Publication Type:

Journal Article

Authors:

Huminicki, M. A. E.; Sylvester, P. J.; Cabri, L. J.; Lesher, C. M.; Tubrett, M.

Source:

Economic Geology and the Bulletin of the Society of Economic GeologistsEconomic Geology and the Bulletin of the Society of Economic Geologists, Economic Geology Publishing Company, Lancaster, PA, United States, Volume 100, Number 8, p.1631-1646 (2005)

ISBN:

0361-0128

Keywords:

accuracy, arsenides, beneficiation, Canada, chalcopyrite, chemical composition, cooling, copper ores, eastern canada, emission spectra, gersdorffite, Hydrothermal alteration, ICP mass spectra, major elements, mass balance, mass spectra, metal ores, metals, metasomatism, mineral composition, nickel ores, Ontario, ore bodies, pentlandite, PIXE spectra, platinum group, platinum ores, pyrrhotite, quantitative analysis, SEM data, solid solution, spectra, Sudbury Igneous Complex, Sudbury Ontario, sulfides, textures, Trace elements, whole rock, X-ray spectra

Abstract:

A mineralogical mass balance has been calculated for the fraction of PGE incorporated as solid solution in sulphides and sulpharsenides and the fraction that occurs as major constituents in platinum group minerals (PGM) in the Kelly Lake Ni-Cu-PGE sulphide deposit in the Copper Cliff offset, Sudbury. Low levels of PGE in sulphides were determined quantitatively for the first time in Sudbury ores by laser ablation microprobe-ICP-MS (LAM-ICP-MS), providing accurate data on the inventory and mineralogical distribution of the PGE. The majority of the Pt (98%), Rh (97%), and Ir (86-91%), and lesser but still large fractions of Pd (77-87%) and Ru (67-71%), occur as discrete PGM with the remainder occurring (in decreasing abundance) in solid solution in gersdorffite, pentlandite, chalcopyrite, and pyrrhotite. Although the PGE are present in low concentrations in sulphides, the abundances of these phases can be high enough to constitute a significant fraction of the total PGE. In particular, significant proportions of the Pd (14-23%) and Ru ( approximately 30%) in the Kelly Lake samples are hosted by sulphides and sulpharsenides.

Notes:

GeoRef, Copyright 2018, American Geological Institute.<br/>2006-026741<br/>Copper Cliff offset<br/>Kelly Lake Deposit