摘要
Indium occurs in a very dispersed manner in nature with enrichment of economic Interest rarely known. The highly dispersed nature of indium, among several other elements, hasfor a long time retarded our understanding of the regularities that control their mineralization,which in turn has hindered exploitation and application of these elements. Recent studies ofours show that no significant enrichment of indiurn can be recognized in various types of Pb-Znsulphide deposits as well as in deposits of copper, iron and manganese. Indium concentrationsin ores of these deposits are generally below 10×10-6. In contrast, however, indium is foundto be enriched to a significant extent in cassiterite-sulphide deposits and some tin-rich Pb-Znpolymetallic deposits. The average content of indium in these deposits can be over 100×10-6,and more than 90% of it is concentrated in sphalerite. Generally, these deposits may be considered as large paragenic deceits for indium and, therefore, there must be some regularitiesthat govern the geochemical enrichment of the so-called "dispersed element" indium.
Indium occurs in a very dispersed manner in nature with enrichment of economic Interest rarely known. The highly dispersed nature of indium, among several other elements, hasfor a long time retarded our understanding of the regularities that control their mineralization,which in turn has hindered exploitation and application of these elements. Recent studies ofours show that no significant enrichment of indiurn can be recognized in various types of Pb-Znsulphide deposits as well as in deposits of copper, iron and manganese. Indium concentrationsin ores of these deposits are generally below 10×10-6. In contrast, however, indium is foundto be enriched to a significant extent in cassiterite-sulphide deposits and some tin-rich Pb-Znpolymetallic deposits. The average content of indium in these deposits can be over 100×10-6,and more than 90% of it is concentrated in sphalerite. Generally, these deposits may be considered as large paragenic deceits for indium and, therefore, there must be some regularitiesthat govern the geochemical enrichment of the so-called 'dispersed element' indium.
