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Mineralogy and distribution of Platinum-Group Minerals (PGM) and other solid inclusions in the Faryab ophiolitic chromitites, Southern Iran

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Abstract

High-Cr podiform chromitites hosted by upper mantle depleted harzburgite were investigated for PGM and other solid inclusions from Faryab ophiolitic complex, southern Iran. Chemical composition of the chromian spinels, Cr#[100*Cr/(Cr+Al) = 77–85], Mg# [100*Mg/(Mg+Fe2+) = 56–73], TiO2≤0.25wt%, and the presence of abundant primary hydrosilicates included in the chromian spinels indicate that the deposits were formed from aqueous melt generated by high degree of partial melting in a suprasubduction zone setting. Solid phases hosted by chromian spinel grains from the Faryab ophiolitic chromitites can be divided into three categories: PGM, base-metal minerals and silicates. Most of the studied PGM occurred as very small (generally less than 20 μm in size) primary single or composite inclusions of IPGE-bearing phases with or without silicates and base metal minerals. The PGM were divided into the three subgroups: sulfides, alloys and sulfarsenides. Spinel-olivine geothermometry gives the temperatures 1,131–1,177 °C for the formation of the studied chromitites. At those temperatures, fS2 values ranged from 10−3 to 10−1 and provided a suitable condition for Ru-rich laurite formation in equilibrium with Os-Ir alloys. Progressive crystallization of chromian spinel was accompanied by increase of fS2 in the melt. The formation of Os-rich laurite, erlichmanite and then sulfarsenides occurred by increase of fS2 and slight decrease in temperature of the milieu. The compositional and mineralogical determinations of PGM inclusions respect to their spatial distribution in chromian spinels show that the minerals regularly distributed within the chromitites, reflecting cryptic variation consistent with magmatic evolution during host chromian spinel crystallization.

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Acknowledgments

M. Ohnenstetter and D. Ohnenstetter (CNRS, Nancy, France) are greatly acknowledged for kindly providing helpful comments during this study. The authors wish to thank S. Barda and J. M. Claude (Service Commun, University Nancy I, France) for their help with the electron microprobe analyses and L. Sandrin and R. Lehmann for preparing a large number of high-quality polished and polished-thin sections. The authors are also grateful to J.M. González-Jiménez for his critical review and very helpful criticisms that greatly improved our manuscript. The authors acknowledge the handling of the paper by the associate editor G. Hoinkes and the critical reviews of two anonymous reviewers which helped to improve the manuscript. We appreciate Shiraz University Research Council that supported this work. Mr. Shamimi, the director general and engineer Shoghmand at the Faryab Chromite Mines Company for their assistance in the field work.

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  1. Earth Sciences Department, Faculty of Sciences, Shiraz University, Shiraz, 7146713565, Iran

    Mohammad Ali Rajabzadeh & Zohreh Moosavinasab

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Rajabzadeh, M.A., Moosavinasab, Z. Mineralogy and distribution of Platinum-Group Minerals (PGM) and other solid inclusions in the Faryab ophiolitic chromitites, Southern Iran. Miner Petrol 107, 943–962 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00710-012-0265-z

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