Tauler i Ferré, EsperançaGalí Medina, Salvador, 1949-Villanova de Benavent, CristinaChang-Rodríguez, AlfonsoNúñez-Cambra, KenyaKhazaradze, GiorgiProenza Fernández, Joaquín Antonio2024-03-012024-03-0120232075-163Xhttps://hdl.handle.net/2445/208243The Ni-laterite deposit at the San Felipe plateau, located 30 km northwest of Camagüey, in central Cuba, is the best example of a clay-type deposit in the Caribbean region. San Felipe resulted from the weathering of mantle peridotites of the Cretaceous Camagüey ophiolites. In this study, a geochemical and mineralogical characterization of two profiles (83 and 84) from the San Felipe deposit has been performed by XRF, ICP-MS, quantitative XRPD, oriented aggregate mount XRD, SEM, FE-SEM, and EMPA. Core 83, with a length of 23 m and drilled in the central part of the plateau, presents a notable concentration of cryptocrystalline quartz fragments and a rather poor content of NiO, averaging 0.87 wt.%. Core 84, which is 12 m long and drilled at the border of the plateau, lacks silica fragments and presents a higher NiO content, averaging 1.79 wt.%. The smectite structural formulae reveal that they evolve from trioctahedral to dioctahedral towards the top of the laterite profiles. Quantitative XRD analyses indicate that smectite is a dominant Ni-bearing phase, accompanied by serpentine and minor chlorite. Serpentine, as smectite, is enriched in the less soluble elements Fe3+, Al, and Ni towards the top of the profiles. Core 83 seems to have been affected by collapses and replenishments, whereas core 84 may have remained undisturbed.23 p.application/pdfengcc-by (c) Tauler, T. et al., 2023http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/GeoquímicaMineralogiaLateritaNíquelJaciments mineralsCubaGeochemistryMineralogyLateriteNickelMineral depositsCubainfo:eu-repo/semantics/article7393842024-03-01info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess