scholarly journals Open System Re-Os Isotope Behavior in Platinum-Group Minerals during Laterization?

Minerals ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (10) ◽  
pp. 1083
Author(s):  
Thomas Aiglsperger ◽  
José M. González-Jiménez ◽  
Joaquín A. Proenza ◽  
Salvador Galí ◽  
Francisco Longo ◽  
...  

In this short communication, we present preliminary data on the Re-Os isotopic systematics of platinum-group minerals (PGM) recovered from different horizons in the Falcondo Ni-laterite in the Dominican Republic. The results show differences in the Os-isotope composition in different populations of PGM: (i) pre-lateritic PGM yield 187Os/188Os varying from 0.11973 ± 0.00134 to 0.12215 ± 0.00005 (2σ uncertainty) whereas (ii) lateritic PGM are more radiogenic in terms of 187Os/188Os (from 0.12390 ± 0.00001 to 0.12645 ± 0.00005; 2σ uncertainty). We suggest that these differences reflect the opening of the Re-Os system in individual grains of PGM during lateritic weathering. The implications of these results are twofold as they will help to (1) elucidate the small-scale mobility of noble metals in the supergene setting and therefore the possible formation of PGM at these very low temperatures, (2) better refine the Os-isotopic datasets of PGM that are currently being used for defining dynamic models of core–mantle separation, crustal generation, and fundamental plate-tectonic processes such as the opening of oceans.

1992 ◽  
Vol 56 (383) ◽  
pp. 157-164 ◽  
Author(s):  
Keiko Hattori ◽  
Klaus-Peter Burgath ◽  
Stanley R. Hart

Abstract187Os/186Os ratios were determined for in-situ laurite grains in Alpine-type chromitites and platinumgroup minerals (PGM) in the associated alluvial placers in Borneo, Indonesia/Malaysia. The Osisotope ratios of laurite grains in chromite defne an 187Os/186Os ratio for the 100 Ma mantle source of c. 1.04. Thelow 187Os/186Os ratios in all grains confirm the essential derivation of these platinum-group elements (PGE) from the mantle. A minor variation in 187Os/186Os ratios was detected among PGM from placers, but no variation was found within individual grains, including a grain with chemical inhomogeneity. The values are similar to those for PGM in the associated chromitites. The data are consistent with a detrital origin of PGM in placers: the placer PGM originated in the ultramafic section of ophiolities and the release of these grains from igneous rocks and their deposition in placers was almost entirely by mechanical processes.


2008 ◽  
Vol 248 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 195-212 ◽  
Author(s):  
V.G. Batanova ◽  
G.E. Brügmann ◽  
B.A. Bazylev ◽  
A.V. Sobolev ◽  
V.S. Kamenetsky ◽  
...  

2020 ◽  
Vol 115 (6) ◽  
pp. 1267-1303
Author(s):  
Sergey F. Sluzhenikin ◽  
Marina A. Yudovskaya ◽  
Stephen J. Barnes ◽  
Vera D. Abramova ◽  
Margaux Le Vaillant ◽  
...  

Abstract Low-sulfide platinum group element (PGE) mineralization of the Norilsk-type intrusions is located within the Upper Gabbroic Series, which comprises rocks heterogeneous in texture and composition. The highest grade of 10 to 50 g/t PGEs is confined primarily to chromitiferous taxitic gabbrodolerite, which forms irregular lens- and vein-like bodies that interfinger with contact gabbrodolerite, intrusion breccia, leucogabbro, and gabbrodolerite variably enriched in olivine, from olivine free up to picritic compositions. The abundant amygdules and pegmatoidal textures in Upper Gabbroic Series taxitic rocks, as well as the high enrichment of halogen in minerals (e.g., ≤4.6 wt % Cl in apatite), indicate a higher volatile content of the local magma compared to the magma that precipitated the Main Series. The observed diversity in spinel compositions, which evolve from chromite to Cr magnetite as well as toward hercynite, titanomagnetite, and ulvöspinel, is also indicative of crystallization from a fluid-saturated mush that subsequently reacted, to varying degrees, with contaminated trapped melt and immiscible fluid. The high PGE/S ratio is a primary feature of this mineralization style, albeit the ratio partly increased during sulfide replacement and resorption. The PGE tenor of bulk sulfides calculated as ΣPGE (g/t) in 100% sulfides exceeds 160 and may reach up to 1,400 to 2,500 in low-S ores (0.2–3 wt % S), whereas the value does not exceed 42 in the Talnakh disseminated ore and ranges from 35 to 120 in the Norilsk disseminated ore (1–10 wt % S). Several PGE peaks in the vertical sections correlate well with Cu, Ni, S, and Cr peaks, as well as with observed elevated proportion of amygdules. Low-sulfide ores are composed of two primary sulfide assemblages of pyrrhotite + pentlandite + chalcopyrite and pentlandite + pyrrhotite. The primary sulfides are depleted in the heavier 34S isotope relative to sulfides of the corresponded main orebodies (e.g., mean δ34S = 8.9‰ versus δ34S = 12.3‰, respectively, in the Kharaelakh intrusion). A secondary pyrite + millerite + chalcopyrite assemblage has isotope composition enriched in 34S by 2 to 6‰ δ34S with respect to primary sulfides. The directly measured PGE content in sulfides (e.g., 11–2,274 g/t Pd in pentlandite and 0.10–33.3 g/t Rh in pyrrhotite) is within the range of the typical Norilsk-type magmatic sulfide compositions. The textural setting and diversity of platinum group minerals (PGMs) favor the hypothesis of fluid-controlled crystallization. However, the distinct PGM assemblages in Norilsk 1 and Talnakh-Kharaelakh low-sulfide ores are comparable with those of the corresponding presumably magmatic disseminated and massive orebodies. The most remarkable characteristic is the widespread Pt-Fe alloys in Norilsk 1 and their absence in Talnakh-Kharaelakh, which is interpreted to reflect better preservation of the high-temperature PGMs in Norilsk 1 in contrast to their substantial replacement in more oxidized fluid-enriched environments in Talnakh-Kharaelakh.


