Vol. 7 1, 1976, pp.

11511158

Ultramafic and Related Matte Rocks: Their

Classification and Cenesis with Special Reference
to the Concentration of
Nickel Sulfides and PlatinumCroup
Elements
A.J. NALDRETT AND L.J. CABRI

Abstract
Ultramafic and related mafic rocks can conveniently be classi fled in terms of the tectonic environment in which they were emplaced. Among those bodies emplaced in an
orogenic environment one can distinguish synvolcanic bodies, bo'h intrusive and extrusive, emplaced before the peak of orogenesis ; alpine bodies ( opla i olites) emplaced
during orogenesis ; and Alaskan-type complexes emplaced in the waning stages of orogenesis. Large stratiform complexes ( Bushveld type) plateau-type sills ( Dufek tJ-pe) ,
and medi um- and small-sized picritic intrusions are characteristic of a cratonic environment. Synvolcanic bodies belong to tvo distinct magma suites : ( 1) the highly magriesian komati itic suite, characterized by spinifex-textured ultramafic flows, a low FeO/
( FeO -1- 1\1gO) ratio for a given AI 0$ content, and relatively low TiO contents ; and
) a less inagnesian tholeiitic suite, lacking spinifex texture and having a higher FeO/
(FeO -l- MgO) ratio and TiO content.
The Alaskan complexes differ from each of the other economically interesting types
n the alkalic nature of their magma (Irvine, 1974) and therefore the total absence of
orthopyroxene in the rocks. Stratiform complexes such as Bushveld and Stillwater are
at the other end of the specti uni. They have a high normative orthopyioxene to clinopyroxene ratio and crystallize in this order : olivine, orthopyroxene, and plagioclase
l'lus augite or plagioclase and then augite. 1\Iagmas responsible for some of the other
important bodies fall between these two end members, although they are all tholeiitic and
contain normative orthopyroxene.
Platinum-group element concentrations occur as discrete platinum gi oup minerals or
as solid solutions in sulfides, arsenides, and sulfarsenides associated with synvolcanic
hodies, stratiform complexes, and picritic intrusions. Alpine and Alaskan-type rocks
contain only ver y low grade concenti ations of sulfides, but platinum-group element concentrations occur as placer deposits derived fi om Alaskan-type bodies and, to a lesser
extent, from alpine bodies.
In the sulfide ores of the hlerensky, Pechenga, Sudbury, and Nori1sk deposits, the
Pt ( Pt -J- Pd) ratio decreases systematically with an increasing Cu/( Cu -l- N i) ratio.
Since the latter ratio is thought to increase with progressive differentiation of the ho.st
silicate magma, it is suggested that the trend of the decreasing Pt/ ( Pt -!- Pd) ratio is
also related to differentiation. Oies associated with komatiites at e major exceptions to
the trend exhibited by the tholei ites, the komatiite ores having both a low Cu/ ( Cu -!Hi) and a low Pt/ (Pt -1- Fd) ratio. It is suggested that this is due to the fact that
komatiites originate at unusually gieat depths in the mantle, depths at which mantle
sul fides (rich in Pd) have accumulated and are hence incorporated in the magmas.

Introduction
SINCE platinum proup elements are associated almost

c.xclusively with ultramafic and mafic rocks, the aiiri

of this paper is to review the different classes of
these rocks, laying particular stress on those that
are the source of concentrations of platinum-group
elements. The primary concentration of these elements is brought about in two main ways, either
after the rock has cooled, by weathering and the
development of placers, or at the magmatic stage
through the formation and concentration of an imnaiscible sulfide melt. This paper lays particular

st iess on magiriatic proces>e> and, following a discussionof the classification scheme in which distinctive features of the different classes are pointed out,
the composition and differentiation trends of magmas
responsible for many of the important sources of
platinumsgroup elements are compared.
Data on the platinumgroup element content of
different classes of ultramafic rocks have been compiled from the literature. Data on a number of sulfide deposits have also been gathered from the litera
ture and through the kindness of a number of mining
coniJanics. It is the hope that this review and com-

1132
TABLE 1. Classification of Ultramafic and Related Mafic Bodies

Class

Examples

Remarks

A. Bodies emplaced in active orogenic areas

1. Bodies contemporaneous with eugeosynclinal volcanism

(i) Tholeiitic suite
(a) Picritic subtype
M unro-Du ndonald area
(Naldrett & Mason, 1968 ; McRae, 19fi9
; Arndt, 1975, 1976)
Kakagi Lake (Ridler, 1966)

Pechenga (Gorbu nov, 1968)

(b) Anorthositic subtype

Dore Lake Complex (Allard, 1970)

Bell River Complex (Sharpe, 1965)
Kamiskotia Complex, Timmins, Ont.

(ii) Komati itic suite

M unro-Dundonald area, Ont.
(N aldrett & Mason, 1968 ; Pyke et al.,
1973 ; Arndt et at., in prep.)
Eastern Goldfields, Australia
(McCall & Leishman, 1971 ; Nesbitt, 1971 ;
Hallberg & Williams, 1972 ; \1illiams, 1972 ;
Naldrett & Turner, 1977)

Gravity-differentiated
flows, capped by hyaloclastite
with 1315 wt@ MgO (see
Table 2,
cols. 12 & 14). Gravity differentiated sills.
Some examples of this class
are conformable, others appear
to be discordant.
They are
possibly differentiation chambers
for over- lying volcanism.
Simple
flows,
spinifexcapped flows, differentiated
flows,
and
differentiated
sills.
Composition of flows
ranges from peridotite to
basalt and of sills from dunite
to anorthosi tic gabbro.

2. Alpine-type bodies

(i) Large obducted sheets

New Caledonia (Guillon, 1975)
Papua-New Guinea (Davies, 1968, 1971)
(ii) Ophiolite complexes
Vourinos (Moores, 1969)
Troodos (Gass, 1967, 1968 ; Moores & Vine,

1971)

Bay of Islands (Dewey & Bird, 1971 ; Irvine

& Findlay, 1972)
Canyon Mou ntain (Thayer & H immelberg,

1968)

Eastern Townships, Quebec (Lamarche, 1972 ;

Laurent, 1975)
Deformed ophiolite com plexes and clastic blocks in nilange terranes
Twin Sisters, Washington (Ragan, 1967)
Vermont serpentinites (Jahns, 1967)
I ran (Gansser, 1959)
Franciscan Series (Hamilton, 1969 ; Hsu, 1968)
(iv) Possible diapirs
M t. Albert, Quebec (MacGregor, 1962)

3. Alaskan-type complexes
I ntrusions of Alaska and British Columbia,
including Duke Island (Irvine, 1974), Union
Bay (Ruckmick & Noble, 1959), Tulameen
(Findlay, 1969)
I ntrusions of Urals (Vorobeyeva et al., 1962)
B. Bodies emplaced in non-orogenic areas
4. Large stratiformly layered complexes
Bushveld (Hall, 1932 ; Wager & Brown, 1968 ;
Visser & von Gruenewaldt, 1970)
Stillwater (Hess, 1960 ; Jackson, 1961 ; Bowes
et al., 1973)
M uskox (Irvine & Smith, 1967)
D ul uth (Taylor, 1964 ; Phinney, 1970)
K iglapait (M orse, 1969)
Sudbury (Naldrett et al., 1970, 1972)
5. Sills and sheets equivalent to flood basalts
Palisades sill (F. Walker, 1940 ; K. Yt"a1ker,
1969)
I nsizwa-I ngeli intrusion, South Africa
(Maske,

1966)

Flufek Intrusion, Antarctica (Word & Boyd,

1968 ; Ford, 1970 ; H inimelbcrg 6: Ford,
1976)

Generally
occur
in
areas iii which extrusion

of flood basalts has

occurred. The sills are
chem- ically similar to
the

extruded liasal ts

Class

Examples

Remarks

6. Medium- and small-sized intrusions

Skaergaard (\Vager & Brown, 1968)
Rhu in (Wager & Brown, 1968)
Norilsk-Talnakh area (Godlevskii, 1959 ;
Zolutuchin & Vasil'ev, 1967)
7. Alkalic ultrarnafic rocks in ring complexes and kimberli te pipes

pilation will provide a background helpful to the

reader of the other papers in this number.
In the course of our compilation, v e noted that,
ii hen viewed in relation to the nature of their host
rock and the Cu/Ni ratio of the ores in which they
occur, platinum and palladium concentrations exhibit variations which are explicable on the basis of
a genetic mode which is discussed.
Ultramafic and Related Mafic Rocks :
Their Classification and Some of the
Magma Types Involved
Ultramafic and related mafic rocks can be grouped
conveniently in terms of the tectonic setting in which
they were emplaced. Naldrett ( 1973) presented a
tabulation of the major classes of ultramafic bodies
along these lines. In Table 1 we present an updated
version of this scheme. It can be seen that the
initial subdivision is between those bodies emplaced
in an environment that is either actively undergoing
or is shortly to become involved in orogenesis and
those emplaced in nonorogenic, commonly stablc
cratonic areas.

One can recognize three broad types of ultranaafic

bodies in this setting : those that are contemporaneous with early eugeosynclinal volcanism ; alpine
bodies, most of which are emplaced during the compressive phase of orogenesis ; and Alaskan-type ultraniafics emplaced at a late stage, largely during uplift.
1. 5j rivolcanic bodies

Experience in Archean and Proterozoic

green stone
belts
has
shown
that
synvolcanic ultramafic rocks form parts of
bodies w hich fall into two main classes,
tholeiites and komatiites, and that the tlioleiites constitute t v o distinctive stibtJpes,
(a) one picritic and (b) the other anorthositic.
Since the anorthositic subtype contains a very
small propor tion of ultramafic rocks, we
will focus largely on the komatiitic and picritic
tholeiitic types.
Tholeiitesski
bclass
a
(/icri/ic)
:
Ultramafic roc1s
to differentiated sills or flows. dliey
also occur either as zones of liJaloclastite,
or aplianitic or fine-

granted pyroxenite capping the flows, or as vent

breccias probably related to the sills. A typical sill
of this subclass, such as the Dundonald sill, consists
of a basal, 320-na-thick layer of peridotite overlain by
130 in of augite pyroxenite capped by up to 260 in
of gabbro within which zones of granophyre up to
60 meters thick occur tov ard the top (Naldrett and
3lason, 1968) . Average analyses of samples from
these zones are given in Table 2. A similar

stratig-

raphy is observed in the lower portion of flows of

this class, although in these the gabbro grades upv ard into a fine-grained pyroxenite capped by a
pJ roxenite hyaloclastite (Arndt, 1975, 1976) . A pipelike body of hy aloclastite (see Table 2 for composition) cuts through komatiitic flow s overlying the
Dundonald sill at the Alexo mine, brecciating them
and merging with a stratiforiri liyaloclastite layer
v hich is itself capped by further komatiitic flows,

thus proving the contemporaneity of the two types

of magniatism. The compositions of hyaloclastites
of this type (Table 2, columns 12 and 14) are
thought to represent the initial composition of the
magma responsible for flows and sills They contain
10 to 20 percent normative olivine and can be described as olivine tholeiite or picrite.
Tlioleiitessubclass #
(anortll ositic ) :
These

bodies consist predominantly of anorthosite, gabbroic

anortliosite, or anorthositic gabbro and are characterized by layers rich in

titaniferotis

inagnetite.

Ultramafic rocks are relatively uncommon and are

usually restricted to layers rich in cumulus pyroxemite. One of the most completely studied, although
mot altered, exaiaiples of this class is the Dor Lake
Complex (Allard, 1970 ; Allard et at., 1972) . The
general conformity of the layering in the body to
folding in the enclosing rocks stip=gests that it was
intruded prior to holding. Hov ever, although it is
poorly exposed, the Kamiskotia comi'1ex, 24 his
w est of Timmins, Ontario, seems to be more of a
discordant plug.
domo/i/cs: Some confusion has arisen over exactly what constitutes a komatiite. The name

was

ciiied by Viljen unl Viljoen ( I 9fi9) ftir i ks

well
lcv eloJed in the l?oniati River area of the Hunter-

ton 3lountain land.

