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40Ar/39 Ar dating of pyrite

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Abstract

The precise determination of the age of sulphide ore deposits is one of the most difficult problems in geochronology. This is largely because the very process responsible for concentrating certain metals to an economically significant level also tends to exclude radioactive isotopes from the deposits. It is customary to try to determine the age of mineralization by analysing silicate material presumed to be cogenetic1. Because such materials are not always available, and because it is not always clear that the silicates and ore minerals are in fact contemporaneous, we examined the sulphide minerals themselves to see if they contained sufficient potassium and argon for 40Ar/39 Ar age determination. Our initial results indicate that this is the case for pyrite from the Geco ore body in northwestern Ontario, Canada.

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Author notes

  1. J. A. Hanes

    Present address: Department of Geology, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada, K7L 3N6

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physics, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, M5S 1A7

    Derek York, A. Masliwec, P. Kuybida, C. M. Hall & W. John Kenyon

  2. Department of Geology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, M5S 1A7

    E. T. C. Spooner & S. D. Scott

Authors
  1. Derek York
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  2. A. Masliwec
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  3. P. Kuybida
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  4. J. A. Hanes
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  5. C. M. Hall
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  6. W. John Kenyon
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  7. E. T. C. Spooner
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  8. S. D. Scott
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York, D., Masliwec, A., Kuybida, P. et al. 40Ar/39 Ar dating of pyrite. Nature 300, 52–53 (1982). https://doi.org/10.1038/300052a0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/300052a0

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