DISTRIBUTION OF NOBLE METALS IN ORE MINERAL ASSEMBLAGES OF THE VOLKOVSKY GABBROIC PLUTON, CENTRAL URALS

Abstract

Relationships between noble-metal and oxide-sulfide mineralization during the origin of the Volkovsky gabbroic pluton are discussed on the basis of geochemical data and thermodynamic calculations. The basaltic magma initially enriched in noble metals (NM) relative to their average contents in mafic rocks, except for Pt, is considered to be a source of Pd, Pt, Au, and Ag in the gabbroic rocks of the Volkovsky pluton. The ores were formed with a progressive gain of NM in the minerals during the fractionation of the basaltic magma. The active segregation of NM in the form of individual minerals (palladium tellurides and native gold) hosted in titanomagnetite and copper sulfide ore occurred during the final stage of gabbro crystallization, when the residual fluid-bearing melt acquired high concentrations of Cu, Fe, Ti, and V, along with volatile P and S. Copper sulfides-bornite and chalcopyrite-are the major minerals concentrating NM; they contain as much as 22.65-25.20 ppm Pd and 0.74-1.56 ppm Pt; 4.39-8.0 ppm Au, and 127.2-142.6 ppm Ag, respectively. The copper ore and associated NM mineralization were formed at a relatively low sulfur fugacity, which was a few orders of magnitude (attaining 5 log units) lower than that of the pyrite-pyrrhotite equilibrium. The low sulfur fugacity and the close chemical affinity of Pd and Pt to Te precluded the formation of pyrrhotite, pyrite, and PGE disulfides. The major ore minerals and NM mineralization were formed within a wide temperature range (800-570°C), under nearly equilibrium conditions. Foreign elements (Ni, Co, and Fe) affected the thermodynamic stability of Pd and Pt compounds owing to the difference in their affinity to Te and to elements of the sulfur group (S, Se, and As). The replacement of Pd with Ni and Co and, to a lesser extent, with Pt and the replacement of Te with S, As, and Se diminish the stability field of palladium telluride. Comparison of Pd tellurides from copper sulfide ores at the Volkovsky and Baronsky deposits showed the enrichment of the former in Au, Sb, and Bi, while the latter are enriched in Pt, Ni, and Ag. The enrichment of Pd tellurides at the Baronsky deposit in Ni is correlated with the analogous enrichment of the host gabbroic rocks. © Pleiades Publishing, Inc. 2006.