C anad.ian Mineralogist Yol. 74, p, 393 (1976)

HOWLITEAND ULEXITEFROM CARBONIFEROUS GYPSUM AND ANHYDRITEBEDS IN WESTERNNEWFOUNDLAND - ADDENDUM

V. S. PAPEZIK Depertrnent of Geology, Memorial UnlversiE of Newfoundland, St. Johrfs, Newfoundland

C. C.IL FONG Mlnerul Development Division, Newtoundland Departrnent of Mines and Energy, St. lohn's, N ewfoundland

In our previous paper @apezik & Fong 1975) further referencesor reprints. A renewed search we described new occurrences of howlite and for borate mine1als,in gypsum quarries may ulexite in New,foundland and Nova Scotia, came well result in a discovery that they are indeed to the conclusion that small quantities of common in all gypsum deposits. However, if borates ought to be common in bedded g)Trsum careful investigation shows that borates are not and anhydrite deposits, expressedsurprise over ubiquitous in bedded gypsum deposits of marine the lack of reports of this association in major origin, we shall still be faced with the problem geological publications, and asked for refer- of special conditions (whether deposilional or ences to published papers that we may have erosional) for the borate-containing calcium missed. sulfate beds, as pointed out in our paper. Dr. M. Fleischer has kindly sent us a list of We wish to thank Dr. Fleischer for the refer- such papers,which we include in the References ences he has supplied to us. at the end of this note. These publications show RBrnnBxcrs that the calcium sulfate deposits of the Atlantic Provinces of Oanada are not unique in this re- Hervr,W. E., MANm{, C. J. & Scw-nrcmn, J. A. spect, and tlat similar association of borates (1961): Borate minerals in Permian gypsum of with beds of gypsum and anhydrite has been West-Central Oklahoma. Oklahoma Geol. Surv. found in Oklahoma, West Germany and the Bull.92,77 pp. (1965): (ocotton- USSR (Central Asia and the Don Basin). KonrrNrc, S. Ulexit-Konhetionen balls") in Zechsteingipsder Werra Serie. Neze'r At the same time, both the geographical dis- Iahrb. Mineral. Abh. L03, 3t-34. tribution of the reports and some of the papers Kononov, S. S., Mar-nmo, S. V. & SEDLETSKJ,V. themselvesmake it clear that this association is I., (1965): New data on boron mineralizationin not considered to be commonplace. For exam- anhydrite formations in Central Asia, Zap. Yses. ple Koritnig, writing one hundred years after Mineral. Obshchest.94, 719-726 (in Russian); Henry How's discovery of borate minerals in Mineral. Abst. L7, 693 (1966), the gypsum deposits of Nova Scotia, refers to KuHr:{,R. (197L): Beitriige zur Kennmis der Ulexit- insbesonderevon Neiderellenbach, his discovery of ulexite in the gypsum quarry Vorkommen, Hessen. Notizblatt Hess. I'andesamt. Boden' at Niederellenbach in Germany as first "the forschung99,253-268. occurrencein Europe" (Koritnig 1965, p. 31). LAZARENKo,E. K. (1949): Ulexite from gypsum Thus the main problem still remains unsolved. beds of the Artemovsk district, Don Basin. Do&l. Consider that in 1973, Canada and the U.S.A. Akad. Nauk SS^!R66, 255-256(in Russian);Cftez. together produced nearly one-third of the world Abstr. 43,7381 (1949). (1975): production of gypsum and anhydrite from 83 Perezr, V. S. & FoNc, C. C. K. Howlite and ulexite from the Carboniferous g5rpsumand quarries (Canadian Minerals Yearbook, 1973; anhydrite beds in western Newfoundland. Can. U.S. Minerals Yearbook, 1973). With the ex- Mineral. L3, 370-376. ception of the occurrencesin Oklahoma (Ham ZAFrrsKJ, P. V. (1963): Boron mineralizationin et al. L96L) and in New Mexico and Louisiana rocks of the Artemovsk formation in the Bakh- (Fleischer, pers. comm. L976), we still do not mut Syncline of the Donets Basin, Dokl. Akad. know of any reports of borate minerals in the Naz& SSSR I,4S, 142+1427 (in Russian); Chem. numerous remaining gypsum and anhydrite Abstr, 59, 6132 (1963). deposits in North America outside of the Cana- -, (1973): Mineralogy and genesisof ac- Lvov, dian Maritimes. If such ogeurrenceshave been cessoryboron mineralization. Mineral Sb. Univ. 27, 354-367(in Russian). described in local publications or company re- ports not available to us, we would welcome Manuscriptreceived March 1976. 393