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Zazafotsy Quarry (Amboarohy), Zazafotsy, Ihosy District, Ihorombe, Madagascari
| Regional Level Types | |
|---|---|
| Zazafotsy Quarry (Amboarohy) | Quarry |
| Zazafotsy | Commune |
| Ihosy District | District |
| Ihorombe | Region |
| Madagascar | Country |
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Latitude & Longitude (WGS84):
22° 8' 9'' South , 46° 26' 14'' East
Latitude & Longitude (decimal):
Type:
Age:
494 ± 5 Ma
Geologic Time:
Dating method:
Ar – Ar biotite
Reference for age:
Giuliani, Gaston, Fallick, Anthony, Rakotondrazafy, Michel, Ohnenstetter, Daniel, Andriamamonjy, Alfred, Ralantoarison, Théogène, Rakotosamizanany, Saholy, Razanatseheno, Marie, Offant, Yohann, Garnier, Virginie, Dunaigre, Christian, Schwarz, Dietmar, Mercier, Alain, Ratrimo, Voahangy, Ralison, Bruno (2007) Oxygen isotope systematics of gem corundum deposits in Madagascar: relevance for their geological origin. Mineralium Deposita, 42 (3). 251-270 doi:10.1007/s00126-006-0105-3
Köppen climate type:
Other Languages:
Malagasy:
Amboarohy (Ambahatraso), Kaominin'i Zazafotsy, Distrikan' Ihosy, Faritr' Ihorombe, Madagasikara
Granulite-facies pelites. Deposit famous for polychromatic corundum crystals.
Located about 35 km N of Ihosy following the RN 7 to Ambalavao. Popularly called "Zazafotsy quarry" which also is the name of the village along RN 7 and the centre of the Zazafotsy Commune, but originally called Amboarohy (Pezzotta, 2005).
The locality was discovered in the late 1950s while prospecting for corundum for industrial use. The Zazafotsy rocks did not contain enough corundum to be worked for industrial corundum, and even though the crystals had a nice colour, they were not of gem quality.
After the discovery, locals and tourists occasionally collected corundum crystals weathered free from the host rock. Exploitation started here in 1989. In 2001 Federico Pezzotta and Rakotonoel (a Malagasy mineral enthusiast/dealer) managed to organize a more thorough excavation, and found two corundum-bearing horizons.
The westernmost corundum-bearing lens is a medium-grained phlogopite/potassium feldspar/gneiss horizon with a thickness varying from 20 cm to 1.5 m with spinel, sillimanite and rhodolite in addition to corundum.
The Eastern location is a fine- to coarse-grained feldspathic gneiss, with a thickness of 10 to 60 cm. Here the mineralization is less homogeneous, with local concentrations of phlogopite bands and areas containing more or less rhodolite, corundum granules, and spinel with variable sillimanite content.
Select Mineral List Type
Standard Detailed Gallery Strunz Chemical ElementsCommodity List
This is a list of exploitable or exploited mineral commodities recorded at this locality.Mineral List
6 valid minerals.
Detailed Mineral List:
List of minerals arranged by Strunz 10th Edition classification
| Group 4 - Oxides and Hydroxides | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| ⓘ | Magnetite | 4.BB.05 | Fe2+Fe3+2O4 |
| ⓘ | Spinel | 4.BB.05 | MgAl2O4 |
| ⓘ | Corundum | 4.CB.05 | Al2O3 |
| ⓘ | var. Ruby | 4.CB.05 | Al2O3 |
| ⓘ | var. Sapphire | 4.CB.05 | Al2O3 |
| Group 9 - Silicates | |||
| ⓘ | Sillimanite | 9.AF.05 | Al2(SiO4)O |
| ⓘ | Sapphirine | 9.DH.45 | Mg4(Mg3Al9)O4[Si3Al9O36] |
| ⓘ | Muscovite | 9.EC.15 | KAl2(AlSi3O10)(OH)2 |
| Unclassified | |||
| ⓘ | 'Biotite' | - | K(Fe2+/Mg)2(Al/Fe3+/Mg/Ti)([Si/Al/Fe]2Si2O10)(OH/F)2 |
| ⓘ | 'Plagioclase' | - | (Na,Ca)[(Si,Al)AlSi2]O8 |
| ⓘ | 'K Feldspar' | - | |
| ⓘ | 'Garnet Group' | - | X3Z2(SiO4)3 |
List of minerals for each chemical element
| H | Hydrogen | |
|---|---|---|
| H | ⓘ Biotite | K(Fe2+/Mg)2(Al/Fe3+/Mg/Ti)([Si/Al/Fe]2Si2O10)(OH/F)2 |
| H | ⓘ Muscovite | KAl2(AlSi3O10)(OH)2 |
| O | Oxygen | |
