A review of mineral resources in Malawi: With special reference to aluminium variation in mineral deposits

The lithology of Malawi is characterized by Precambrian metamorphic and igneous rocks which form part of the polyphase East African Orogen. Rift-related sedimentation and igneous activity during the late Paleozoic (Karoo System) and the late Mesozoic (Chilwa Province) have produced a great variety of rocks that underwent strong chemical weathering and erosion when the entire region received its final shape by peneplanation and fluvial incision during the Cenozoic under (sub)tropical climatic conditions. Aluminum is a dominating element in minerals (e.g., corundum, kyanite, beryl, gibbsite) in this region. Some minerals were concentrated in deposits bound to Al-enriched host rocks (zircon, pyrochlore, eudialyte, uranium minerals) with high A/CNK ratios, whereas others, e.g., asbestos, chalcedony, monazite, kaolinite, ilmenite and garnet have host rocks of a low A/CNK ratio. Aluminum was used to categorize these various mineral deposits. The abundance of aluminum and accumulations of Nb, Zr, Ti, REE, Sr and Ba point for some mineralisations to similar subcrustal carbonatite-forming systems that were operative during periods of the Precambrian and the Mesozoic in Malawi. Aluminum variation does not only reflect differentiation in the various igneous rock series but it is also visible in the sedimentary realm during transport and weathering. In context with other elements such as Ti and P, Al provides an opportunity to reveal chemical relationships between rocks and mineral deposits. Spinel and Al-enriched silicate minerals can be used as pathfinder minerals in the stream sediments to guide the exploration geologist to non-metallic deposits.