Clay mineral characterization and nano-pores evaluation - Arcabuco zone (Colombia)

Colombian mining is usually done without any proper scientific methodology, and therefore, without knowing if there is more potential for the mineral resource being mined. For a scientific insight, this work presents the analysis of clay mineral characterization and nano-pores evaluation. The samples were obtained from the Arcabuco zone, a region located in Boyacá-Colombia. The techniques used to identify the minerals, the crystal structure, the chemical composition and the thermal properties were X-ray Diffraction (XRD), Scanning Electron Microscopy and Energy-dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (SEM - EDX), Thermogravimetry and Differential Thermal Analysis (TG-DTA), Mössbauer Spectroscopy (MS), and finally Positron Annihilation Spectroscopy.
The XRD data were analyzed by means of the Rietveld refinement method, finding phases like Montmorillonite, Quartz, Illite and Kaolinite. These phases were corroborated using the characterization techniques previously described. Positron annihilation data were used to detect and evaluate the size of the nano-pores and to correlate them with the behavior of the dehydration and hydration kinetics in these measurements obtained by TG-DTA.