Cei tain aspects of their initial

1134

A.I. NALD RE T T AND L.I. CABRI

definition and in particular the interpretation or it monly 20 to 30, weight percent MgO and also carryformulated by Brooks and Hart ( 1974) have proved ing 20 to 30 percent olivine phenocrysts in suspento be somewhat too restrictive and Arndt et at. sion. Settling and accumulation of the phenocrysts,
(in prep.) have proposed a redefinition of the koma- coupled with filter pressing, compaction, and postiitic igneous suite, maintaining that it is as distinc- sibly some adcumu!us growth, are responsible for
tive and deserving of the same status as the tholeiitic, the peridotites and dunites (Naldrett and Turner,
calcalkalic, or alkalic suites.
1977) .
Members of the komatiitic suite range from dunite
In some flows (and perhaps in some near-surface
( > 40 wt percent MgO calculated on an
intrusions) platy and skeletal growth of olivine
and
anhydrous
basis) through peridotite (30 to 40 percent MgO) , clinopyroxe crystals characterizes the overlying
ne

pyroxene peridotite (20 to 30 percent MgO) , pyrox- melt mom which the phenocrysts have settled and is
enite (12 to 20 percent MgO), and magnesian basalt known as spinifex texture (Pyke et at., 1973). In
(10 to 12 percent MgO) to basalt ( <10 percent other flows, the settling of phenocrysts appears to
MgO) . Typical analyses for each of these types are have been retarded, in which case a zone of spinifex
given in Table 2. Both extrusive and intrusive texture is lacking, although skeletal overgrowths to
variants are usually present in a given area with the phenocrysts and interstitial skeletal pyroxene are
former predominant. The ultramafic members of present. Because of the texture, which is suggestive
the suite are interpreted as the result of emplace- of fairly rapid cooling, zones of spinifex are regarded
ment of a liquid containing up to 35, but more com- as approximating the liquid portion of a given
TABLE 2. Typical Analyses of Ultraiiiafic and llelated hlafic Rocks (Recalctilated to eliniiiia te H O + COi | S
or loss on igiii tion and with PsOs omitted.)
H yaloclastit es
and related
rocks

Dundonald sill

T\JaicaI
komatiites

40.2
U.29

?I'

44.11
5.27

47.6
6.19

?:i !

48.9
10..3

51.U
12.6

52.2
14.$

ii: i 6 1ii

42.0
II 2U

52.
II:46
9
I

48.7

55.4

64.7

'1:IS
4.46
11.9

'1 58
2..32
13.4

'U:92
1.51
5.21

50.0
9.36

519
9.77

50.5
793

ti.d.

n.d.

n.d.

46

.
Total
f Fe ae l
eO

lU0.44
7.10

1110..l
UIU.95

99.46
5.38

99.82
11.07

lllIl.711
11.,11

Pechenga
16

1tlU..li'
IU.,36

1M.0N
1l9J

V819

778

Norilsk

17

9978
1592

0907

1540

V9R?

591

Sudbury

23

26

24

Bushveld

Stillxva ter
36

34

14

13

27

39

40

RoCk & location

A v-erage of
analyses

Reference

I . Dunitic komat rite

2. Peridoti tic kom atiite (sjiinifex tex Iure)
3. Py roxene pert dotitic koma t i i te (sjinifex text
ure)
4. Pyroxen itic komatii te

204'
.)()6

fialdrett & Mason ( 1968)

Naldrett & Mason (
1965) Nat d rett & Mason
( 1968) pdret$

14. Hyaloclastite, Alexo area

15. Peridotite, Pechenga area

16. P)roxenite, Peclienga area

64, 65, 66
68, 69, 70
7 2, 7 3

19. Contact gabliro (lower),

Norilsk

$M ason (
1968)

Arndt ( 19 /5)
Nald rett, unpu blished data
Gorbunov ( 1968), table 8
Gorbunov ( 1968) ,
table 1 0

Gor1uriov ( 1968) , tatle 1 1

taLle

20. Taxitic gabbro, Norilsk I I

galbro,

asilev

2 2 Oli v ine- biotite ga1ilro, N oril'si: I

I 2 3. Oli vine gabb re. N or i lsk I I

Zolut uchin 8c 4"asi1ex- ( 1967 ) talie g

2 4. Gabliro-diorite, Norilsk I I

25. South Range no rite, Sudhuiy

26. Felsic no rite. Sudbury

2 7. Oxide-rich gafb re. lower part ,

28. Ox ide-rich gafbro , u p per part,

Cof lins 1934)

Collins ( 1934)
Hall ( I 9.32, p. .3 27) , table .17
Hall ( I 9.32,
taLle -I 2
(i. ,3
ta ble .33
Hall ( 19.32,
p.

29. Harzhurgite, Bushveld

30. B ronzi t i te, Bushveld

e$e B.Rhe Bushvell

32: F'
N erroga:: 66re, B ushvelcl
33.

.14. Granophyrjc gabbro, Bushvel1

35. D unite, Stillwater

28 2930 SI,.32

.38. Mafic norite, Stillwater

41, 4 2, 4.3

.36. Harzliur gi te, Stillivater

37. Bronzi tite, Stillwater

.39. Norite, Stillxvater

40. Cabbre, St illivater

.35,36, 6840
67..38

magma. Using this criterion, flows with spinifex this is done for the Munro rocks and for cumulate
containing about 23 weight percent MgO would rocks of the Dundonald sill. The distinction that the
have been extruded at around 1,425 C (see Shima diagram gives between the two magma types is very
plot above the sloping line
clear
and Naldrett, 1975) and those with up to 35 percent
and

komatiites
tholeiite below it. Arndt et al. point out that
MgO at around 1,650C (Green et at., 1975)
s
.
The pyroxenitic and basaltic members of the another distinguishing feature is the relatively lOw
komatiitic suite appear to be the result of fractional TiOz content of komatiites with respect to tholeiites,
crystallization of a more magnesian komatiite liquid. as illustrated in the TiOz-MgO plot of Figure 2A.
The pyroxenites are characterized by a variety of Although the cumultis peridotites and pyroxenites of
spinifex textures made up of highly acicular (almost the Dundonald sill plot within the komatiite field, needlelike) skeletal grains of clinopyroxene. Skele- the diagram is very effective in distinguishing the tal
textures are either poorly developed or lacking gabbroic variants of the sill, and also extensive tho- rn
the basalts.
leiites of undifferentiated and differentiated type,
Arndt ( 1975, 1976) describes a differentiated from the komatiites.
komatiitic flow, 120 in thick. This consists of a basal
If komatiites in other parts of the world are conzone of cumulus peridotite overlain by pyroxenite
sidered, those described by Naldrett and Turner
(dominantly augite, although some hypersthene is
( 1977) from the Yakabindie area of Western Anspresent) and then gabbro which grades upward into
tralia exhibit a similar behavior to the Alunro rocks
a quartz gabbro. The flow is capped by a 50-m- on both the AleO3 vs FeO '(FeO + MgO) (Fig.
thick zone of spinifex-textured olivine and pyroxene.
IB) and TiOs vs MgO (Fig. 2B) plots. Naldrett
As Arndt et at. (in prep.) emphasize, this flow is im- and Turner have also demonstrated that basaltic
portant because it provides a direct link between
komatiites at Yakabindie are characterized by high
ultramafic and basaltic koniatiites.
contents of Ni (average 146 ppm, range 100 to 181
Arndt et a1. (in prep.) point out that komatiites in ppm) and Cr,O (average 412 ppm, range 210 to
Munro Township, Ontario, can be distinguished
800 ppm) in comparison with tholeiites from the
conveniently from tholeiites by plotting Al,O, against
same area (average Ni = 76, range 25 to
the FeO/ (FeO + MgO) content of the rock, in average Cr O 138, range < 10 to 336 ppm) . Anal-

which total iron is calculated as FeO. In Figure lA

yses reported by Nesbitt ( 1971) from the Scotia

Fic. 1. Variation of AleO with FeO/(FeO -l MgO) wt percent ratio in rocks from : A,
the Abitibi greenstone belt, and B, selected areas in South Africa and Western Australia.
Note that total Fe in the rock is calculated as FeO and all analyses are for rocks recalculated
to exclude HO and COi or loss on ignition.

area of \\'estern Australia (80 km north of Kalq oorl ie) plot together with those from Yakabindie.
However, in contrast to rocks from Canada and Western Australia, sonae of

the

Barberton

komatiites,

in particular the basaltic komatiites of the Badplaas

and Barberton type and the low-Al variant of the
the Geltik type, plot below the sloping line in Figure
lA. Arndt ( 1976) discusses the unusual compositions of these rocks, at present known to occur
only in the Barberton area, and suggests some reasons for them.

A v ord of caution is required at this stage to the

effect that because a given rock passes the chemical

capping of deepsea sediments including radiolarian

claerts.
In some places emplacement has

been

accom-

plished vitla a minimum of disruption and the full

ophiolitic sequence is well preserved but in others
the ultramafic rocks occur as isolated blocks within
a m!ange.
Coiiiplexes of this type draw their name front a
series of distinctive bodies exposed along the interioT

screens outlined here, it is not necessarily koniatiitic.

islands and mainland of southeast Alaska. More

than 30 occur along the 550-km length of the Alaskan

lavas, possible subvolcanic feeders rich

ide. The eight larq=est complexes have outcrop

areas ranging from 5 to 30 square km. Some of the

In addition to the chemical criteria, other features

that we have mentioned, such as the presence of

panhandle, naost of them in a zone about 40 km

and the occurrence of spinifex texture within some

larger complexes show a rougla

in

olivine,

representative samples, should be present to ensure

v itli reasonable certainty that one is looking at a

suite of komatiites.

2. Al[inc ultrama[ic roe!:s

The different types of alpine ultramafic bodies are
listed in Table 1. Here we take the view field by
many authorities that alpine bodies are portions of
O1hiolite complexes, emplaced in the solid state clur
ing tectoiiism. Ophiolites theiriselves are interpreted
as portions of the oceanic crust and tipper mantle
and are characterized bj a basal zone or metamorphic
textured peridotite overlain by a sequence of clinchfates ranging from peridotite to gabbro, a sequence

cf r'' lavas and associated feeder dikes, and a

concentric zoning

w hich, wlaen best developed, consists of a dunitic

core surrounded by successive shells of olivine clinopyroxenite, magnetite-rich clinopyroxenite, and hornblendite. As a group, Alaskan-type complexes are
distinguished from alpine ultramafics or stratilorm
intrusions in having a highly calcic clinopyroxene,
no orthopyroxene or plagioclase, abundant hornblencle, more iron-rich clironaite, and magnetite, the

last mineral occurring in concentrations w hich in

some cases are of economic interest.

Similar bodies are known in the Urals, southcentral British Columbia, and Venezuela (see Table
1 ) . Tue most extensively studied is the Duke Island
Complex, described by Irvine ( 1974) , who also provides the most tip-to-date g=eneral account of hodies

of this type.

UL1RM II.3 FIC AND RELA TED ?IAFIC E OCKS

Bodies em[laced in a nonorogenie environment

Apart from distinguishing intrusions of plateau
basalt magma and alkalic intrusions, the classifica
tion of bodies in a nonorogenic environment, as
shown in Table 1, is more a matter of size rather
than of fundamental difference in type of intrusion
or magma. Furthermore, there is a gray zone be
tween u hat one might regard as a nonorgenic and
an orogenic environment.
For example, Hunter

TH 0 L E I ITES
DundonooIdA 5i I I Th eo's

Flow BoS0l IS

KOM AT I ITES
Si in p I e I I ows, M u n ro Tw p

Pred's F low (dif ferent rote d )p p A

( 1974) and Naldrett and Turner ( 1977) have related koiriatiitic volcanism to rifting or a preexisting=
sialic plate. In these tw o cases there is no evidence
that the rifting proceeded far enough to form fresh
oceanic crust. Rifting was, however, succeeded by
compressive folding of the rocks emplaced in the
postulated rift zones, which is why w e have classed
the ultramafic bodies theirise1ves in the orogenic

It is a debatable point whether the tectonic setting

of the Archean koniatiites at the time of their emplacement differed fundamentally from, for example,
the setting of the sequence of PermoTriassic volcanics and intrusions of the Nori1sk area v hich are

located within a major graben (Sniirnov, 1966) ;

mom the Duluth complex and Keewanaivan lavas or
the take Superior area which are related to

the

6, K om o I i it e s Yo kobi ndie
g g

o Komof iites
Barberton
Tholeiifes

(overoqes) Yo kobindie

North American mid-continental rift zone ; or front

the lavas and intrusions of East Greenland and \Vest
Scotland flanking and related to the rifting of the
North Atlantic. All that is lacking in these three
cases is the final compression.
In drawing up the classification, we have placed
importance on the existence or absence of the final
compressive phase, although we realize that the deep-

seated tectonic processes responsible for the rifting

of the unstable Archean crust onto which the komatiites were extruded and those responsible for rifting,
even incipient rifting of younger cratons, may not be
so very

different. In a later section, differences or

similarities in the composition of the magma responsible for the different classes of u!tramafic rocks are
discussed.

