Mineralogy and Mining geology

Cappelletti, Boni, Ghiara, Balassone, Franciosi

Mineralogical studies carried out at DiSTAR regard crystallographic, crystal chemistry, morphological and textural characterization of minerals from Somma-Vesuvius volcano. We aim at modeling minerogenetic processes connected with fluids circulation and their interaction with potassic alkaline magmas. Morphological studies and crystal chemical analyses are carried out on fibrous "regulated and not regulated" minerals, as well as on fumarolic minerals from Vesuvius. Another research line concerns crystal chemical characterization of phosphates, and the study of gems.

The research area of ore mineralogy is devoted to geological-mineralogical characterization of natural sulphides and nonsulphides Zn-Pb (Ag) and Au deposits, both of hydrothermal and supergene origin.

Applied mineralogy studies allows exploiting Italian mineral resources with particular regard to industrial minerals and rocks. Research lines in this sector regard the study of pyroclastic deposits affected by secondary mineralization processes, genetical mechanisms of zeolites, their crystal-chemical and crystal-structure, in order to properly use different materials in the different technological sectors.

This research area uses geological, mineralogical and geochemical traditional methods, along with different type of isotopic analyses for the characterization of mineralizing fluids and their dating.