Craton margin exploration targeting: 4D perspective

Craton margins, zones of lithosphere that have often experienced multiple stages of extensional and compressional tectonics with a variety of associated magmatism, are well known to have a spatial control on the global distribution of Ni-Cu-PGE deposits. The 2D appreciation of this first-order control, however, raises questions as to why Ni camps appear to occur in clusters, with much of the craton margins actually barren of mineralisation, even if mafic-ultramafic magmatism is evident.
At the core of this study, there is the hypothesis that fertility of the lithosphere is a key factor on clustering and that this 3D consideration is critical in determining the likelihood of mantle melts producing magmatic ore deposits in the crust. To test this hypothesis, the proposed study will bring new understanding of the nature of the metasomatising processes that occur in the lithosphere, including a newly identified sulfur-carbon- tellurium-Ni-Cu-PGE signature, focussing on predictive elements that may be identified in available geological datasets, effectively linking the presence of deep fusible, volatile-rich, ‘wet’ metasomatised lithospheric domains to upper crustal footprints.”

 

Involvement

Project Coordinator:

• Marco Fiorentini

Collaborators:

• Jason Bennett
• David Holwell
• Steve Foley
• Isra Ezad
• Daryl Blanks

Additional Information

Industry Participants: BHP