A MUSCOVITE PEGMATITE FIELD IN A LOWER PALEOZOIC OROGENIC ARC: THE VALLE FÉRTIL DISTRICT, SAN JUAN, ARGENTINA

GALLISKI M. A.; CASTRO DE MACHUCA, B.; OYARZÁBAL J.; MEISSL E.; CONTE-GRAND A.; ROQUET M. B.

Mendoza

Simposio; 5th International Symposium on Granitic Pegmatites; 2011

The muscovite class granitic pegmatites from the Sierras Pampeanas, Argentina, form several districts that flank both on the east and west a central rareelement pegmatite belt. These pegmatite fields were centers of considerable mining activity in the past, producing most of the mica of commercial grade. Nowadays, they continue producing the bulk of the mica and, in addition, a signifi cant tonnage of ceramicgrade feldspar and quartz. However, these pegmatite districts have received comparatively little attention from the research point of view compared to the rareelement-enriched districts. Valle Fértil, in the province of San Juan, is the southwestern muscovite district, economically one of the most important of this kind, and we present in this communication a description of its main geological features.