Exploring Critical Raw Materials: Field and Petrographic Study of Imiter Aplite-Pegmatites in Early Ediacaran Greywacke Meta-sediments, Anti-Atlas, Morocco
Mehdi Ousbih1, Moha Ikenne1, Fatiha Askkour1
Affiliations: 1LAGAGE, Department of Geology, Faculty of Sciences, Ibn Zohr University, B.P. 8016, Cité Dakhla, Agadir, Morocco
Presentation type: Poster
Presentation time: Tuesday 16:30 - 18:30, Room Poster Hall
Poster Board Number: 18
Programme No: 4.1.9
Abstract
The growing demand for critical raw materials, especially for electric vehicle batteries, has refocused mineral exploration on rare-element granitic pegmatites. These pegmatites, rich in valuable commodities, have seen enhanced exploration targeting through geochemical studies. In the northwestern West African Craton, Li-rich pegmatites are widely exposed across the 600 km-long Anti-Atlas belt, containing several underexplored pegmatite fields. The Imiter Pegmatite Field, part of the extensive Pan-African metallogenic province, intersects the early Ediacaran Saghro Group basement with a prominent swarm of aplitic and pegmatitic dikes, oriented in NE-SW and NW-SE directions. Petrographic analysis of these pegmatites reveals a composition dominated by quartz, plagioclase, K-feldspar, muscovite, biotite, allanite, and sphene. These exterior pegmatites, associated with Bou Teglimt granitic plutons and hosted in metamorphic rocks, are linked to the late Ediacaran Large Magmatism Province, with an age range of 590 to 540 Ma. The Imiter pegmatites feature complex layering, internal zoning, and abundant muscovite-rich minerals, including Li-micas like lepidolite and/or amblygonite, marking them as valuable targets for exploration in fertile granites and rare-element pegmatites. The Imiter Pegmatite Field, a key region within the Saghro massif, requires detailed studies on crystallochemistry, petrogenesis, and exploration techniques to understand the metasomatic processes and geochemical changes caused by the intrusion of aplite-pegmatites into metasediments.