La Mendocina Mine, Bonillas Cord, Uspallata District, Las Heras Department, Mendoza Province, Argentinai

Regional Level Types
La Mendocina Mine	Mine
Bonillas Cord	- not defined -
Uspallata District	District
Las Heras Department	Department
Mendoza Province	Province
Argentina	Country

Elevation: 2,892 m. above sea level.

Talc Deposit, located 18 km SE of Uspallata City.

"La Mendocina" mine consists of bodies or streaks of talc housed in lenticular bodies of serpentinite with general direction North-South, tilt 35 ° to 45 ° E and thickness between 1.4 and 2 metres. The thickness of the deposits ranges between 1 and 2 meters, in some cases, reaching 6 metres. In depth mineralization has been recognized more than 70 meters, as it is the case of this mine.

Genetic model: the formation of deposits of the talc is related to the alteration of the ultrabasic bodies in three stages. First occurs the serpentinization of the rocks, secondly the resulting serpentinite is carbonatized by the action of fluids carrying CO2 and the formation of the talc-carbonate association. The last stage, with the contribution of SiO2 and H2O solutions produced the steatitization of the previous rocks with the extraction of Fe, Al and Mg.

Operating system: virtually all the deposits have been exploited opencast and shallow. In those cases where shafts, tunnels, galleries had to be constructed, these have usually not passed 20 meters and reached exceptionally 60 m, such is the case of the mine "La Mendocina", where the galleries made exceeded 400 meters in length.

Chemical analysis of two samples of Talc:
SiO2: 59.12 % - 61.22%.
CaO: 1.32% - 0.73%.
MgO: 32.88% - 30.46%.
Fe2O3: 0.60% - 0.73%.

Other Regions, Features and Areas containing this locality

References