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Multiple sulfur isotope and mineralogical constraints on the genesis of Ni-Cu-PGE magmatic sulfide mineralization of the Monchegorsk Igneous Complex, Kola Peninsula, Russia

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Abstract

We present the results of a pilot investigation of multiple sulfur isotopes for the Ni-Cu-PGE sulfide mineralization of the ∼2.5 Ga Monchegorsk Igneous Complex (MIC). Base Metal Sulfide (BMS) compositions, Platinum Group Element (PGE) distributions, and Platinum Group Mineral (PGM) assemblages were also studied for different types of Ni-Cu-PGE mineralization. The uniformly low S content of the country rocks for the MIC as well as variable Sm-Nd isotope systematics and low-sulfide, PGE-rich mineralization of the MIC suggest that S saturation was reached via assimilation of silicates rather than assimilation of sulfur-rich lithologies. R-factor modeling suggests that the mixing ratio for silicate-to-sulfide melt was very high, well above 15,000 for the majority of our mineralized samples, as might be expected for the low-sulfide, PGE-rich mineralization of the MIC. Small, negative Δ33S values (from −0.23 to −0.04 ‰) for sulfides in strongly metamorphosed MIC-host rocks indicate that their sulfur underwent mass-independent sulfur isotope fractionation (MIF) in the oxygen-poor Archean atmosphere before it was incorporated into the protoliths of the host paragneisses and homogenized during metamorphism. Ore minerals from the MIC have similar Δ33S values (from −0.21 to −0.06 ‰) consistent with country rock assimilation contributing to sulfide saturation, but, also importantly, our dataset suggests that Δ33S values decrease from the center to the margin of the MIC as well as from early to late magmatic phases, potentially indicating that both local assimilation of host rocks and S homogenization in the central part of the large intrusion took place.

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Acknowledgments

We dedicate this paper to Mark Barley, who introduced the first author to the question of S sources for Ni-sulfide magmatic deposits almost 10 years ago. Constructive comments by Marco Fiorentini, anonymous reviewer, and the editorial guidance of Wolfgang Maier and Bernd Lehmann are much appreciated. Funding and support for this work was provided by the Geological Survey of Canada’s Target Geoscience Initiative IV (TGI-IV) Program (R.H.), NSERC Discovery and Accelerator Grants (A.B., B.A.W.), and RAS Presidium Program №5, Russia (T.L.G. and E.V.S.). The Stable Isotope Laboratory at McGill is supported by the FQRNT through the GEOTOP research center. We greatly acknowledge Misuk Yun at the SIFIR laboratory of the University of Manitoba for help with S extraction.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Earth Sciences, University of California, Riverside, CA, 92521, USA

    A. Bekker

  2. Institute of Geology of Ore Deposits, Petrography, Mineralogy and Geochemistry (IGEM RAS), Moscow, 119017, Russia

    T. L. Grokhovskaya & E. V. Sharkov

  3. Department of Geological Sciences, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB, R3T 2N2, Canada

    R. Hiebert & K. R. Stadnek

  4. Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences and GEOTOP, McGill University, Montreal, QC, H3A 0E8, Canada

    T. H. Bui & B. A. Wing

  5. Geological Institute, Kola Scientific Centre, Russian Academy of Sciences, Apatity, 184209, Russia

    V. V. Chashchin

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  1. A. Bekker
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Bekker, A., Grokhovskaya, T.L., Hiebert, R. et al. Multiple sulfur isotope and mineralogical constraints on the genesis of Ni-Cu-PGE magmatic sulfide mineralization of the Monchegorsk Igneous Complex, Kola Peninsula, Russia. Miner Deposita 51, 1035–1053 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00126-015-0604-1

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