Geological Characteristics and resources comprehensive utilization of andalusite mine in Rongxuka area,Daofu County,Sichuan Province

As advanced refractory and main mineral for extracting silicon aluminum alloy, the andalusite can be used in industry of metallurgy, building materials, ceramics, aviation and so on. The demand for andalusite will keep increasing along with the development of social economy. Rongxuka tectonic-magmatic dome is situated in the east of Songpan-Ganzi Orogenic Belt in Sichuan Province, and the flysch strata of the passive continental margin dominated by Triassic Xikang Group are widely distributed in the area. The core and periphery of the tectonic-magmatic dome are intruded by Indo-China period granodiorite and pegmatite veins. The contact metamorphic zone is mainly andalusite two-mica schist, andalusite-staurolite-mica schist, staurolite-andalusite-contained two-mica schist, two-mica schist and so on. There are non-metal deposits such as andalusite, staurolite in the schist, and rare-metal deposits such as lithium and beryllium in the pegmatite veins. The Al₂O₃ and SiO₂ contents of the andalusite of Rongxuka area are 61.44% and 37.11%, and the (K₂O + Na₂O) and FeO are 0.18% and 0.15% respectively, which can meet the industrial requirement of advanced refractory, technological ceramic and silicon-aluminum alloy raw materials. By investigation on the spot, the authors identified the prospective andalusite resource of the area is 2.3 tons, above the standard of large scale. There is a considerable amount of andalusite resource in Kangding-Yajiang-Daofu belt of Sichuan Province. With the transference of the national construction focus toward western areas, there are remarkable advantages of the comprehensive utilization and favorable development prospect of andalusite deposit, which might hopefully become the biggest or world-class andalusite deposit in China. It may alleviate the condition that part of the minerals relies on importation.