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Platinum-group elements in alpine-type ultramafic rocks and related chromite ores of the main ophiolite belt of the Urals

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Abstract

On the basis of a representative collection of ultramafic rocks and chromite ores and a series of technological samples from the largest (Central and Western) deposits in the Rai-Iz massif of the Polar Urals and the Almaz-Zhemchuzhina and Poiskovy deposits in the Kempirsai massif of the southern Urals, the distribution and speciation of platinum-group elements (PGE) in various type sections of mafic-ultramafic massifs of the Main ophiolite belt of the Urals have been studied. Spectral-chemical and spectrophotometric analyses were carried out to estimate PGE in 700 samples of ultramafic rocks and chromite ores; 400 analyses of minerals from rocks, ores, and concentrates and 100 analyses of PGE minerals (PGM) in chromite ores and concentrates were performed using an electron microprobe. Near-chondritic and nonchondritic PGE patterns in chromitebearing sections have been identified. PGE mineralization has been established to occur in chromite ore from all parts of the mafic-ultramafic massifs in the Main ophiolite belt of the Urals. The PGE deposits and occurrences discovered therein are attributed to four types (Kraka, Kempirsai, Nurali-Upper Neiva, and Shandasha), which are different in mode of geological occurrence, geochemical specialization, and placer-forming capability. Fluid-bearing minerals of the pargasite-edenite series have been identified for the first time in the matrix of chromite ore of the Kempirsai massif (the Almaz-Zhemchuzhina deposit) and Voikar-Syn’ya massif (the Kershor deposit). The PGE grade in various types of chromite ore ranges from 0.1–0.2 to 1–2 g/t or higher. According to technological sampling, the average PGE grade in the largest deposits of the southeastern ore field of the Kempirsai massif is 0.5–0.7 g/t. Due to the occurrence of most PGE as PGM 10–100 mm in size and the proved feasibility of their recovery into nickel alloys, chromites of the Kempirsai massif can be considered a complex ore with elevated and locally high Os, Ir, and Ru contents. The Nurali-Upper Neiva type of ore is characterized by small-sized primary deposits, which nevertheless are the main source of large Os-Ir placers in the Miass and Nev’yansk districts of the southern and central Urals, respectively.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Geology and Geochemistry, Ural Division, Russian Academy of Sciences, Pochtovyi per. 7, Yekaterinburg, 620151, Russia

    Yu. A. Volchenko, V. A. Koroteev & I. I. Neustroeva

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  1. Yu. A. Volchenko
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  2. V. A. Koroteev
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  3. I. I. Neustroeva
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Correspondence to Yu. A. Volchenko.

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Original Russian Text © Yu.A. Volchenko, V.A. Koroteev, I.I. Neustroeva, 2009, published in Geologiya Rudnykh Mestorozhdenii, 2009, Vol. 51, No. 2, pp. 182–200.

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Volchenko, Y.A., Koroteev, V.A. & Neustroeva, I.I. Platinum-group elements in alpine-type ultramafic rocks and related chromite ores of the main ophiolite belt of the Urals. Geol. Ore Deposits 51, 162–178 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1134/S1075701509020068

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