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The Archean komatiite-hosted, PGE-bearing Ni–Cu sulfide deposit at Vaara, eastern Finland: evidence for assimilation of external sulfur and post-depositional desulfurization

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Abstract

Archean komatiites host important resources of Ni, Cu, Co, and PGE, particularly in Western Australia and Canada. In Finland, several small, low-grade sulfide deposits have been found in komatiites, including the ca. 2.8 Ga Vaara deposit in the Archean Suomussalmi greenstone belt. It occurs in the central part of the serpentinized olivine cumulate zone of a komatiitic extrusive body and is composed of disseminated interstitial sulfides consisting of pyrite, pentlandite, millerite, violarite, and chalcopyrite accompanied by abundant magnetite. Although currently subeconomic, the mineralization is interesting due to the very high chalcophile element contents of the sulfide fraction (38 wt% Ni, 3.4 wt% Cu, 0.7 wt% Co, 22.4 ppm Pd, and 9.5 ppm Pt). The sulfides occur in relatively Cr-poor olivine cumulates suggesting involvement of a chromite-undersaturated magma. The parental magma was an Al-undepleted komatiite with an estimated MgO content of at least 24 wt%. In contrast to the common komatiite types in the eastern Finland greenstone belts, the Vaara rocks are moderately enriched in LREE relative to MREE, suggesting that crustal contamination played an important role in the genesis of the Vaara deposit. Multiple sulfur isotope data reveal considerable mass-independent sulfur isotope fractionation both in country rock sedimentary sulfides (Δ33S ranges from −0.50 to +2.37 ‰) and in the Vaara mineralization (Δ33S ranges from +0.53 to +0.66 ‰), which provides strong evidence for incorporation of crustal sulfur. Extensive replacement of interstitial sulfides by magnetite and the presence of millerite- and violarite-bearing, pyrrhotite-free sulfide assemblages indicate significant post-magmatic, low-temperature hydrothermal oxidation of the primary magmatic pyrrhotite-pentlandite-chalcopyrite assemblages and associated sulfur loss that led to a significant upgrading of the original metal tenors of the Vaara deposit.

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Acknowledgments

Geochemical data for this study were obtained from the Geological Survey of Finland and the former Ni exploration group of Outokumpu Oy (NIXPLORE database). The Outokumpu Foundation and the Geological Survey of Finland supported this work. Risto Kaukonen is thanked for performing the MLA scanning. S isotope analyses were supported by NSERC Discovery grants to A.B. and B.W., with the additional support to A.B. and R.H. from the TGI-4 program operated by Geological Survey of Canada. We are grateful to the following persons for their help and discussions during this study: Jarmo Vesanto, Tuomo Karinen, Jyrki Liimatainen, Jarmo Lahtinen, Pertti Lamberg, Hannu Makkonen, and Kimmo Pietikäinen. We also thank Wolfgang Maier and two anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments and recommendations, which improved the manuscript significantly, and we highly appreciate the detailed editorial handling by Michael Lesher.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Geological Survey of Finland, P.O. Box 77, 96101, Rovaniemi, Finland

    J. P. Konnunaho

  2. Department of Geosciences, University of Oulu, P.O. Box 3000, 90014, Oulu, Finland

    E. J. Hanski

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

    A. Bekker & R. S. Hiebert

  4. Geological Survey of Finland, P.O.Box 1237, 70211, Kuopio, Finland

    T. A. A. Halkoaho

  5. Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences and GEOTOP, McGill University, 3450 University Street, Montreal, QC, H3A 2A7, Canada

    B. A. Wing

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Konnunaho, J.P., Hanski, E.J., Bekker, A. et al. The Archean komatiite-hosted, PGE-bearing Ni–Cu sulfide deposit at Vaara, eastern Finland: evidence for assimilation of external sulfur and post-depositional desulfurization. Miner Deposita 48, 967–989 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00126-013-0469-0

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