Portable X-Ray Fluorescence (pXRF) analysers allow on-site geochemical analysis of rock powders and drill core. The main advantages of pXRF analysis over conventional laboratory analysis are the speed of data collection and the low cost of the analyses, permitting the collection of extensive, spatially representative datasets. However, these factors only become useful if the quality of the data meets the requirements needed for the purposes of the study. Here, we evaluate the possible use of portable XRF to determine element concentrations and ratios used in exploration for komatiite-hosted nickel sulphides. A portable XRF analyser was used to measure a series of chalcophile and lithophile element concentrations (Si, S, K, Ca, Ti, Cr, Fe, Ni, Cu, Zn, As, Sr, and Zr) of 75 samples from three komatiite units associated with nickel sulphide ores in the Yilgarn Craton, Western Australia. Crucial steps in the study were the development of a strict calibration process as well as numerous data quality checks. The 670 analyses collected in this study were compared with conventional laboratory XRF data on discriminant diagrams commonly utilized in exploration for komatiite-hosted nickel sulphides (Cr vs Ni and Ni/Ti vs Ni/Cr). After comparing the results obtained with pXRF during this study with the laboratory values, we can conclude that portable XRF analyses can be used for rapid assessment of the nickel sulphide prospectivity of komatiites provided that strict control protocols are followed. Supplementary Material: is available at http://www.geolsoc.org.uk/SUP18706
Platinum and nickel are commonly assumed to be immobile in most conditions, especially during low temperature hydrothermal alteration. However, only a small number of studies have rigorously tested this assumption. The Ni–Cu–(PGE) sulphide ore body hosted by the Kevitsa intrusion, northern Finland, provides a natural laboratory to study the behaviour of base metals and platinum group elements (PGE) during low temperature alteration. This ca. 2060 Ma mafic–ultramafic intrusion, located in the Central Lapland greenstone belt, hosts disseminated Ni–Cu–(PGE) sulphide mineralisation in the middle part of the main ultramafic body. The mineralisation, which contains a range of Ni, Cu and PGE grades, is affected by three main alterations (serpentinisation, amphibolitisation and epidotisation), and is cross cut by various types of veins. The effect of the circulation of hydrothermal fluids on the distribution of base metals and PGE was studied at two different scales. Interrogation of an extensive deposit-wide assay database provided information on the deposit-scale (kilometre scale) effect of these different alteration styles, and a detailed study, involving laboratory X-ray fluorescence (XRF), portable XRF and micro-XRF mapping, of drill-core samples containing cm-scale cross-cutting veins provided information on the small scale (centimetre to decimetre scale) remobilisation of base metals and PGEs. Results show that the hydration and carbonation of the Kevitsa mineralised mafic–ultramafic intrusion did not significantly affect the distribution of Ni and PGE at scales larger than a few mm, and that Cu and Au are the only metals that are affected by small to large scale remobilisation from centimetre to kilometre scale.
Research Article| April 01, 2017 Magmatic Sulfide Ore Deposits Stephen J. Barnes; Stephen J. Barnes 1CSIRO Mineral Resources26 Dick Perry Avenue, Kensington WA 6151, AustraliaE-mail Steve.Barnes@csiro.auMargaux.Levaillant@csiro.au Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar David A. Holwell; David A. Holwell 2Department of Geology, University of LeicesterLeicester, LE1 7RH, United KingdomE-mail: dah29@le.ac.uk Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Margaux Le Vaillant Margaux Le Vaillant 1CSIRO Mineral Resources26 Dick Perry Avenue, Kensington WA 6151, AustraliaE-mail Steve.Barnes@csiro.auMargaux.Levaillant@csiro.au Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Elements (2017) 13 (2): 89–95. https://doi.org/10.2113/gselements.13.2.89 Article history first online: 13 Jul 2017 Cite View This Citation Add to Citation Manager Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn MailTo Tools Icon Tools Get Permissions Search Site Citation Stephen J. Barnes, David A. Holwell, Margaux Le Vaillant; Magmatic Sulfide Ore Deposits. Elements 2017;; 13 (2): 89–95. doi: https://doi.org/10.2113/gselements.13.2.89 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Refmanager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentBy SocietyElements Search Advanced Search Abstract Magmatic sulfide ore deposits are products of natural smelting: concentration of immiscible sulfide liquid ('matte'), enriched in chalcophile elements, derived from silicate magmas ('slags'). Sulfide ore deposits occupy a spectrum from accumulated pools of matte within small igneous intrusions or lava flows, mined primarily for Ni and Cu, to stratiform layers of weakly disseminated sulfides within large mafic–ultramafic intrusions, mined for platinum-group elements. One of the world's most valuable deposits, the Platreef in the Bushveld Complex (South Africa) has aspects of both of these end members. Natural matte compositions vary widely between and within deposits, and these compositions are controlled largely by the relative volumes of matte and slag that interact with one another. You do not have access to this content, please speak to your institutional administrator if you feel you should have access.
