (Northwestern Spain)

摘要

The Burela deposit is the largest kaolin deposit in Spain, mined for more than 50 years, the product being mainly used for porcelain. Kaolin is dominantly associated with Lower Cambrian felsites, interbedded with quartzites, micaschists and metapelites (Candana Series), and was strongly folded during the Variscan orogeny. Kaolin layers were ductile and incompetent materials among more competent ones, producing many slides with a diastrophic appearance. Consequently, kaolin outcrops are morphologically very variable- i.e. pockets - and interlayered between metapelites and/or quartzites, resulting in complication for prospection and mining.