EXPLORING CRITICAL RAW MATERIALS: A COMPREHENSIVE STUDY OF IMITER APLITE-PEGMATITES ON EARLY EDIACARAN GREYWACKE METASEDIMENTS IN THE IMITER PEGMATITE FIELD, ANTI-ATLAS, MOROCCO

Rising demand for critical raw materials in green energy technologies, especially electric vehicle batteries, has refocused attention on rare element granitic pegmatites in mineral exploration. These pegmatites are vital commodity sources, with geochemical studies refining exploration targeting. In the northwestern West African Craton, abundant Li-pegmatites crop out in the Anti Atlas belt throughout a 600 km-long and NNE-SSW striking belt, comprising different pegmatite fields that have been rarely exploited in recent years. These Imiter Field pegmatites constitute a part of the large metallogenetic province of the Pan African Orogeny. The early Ediacaran basement of the Saghro Group is crosscut by an important swarm of aplitic and pegmatitic dikes that display an extension of several tens of meters. They are distributed according to two main directions: NE-SW and NW-SE.

Petrographic analysis of the pegmatites and aplite reveals a composition dominated by quartz, plagioclase, K-feldspar, muscovite, biotite, allanite, and sphene. These rocks, categorized as exterior pegmatites, are associated with the Bou Teglimt granitic and granodioritic plutons, hosted by metamorphic rocks. Field work and structural data indicate a connection to the late Ediacaran Large Magmatism Province, dating between 590 and 540 Ma. The Imiter pegmatites exhibit distinctive features, including significant extension, complex layering, internal zoning, and the prevalence of muscovite-rich pegmatite and aplite. These mineralogical characteristics, particularly the presence of Li-micas/lepidolite and/or amblygonite group minerals, make them valuable exploration indicators within fertile granites and rare-element pegmatites.

The Imiter Pegmatite Field stands as a crucial pegmatite area within the Saghro massif. It necessitates comprehensive studies focused on crystallochemistry, petrogenesis, and exploration techniques. These investigations aim to characterize metasomatic processes and the accompanying geochemical modifications resulting from the intrusion of aplite-pegmatites into metasediments within the Imiter Pegmatite Field.