ORE MINERALIZATION IN THE PECHENGA PICRITES

Abstract

A metapicrite extrusion in the Pechenga ore district proved to contain copper-nickel sulfide mineralization analogous in composition to economic copper-nickel ores. The stratiform metapicrite bodies range in thickness from 3 to 50 m. One such stratiform nickeliferous metapicrite body, 3.2 m thick, was cut by a drillhole in an ultramafic tuff horizon at the very top of the productive sequence. At the base of the flow there is a 0.45-m thick layer of massive copper-nickel sulfide ore. The finding of concentrations of high-grade copper-nickel ore in the Pechenga metavolcanics suggests that this type of sulfide mineralization may be more wide-spread in the Pechenga ore district.