Apart from their scientific interest, the alkaline rocks and carbonatites are of major, and growing, economic importance. They are significant repositories of certain metals and commodities, indeed the only source of some of them, including Nb, the rare earths, Cu, V, diamond phosphate, vermiculite, bauxite, raw materials for the manufacture of ceramics, and potentially for Th, U, Diamonds, and many more. The economic potential of these rocks is now widely appreciated, particularly since the commencement of the very lucrative mining of the Palabora carbonitite for copper, a host of valuable by-products, and it the exploration efforts of mining companies that have led to the discovery of many important new localities. The present volume is likely to be of considerable interest to mineral exploration companies because there appears to be no published reviews of the economic aspects of the alkaline rocks. Readership: Research scientists in the fields of igneous petrology and volcanology, geologists interested in the regional distribution of igneous rocks and their relationship to tectonics and economic and exploration geologists. Also available:
European Lithosphere Dynamics - Geological Society Memoirs M0033 - ISBN 9781862392120
The Boundaries of the West African Craton - Special Publication No 297 - ISBN 9781862392519
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