As shown in Table 1, this class includes bodies

W . p rc n M
Fic. 2. Wt percent TiO vs wt percent MgO for : A,
rocks from the Abitibi greenstone belt, and B, selected
areas in South Africa and Western Australia.

of

Bodies of this class include the very large Dufek

Intrusion in Antarctica (6 to 7 km thick, more than
8,000 km in area) and the Insizwa Complex of
South Africa (Table 1) . They are associated vith

them except Sudbury. Even at Sudbury, numerous

ultramafic inclusions ranging from dunite to oliviiie

acterized by a higher K,O content than other tho-

such as the Busliveld, Stillivater, I\1uskox, and St dbiry complexes. The overall compositions of these

complexes tend to be mafic rather than ultramafic,

although ultramafic zones are present in each

iiielagabbro occur in the ore (Rae, 1975) and are

thoiight to have been derived mom a liiclclen laJ ererl

intrusion (Naldrett et at., 1972) .

tlioleiitic basalts o1 the plateau type which are charleiitic types. Even triafic rocks from the intrusions

exhibit a rather high (ml wt percent) K O content.

6. and 7. Other classes

These include inedirim- and small-sizecl intrusions

anl alkalic rocls such as k ina berlites anal

carbonatite complexes.

A.I. NALD RET T A.ID L.I. CABRI

TABLE 3. Field Criteria for Recognition of Ultramafic Rocks
as Komatiites

Criteria

Sudbury

Bushveld
Noril'sk
Pechenga
Western Australia
fibitibi (Marbridge, Alexo,
Langmuir)
Ungava nickel belt
Manitoba nickel belt
1. Should be part of a sequence of lavas and shallow in- trusions.
2. Some representatives should be olivine rich.
3. Spinifex texture is present.
-1- - Criteria fulfilled.
O - Criteria not fu lfilled.

The nature o] tke magma insolved in bodies

inn- [ortant !h res[ect to riicl:cl sul[ide end
[la!inum iJrou[ element concentrations

The bodies to be discussed in this section include

host rocks to nickel sulfides in (1 ) the Eastern
Goldfields of Western Australia, (2) the Abitibi belt
of Canada, (3) the Manitoba nickel belt, (4) the
Cape SmithWakeham Bay belt in Ungava, (5)
the Sudbury district, (6) the Pechenga area of the
Kota Peninsula, (7) the Lorilsk district of Western
Siberia, and (8) the Shangani mine, Rhodesia, and
host rocks to platinum-group element concentrations
in (9) the Bushveld Complex, ( 10) the Stillwater
Complex, and ( 11) Alaskan-type complexes.
We will first examine the rocks from both orogenic areas to see if they appear to be komatiites and
then note variations in their path of fractional crystallization which bear on the nature of the initial
magma.

be considered. In the Bushveld, Stillwater, and

Sudbury areas directly associated volcanics are lacking, as is spinifex texture ; despite the presence of
ultraniafic rocks associated with each body, the average composition of the exposed sequence of rock is
not ultramafic, so that we have excluded these complexes from further consideration as komatiitic. The
Alaskan-type bodies fulfill the criteria of the presence
of olivine-rich rocks, overall ultramafic composition,
and, in some cases, of related volcanic rocks (Irvine,
1974) . As will be shown later, however, the magma
involved appears to have been distinctly alkalis (criti-

cally undersaturated) , and the possible komatiitic

nature of these rocks will not be considered further.
Figure 3 illustrates rocks from seven of the districts (Eastern Goldfields, Abitibi, Manitoba, Ungava, Pechenga, Nori1'sk, and Shangani) discussed
above on an Al O vs FeO/(FeO -1- MgO) diagram,
while Figure 4 illustrates the variation in TiOz with
gO. In the latter diagram, the field of the Munro
and Yakabindie komatiites (taken frona Fig. 2) is
outlined by the dashed line. Only rocks associated
w'ith nickel mineralisation and exclusive of the Yakabindie and Munro areas are shovn for the Eastern
Goldfields and Abitibi belt ; these plot above the line
in Figure 3 and vithin the dashed outline of Figure
4, confirming their konaatiitic nature. Analyses of
samples from the mines of the Thompson area of the
?1anitoba belt are not available for publication, but
Stephenson ( 1972) presents analyses of ultraniafic
and matte rocks of the belt in which the most Ultramafic variants are essentially identical, except ior

their lack of sulfides, with ultramafic rocks associ-

Possible k oinatiitic nature

As stated above, field criteria for konaatiitic naagmatism include ( 1) the presence or extrusive rocks
within an igneous suite, (2) the presence of olivinerich rocks within the suite, and (3) the presence of
spinifex textures. Field characteristics bearing on
the possible komatiitic nature of rocks from eight
of the areas listed above are summarized in
Table 3. Rocks from the Eastern Goldfields,
Abitibi belt, and Manitoba nickel belt (\V. V.
Peredery, pers. commun., 1975, has reported the
presence of spinifex-textured rocks in t u o localities
within this belt) meet all three criteria.
Those from
Ungava, Pechenga, Norilsk and Shangani fulfill two
of the criteria but lack spinifex textures.
Since spinifex texture is not an absolute
requirement, the

possibility that the roc1s aie 1.oinati ites still U1IS

tO

Fic. 3. Variation of AlCIs with FeO/ (FeO -1- MgO) for

the host rocks of certain nickel sulfide orebodies,
excluding
those
Figure plotted

in

aiial y scs is the

same as

1. The method of presenting the

in Iigui-e 1.

ated with the ores. "1hese analyses also plot above

the line in Figure 3 and either within or very close
to the outlined field in Figure 4, reinforcing the case
for the existence of komatiites in this belt. The
analyses of Wilson et at. ( 1969) of ore-associated
rocks from Ungava plot above the line in Figure 3
and above but close to the outlined field in Figure 4.
In this case also, v e are confident that these represent
a series of komatiites. Viljoen et at. (1976) give
tvo average analyses of rocks from the ultramafic
host rock at Shangani vhich also fulfill all of the
chemical criteria necessary for them to be classified

as komatiitic.
Average analyses of Pechenga peridotite, pyroxenite, gabbro, and leucogabbro (Table 2) calculated
front the data of Gorbunov ( 1968) mostly plot well
below the line in Figure 3, while their extremely
high TiOz contents are brought out in Figure 4,
indicating that these bodies are far from being komatiitic. Average analyses of rocks from the Noril'sk
II deposit (listed in Table 2) plot above the line in
Figure 3, but Figure 4 illustrates their

relatively

nigh TiOg content, ruling theiii out in our

ment cansirleration as koiuatiites.

view

Irvine ( 1974) has pointed out the usefulness of

looking at both cumulus and non-cumulus rock as
they plot on the Ca .,(MgFe) .sO- (MgFe) OSiOe
molecular diagram once the cation norm has been
calculated and the proportions of elements present in

A B 17 I B I
+ Te x mont M i n e

c Long in u i r Deposi I s

E G 0L DF I E L DS
1

Spo rqov i I I e

Rave nsthorpe
''

Manitoba N i cke I

Be I I

+ Pe che n q a

SO

TO

3O

20

IO

WI. perce nt M q 0

Fic. 4.

Wt percent TiOs vs wt percent MgO ior

the host rocks of certain nickel sulfide
orebodies.

JABLE 4. Sequence of Cumulus Phasee

Komatiites

Of, of + '

Dundonald sill
Pechenga
Noril'sk
B ushv-el1

I+ P

cpx

plag ( --I-of)

of. cpx, plag <cpx --| mt, plag --|-c px ( |h3p?)

of, cpx, cpx --|in t, plag --|-cpx <mt

not known
-{-chi

jlag --|cp.x ( -|-opx) , plag --|cpx -!-mt, plag -|-cpx -|mt jot

-|-chr,

Sud1uri
Duke Island

magnetite, ilmenite, apatite, anorthite, albite, and

orthoclase have been subtracted. In essence the
diagram is an expanded, ironbearing version of the
diopside-forsterite-silica system.
Figure SA illustrates average analyses of the
Bushveld, Stillwater, and Sudbury complexes plotted
on the diagram ; the phase relations are those estimated by Irvine ; they are included as reference lines
and are not necessarily directly applicable to the
complexes plotted on this or other diagrams of this
sequence. The sequence o1 principal cumulus minerals is listed in Table 4. It must be stressed at this

stage that crystallization has been a complex process

iii each of these intrusions, and numerous cyclical
units are present in both Bushveld and Stillwater,
resulting perhaps mom repetitive crystallization due
to fresh influxes of magma or the periodic convective
overturn of existing magma.
Considering Bushveld and Stillwater first, the
positioning of the rock averages on Figure SA,
coupled with the information on cumulus phases in
Table 4, indicates an orderly crystallization sequence
from peridotite to bronzitite to norite and then gabbro. This is represented approximately by a liquid
iractionating along the paths 1 (peridotite), 2
(bronzitite, norite) , and 3 (gabbro) , although some
modification of this liquid path and hence of the
phase relations indicated is necessary to account for
the coprecipitation of olivine and orthopyroxene reported in each intrusion. Although Naldrett et at.
( 1970) have demonstrated that cryptic variation is
present in the Sudbury Nickel Irruptive and that the
same sequence of cumulus phases is present in all
exposed portions of the intrusions, the positioning
of the averages of the Sudbury rocks shows no systematic variation. This is attributed to the altered
nature of the rocks at Sudbury and to the importance that contamination has played in their development.
As demonstrated by Irvine (1974) , the Duke
Island rocks exhibit a very different trend. Their
fractionation is from dunite and peridotite (area I
in Fig. SB) to olivine and hornblende pyroxenite
(II) to hornblendite (III), with the liquid moving
away from olivine and then away from silica
along the alkalic fractionation trend 123 in
Figure SB.

4 lie komatiit ic fractional ion trend is

illustrated in Figure SC in which a series of
liquid compositions, estimated
for the

Yakabindie rocks by Naldrett and Turner (

1977) , are plotted. As expected, the initial

liquid plots much closer to olivine than that

esti- mated for other intrusions.
The
fractionation trend indicated on the diagram is
one of olivine removal followed by removal of
olivine plus clinopyroxene, consistent with the
mineralogy observed in the flows and given

in Table 4.