2020 ◽  
Vol 72 (3) ◽  
pp. A201219
Author(s):  
Mónica Tobón ◽  
Marion Weber ◽  
Joaquín A. Proenza ◽  
Thomas Aiglsperger ◽  
Sebastián Betancur ◽  
...  

Platinum-group elements (PGE) are included among the so-called critical metals, and are essential metals for the technological industry. However, there are very few deposits in the world from which these metals can be extracted. The present work investigates three Ni-laterite profiles (hydrous Mg silicate type) formed over the ultramafic rocks of Cerro Matoso and Planeta Rica in Colombia. The main goal is to determine their PGE concentration and distribution, as well as to identify the carrier phases of these noble metals. The highest PGE contents in Cerro Matoso and Planeta Rica are concentrated in the limonite horizon (141–272 ppb), showing a strong decrease towards the saprolite and the underlying serpentinized peridotite (parent rock; < 50 ppb). The highest concentrations correspond to Pt>Ru>Pd and the lowest to Rh<Os<Ir. Such distribution indicates that PGE are mobilized in different proportions by the laterization processes. The high affinity between PGE and Fe favors the formation of PGE-Fe mineral alloys such as the Pt-Ir-Fe-Ni minerals hosted by Fe-oxyhydroxide found in the limonite–saprolite transition zone in Planeta Rica. In addition, in the same zone, nanoparticles of Pt (< 1 µm) were found within framboidal pyrite. Both types of platinum group minerals (PGM) are secondary in origin. In the case of Pt-Ir-Fe-Ni alloys, this interpretation is supported by their morphology and chemical composition, which is comparable with PGE-Fe-Ni alloys found in laterites of Dominican Republic. In the case of Pt nanoparticle, textural relations suggest the neoformation of PGM adhered to the porous edges of altered pyrite. Cerro Matoso and Planeta Rica should be considered as unconventional PGE deposits, if adequate recovery processes can be applied for their recovery as by-products during Ni (+Co) production.


Minerals ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (5) ◽  
pp. 545
Author(s):  
Andrei Y. Barkov ◽  
Nadezhda D. Tolstykh ◽  
Robert F. Martin ◽  
Andrew M. McDonald

Tamuraite, ideally Ir5Fe10S16, occurs as discrete phases (≤20 μm) in composite inclusions hosted by grains of osmium (≤0.5 mm across) rich in Ir, in association with other platinum-group minerals in the River Ko deposit of the Sisim Placer Zone, southern Krasnoyarskiy Kray, Russia. In droplet-like inclusions, tamuraite is typically intergrown with Rh-rich pentlandite and Ir-bearing members of the laurite–erlichmanite series (up to ~20 mol.% “IrS2”). Tamuraite is gray to brownish gray in reflected light. It is opaque, with a metallic luster. Its bireflectance is very weak to absent. It is nonpleochroic to slightly pleochroic (grayish to light brown tints). It appears to be very weakly anisotropic. The calculated density is 6.30 g·cm−3. The results of six WDS analyses are Ir 29.30 (27.75–30.68), Rh 9.57 (8.46–10.71), Pt 1.85 (1.43–2.10), Ru 0.05 (0.02–0.07), Os 0.06 (0.03–0.13), Fe 13.09 (12.38–13.74), Ni 12.18 (11.78–13.12), Cu 6.30 (6.06–6.56), Co 0.06 (0.04–0.07), S 27.23 (26.14–27.89), for a total of 99.69 wt %. This composition corresponds to (Ir2.87Rh1.75Pt0.18Ru0.01Os0.01)Σ4.82(Fe4.41Ni3.90Cu1.87Co0.02)Σ10.20S15.98, calculated based on a total of 31 atoms per formula unit. The general formula is (Ir,Rh)5(Fe,Ni,Cu)10S16. Results of synchrotron micro-Laue diffraction studies indicate that tamuraite is trigonal. Its probable space group is R–3m (#166), and the unit-cell parameters are a = 7.073(1) Å, c = 34.277(8) Å, V = 1485(1) Å3, and Z = 3. The c:a ratio is 4.8462. The strongest eight peaks in the X-ray diffraction pattern [d in Å(hkl)(I)] are: 3.0106(26)(100), 1.7699(40)(71), 1.7583(2016)(65), 2.7994(205)(56), 2.9963(1010)(50), 5.7740(10)(45), 3.0534(20)(43) and 2.4948(208)(38). The crystal structure is derivative of pentlandite and related to that of oberthürite and torryweiserite. Tamuraite crystallized from a residual melt enriched in S, Fe, Ni, Cu, and Rh; these elements were incompatible in the Os–Ir alloy that nucleated in lode zones of chromitites in the Lysanskiy layered complex, Eastern Sayans, Russia. The name honors Nobumichi Tamura, senior scientist at the Advanced Light Source of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California.


2004 ◽  
Vol 42 (2) ◽  
pp. 563-582 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. Oberthur ◽  
F. Melcher ◽  
L. Gast ◽  
C. Wohrl ◽  
J. Lodziak

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