I suspect the carbonates are more indicative of life than any other mineral there, but who knows? The inorganic method of carbonate formation requires heat and free water in combination with free carbon, oxygen and the atoms of calcium , manganese or whatever, and lots of time. The organic method just requires the right kind of calcium loving animal, CO2 and water.
The p=chem redox reactions would be operative on the surface... right? Also, the oxidation is clear from all the rust. So, there's tons of Oxygen tied up in the oxides.
Every where you look you see iron oxide. The red of mars is, I believe, the various forms of iron oxide. Tons? Megatons more likely. Just heating the oxide will separate the 2 elements IIRC.That might be doable with solar concentrators.
If there's ice water... we really could seriously be thinking about terraforming sooner than the next 1000 years.
I suspect we will eventually Terraform Mars when we do go to space. It might be like in the Kim Stanley Roberson's series Red, Green, and Blue Mars. Or as simple as a solar mirror melting the ice trapped in the poles to cause a greenhouse effect.