Average rock compositions from Norilsk

(Table

2) are plotted in Figure SD. Smirnov (

1966) argues that the Norilsk igneous

bodies are feeders for volcanoes and that

the rocks present have not dif ferentiated
in situ but are the result of successive
surges of magma. \\hether this
interpretation is correct or not, Figure 5
indicates that the rocks are the result of
fractional crystallization which appears to
have been simply that of olivine removal
followed by the removal of clinopyroxene
and orthopyroxene. In Figure SE, average
compositions for cumulus rocks from the
orebearing intrusions of the Pe- chenga
district are compared with those from the
Dundonald sill, both sills being synchronous
with the early volcanism of an orogenic belt.
With respect to the Dundonald sill, average
rock compositions plotted on the figure,

consisting of peridotite (I), clinopyroxenite (II), magnetite gabbro (III),

gabbro
(IV), and granophyric gabbro (V), agree
with the sequence of cumulus phases o1,

douald sill (VI) proc ides support for our contention

of a cogenetic origin o1 the magma for flows and sills
of this type.
Table 4 shows that the Pechenga rocks consist of
a sequence of cuiriulus phases similar to those of
the Dundonald sill, although Figure SE demonstrates that the pyroxenites(B) and melagabbros (C)
are distinctly poorer in SiO when projected in this
v ay than their Dundonald equivalents. The Pechenga sequence can be explained by a liquid fractionating along the path a-b-c.
Figure SF provides a comparison of all the liquid
fractionation trends that we have estimated. The
Bushveld and Stillwater trends lie at one end of the
spectrum and Duke Island at the other, the last
named actually falling on the orthopyroxene-absent
side of the olivine-diopside join (analogous to that
used by Yoder and Tilley, 1962, to divide alkalic
from olivine tholeiite magmas) . All of the remaining magmas fall on the orthopyroxene-present side
of this join and ultimately show silica enrichment,
although the Pechenga liquid lies close to the join
and seems to have some hesitation about the direction in which to fractionate.
Irvine (1970) has shown that contamination by fe!
sic material has altered the composition of the
Muskox magma sufficiently so that its initial tendency to fractionate along a trend similar to that of
the Dundonald sill has been replaced by one more
akin to that shown 'by Bushveld and Stillwater. He
has suggested that the Bushveld and Stillwater
magmas may owe their initial composition and hence
crystallization path to similar contamination. With
reference to the Bushveld in particular, E.N. Cameron (pers. commun.) has pointed out that the vast
size of this intrusion, the fact that it has been ir-

cpx, plag -l cpx -t int. and plag -1- cpx ( -l

opx ? ) . Fractionation of a liquid along the

path

123---4

can

explain

this

rock

sequence. The fact that the composition of

the hyalo- clastite (column 12 in Table 2)
overlying the dif- ferentiated tholeiitic flow in
Munro Township lies on the estimated liquid
fractionation trend for the Dun-

Fic. 5. Ca.r (MgFe) .O- (MgFe) O -SiO plots for ultramafic and mafic rocks from im-

pcirtant igneous areas. The method of plotting the analyses is discussed in the text and by
Irvine ( 1974). "the phase boundaries are approximate and are those estimated
by Irvine. Because their positions are influenced by variables such as total pressure, Pipe, Pco
and chemical variations in the magma compositions, the phase boundaries do not apply
necessarily i:i each of the cases illustrated. In Figure 5A the areas labeled I, II, and III cover

the aver- age compositions of cumulus dunites plus peridotites, bronzites plus norites, and
gabbros, re- spectively, from the Bushveld and Stillwater igneous complexes. A liquid
iractionating along the path 123 can account for this sequence of cumulates. Similarly in
Figure SB, taken directly from Irvine, a liquid fractionating along the path 1-23 can account
for the cumulus dunites and peridotites (I) , pyroxenites (I), and hornblendites ( III) of the
Duke Island Coiriplex. The points in Figure 5C represent successive liquid compositions estimated
for 1.-omatiitic lavas of the Yakabindie area ( Naldrett and Turner, 1977). In Figure 5D, a liquid

fractionatinp= along the path 1Z can account for the sequence or picrites and
gabbros from h'ori1'sk plotted on the diagram. In Figure SE, average cumulus

peridotites ( I), clinopyrox- enites ( II) , magnetite-rich gabbros ( III), and gabbros

(IV)
from the Dundonald sill can be
accounted for by a magma fractionating
path 1Z-3--4 and ending up at the comalong the
position of the granophyric gabbro in the sill (V). The initial magma composition is thought
to be the same as a hyaloclastite cutting and then becoming interstratified with lavas overlying

the sill (VI). The sequence of average peridotites (A), clinopyroxenites (B) , and gabbros
( C and D) from the Pechenga area can be explained by a liquid fractionating along the
path
a-b-c. In Figure SF the fractionation paths for different liquids are compared. Clearly the
cotectic lines in the diagram would need modification for each
igneous systems under
of the
consideration
Duke Island (for which Irvine drew the lines in the first place), but
except
the relative geometry of the boundaries would be similar in each case.

A.I. NALDR F T T AND L.I. CABF!I

deposits, which will I ejtiiie large-scale iniiii 'b "

processing with the production of a very high
pro portion of failings if they are to become

economic.
The deposits of the Norilsk district are associatel
with the medium- and small-sized intrusions of class
6. Alpine bodies of class 2, Alaskan-tJpe complexes
of class 3, and carbonatites and kimberlites included
in class 7 are unlikely hosts for nickel sulfides on the
basis of past experience.
Genesis of Sulfide-bearing Magmas
The relationship between nickel sulfide deposits
and different types of ultramafic rocks is explicable
to some degree on the basis of v hat v e know about

the genesis of the deposits. The main criterion for

the formation of a rich concentration of naagmatic

FiG. 6.
Nickel
reserves as-

metal

in

past

production

plus

sociated with different classes of host rock (modified

alter Naldrett, 1973).
The key to the classes is
given in Table 1.

rupted at five seJarate centers, and the very similar

crystallization history exhibited by each of the five
centers w ould require such a degree of homogenization following contamination as to make this suggestion seem unlikely. Although assimilation of
wall rocks has undoubtedly played a role in modifying magma compositions, we are of the opinion
that this role has been minor (with the exception of
Sudbury where heat generated during meteorite impact may have provided a reservoir of molten ielsic
magma [Peredery, 1972] ) and that differences in
liquid compositions illustrated in Figure SF reflect
differences originating in the source region of theA
magmas involved.
Relationship of Nickel-Copper Sulfide Mineralisation to Classes of Ultramafic Rocks
Figure 6, modified after Naldrett ( 1973), indicates the relationship between known reserves plus
past production of nickel in the main deposits of the
world and the class of ultramafic rock to which they
be!ong. Apart from the unique position of Sudbury
in terms of world sulhde nickel (shown by the crosshatched portion of the column labeled class 4.5 in
Figure 6) , komatiitic magmatism, class 1 (ii) , has
the greatest proportion of associated mineralisation
and includes the ores of Western Australia ; Thompson, Manitoba ; Ungava, Quebec ; and Shangani,
Rhodesia. Tholeiitic sills of the picritic type, labeled
class I (i) in this figure, are important primarily
because of the deposits of the Pechenga district.
Deposits near the basal contact of the Stillwater and
Dulutli complexes, also under class 4, have great
potential if ever

env ironmental

considerations

are

or crcome, but they constitute low grade, disseminated

sulfides is that the host magma should be saturated

in sulfur and in addition contain a reasonably high
proportion of immiscible stilfide droplets which can
then settle rapidly to form a continuous, thick sulfide blanket. If this criterion is not met and sulfides
segregate slowly as the crystallization of silicates
proceeds, then the sulficles are likely to become iriixel
vith the settlrug silicate cri stals to form a dissemi

rated zone of little economic significance.

The production of a high proportion of iniiniscible stilfides at a given stage in the history of a magmatic body can be brought about in a number of
ways. One of these, assimilating sulfur from an
external source, has been shown to be important in
two o1 the districts mentioned aboveDuluth (Mainwaring and Naldrett, 1974) and Norilsk (Godlevskii and Grinenko, 1963)in both or which the sul

fur is extremely rich in the heavy isotope.

second possible method is to reduce the solu- bility of
sulfur in a given magma abruptly by oxidiz- ir.g or

reducing the magma or altering its com- position in

some other way. Although theoretical possibilities,
none of these mechanisms has been shown to apply
in a knov n case, although Irvine ( 1975) has
suggested that assimilation of an impact- induced
felsic melt may explain both the felsic char- acter of
the Sudbury Nickel Irruptive and the rich
concentrations of magmatic sulfides.
Komatiitic ores are associated with bodies of
highly magnesian undifierentiated magma, many of
which have been emplaced as flows 20 to 100 in thick.
Evidence of assimilation of either ielsic material or
sulfides is lacking, the flows show no evidence of
having differentiated, and the ore usually occurs as
basal accumulations which must have settled at an
early stage to avoid becoming trapped in the fairly
rapidly cooling magma of the flows. These factors
lead to the conclusion that the komatiitic magmas
that gave rise to orebodies carried excess mantlederived sulfides in suspension when they were em-

ULTRAMAFIC AND RELA TED MAFIC ROCKS

placed, and it is these sulfides that settled out rapidly

to form the ores, becoming riffled out and trapped
as the flow magmas passed across irregularities in
the underlying topography ( haldrett and Arndt,
1976). Naldrett ( 1973) has suggested that the
sulfide-rich nature of many komatiitic magmas is re- ,
lated to their deviation from deep, sulfide-rich zones
within the mantle. A modified version of this sug- =
gestion is given 'below, where we first discuss current

icleas concerning the genesis of magmas in the mantle.

Pelrogenesis o[ ma[ic and ulIrarua[ic rocbs
Figure 7 illustrates the relationship between the
Clt2grC Of melting of average mantle material and the
geotherm as it might have applied in the Archean,

using data from Green ( 1975) . Mantle material at

the depth indicated by point A would have been at
a temperature sufficiently above the solidus to result
in its being approximatelJ 5 percent molten. Any
slight local perturbation might have caused a mass
of this material, perhaps several tens of kilometers
in diameter, to move upward as a diapir. Thermal
conductivities of rocks are so low that given any
reasonable rate or movement this uprise into cooler
surroundings would have been essentially adiabatic,
along a curve such as ABCD. The tendency to
rise would then have been reinforced by the not
materials expanding as it moved upward into a
low er pressure environment and therefore assuming
a lower density tliar. its surroundings. By the time
the diapir had reached point B, 25 to 30 percent
v oulcl have been liquid and this liquid, of basaltic
composition, vould have separatecl from the uniiieltecl residuum to rise to the surface along a nonadiabatic path such as BF (due to the smaller volume
or liquid and the thinner conduit along which the
louviscosity liquid vould hat e traveled, both factors leading to an interchange of heat between liquid
anCl surroundings) . Continued rise or the uniiielted
iesidutim of the diapir from B to C u ould have resulted in its undergoing further melting, perhaps
as much as an additional 30 percent at C. (The
contours on Figure 7 are no longer directlJ aJ lt
cable since they refer to undepleted mantle and not
to the refractory, oncemelted material that w e en isage traveling the path BC.) Separation or a
secr14Cl, twitch more niagnesian liji1iCl at C v ould

have given rise to intrusion or extrusion of a high

tenaJeratu re ultranaafic magma at point E.

Fic. 7. A depthtemperature diagram showing= the

rela- tionship between estimates of the modern and
ancient oceanic geotherm and melting relations of
possible mantle

material (pyrolite II -l 0.2 wt Qc HO)

after Clark and Rinp=wood

( 1964) and Green ( 1975 ) and drawn to illustrate the

gen- eration of komatiitic magmas.

superimposed on Greens ( 1975 ) data on the

melting= of mantle material. Note that the postulated
Arch- ean geotherm intersects the zone of melting at
a depth or about 100 km. Above this depth,
sulficles in a mantle represented by this geotherm will
be solid, below it they will be liquid. In this region the
mantle consists of approximately 10 percent melt.
We suggest that, given a relatively static situation
in areas away from major convective

overturn.

the

dense liquid sulfides will percolate downward, displacing the less dense basaltic pore fluid and depleting in sulfur a zone in the mantle below 100 km.
As Naldrett originally suggested, this down uard
percolation may finally be arrested by the sulfides
solidif Jing as the steepening geotherm crosses back
to the low-temperature side of the sulfide liquidus
at greater depth. However, in the light of ideas
concerning steep geotherms in the Archean, we now
think it more likely that the downward movement is

arrested by a decreasing proportion o1 mantle pore

fluid as the geotherm leaves the 10 percent melting
contour in Figure 7 and, with increasing depth, penetrates a region of a progressively lower degree of
partial melting. Sulfides will tend to become trapped
as the porosity and hence permeability of the rocks
lecreases. As can be seen from this figure, the
cleq ree of melting (and thus volume of pore fluid)
decreases below 5 peicent in the very zone that we

Ji-esstirc and temperature iillCler wlaich natural nickel-

have suggested is the source region of our most

inagnesian komatiitic magmas (near point A) . We
suggest, therefore, that the Archean mantle became
zoned with respect to sulfides in this way, with sulfides enriched at depths corresponding to the source
region of komatiitic magmas, thus accounting for the

bent rug sulficles v orilcl iiielt.

i clu tionsliip bctv cen such imagines anrl or-cs.

