MOSSBAUER SPECTRA OF NATURAL ILMENITES

The Mössbauer spectra have been obtained at room temperature for twenty-two natural ilmenite samples from deposits throughout the world. They show that ilmenite itself is normally deposited with a composition close to the stoicheiometry FeTiO3. The weathering products which occur particularly in beach sands contain ferric iron, but their structure is difficult to define and their composition is uncertain. Many mineral deposits classified as ilmenite contain less than 50 per cent of FeTiO3, and the degree of conversion by weathering in any ilmenite sample can easily be determined from the Mössbauer spectrum. © 1969.