Siderophile and chalcophile elements in spinels, sulphides and native Ni in strongly metasomatised xenoliths from the Bultfontein kimberlite (South Africa)

• Published in: Lithos 2021-01, Vol.380-381, p.105880, Article 105880
• Main Authors: Aulbach, Sonja, Giuliani, Andrea, Fiorentini, Marco L., Baumgartner, Raphael J., Savard, Dany, Kamenetsky, Vadim S., Caruso, Stefano, Danyushevky, Leonid V., Powell, Will, Griffin, William L.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Alloy; Base metal sulphides; Cratonic lithosphere; Highly siderophile elements; Metasomatism; Platinum-group elements
• ISSN: 0024-4937; 1872-6143
• DOI: 10.1016/j.lithos.2020.105880

The metasomatised continental mantle may play a key role in the generation of some ore deposits, in particular mineral systems enriched in platinum-group elements (PGE) and Au. The cratonic lithosphere is the longest-lived potential source for these elements, but the processes that facilitate their pre-concentration in the mantle and their later remobilisation to the crust are not yet well-established. Here, we report new results on the petrography, major-element, and siderophile- and chalcophile-element composition of native Ni, base metal sulphides (BMS), and spinels in a suite of well-characterised, highly metasomatised and weakly serpentinised peridotite xenoliths from the Bultfontein kimberlite in the Kaapvaal Craton, and integrate these data with published analyses. Pentlandite in polymict breccias (failed kimberlite intrusions at mantle depth) has lower trace-element contents (e.g., median total PGE 0.72 ppm) than pentlandite in phlogopite peridotites and Mica-Amphibole-Rutile-Ilmenite-Diopside (MARID) rocks (median 1.6 ppm). Spinel is an insignificant host for all elements except Zn, and BMS and native Ni account for typically