Coneeritratiori o] sul[ides in the sottrce

reJion o] bomatiites

In his 1973 paper, Naldrett indicated the range of

I u Fiqiii e 7 this is

A.I.

NALD AEI"T AND L.I. CABRI

Platinum-Group Elements and Gold

Coneenlrations in rock:s

Publ ished data on the platinumgroup element

concentrations in rocks from alpine and Alaskan
booties and the Stillwater and Bushveld layered com
plexes are summarized in Table 5 and presented
graphically in Figure 8. Wholerock and mineral

> = =

separate analyses are always likely to be influenced

by the samples containing nonrepresentative impurities, and this is especially true for platinumgroup element analyses of ultramafic rocks and their
mineral separates because the platinum-group elements are so irregularly dispersed among the silicates. Another problem is that little is known regarding the solubilities of the numerous platinumgroup minerals that may occur in a particular rock,
so that the results of chemical decomposition thought
to dissolve only an oxide (e.g., chroniite) or the

=.
g

=
q=
* *
q

>

silicates, and leave the platinumgroup minerals as

unreacted residue, must be treated with caution as
pointed out by Crochet ( 1969, p. F6).
Crocket also points out that fire assay or wet
chemical
centration,con
folloved by emission spectrographic or
spectrometric analysis to overcome sensitivity problems, causes losses by adsorption, coprecipitation in
the cupellation stage of the fire assay, and/or contamination by the use of large quantities of reagents.
In the case of alpine ultramafics, the average
platinum-group element value for dunites and peridotites from the Urals is within a factor of 2.5 of that
front Mt. Albert, Quebec, the 0s content being very

Fic. 8. Ratios of certain platinum-group elements and

gold in alpine- and Alaskan-type ultramafic complexes. The
numbers at the top of the columns refer to line numbers

in Table 5 A and B.

TABLE 1.

The CI PW Weight Norms (CN) , CI PW Molecular Norms (M N) and Volumetric Norms (k'N) of the Merensky Reef
and the Overlying Porphyritic Pyroxenite from Chemical Analy-ses

Source

Mineral

CN

MN

VN

CN

MN

VN

CN

MN

VN

CN

MN

VN.'

CN

MN

VN

CN

MN

1.2

0.8
2.4

0.6
2.4

Average I8
VN

CN

MN

VN

CN

MN

VN

CN

MN

VN

CV

CN

MN

VN

Enstatite
Fo'sterite
Fayalite

1.8
9.6
2.8

Hedenbergi
te
'

e
ti
b
lA
Nephelin
e
Orthocla
se

Color Index a
Matte In de.x
a Felsic Index
a
Mod. Lareen Index
Mod. Diff. Index
Mod. Cryst. Index
Solidif. Iride.x

1 .5
1.4

9. 7
9.5
3.2
2.5
2.6

3.2
0.4

1.1
0.9
3. 1
6.2
6..3
0.3
0..3

0.II
6.2

1.3

1.2

0.6
2. 4

0. 2
8.3

CI. 2 0.2
5. 1
4.11
3.9
8.5
7. 7
8.6
II.5
7.8

U.6
11.5 1.6
3 I . 1 .34. 7
2 9. 1 3.3. 1
9. 1 10. 1

0.2

0.2

0.2

3..3

3.0

4.0

0.2
0.7

0.2 11.2
11.4 0.8

14.29

h
c
c
d

10.0
0.9
3.2
6.0

9.5 1 1.9
1.0 0. 7
2.9
3. 1
3.4 C. 7

11. 1 10.9
2.2
2.4
3.8
3.5
6. 1
.3.5

28.62

14.,3
4.8

I .11

1.0

1.2

II. 2
1 .9

2. 9
II. 4
1 .0
2.11

2.9
11.4
0.9
1.1

1..3 ( 146.2)
0..3 202. 4
1.II
144.9
2..3 119.11

0.6

1. 7

.3.6

.3.6

4..3

4.2

4.D

12.3
1 .8
3.8
7.11

0. 3
1.7

1. 2
0.9

CI.2
1.8

II. 2
1.8

1. 2
1 .11

8.8

III. 4

0. 7
6.8
1.6
12.4

55.08
6"0
6

0.6
6.9

0.5
6.5

12. 2

14.2

6.5

(.38.0)

5.4

161.4

8. 7

8.5

10.6

II. 3
1 .8

1.0

2. 1

70.6.3

4 .

.48

I 4.68

2709
9
57:

6055

12. 7

1.6

8.3

( 137.6)
4.6
/ 5.2
1.7
18. 2
54.6

12.5

.39.46

9.47

5.6

1 . 1 1.9
4.8
4.8
1.9
16.0 15.8

53. I.I
64. 2 1

5
7.611

84.8
84..3

II i..3
88.11

69:6
MgO
FeO - MgO -|- fine

NaeO/KsO

11.6
6

06
8

0. 76 (C.V. - 10.40)
I .56 (C.V. = 52.42)

0.45

0.60
FeO -[F'esOi

0.69

0. 74

:6

0.

76

KiO aeeumed in analysis.

CV in parentheeee in thie column refers to volumetric norms calculated before the norm was balanced .
Sources : 1. Merensky Oxidized Reef, Winnaarshoek 2511 KT (Wagner, 1929, p. ll8 I l9) ; 2. Merensky O.xidized Reef, Uit valgrond 4 lb JQ (Wagner, 1929, p. ll8119)
(Wagner, 1929, p. 118I l9) ; 4. Mereneky Sulfide Ore, Kli pfontein 300 JG (Wagner, 1929, p. 1 l8119) ; 5. Merensky Oxidi zecl Ore, Kli pfontein 30.3 J(j (V\'agner. 1929,

0.60 (C.V. 4.3..30)

0.67

lVf erensky Sulfide Ore, Dwarsri vier 372 KT

6. Merensky Sample Lieb 59, Forest

Hill 117 KT (Liehenberg, l96tl) 7. Mereneky Composite Sample, R.P.N[. (Anal. J.C.I. Laboratories) ; 8. Merensky Composite Sample, Union Mine (Anal. J.C.I. La boratories) ; 9. Pirphy-ritic Pyroxenite, Sample
Z280, Bh. ZK9, Zwartklip 405
(vanZy!, l970p. 98);
Nockolds and Allen
c. Von Gruenewaldt
d. Kuno et at. (195 7) .
a.Simpson
Note : Volumetric norms were calculat ed from C IPW weieht norms. The
program did not
addition , sulfur analyses were only available for nos. .3, 4, 5, 7, and 8. It thus
for determining Sulfides.
appeared more valid for comparative purposes to exclude Sulfides.

T.x new oC. Platinum-Group Element Concentrations in Some Layered Complexes Excluding Heavily M ineralized Zones
Concentration
No.

Line
I
4
5

7
8
0

sam-

I.ovation
Uplift water

Basal zone

!water

.tillwater
.tillwater
zone

m
'cal

ples

method

25
."

I If

Ru

Rh

Pd

Os

Ir

in

Ni

Cu

Cu+Nr

4?0

0.15

0.1J6

0.87

6102
14:2

.
.

730

ples

Description

Noril'sl
:

cal

Pt

5LI. l latinum-Group Element Concentrations iii Ni-Cu Sulfide Ores

PGE iii

method

ppm

ltu

Rh

Pd

Os

25

II

1,G00

III.

370

2fiO

1,770

III?

J5.4

498

185

1,548

III.

III.

0.79

42

?3

364

(2,I4O) (5,630)
orphyry

diabase
ore
diabasr

T
aI
Norilsk

Ir

Ref

t%

Ir
40

48

Pt

Au

Ni

Cu
Cu

Cu-|-Nr

Pd
Pd-I-Rh

Rh
Rh-|-Ru

3,7110

460

0.16

0.079

0.33

74

4,500

370

0.19

0.11

0.3?

0.8fi

0.44

59

3,660

195

0.30

0.89

0.27

0.82

0.7J

0.92

0.44

10

3?1

411

Pt

Au

Os+lr l't+0sI-Ir Pt-]-Pd Au-]-l't+Pd

0.55

0.97

ferred
Ref.

data

0.70

0.08

17

0.72

0.06

0.70

0.04

-]-

-|-

-{-

0.28
0.56

11.95

0.48

Johns-Manville
deposit iii harden

Noril'si:

10

PtI-Os+lr Pt-I-Pd Au-[-Pt-]-PJ

12

ppb

0s|-lr

II I

Pseudo reef
Main magnet it c

sain-

Stillwat er

Rh+Ru

947

"IABL

Pd-I-Rh

9.4

1 large

ietersrus

Bushveld
Bushveld

Pt

itit$ m$ber

UPper Bronzitite
Band,ed and *pper

B:,h. !.

Ana-

work

?
?

IfI?
III?

t.6
19.6

(0O)
24O)

8404)

()
( ,

()(O)

(1940

ROO)

0.64

(.000)

(450)

I3

(2,600)

(230)
1.0

1.3

(290)

1.3

/820)

(2,30fJ)

(450)

0.04

0.72

3.0

1.9

0.24

<70

1,070
600

120
200

4.fi

2.4o

0.35

OverAua
No. of lytiDescription

plcs

method

l4a

Marbridge

I II

l5a

Marbridga

III

l8
17

Manibridg
Manibridg
e

1
2

III
III

21

Kanichee

22

Vlakfontein

Concentration
Pre-

grade
of
ppm

ferred
Ru

Rh

5E6

170
52

a d ore
a
:
Sulfide-rich ore
Av. concentrates
Nickel
pipes
Massive
ore

Pd

274
994

Os

Ir

Au

Ni

Cu

Cu+Nr Pd-|-Rh Rh-| Ru 0s|lr Ptl 1s--[- lr Pt |Pd u | PtI-Pd

8,400

994
52O
1,387
617
11,140

?
?

Pt

III.

III?

0.94

0.05
O.12

122

61

2.2

0. 13

0.06

0.fi 1

300
190

2.0

0.1?

0.07

0.55
0.91

2' 108
2,O23

1 286
2 949

0.25
0.25

0.54
0.38

2.54

0. ?6

0.?7

1,300

100

9.75

1.29

0. 11

0.52
0.9 I

040

11.76

<O04
< 11.04

Ref.

ilata

15

l5

0.78

Key to Analytical Method

I - Acid decomposition and spcctrophotometric (-phot ocolorimetric)

la = Acid decomposition and emission spectrographic
II - Neutron activation

Explanation of references in Table 5

197.3.
6.

12. Crochet, J.H., 1974.

I .3. Borisenko, L.F., Miller. A. D ., and Fisher, E. I., 1972.
14. Alcock, R. A., personal comm unicat ion, 1975.
IS. Graham, A.R. , personal comm unication , 1975.
16. Stavely, R. C., personal communication, l975.
17. Crocket, J. H., Teruta, Y. . and Garth, J., 1576.
18. Raicevic, D. , and Cabri, L.J., 197G.

l 9. Cousins, C. A . , 1973.

22. Von Gruenewald t. G.. 1976.

2 3. Kinloch, E. , pers. commun. , 1976, writes that the values iuoted
by Vil joen, M . J. , Bernasconi. A. , van Coffer, N., Kinloch,
E. , and Viljoen, R.P. , 1976, for massiv-e ore have recently
been proved to be atypically high.
24. Conn, H.K. , pers. commun. , 1976.
25. Johns-Manville Press Release, l975.

