The Kamikita mine located in Aomori Prefecture, North Japan, is one of the most famous black, ore deposits in Japan. The ore deposits consist of several massive and layered epithermal replacement bodies in a breccia zone in liparite and liparitic tuff. The liparite and tuff are. genetically related to Miocene volcanic activity.
Ores of two kinds exist : One consists chiefly of pyrite, and the other, of sphalerite with small quantities of galena, bornite, chalcocite, chalcopyrite, tetrahedrite and other minerals.
The black ore of the First Kaminosawa deposit is very complicated. Ore minerals of this deposit are sphalerite, galena, chalcopyrite, pyrite, bornite, chalcocite, dienite, orange bornite, enargite, luzonite, tetrahedrite, tennantite, sternbergite.(?), stromeyerite (?), pyrargyrite and .occasionally at some places germanite (?) the gangue minerals are quartz, calcite, gypsum, chlorite, etc......
The ores of this mine contain very small amounts of germanium. The following results are obtained by microscope observations and chemical analyses:
(1) The contents of germanium in ores range considerably, from 0 to 280 g/t. Most germanium, is found in sphalerite (50-250 g/t); very little is present in other ore minerals, gangue minerals and the country rocks (less than 10 g/t). Fine grained germanite (?) is found in some sphalerite.
(2) The content of germanium in sphalerite is marked by difference' in the various deposits and depends upon the sequence of mineralization.
(3) A, concentrate of zinc (55. 91% Zn) containing 120 g/t Ge was, obtained by the differential flotation of zinc-copper ores from this mine.
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