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Mineralogical and isotopic characterization of graphite deposits from the Anatectic Complex of Toledo, central Spain

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Abstract

Graphite is found dispersed in high-grade metapelitic rocks of the Anatectic Complex of Toledo (ACT) and was mined during the mid twentieth century in places where it has been concentrated (Guadamur and la Puebla de Montalbán mines). Some samples from these mines show variable but significant alteration intensity, reaching very low-T hydrothermal (supergene) conditions for some samples from the waste heap of the Guadamur site (<100 °C and 1 kbar). Micro-Raman and XRD data indicate that all the studied ACT graphite is of high crystallinity irrespective of the degree of hydrothermal alteration. Chemical differences were obtained for graphite δ13C composition. ACT granulitic graphite shows δ13CPDB values in the range of −20.5 to −27.8 ‰, indicating a biogenic origin. Interaction of graphite with hydrothermal fluids does not modify isotopic compositions even in the most transformed samples from mining sites. The different isotopic signatures of graphite from the mining sites reflect its contrasted primary carbon source. The high crystallinity of studied graphite makes this area of central Spain suitable for graphitic exploration and its potential exploitation, due to the low carbon content required for its viability and its strategic applications in advanced technologies, such as graphene synthesis.

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Acknowledgments

We acknowledge Alfredo Fernández Larios for his assistance with the electron microprobe analyses in the Centro Nacional de Microscopía Electrónica (UCM) and Alberto Jorge García for his micro-Raman assistance in the Museo de Ciencias Naturales (CSIC). We also extend thanks to Xavier Arroyo Rey (CAI-DRX-UCM) and Jesús Reyes and Begoña del Moral from the analytical laboratories of the IGME for their technical assistance. We extend thanks also to Jesús López Jerez for offering his sample of granulites and graphite-rich rocks around mining areas of the ACT. We would like to especially thank Maite García Vallés for her assistance in Raman data processing. We also thank Clemente Recio for his diligence in performing C isotope analyses in the Stable Isotope Laboratory of the Salamanca University. Finally, we thank to David Huston, to an anonymous reviewer and to the editor Bernd Lehmann for their comments that increased the quality of the work. This work is included in the objectives of, and supported by, the CGL2012-32822 project of the Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad of Spain and the 910492-UCM group. Finally, this study will be included in the metallogenetic database of the IGME.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Instituto Geológico y Minero de España (IGME), Madrid, Spain

    Iván Martín-Méndez & Ester Boixereu

  2. Dpto. Petrología y Geoquímica, Facultad Geología, Instituto de Geociencias IGEO (UCM, CSIC), Madrid, Spain

    Carlos Villaseca

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  1. Iván Martín-Méndez
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Correspondence to Iván Martín-Méndez.

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Editorial handling: D. Huston

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Martín-Méndez, I., Boixereu, E. & Villaseca, C. Mineralogical and isotopic characterization of graphite deposits from the Anatectic Complex of Toledo, central Spain. Miner Deposita 51, 575–590 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00126-015-0625-9

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