.iivilai in the t v c at cas. IieJoi ted gold i alues i ary

u idely. We regard the level of about 2 ppb reported

ior I\It. Albert and for some samples from the Urals
as the most realistic. The Pt/ (Pt -1- Pd) ratio is
high, averaging about 0.8 for the Urals. The Pt/
(Pt + Ir) ratio is also high, averaging 0.87. This
contrasts with the data of Cabri anCl 197
Harris
5
vlio nave shown that placers related to alpine

deposits' are characterized by a predominance of Os

lr and IrOs alloy minerals and low values of the Pt/
(Pt -I- Ir -1- Os) ratio. Cousins and Vermaak (

ciease in the Pt,( I't + Id) ratio. 5'on Cirueiic

waldt ( 1976) reports that the Pt/(Pt -1- Pd) ratio
in sulfides just below the main magnetite seam o1
the Bushveld (at a point at which the iron concentration in the Bushveld magma must surely have
been very high ) is 0.45 (Table SC, line 9) , significantly lower than the value of 0.2 in the underlying Merensky Reef (Table 5D, line 3). The Pt/
(Pt + Pd) ratio of the JohnsManville Company
platinum-group element prospect in the banded zone
of the Stillivater Complex is reported as 0.22 (Table

1976) sugmarkedly lower than the average

value
by Page et al. for the underlying

gest that the discrepancy between source rocks and

SD, line

placers is due to the differential mobility of the dif-

of 0.64

ferent platinum-group elements during weathering=

and transportation, but while this may v ell account
for variation in the ratio involving Pd, in our opinion

bronzitite member or the average of 0.69 reported by

them for the banded and upper zones. H.K. Conn
(pers. commun., 1976) reports that the Pt/(Pt -1Pd) ratio of a large sample of subeconomic but platinumgroup element-enriched material from the
upper part of the bronzitite member is 0.5 (Table
lower than average of
5C, line

reported

it has et to be demonstrated that Pt, Ir, and Os

ratios are affected. Chromite concentrations and
samples rich in disseminated chromite are generally
higher in platinum-group elements, particularly Pt,

and the limited data suggest that the Pt/(Pt + Pd)

ratio may be distinctly higher in cla romite than in the
rock as a whole.
Platinumgroup element and gold levels in Alaskan
type complexes (Table SB ) are of the same order
as those reported from alpine rocks, although the Pt/
(Pt -l Pd) ratio appears to be lower in the former.
Pyroxenites from Alaskantype complexes display
even lower Pt/(Pt + Pd) ratios. As with alpine
complexes, chromite rich rocks and chroniite
concentrations and segregations irona Alaskantype
complexes are much richer in platinumgroup ele
ments than the chromitepoor rocks and, as with
the rocks themselves, may have a lower Pt/ (Pt -1Pd) ratio than chromite in alpine complexes.
Absolute concentrations in the layered complexes
are highly variable, depending to some extent on the
portion of sulfide in the samples analyzed. Cousins
and Vermaak ( 1976) emphasize that the Pt/ (Pt l
Pd) ratio increases upu ard in the Bushveld Complex (Table 5 C, lines 78 ; Table SD, line 3 ) . They
contrast this with the trend observed in other intrusions, where differentiation is one of silica enrichment (referred to by them as the Sudbury trend)

and where the Pt/ (Pt + Pd) ratio decreases with

crystallization. They attribute the behavior
at
Bushveld to the fact that iron enrichment rather
than silica enrichment is the dominant differentiation trenCl, suggesting that the more sicleropliile
nature of Pt as compared to Pd causes it to follow
iron and be retained in the magma. An increase in

the Pt/ (Pt -1- Pd) ratio with differentiation is also

suggested by the data of Page et al. ( 1972) concerning the Stillwater Complex

(Table 5 C, lines 1,

significantl Page
y

2, 3, and 5) . At both Stillwater and Bushveld, other

data are inconsistent with a continuous upu ard in-

et al. for this unit.

Later in this paper, we suggest that the dominant

trend with fractional crystallization of a tholeiitic
melt is one of decrease in the Pt/(Pt + Pd)
ratio.
\Ve do this on the basis of comparing the composition of massive sulfide concentrations that have
segregated from silicate melts that had reached different stages in their fractional crystallization at the
time of sulfide segregation.
The highly variable data emerging for rocks and
zones of relatively v eak sulfide dissemination in
stratiform complexes lead us to suspect that the
plat- inumgroup element concentration of cumulus
rocks forming part of a large stratiform complex may
be susceptible to change after the accumulation of the
rocks

themselves.

Processes

responsible

for

this

change may include interchange of platinumgroup

elements with ascending

intercumulus
liquids
sjiieezed out of the underlying crystal cumulate pile
as it compacts (a suggestion made by Vermaak during a discussion period at the Denver Platinum Symposium) and interchange with deuteric solutions
circulating within the consolidating pile. As a result of processes such as these, the platinum-group
element coricentration in the cumulus rocks would
not be related directly to the composition of the
magma from which they crystallized. 5lassive, particularly basal, accumulations of sulfide would be
much less susceptible to changes of this sort. Accordingly, in developing our subsequent argument,
we rely on data from deposits of this type.
Coneenlralions in sul[ide ores

Absolute values of platinum-group elements and

Au concentrations in sulfide ores and sulfide-rich
rocks are given in Table SD. These data have been

0 RO G E NI C

Pd
RP

Rh

Ru + R h

FiG. 9. Ratios o1 certain platinumgroup elements and gold in sulfide ores from
different igneous associations.

taken mom a wide variety of sources and

are

or

variable quality. In many cases we have taken pro

duction figures for total platinumgroup elements (as

at Sudbury ) or estimates of the concentration of

total platinumgroup elements in a deposit or district
(as at Norilsk) and used the ratios to proportion
the different elements to total this amount. \Vhile this
is the only approach available to us, it brings with it
a number of majoT drawbacks. One of these is that
in a typical magmatic Ni-Cu ore, ore dressing and
refining may be geared primarily to elements

other

than platinum-group elements and only a proportion

of the total platinumgroup elements recovered, v itla
the result that our figures represent minirrium values.
A second dran back is exemplified by Noril'sk, where
our estimated concentration for the ore is front New

man ( 1973) and is an overall estimate for the dis

trict ; on the other hand, our metal ratios are from

Smirnov ( 1966) and are for different ore types w ith

no guide as to the proportion that each ore type
contributes to the whole. We have applied Newmans grade to each of the ore types and have thus

come up with concentrations for each element but in

cloing this have made the unjustified assumption that

the grade of platinum-group elements does

not

vary

from ore type to ore tJ pe. We have done this because the figures provide a rough means for comparison with other districts, but we have expressed our
reservations by placing the figures in parentheses
in Table SD. A third reservation about Table SD

is that soiiae of the results are for sulfide concentrates, and the process or ore beneficiation may have
concentrated some platinumgroup minerals selectively over others.
Despite these reservations, v-e feel that our data
snow some interesting trends which are probably
meaningful, particularly when one is considering
ratios or interpreting differences in concentrations
of an order of magnitude or more. In support of
this, consider the three sets of figures gJven in Table
SD for the Merensky Reel and consisting of ( 1)
the average of a series of direct analyses from a
single core at the \Vestern Platinum (Lonrho) mine ;
(2) an estimate of the ratios at Western Platinum
calculated on the basis of an assumed overall concentration of metals ; and (3 ) a similar appi oach to
that of (2) above for the Rustenburg mine. Despite
the fact that v ariations in grade ratio, and especially
in platinumgroup mineralogy (cf. Brynard et at.,

1976 ; and Vermaak and Hendriks, 1976), aTe

known to occur through out the reef, the three sets
of figures are remarkably similar with the exception
of the gold concentration given for Rustenburg. Two
sets of ratios for the platinum-group elements and
An, one from Cousins ( 19Z3) and the other from
the International Nickel Company of Canada Limited

(R.A. Alcock, pers. commun., 1975 ) , v ere

avail- able to us for the Sudbury district and are
also very similar.
In geneTal, v here different sets o1 figures v ere

A.I. N.4I D RETT 4ND L.I. CADNI

ratio Au/(An -1- Pt -1- Pd), ranging fTO1T1 0.G2 to

0.15, shows no systematic variation between deposits.
The Pt/( Pt -l Pd) ratio decreases among deposits
with tholeiitic affinities from a high of 0.55 at Pech
enga, through 0.49 at Sudbury, to a low at Norilsk

(0.2Z to 0.009) and Kanichee (0.15) . The komatiitic ores are characterized by intermediate values of
this ratio, ranging from 0.27 at Manibridge to 0.46
at Shangani.

The Pt/ (Pt + Pd) ratio is plotted against

the

Cu/ (Cu -l Ni) ratio in Figure 10. The deposits

associated with tholei ites display an almost linear
trend of decreasing PU (Pt -1- Pd) with increasing
Cu/(Cu -l Ni) , but the komatiitic deposits cluster
as a group in a totally different part of the diagram.
Our explanation for this observation is related to the
genetic histories of the different types of deposit and
is discussed in a later section.
Bennis o} //n/in u ipron/ element coricentrations

O2

05

04

05

O.6

O7

08

1iC. 10. The relationship between Pt/(Pt -1- Pd) and Cu/
(Cu -1- N i) wt percent ratios in certain sulfide ores.

available for a single deposit or district, we have se

lected one set as our preference. This has been done
on the basis of the nature (mill head, concentrate,
production figure, individual sample) and number of
the samples covered by the figures and on the basis
of our estimate of how representative they are !ikely
to be of the deposit as a whole. The preferred figures
are indicated by check marks in the table.
Variation in the concentratioii o] [latiriuril-cJroit[ etc
ntents and An in sitl[ide-rich ores Mth the
riatiii e

Before the relationship between

platinum-group
element content and the genesis of komntiites can
be discussed, we must first discuss the genesis of
platinumgroup element concentrations in general.
The four main steps in the formation of a concentration are illustrated in Figure 11. The ultrainafic
and mafic rocks with which platinumgroup element
deposits are associated are the result either of partial
melting of the mantle and the introCluction of the
melts tlieiiiselves into the crust or of the direct em
placement of solid mantle material into the crust as
an alpine tiltramafic body.
.All sulfideassociated platinumgroup element deposits occur with rocks introduced as melts. The

platinum-group element content of the deposits re-

fiects the amounts of these elements in the silicates,

oxides, and sulfides in the source region in the
Before proceeding with this section, we should
mantle and the proportions in which these minerals
remind the reader that the Sudbury, Nori1sk, and
vere incorporated in the melts.
Pechenga ores are associated with tholeiitic magmas. On rising up into the crust, a silicate melt will
Marbridge, Manibridge, Raglan, and Shangani are crystallize and the concentration of individual p!atassociated with komatiites.
Hawke and James
intim-group elements in the resiClual melt will change,
I/ie /tosf

( 1975) state that the host rock to the Kanichee deposit has a tholeiitic affinity. \Ve exclude the Vlak-

fontein nickel pipes from consideration because they

are thought to have been emplaced into the Bush
veld Complex at least 500 m.y. after it crystallized
(Vermaak,
in our opinion this raises unnature of the magma with which
certainties about

they were associated or, ii this is assumed to be the

Bushveld magma, uncertainties about changes induced in their metal ratios during the remobilization
of the ores.
Sufficient data on the ratios of elements (illus
trated in Fig. 9) are available only for Pt, Pd, and
An for meaningful comparisons to be made. The

Fic. 11. Important processes in the distribution arid

concen- tration of platinum-group
elements.

ULTRAMAFIC AND RELA TED M.AFIC ROCKS

depending on how much of each element is removed

in the crystallizing silicate and oxide minerals. At
some stage during crystallization, droplets of liquid
sulfide will segregate from the melt. The sulfides
will act as a collector of platinumgroup elements
from throughout the magma and, coalescing and
settling under gravity, perhaps to form a sulfide-rich
zone, will be the main means of concentrating these
elements.
As is emphasized in Figure 11, although the associationwith sulfide is marked, it is clear that in
many cases redistribution of platinum-group elements
has occurred alter crystallization of the main sulfide
minerals as a result of exsolution and the action of
other elements such as Te, Bi, Sb, and As as collectors, or as a result of the action of hydrothermal
solutions, or as a result of the combined processes.
Stumpfi ( 1974 ; Stumpfl and Tarkian, 1976) has
emphasized the hydrotheririal effect. Cabri and Lafiamme (1976) conclude that much of the platinumgroup element content at Sudbury is present in discrete platinum-group element-rich minerals which
would not have existed at magmatic temperatures
and must have formed during cooling. For example,
iriichenerite is the main Pd-bearing mineral at Sudbury, and its ripper stability limit laas been

deter -

mined as 501 C (Hoffman, 1975) .

