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The chromite deposits associated with ophiolite complexes, Southeastern Desert, Egypt: Petrological and geochemical characteristics and mineralization

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Abstract

The podiform chromities occur in a well-preserved mantle sequence consisting of lherzolite-harzburgite with abundant lenses of olivine dunite. The podiform chromitite deposits are common as small and irregularly shaped masses in the Southeastern Desert (SED) of Egypt. The podiform chromities exhibit a wide range of compositions from high Cr to high Al varieties. The Cr of chrome spinel ranges from 0.67 to 0.88 in olivine-dunite, quite similar to that of the high-Cr chromitite, whereas it is around 0.62 in lherzolite-harzburgite. Primary hydrous mineral inclusions, amphibole and phlogopite, in chrome spinel have been reported for the first time from the Pan-African Proterozoic podiform chromitites. On the other hand, petrographic and geochemical evidence suggests that podiform chromitites in the SED of Egypt were formed as a result of crystallization of mafic melts, probably of boninitic composition, the boninitic parental magmas were probably produced by a second stage of melting above a subduction zone. Three types of chromite ores can be distinguished within the SED of Egypt: (a) sulphide-poor podiform ores; (b) brecciated ores; and (c) sulphide-rich ores. Two textural types of inclusions in chromite are distinguished: (1) primary silicate inclusions generally have high Mg-number (>96), Cr and Ni, and are dominated by pargasitic amphibole, forsterite, diopside, enstatite and Na-phlogopite. A diversity of primary and secondary platinum group minerals (PGM) is described from the chromitites, including alloys, sulphides, sulpharsenides and arsenides of Ru, Os, Ir, Rh, Ni, Cu, Fe and Co; (2) in addition to primary PGM and hydrous silicates, the fluids are of low to moderate salinity, sodium-dominated aqueous solutions with complex gas contents. Variable amounts of water, hydrogen, hydrocarbons, carbon dioxides and nitrogen have been determined in inclusion-rich samples. The chondrite-normalized PGE patterns of lherzolite-harzburgite and olivine-dunite have negative Ir and Pt, and positive Pd and Au anomalies. Chromitites are homo-geneous in composition but texturally zoned on a large scale. They carry elevated IPGE, manifested in numerous, primary and secondary PGM phases.

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  1. Nuclear Materials Authority, P.O.Box, 530, El Maadi, Cairo, Egypt

    Gehad M. Saleh

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Saleh, G.M. The chromite deposits associated with ophiolite complexes, Southeastern Desert, Egypt: Petrological and geochemical characteristics and mineralization. Chin. J. of Geochem. 25, 307–317 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11631-006-0307-5

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