An old pegmatite quarry mined for quartz already in the 19th century. Later Kaatiala was mined from 1942 to 1968 for mainly potash feldspar. The production amounted to 160.000 tonnes of feldspar and 30.000 tons of quartz. Additional production included muscovite (700 tons), columbite (5 tons), löllingite (5 tons) and 18 tons of beryl.

Kaatiala is a zoned complex pegmatite enriched in many rare elements, such as lithium, cesium, rubidium and niobium. It was crystallized from granitic magma 1800 million years ago in a crevice in surrounding granodiorite country rock.

Kaatialaite, a new ferric arsenate mineral, was found from Kaatiala in 1984. It occurs as a secondary mineral on löllingite. Kaatiala is the type locality for kaatialaite.

The pegmatite was quarried for feldspar and quartz between 1942 and 1969, yielding 160 kt and 30 kt of high-purity K-feldspar and quartz, respectively, from a total of 516 kt of extracted pegmatite material. Small volumes of beryl and columbite (< 0.02 kt) were also extracted during that time.
The main pegmatite comprises a c. 200 x 130 m by 40 m-thick, gently (15°) NE-dipping lenticular sheet that intrudes a foliated metagranodiorite belonging to the CFGC. Numerous narrower (< 3 m), moderate to steeply dipping (c. 40 − 80°) aplite-pegmatite dykes also extend from the main pegmatite, are mainly NE and lesser NW orientated.

Other Regions, Features and Areas containing this locality

References