When we consider steps II and III in Figure 11,
v e find it profitable to inquire as to the stage in the
fractional crystallization of a given silicate melt at
w'hich an immiscible sulfide liquid segregated. Because of the tendency for Ni to substitute much more
readily than Cu in early mafic minerals, the Cu/
(Cu -1- Ni) ratio of the sulfides provides one of the
best methods of assessing this. Wilson and Anderson ( 1959) drew attention to the relationship between the Cu/Xi ratio of an ore and the character
of its host rock, and v e also illustrate this for a
ide range of deposits in Figure 12. The trend of
increasing Cu/ Ni with decreasing maficity is
clear and this, together with the relationship
illustrated in Figure 10, leads us to hypothesize
that the nor- mal trend of the Pt/(Pt -I- Pd) ratio is
to decrease with decreasing maficity or, to extend
the hypothesis slightly, to decrease with increasing
differentiation of the host rock. This may come
about as the re sr lt of Pt being incorporated
preferentially with re-*lct tO Pri in early forming silicates and oxides,

leading to a decrease iii the ratio in the iiiagnia arid

hence to a decrease in the sulficles when they segregate. Sortie support for this hypothesis comes from
the observation that pyroxenites in the Alaskan-type
intrusions have lower Pt/(Pt + Pd) ratios than
dunites and peridotites, although the available data
nre too meager for great reliance to he placed on this
:ii gtiiiient. "fire data of 4uslil oZal.lia r or a ct
at.

Wt percent MgO in liquid

Dun te

Pe ridol Ie

y roxen i Ie

Go bbro

Fic. l2. Relationship between Cu/(Cu -1- Ni) ratio of a

sulfide ore and the nature of its host magma or rock.
Where quantitative estimates of the MgO content of the
liquid portion of the host magma are available, the deposits

are plotted as dots against wt percent MgO. Where only

the host rock type is known, the

deposits

are

pl otted

as

horizontal bars. The Pechenga magma composition was obtamed by making a weighted average of the different rock
types in the host intrusions using the proportions given by
Gorbunov (1968). This gives a very magnesian
liquid.
Some of the gabbrolc portion of the intrusions may have
been squeezed out of the magma chambers, continuing to
surface as flows, thus biasinp= our estimate. This uncertainty

is shown by a dashed line. Although the Sudbury ores are

now directly associated with norite, Naldrett et at. ( 1972)
consider that they may have segregated at an earlier stage
fr om a more mafic magma and then have been remobilized
and emplaced in younger norites. The uncertainty about
the composition of this magma is also shown by a dashed

line.

( 1967) indicate that the Pt/(Pt -1- Pd) ratio decreases from 0.68 in ultramafic to 0.67 in mafic to
0.50 in felsic rocks. The studies of Chyi and Crochet
( 1976) on the distribution of Pt and Pd at the
Strathcona mine, Sudbury, also suggest that Pt is
relatively oxyphile compared with Pd. It should be
stressed at this stage that a decrease in the ratio
does not imply an absolute decrease in Pt. The
absolute amounts of both Pt and Pd may increase
with incTeasing differentiation, Pd increasing more
rapidly than Pt. The control of both their ratio and
their respective concentrations will depend on the
concentration in the initial magma

and the concen-

tration in the crystallizing silicates and oxides. Gijbets et at. (19Z4 and 1976) have attempted to model
fractionation trends quantitatively by determining
Os, Ru, and Ir concentrations in mineral separates.
Their models, which suggest that absolute concentrations should decrease with fractionation, are open
to question because of uncertainties as to the puritJ
or their mineral separates.
The question remains vliy the komatiitic ores aie
a iiiajor e.xcc tion to the ti encl based on the tholeiitcs.

A.I. NALDRETT AND L.I. CABRI

TABLE 6. Rough Estimates of Concentration of N i, Cu (wt@ ), Platinum-Group Elements, and Au
(ppm)
in Original Sulfide Liquid

Ni
IIereiisky Reef

Stillwater
(Johns- IIaiiville)

Sudbury

Nori1'sk,
Picritic gabbro

Taxitic gabbro

Pechenga
M arbridge
Manibridge
Shangani

10.9

10.9

Cu
4.d5
4.d5

4.5

4.0

9.0
7.d
4.d

10.
10.9
2.45

10.0
9. 75

0. 75
1.20

d.5

Ru

Rh

0.38

0s

Ir

0.03

0.03

Au

Ref.

160550
1.04

0.37

*
ID

18.0
15.2
0.6
0.36
0.95
1.3

1.6
1.
0.2
0.18
0.24
0.10

d
6
5
16
ld
23

109

i 02

21
11.08

Pd

0.11
9
1.4
1.7

0.0

0.2
0.2
0

d002,000
1.09
47.8
42. 1
0.5
0.92
2.6
2.0

* Based on the figures given in Table 5D, together with a field estimate of the sulfide content of the ore
(H.K. Conn, pers. commun., 1976).
N.B. The references are the original data on ore grade as listed in Table o.

I\'e suggest that this is due to the high proportion

of mantle sulfide which, as stressed before, we believe has been incorporated in ore-bearing komatiitic
magmas. The platinum-group elements in this sulfide will exert a strong influence on the platinumgroup element content of the magma as a ii hole.
This contrasts with the case of deposits associated
vith relatively sulfidepoor tholeiitic magmas ; in
these the proportion of platinumgroup elements in
the silicates and oxides entering the host silicate
magma was the factor controlling the composition
of the sulfide which ultimately segregated from it.
It is generally accepted that tholeiites are the conseJuence of a much more limited depree of melting
of the mantle than komatiites. Spinel, v laich we

postulate to be relatively rich in Pt, constitutes a rela

tively large proportion of this limited partial melt,
thus accounting for the high Pt/Pd ratio.* The
reasonableness of an explanation of this type can be
tested in a crude way 'by estimating concentrations
and partition coefficients for mantle material s and
the magmas derivecl trout them. This is done in the
last section of this paper. In order to do this, however, some insight into absolute platinumgroup ele* This
postulate

is made on the basis of the

strong cor-

ment concentrations in sulfides associated n ith different host magmas is required.

Estimates o] the [latinitm-groii[
tions in sul[i de iii elts

element concentra-

The concentrations given in Table SD apply to

sulfide-bearing ores but not to the composition of the
original sulfideoxide melt responsible for the ores.
In most cases this melt v ould have first crystallized
as a nickel- and copperbearing hightemperature
pJrrliotite phase (monosulfide solid solution or Miss)
and magnetite. On cooling, the Mss would have exsolved the present nickel, copper, and platinumgroup
mineral s. The total platinumgroup element content
would be the sum of these elements in solid solution
in the various sulfide minerals and magnetite, and
present as separate minerals. Table 6 presents the
results of an attempt to estimate the platinumgroup
element content of the high-temperature Iss and
hence the sulfide melt. For most deposits this has
been done by estimating a value for the nickel con
tent of the original Miss (based on a knowledge of
the deposit) , determining the factor necessary IO
bring the nickel grade of the ore up to this estimate,
and then applying the same factor to the platinum
group elements. In effect, v e are using the nickel
content of the ore to provide a guide to the propor-

relation observed between platinum and chromite coiicentrations, as illustrated in Table 5 and in the work of Razin
et at. ( 1965) and
tion of sulfides in the orebody at the present tiiiae
and Khomenko 1969) .
Razin
Cousins
and then increasing the platinumgroup elements
and Vermaak ( 1976) discuss the correlation, paying particufar attention to whether platinum and other platinumby the factor required to give their concentration in
qroup
elements substitute within the structure of the chromite or
of
other
are present as micron-sized inclusions
minerals. They conclude that this question is very
much an open one. We suggest that at magmatic
temperatures the spinel struc- ture may be receptive to
platinum-group elements, particularly platinum, but that these elements may
exsolve to
some extent during
This suggestion explains the
cooling.
association between platinum-group elements and
chromite and the presence of inclusions of platinum-group
minerals, 1iit it cannot explain the presence of some platinum
group elements as very small negative crystals as described by
Hendriks and Peyerl arid Hendriks and Kinloch in the un-

published company reports cited by Cousins and Vermaak.

a liquid composed of 100 percent sulfides. In doing

this, v e are ignoring the small amount of naagnetite
(generally less than 10 percent ; see Laldrett, 1969)
present in most ores, but the error introduceCl in

this way is small. For Norilsk, Smirnovs ( 1966)

data, and for the Merensky Reef, Liebenberg's

( 1970) data, on the Ni, Cth, and 5 contents of the
ores were used to calculate the Ni content of the
sulfide phase in ordeT tO determine the factor.

If t lic clehciencies ct on r data are borne iii iiiiiid,

it appears from Table 6 that in sulfide melts giving

rise to Ni-Cu ores, the normal range of Pt is 0.36
to 1.6 ppm and Pd 0.5 to 2.6 ppm. The concentration of both Pt and Pd in the Noril'sk sulfide melt
was 10 to 20 times the highest normal values that

tiiiie because of the diflicul1) of making f'rc concentrates. As better data become available, the approach
used here can be refined to test the feasibility of the
hJ pothesis more thoroughly. Our model is developed
as follows :

v e juote above. If one assumes that all platinum 1. Peridotitic koiriatiites are taken to represent very
group elements in the hlerensky Reef were collected complete melts of mantle material and the com-

bJ a sulfide liquid, this liquid contained 160 times

position of koiriatiitic ores to represent sulfide liquids

in eJuilibrium with these melts. The Marbridge sulhighest normal level of Pd. If the same assump- fides, containing 920 ppb Pd and 360 ppb Pt, are
tionwere wade for the Johns-Glanville property at typical of such ores and these figures will be used.
5tillwater, this deposit v ould have contained 100 to 2. Since alpine ultramafic rocks are regarded as
350 times as much Pt and 230 to 770 truces as iiiucla fragments of the upper mantle, the average concentration of platinum-group elements in Ural alpine
Pd as otir normal lex els.
There is no theoretical reason to suppose that the dunite plus peridotite provides the best estimate
partition coefficients governing the distr ibution of among the data available to us of the platinum-group
platinum-group eleiiietits between silicate and sulfide element content of the mantle and therefore o1 the
irielts in the Bushveld or Stillwater magmas should platinum-group element content of the source rock
have been very different from those operative at, for for magmas derived from the mantle (18 ppb Pd,
example, Sudbury. Two alternatives present theiri- 73 ppb Pt) . The rocks represented 'by this average
selves. Either the magma responsible for the Mer- probably include some sulfide (Guillon, 1975, has
enskJ Reef was approximately 160 times enriched in pointed out that the New Caledonian ophiolite conPt and that at Stillivater over 230 times enriched in tains modest amounts of sulfide) , although no inPd with respect to the magma from v hich the Sud- formation on the sulfide content is available in the
bury ores segregated, or the mechanism for concen- original references. We will show that 0.5 percent
trating platinum-group elements at Alerensky and sulficle or greater would, on the basis of our model,
5tillwater was different front that w hich oJaerated at result in a negative content of Pd for the silicate
5udbury and at most other massive hiCu sulfile ilus oxide fraction of the mantle. Our model works
deposits.* We cannot wake a firm choice between best if we assume 0.35 percent sulfide to be present
the alternatives, but as emphasized previously,
we on average in the Ural rocks, equivalent to about
suspect strongly that the simple hypothesis of suinie 0.12 v eight percent sulfur. Some of the Pt and
segregation may be an inadequate explanation for much of the Pd in the figures quoted above will be
the concentration of platinum-group element.s in the locked up as sulfide. \Ve will calculate exactly how
filerensky Reef and the Stillwater Complex. A satis- much in step 4 below.
factory explanation way develop as our knowledge 3. In order to develop the model, we must assume
of other platinumgroup element-rich zones of partition coefficients for Pd and Pt, defined as
veakly disseminated sulfides in igneous bodies in(concentration of metal 51 in
creases.
sulfide liquid in
mantle)
(concentration
of
Ilodel to i//nsf rotc / ossib/c run/Austens ]or con
metal II in coexisting
ccii/rutied [lcitiiiii m-iJ roit[ e/cnirns iii r/iJercnt iuptuiri
komatiitic melt)
the highest noriiial level of Pt and 40 times

the

/jes

This iiiodel is intended to illustrate how the hypothesis presented earlier could vork and what
some of the necessary requirements vould be. It is
based on a number or assumptions concerning the
concentration of platinriiri-group elements in certain
minerals anC1 the concentration of siilfides in certain

rocks. Reliable concentration data are lacking and,

for minerals, are likel) to remain lacking= ior sortie
* It is relevant to point out also that the Pt and Pd sul-

fides cooperite and bragq=ite, with or vithout vysotskite, are

important platinum-group minerals at Merensky, Stillwater,
and the Lac des Isles deposit in Ontario in contrast to the
;1atinum-group minerals usually present in massive Ni-Cu
sulfide deposits.