| O | ⓘ Biotite | K(Fe2+/Mg)2(Al/Fe3+/Mg/Ti)([Si/Al/Fe]2Si2O10)(OH/F)2 |
| O | ⓘ Corundum | Al2O3 |
| O | ⓘ Magnetite | Fe2+Fe23+O4 |
| O | ⓘ Muscovite | KAl2(AlSi3O10)(OH)2 |
| O | ⓘ Corundum var. Ruby | Al2O3 |
| O | ⓘ Corundum var. Sapphire | Al2O3 |
| O | ⓘ Sapphirine | Mg4(Mg3Al9)O4[Si3Al9O36] |
| O | ⓘ Sillimanite | Al2(SiO4)O |
| O | ⓘ Spinel | MgAl2O4 |
| O | ⓘ Plagioclase | (Na,Ca)[(Si,Al)AlSi2]O8 |
| O | ⓘ Garnet Group | X3Z2(SiO4)3 |
| F | Fluorine | |
| F | ⓘ Biotite | K(Fe2+/Mg)2(Al/Fe3+/Mg/Ti)([Si/Al/Fe]2Si2O10)(OH/F)2 |
| Na | Sodium | |
| Na | ⓘ Plagioclase | (Na,Ca)[(Si,Al)AlSi2]O8 |
| Mg | Magnesium | |
| Mg | ⓘ Biotite | K(Fe2+/Mg)2(Al/Fe3+/Mg/Ti)([Si/Al/Fe]2Si2O10)(OH/F)2 |
| Mg | ⓘ Sapphirine | Mg4(Mg3Al9)O4[Si3Al9O36] |
| Mg | ⓘ Spinel | MgAl2O4 |
| Al | Aluminium | |
| Al | ⓘ Biotite | K(Fe2+/Mg)2(Al/Fe3+/Mg/Ti)([Si/Al/Fe]2Si2O10)(OH/F)2 |
| Al | ⓘ Corundum | Al2O3 |
| Al | ⓘ Muscovite | KAl2(AlSi3O10)(OH)2 |
| Al | ⓘ Corundum var. Ruby | Al2O3 |
| Al | ⓘ Corundum var. Sapphire | Al2O3 |
| Al | ⓘ Sapphirine | Mg4(Mg3Al9)O4[Si3Al9O36] |
| Al | ⓘ Sillimanite | Al2(SiO4)O |
| Al | ⓘ Spinel | MgAl2O4 |
| Al | ⓘ Plagioclase | (Na,Ca)[(Si,Al)AlSi2]O8 |
| Si | Silicon | |
| Si | ⓘ Biotite | K(Fe2+/Mg)2(Al/Fe3+/Mg/Ti)([Si/Al/Fe]2Si2O10)(OH/F)2 |
| Si | ⓘ Muscovite | KAl2(AlSi3O10)(OH)2 |
| Si | ⓘ Sapphirine | Mg4(Mg3Al9)O4[Si3Al9O36] |
| Si | ⓘ Sillimanite | Al2(SiO4)O |
| Si | ⓘ Plagioclase | (Na,Ca)[(Si,Al)AlSi2]O8 |
| Si | ⓘ Garnet Group | X3Z2(SiO4)3 |
| K | Potassium | |
| K | ⓘ Biotite | K(Fe2+/Mg)2(Al/Fe3+/Mg/Ti)([Si/Al/Fe]2Si2O10)(OH/F)2 |
| K | ⓘ Muscovite | KAl2(AlSi3O10)(OH)2 |
| Ca | Calcium | |
| Ca | ⓘ Plagioclase | (Na,Ca)[(Si,Al)AlSi2]O8 |
| Ti | Titanium | |
| Ti | ⓘ Biotite | K(Fe2+/Mg)2(Al/Fe3+/Mg/Ti)([Si/Al/Fe]2Si2O10)(OH/F)2 |
| Fe | Iron | |
| Fe | ⓘ Biotite | K(Fe2+/Mg)2(Al/Fe3+/Mg/Ti)([Si/Al/Fe]2Si2O10)(OH/F)2 |
| Fe | ⓘ Magnetite | Fe2+Fe23+O4 |
Geochronology
Mineralization age: Cambrian : 494 ± 5 MaImportant note: This table is based only on rock and mineral ages recorded on mindat.org for this locality and is not necessarily a complete representation of the geochronology, but does give an indication of possible mineralization events relevant to this locality. As more age information is added this table may expand in the future. A break in the table simply indicates a lack of data entered here, not necessarily a break in the geologic sequence. Grey background entries are from different, related, localities.
| Geologic Time | Rocks, Minerals and Events | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Phanerozoic | |||||||
| Paleozoic | |||||||
| Cambrian | |||||||
| Furongian |
| ||||||
Other Regions, Features and Areas containing this locality
AfricaContinent
African Plate
- BemItremo BlockOrogenic Belt
Madagascar
- ⭔Fianarantsoa ProvinceProvince
Somali PlateTectonic Plate
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References
Giuliani, Gaston, Fallick, Anthony, Rakotondrazafy, Michel, Ohnenstetter, Daniel, Andriamamonjy, Alfred, Ralantoarison, Théogène, Rakotosamizanany, Saholy, Razanatseheno, Marie, Offant, Yohann, Garnier, Virginie, Dunaigre, Christian, Schwarz, Dietmar, Mercier, Alain, Ratrimo, Voahangy, Ralison, Bruno (2007) Oxygen isotope systematics of gem corundum deposits in Madagascar: relevance for their geological origin. Mineralium Deposita, 42 (3) 251-270 doi:10.1007/s00126-006-0105-3
Rakotondrazafy, Amos Fety Michel; Giuliani, Gaston; Ohnenstetter, Daniel; Fallick, Anthony E.; Rakotosamizanany, Saholy; Andriamamonjy, Alfred; Ralantoarison, Théogène; Razanatseheno, Madison; Offant, Yohann; Garnier, Virginie; et al. (2008) Gem corundum deposits of Madagascar: A review. Ore Geology Reviews, 34 (1-2). 134-154 doi:10.1016/j.oregeorev.2007.05.001
Zazafotsy Quarry, Zazafotsy, Ihosy District, Ihorombe, Madagascar