Abstract
Volcanic peridotite-associated Fe—Ni sulphide deposits in the Archaean Yilgarn Block of Western Australia display a strong volcanological control on the distribution of individual ore shoots. Although considerably modified by tectonism and amphibolite facies metamorphism, there are distinctive stratigraphic relationships within the host ultramafic komatiite sequence that distinguish ore environments from adjacent areas barren of Fe—Ni sulphides.
At the well documented Kambalda Dome deposits, contact ores which occur at the base of the lowermost flow of the ultramafic sequence are commonly confined within narrow (100–300 m), elongate embayments or troughs in the underlying tholeiitic footwall metabasalt. Hangingwall ores occur at the base of immediately overlying flows and generally directly overlie the troughs and contact ores.
Compared to adjacent barren areas, ore environments are characterized by thicker more-magnesian basal ultramafic flows, fewer interflow metasediments and better textural development and compositional differentiation in overlying thin flow units. The ultramafic sequence overlying ore environments is generally less ordered than that in adjacent non-ore environments where there is a more consistent trend of diminishing magnesium content upward through the ultramafic sequence.
The major ore-confining troughs are interpreted as original elongate linear depressions within the footwall metabasalt, and some of the local ore-confining structures probably represent original topographic or volcanological features. Ore deposition in an active rift environment may account for the close spatial relationship of contact and hangingwall ores, and the development of the distinctive stratigraphic features of the ore environment. Analogies are drawn with oceanic rift systems and recent submarine volcanism.
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Gresham, J.J. (1986). Depositional Environments of Volcanic Peridotite-Associated Nickel Sulphide Deposits with Special Reference to the Kambalda Dome. In: Friedrich, G.H., Genkin, A.D., Naldrett, A.J., Ridge, J.D., Sillitoe, R.H., Vokes, F.M. (eds) Geology and Metallogeny of Copper Deposits. Special Publication No. 4 of the Society for Geology Applied to Mineral Deposits, vol 4. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-70902-9_5
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