These have been selected by a process or trial and

error to be 20 and 4 for Pd and Pt, respectively, to
ensure the success of the model. Further discussion
of this selection process is given in step 10 below.
Support for the more chalcophile nature of Pd with
respect to Pt stents from Goldschmidts ( 1954)
analyses coiiiparing the partitioning of platinum
group eleiiients between troilite and Fe- Ni alloy in
cliondritic meteorites. Although both Pd i111C1 Pt
prefer the metallic phase, Pd partitions t vice as
readily as Pt into the sulfide. It is not unreasonable
to suggest that w here oxidesulfide partitioning is
concerneCl, both elements vill favor the siilficle, Pl
favoring it more so than Pt.

4. At this stage we can investigate what will hap- pen

during the nearly complete melting of a sulfUT- rich
portion of the mantle to give rise to a sulfide- rich
komatiitic magma. Let Its assume that the mantle in
question contains 1.5 percent sulfide due to a process
or enrichment such as that sriggested above.
\Ve dont know the composition of this sulfide ; all
we know from step 1 above is the composition that
it has once the mantle has been melted and equilibrium has been reached between sulfide and silicate
melts. Partitioning between the solid phases, or
between solid silicates plus oxides and liquid sulfides,
is likely to be different, probably with Pd and Pt
tending to favor the sulfide to an even greater degree
than is the case of partitioning with a silicate melt.6.
flaking the not unreasonable assumption (5uinia
and Naldrett, 1975) that 0.5 percent sulfide clissol ves
in the silicate melt, we find that the concentration of

and that they are not saturated at the moment or

emplacement, containing perhaps 0.03 weight percent sulfur (equivalent to 0. 15 percent sulfide) ac
quired from their source region. The data or Haughton et at. ( 1974) indicate that magmas of this type
containing about 10 to 14 weight percent total Fe
calculated as FeO would become saturated with
about 0.09 to 0.1 weight percent sulfur. The com
position of this sulfide will not be that o1 the liquid
in equilibrium with the komatiitic magma but will be
that of the sulfide occurring in alpine peridotite,
whose composition ve have calculated in step 4
above.
In accordance with data presented in Table 5, let
its assume that much of the Pd and Pt in the
source region of tholeiitic magmas is present in spinel
in which the Pd and Pt concentrations are 80 and
800 ppb respectively [this gives Pt/ (Pt l Pd)
0.91, which is the same as that of the chromite re

Pd and Pt in the sulfides in the unmelted mantle

material and in the silicate and oxide phases in the
same material can be calculated from a mass balance ported on line 11 of Table 5A].
ejriation of the type,
7. Spinel lht2Tzolites, considered to be representa tive

.\ 1 " = concentration of element I in sulfides iii

unmet ted mantle, 0.HU is the veight frac-

tion of sulfide in the sulfide-enriched

mantle, and 0.0055 the weight fraction of
sulfide in the Ural dunite plus peridotite.
.\ I " = concentration of the element II in tral
dunite plus peridotite and 0.98.5 the iieight fraction of this rock in the sulfideenriched zone in the mantle.
[SL concentration of element i\ I in sulfide
liquid in mantle and 0.01 the v-eight frac
tion of sulfide liquid coexisting vith the
komatii tic melt representing completelymelted mantle.

AI*" = concentration of element II in komatiitic

melt in mantle ?$ 5 L

Di SL/ KOhI

of the average mantle, contain about 5 percent spinel.

If we assume this amount to be present, spinel will
contribute 4 ppb Pd and 40 ppb Pt to the total in
our model mantle, leaving 2.8 ppb Pd and
26. ipb Pt to be accounted for by the silicate min
erals.
(Cf. calculation in step 4, above.)
S. Let us assume that the mantle source under
p=oes 25 percent partial melting. This is approximately the degree of melting reqriired to produce a
tlaoleiitic basalt magma (Green and Ringwood,
1967) . Let us also make the reasonable assumption
that all of the spinel dissolves in the partial melt.
The concentrations of Pd and Pt in the partial melt
v ill consist of the contribution from spinel (wt frac
tion == 0.2) plus that from sulfide acquired from the
source region (wt fraction 0.OOH) plus that front
silicates (wt fraction 0.7965 ) . These n ill amount
to 23.0 ppb Pd and 184 ppb Pt. Using the partition
coefficient, DML/KO3I$ given in step 3 above, the sul

fide in equilibrium with this magma would contain

460 ppb Pd and Z36 ppb Pt [Pt/ (Pt l Pd) ==

0.62] , values that are fairly close both in absolute

5olution of this equation gives 3,203 ppb Pd and level ancl ratio to those of the Pechenga ores.
1,800 ppb Pt in the sulfides (M) and 6.8 ppb Pd9. Suppose that the early silicate minerals (olivine and
and 66.2 ppb Pt in the silicates plus oxides of un- pyroxene) to crystallize front this tholeiitic magma
smelted mantle (MIIl

.0035 M ") . If we had as-

sumed the weight fraction of sulfide in Ural dunite

peridotite to be 0.005, ( L'D 0.005 M") would
have had a value 0.5 ppb Pd.
5. Now in considering tholeiitic magmas such as those
responsible for the Bushveld, Sudbury, Pe- chenga,
and LT orilsk intrusions, let us assume that
these magmas are generated in zones in the mantle
less rich in sulfide than is the case for the komatiites

contain Pd and Pt at concentrations similaT to those

estimated for the mantle source region (given in step
7 above) . Then the partition coeffici ents,
(iiietal in tlioleiitic iriagiiia)
(metal in silicates crystallizing
from the tholeiitic magma)

are 8.2 and 6.9 for Pd and Pt, respectively.

Thus,

fractional crystallization of silicates from a tholeiitic

ULTRAMAFIC AND RELA TED MAFIC ROCKS

magma would both increase the absolute levels of

Pd and Pt in the magma and also decrease the Pty
(Pd -1- Pt) ratio. In this iv ay it is possible to ac- 3.
count for the trends observed in passing from Pechenga to Sudbury to Norilsk. The presence of per
haps 10 percent of a spinel such as chromite among
the early crystall izirig phases would both retard the
overall enrichment in the melt in platinumgroup elements and cause a more pronounced decrease in the

depths in the mantle at which sulfides had also become concentrated.

Rich concentrations of sulfides are associated vith
tholeiitic magmas at Sudbury, Pechenga, and Xorilsk. In
addition, a great deal of nickel is con tained within
large volumes of tholeiitic rocks as moderate to weakly
disseminated sulfide.
Examples of these include the
deposits neaT the base of the Duluth, Bushveld, and
Stillwater complexes. Zones of weakly disseminated
Pt/Pd ratio.
sulfide many thousands of feet above the base of the
10. A valid criticism of the above model is that the
Dushveld and Stillwater complexes also contain large
partition coefficients for Pd and Pt between sili cate
reserves or nickel and copper but are remarkable
and sulfide liquids are too small. However, so long as
primarily for their high concentrations of platinum
we hold to our assumption that the platinum- group
group elements.
element levels in komatiitic sulfides are those of a
4. Assuming that most L*iCu ores originated frotia the
sulfide liquid in equilibrium with a nearly com- plete
segregation of an immiscible sulfide liquid from a
melt or mantle material close to Ural dunite -1silicate magma, the normal range of con- centration of
peridotite in composition, we are constrained to using
Pt and Pd in this sulfide liquid appears to have been
coefficients of the order that we have selected. This
can be demonstrated by rearranging the equation 0.3 to 1.6 and 0.5 to 2.6 ppm, respec- tively. If the
same mechanism is assumed to be solely responsible
given in step 4 above to read
for the concentration of platinum- group elements in the
Merensky Reef and upper banded zone of the
Stillwater Complex, the Pt and Pd concentrations in
0.99 A!SL
the sulfide liquid were 2 to 3 orders of magnitude
DS KOM
greater. On this basis alone we
The expression on the right-hand side of the equa- question the model that supposes simple sulfide seg
tion becomes negative and therefore impossible when regation to be solely responsible for concentrating
Dp SL/KO
xceeds 5.7 of Dp S/KO exceeds 107.
platinum p roup elements in these two deposits.
"these values can be raised slightly by assuming that 5. The available data suggest that in sulfide ores
iiiore than 1 percent tree sulfide coexists with the associated with tholeiites the Pt/ (Pt 1- Pd) ratio
iiiantle melt, but the proportions of sulfide found in decreases with increasing Cu/ ( Cu -1- L*i ) ratio
komatiitic rocks suggests that even 1 Jacmcnt is per- which. in turn, is an indication of an increasing
haps a generous estimate.
degree or differentiation of the host rock.
6. Ores of komatiitic association differ iriarkeclly

Conclusions

in having both low Pt/ (Pt -1- Pd) and low Cu/(Cu

lii our opinion the most obvious conclusion to

emerge from this paper is the necessity of determining the nature of the igneous host rock o1 a deposit
and the relationship of the ore to the host rock (i.e.,
concentrated sulfide segregation or weakly dissemi
nated sulfides) when trying to understand platinum
group element distribution.
Some other significant points are :

-I- Ni) ratios. This is consistent with the suggestion that the komatiites are particularly rich in juvenile, mantlederived sulfuT, with the result that thc)
contained immiscible sulfides at the time of their
cinplacement.

1. The major nickel-sulfide deposits are associated with

a wide range of rock types, all of them either
tlioleiitic or komatiitic.
2. Komatiites are particularly favorable hosts for such
ores, including the deposits o1 Western Aus- tralia,
the Manitoba nickel belt, the Ungava nickel melt,
Sliangani and probably other deposits in south- ern
Africa, and small deposits in the Abitibi green- stone
belt of Canada. Many of the komatiiteas- sociated
deposits are small and o1 high grade. It is suggested
that the association is due to peridotitic 1 omatiite

We are most grateful to Dr. A.R. Graham of

Falconbridge Nickel Mines Limited for releasing
information on the platinum-group element content
of the Manibridge, Marbridge, and Raglan properties, to Dr. R.A. Alcock of the International Nickel
Company for information on platinumgroup element
ratios at Sudbury, and to Mr. R.C. Stavely for information on the Kanichee deposit. The comments of
Professor J.H. Crocket of McMaster University and
Messrs. A. Green and E.L. Hoffman of the University of Toronto were most helpful.
Mr. F. Jurgeneit is responsible for the drafting
and Ilr. B. ODonovan for the photography. Sui-

magmas generated at greateT than normal

Acknowledgments

1156
port front Professor Naldretts National Research

Grant No. A4244 is acknowledged.

the

plat-

inum group metals : ECON. GEOL., v. ?1, (1. 28?

305.

A. J. N.

Crochet, J. H., 1969, Platinum metals. Sections in Hand-

DEPART ME IX'T OF GEOLOGY

book or geochemistry : Berlin, Springer-Verlag, v. 2,

sec. 1.
1974, Gold. Section iii Handbook of geochemistry :
Berlin, Springer-Verlag, v. 2, sec. 4, p. 791 to 79-0-1.
and Chyi, L. L., 1972, Abundances of Pd, Ir, 0s and
Au in an alpine ultramafic pluton : Internat. Geol. Cong.,
24th, Montreal, Proc., sec. 10, p. 202209.
Crochet, J. H., Teruta, Y., and Garth, J., 1976, The relative
importance of sulfides, spinels, and platinoid minerals as
carriers of Pt, Pd, Ir, and An in the Merensky Reef at
Western Platinum Limited, near Marikana, South Africa :

UNIVERSITY OFTORONTO
TORO NT O, CN TARIO, CA N.ID. MS L 1A1

L. J. C.
CANADA CE NTRE FOR JJ I N ERAL AN D E N
ERGY TECH NO LOGY

555 BOOTH STREET'

ITT AWA, ON TARIO, CAN /\D A KIA OG1

woe 29, 1976

ECON. GEOL., v. 71, p. 13081323.

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