- Russian Mineralogy - KOVDOR - Kola Peninsula

The Kovdor massif has a special place among ultrabasic and alkaline rocks and carbonatites and is one of the most interesting  places not only in the Kola peninsula , but also in the World.
The Kovdor mining -industrial region is situated in the taiga of south-west  Kola Peninsula within the Kovdora river basin. There are no hight mountains in the Kovdor area only hills of 200-450 m. The Kovdor massife is an oval caldea -like depression (7,5x9 km) the base of the depression is surrounded by a ring of gently sloping hills. Rock  exposures are found only on the hillsides . More than 180 mineral species have benn found within the Kovdor massif, 13 of them for the first time in the world and 9 of them are endemic minerals. The concentration of more than ten industrially valuable minerals  is the main source of income for people living in the region.

The Kovdor massife of ultrabasic alkaline rocks and carbonatites is a central-type multiphase igneus intrusion. In plan the massif has a distinctconcentric , zoned structure  and contains 3 pronounced , ring -shaped complexes. Moving from the centre towards the outer part of teh massif these are :

• Olivinite
• Phologopite-diopside, melilite and various metasomatic rocks
• Turjanite and melteigite-urtite

Both the main rocks of the massif and the host gneiss is intruded by dikes of nepheline , cancrinite, syenites and carbonatites.

Today 7 natural ore deposits are defined   within the kovdor massif:

• The complex deposit of Baddeleyite -apatite-magnetite ores mined since 1962
• A deposit of apatite -staffelite ores which is not mined but is an official state reserve
• An apatite bearing  calcite carbonate deposit located below  apatite -staffellite deposit for which  preliminary exploration has been carried out.
• The Yona-kovdor deposit of carbonatites  mined since 1967
• The Phlogopite deposit located within the rocks of the Phlogopite complex which has been mined since 1966
• The Vermiculite deposit located within the rocks of the Phlogopite coopmlex  mined since 1960
• The Olivine deposit which has not been worked yet

Following is a description of the 13 minerals that were first discovered here

Bakhcisaraitsevite. form druses of pale yellow bladed XX up to 2 mm

Bonshtedtite. This minerals was founf only in drill cores taken 2 km below the surface and forms impregnation of light grey grain in calcite veins

Feklichevite. forms dark brown thick and tabular XX with pectolite , in nepheline sienite.

Girvasite. forms a cream aggregate of conpact , intergrown spherules  usually associated with bobierrite

Gladiusite. it forms fan-like intergrowths of thin acicular crystals shaped like two edged sword blade

Glagolevite. It forms silvery-white poikilitic crystals with vesuvianite inclusions

Henrymeyerite.  black well shaped thin XX max of 0,2 mm which look like a combination of 2 hexagonal prism

Juonniite. is a wide spread hydrothermal mineral occurring in spherulites which may be cream-colured , orange , brown , grey

Kovdorskite. The name is given in refernce to the locality.Kovdorskite is a wide spred phosphate in the Iron ore complex and occurs in vein up to 5 cm wide containing druses of well formed XX of white pink and light blue color.

Krasnovite. forms compact blue spherules up to 3 mm

Labuntsovite-Mg. forms colourless, white, yellow , orange red prismatic and tabular XXup to 1 cm long

Rimkorolgite. forms white to pink sheaf -like or radiating aggregates of six  faced neddel like XX

Strontiowhitlockite. forms white to grey pink tabular aggreagate  up to 3 mm

by Beppe

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