Tin distribution over granitic rocks in the Kinta Hills area, Perak, Peninsular Malaysia

Choy, K. W. (1977) Tin distribution over granitic rocks in the Kinta Hills area, Perak, Peninsular Malaysia. Bulletin of the Geological Society of Malaysia, 9. pp. 233-252. ISSN 2637-109X

Abstract

In the Kinta Hills area marble, quartzite, schist and argillite have been intruded by coarse-grained porphyritic biotite granite. At the margins of masses of the coarse grained porphyritic biotite granite are zones of medium- to fine-grained granite and leucogranite. Veins of quartz occur as fracture fillings. Accompanying the emplacement of the leucogranite and quartz bodies were primary mineralizations of tin, tungsten and iron which are of economic importance in the region. Deep tropical weathering has produced a thick soil-cover over most of the area. A geochemical programme of soil, stream and rock sampling was undertaken to search for eluvial tin deposits in the area. It resulted in the delineation of eluvial concentrations of tin in the soil. The tin-anomalous zones are found to form a pattern very closely associated with directions of major fractures which were most probably the conduits of the mineralizing solutions. The tin concentrations are also most prominent in soils over vein quartz and leucogranite which are much younger than the coarse-grained granite. Tin values in soils over the coarse-grained granite are low. Therefore it appears that tin mineralization is not disseminated in the coarse-grained granite but is mainly associated with vein quartz and leucogranite. Unaltered biotite granites contain trace amounts of tin and they are clearly insignificant contributors to the rich placer deposits of the Kinta Valley, which must be largely derived from the visibly altered and mineralized rocks.

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