Abstract Trace-element zoning in igneous phenocrysts and cumulus phases is an informative record of magmatic evolution. The advent of microbeam X-ray fluorescence (XRF) mapping has allowed rapid chemical imaging of samples at thin section to decimeter scale, revealing such zoning patterns. Mapping with synchrotron radiation using multidetector arrays has proved especially effective, allowing entire thin sections to be imaged at micrometer-scale resolution in a matter of hours. The resolution of subtle minor element zoning, particularly in first-row transition metals, is greatly enhanced in synchrotron X-ray fluorescence microscopy (XFM) images by scanning with input beam energy below the FeKα line. In the examples shown here, from a phenocryst rich trachybasalt from Mt Etna (Italy) and from a Ni-Cu-PGE ore-bearing intrusion at Norilsk (Siberia), the zoning patterns revealed in this way record aspects of the crystallization history that are not readily evident from XFM images collected using higher incident energies and that cannot be obtained at comparable spatial resolutions by any other methods within reasonable scan times. This approach has considerable potential as a geochemical tool for investigating magmatic processes and is also likely to be applicable in a wide variety of other fields.
Small intrusions dominated by olivine- and pyroxene-rich cumulates are well known to be favourable hosts to magmatic Ni-Cu-(Platinum Group Element - PGE) sulfide mineralization. Such intrusions are common in a variety of settings around the world, but only a very small proportion contain economically exploitable sulfides; these tend to be of conduit or chonolith style. If prospectivity could be discriminated from sparse sampling at early exploration stages, then the discovery rate for deposits of this type could be improved. To this end, a number of pyroxene-bearing samples from small intrusions containing magmatic sulphide deposits have been investigated including the Noril'sk-Talnakh camp in Siberia, the Kotalahti nickel belt in Finland, Ntaka Hill in Tanzania, Nova-Bollinger in the Albany-Fraser Orogen of Australia, Savannah in the Halls Creek Orogen of Australia, Jinchuan in central China, Xiarihamu in Tibet and Huangshanxi in the east Tianshan Ni province of NW China. To compare, samples from unmineralised intrusions in four of these regions were also investigated along with four mafic intrusions from other localities that are not associated with any known economic sulfide mineralisation. Using fine-scale (<5 μm/pixel) chemical imaging on the Australian Synchrotron, complex zoning in chromium was found in cumulate and poikilitic pyroxenes within the strongly mineralised intrusions. The zoning patterns can be separated into three distinct types: 1) abrupt zoning: a single change in trace element concentration with a sharp boundary; 2) sector zoning: hourglass style zonation; and 3) oscillatory zoning: small scale oscillations that are usually cyclic. Zoning of all three types can be present in a single grain. The presence of cumulus orthopyroxene with a combination of abrupt zoning, sector zoning and resorbed olivine inclusions has so far only been detected in mineralised intrusions. This combination of zoning patterns is postulated to be an indication of high magma flux and fluctuating cooling rates that accompany wall rock assimilation in dynamic conduits where sulphide liquid forms and accumulates. The distinctive zoning patterns reported here can, in many cases, be easily imaged using desktop microbeam XRF mapping techniques and may provide a useful fertility indicator for the exploration of new magmatic Ni-Cu-(PGE) deposits.
Abstract The Norilsk-Talnakh orebodies in Siberia are some of the largest examples on Earth of magmatic Ni–Cu–platinum group element (PGE) deposits, formed by segregation of immiscible sulfide melts from silicate magmas. They show distinctive features attributable to degassing of a magmatic vapor phase during ore formation, including: vesiculation of the host intrusions, widespread intrusion breccias, and extensive hydrofracturing, skarns, and metasomatic replacement in the country rocks. Much of the magmatic sulfide was generated by assimilation of anhydrite and carbonaceous material, leading to injection of a suspension of fine sulfide droplets attached to gas bubbles into propagating tube-like host sills (“chonoliths”). Catastrophic vapor phase exsolution associated with a drop in magma overpressure at the transition from vertical to horizontal magma flow enabled explosive propagation of chonoliths, rapid “harvesting” and gravity deposition of the characteristic coarse sulfide globules that form much of the ore, and extensive magmatic fluid interaction with country rocks.
Abstract Economically significant and geologically complex veined Cu-Co-Au mineralization was recently discovered at Carlow Castle in the Pilbara region of northwestern Western Australia. The inferred resource estimate for Carlow Castle as of March 2019 is 7.7 million tonnes (Mt) at 1.06 g/t Au, 0.51% Cu, and 0.08% Co, making it one of Australia’s most significant known Cu-Co-Au deposits. Here we provide the first account and scientific analysis of Carlow Castle. This analysis suggests that it is a hydrothermal Cu-Co-Au deposit, with mineralization hosted in sulfide-rich quartz-carbonate veins. The ore is hosted in veins that occur within a pervasively chloritized shear zone through the regionally significant Regal thrust. At Carlow Castle the shear zone associated with this thrust occurs within the Ruth Well Formation, an Archean mafic volcano-sedimentary sequence. Within the mineralized veins the dominant ore minerals are pyrite (FeS2), chalcopyrite (CuFeS2), chalcocite (Cu2S), cobaltite (CoAsS), and electrum (Au,Ag). The genesis of the Carlow Castle deposit is still under investigation; however, the origin of the Cu-Co-Au mineralization is most likely related to the migration of metalliferous fluids along the Regal thrust. Based on Carlow Castle’s stratigraphic position within the Pilbara craton and the craton’s relative stability since the Archean, an Archean age of mineralization is most likely. The distinct Cu-Co-Au enrichment at Carlow Castle makes it unique among Archean ore deposits generally, as the majority of Cu-Co deposits are of maximum Proterozoic age. Therefore, understanding the genesis of the Carlow Castle deposit has important implications for understanding the unique processes through which Cu-Co-Au mineralization outside of basin-hosted ore deposits may be formed, particularly in Archean terranes.
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