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Comparing orthomagmatic and hydrothermal mineralization models for komatiite-hosted nickel deposits in Zimbabwe using multiple-sulfur, iron, and nickel isotope data

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Abstract

Trojan and Shangani mines are low-grade (<0.8 % Ni), komatiite-hosted nickel sulfide deposits associated with ca. 2.7 Ga volcano-sedimentary sequences of the Zimbabwe craton. At both mines, nickel sulfide mineralization is present in strongly deformed serpentinite bodies that are enveloped by a complex network of highly sheared, silicified, and sulfide-bearing metasedimentary rocks. Strong, polyphase structural–metamorphic–metasomatic overprints in both the Trojan and Shangani deposits make it difficult to ascertain if sulfide mineralization was derived from orthomagmatic or hydrothermal processes, or by a combination of both. Multiple S, Fe, and Ni isotope analyses were applied to test these competing models. Massive ores at Shangani Mine show mass-dependent fractionation of sulfur isotopes consistent with a mantle sulfur source, whereas S-isotope systematics of net-textured ore and disseminated ore in talcose serpentinite indicates mixing of magmatic and sedimentary sulfur sources, potentially via post-magmatic hydrothermal processes. A restricted range of strongly mass-independent Δ33S values in ore samples from Trojan Mine likely reflects high-temperature assimilation of sulfur from supracrustal rocks and later superimposed low-temperature hydrothermal remobilization. Iron isotope values for most Ni-bearing sulfides show a narrow range suggesting that, in contrast to sulfur, nearly all of iron was derived from an igneous source. Negative Ni isotope values also agree with derivation of Ni from ultramafic melt and a significant high-temperature fractionation of Ni isotopes. Fe isotope values of some samples from Shangani Mine are more fractionated than expected to occur in high-temperature magmatic systems, further suggesting that hydrothermal processes were involved in either low-grade ore formation (liberation of Ni from olivine by sulfur-bearing hydrothermal fluids) or remobilization of existing sulfides potentially inducing secondary Ni-sulfide mineralization.

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Acknowledgments

AH acknowledges support by NAI International Collaboration Grant and NRF grant FA2005040400027. AB participation was supported by NSF grant EAR 05-45484, NAI award no. NNA04CC09A, and NSERC Discovery grant. Research by PD was supported by Stichting Schürmannfonds grants 1996-2003/13 and by extensive support by AngloAmerican PLC in allowing access to Zimbabwean Ni deposits. Support for OR and BG was provided by Europole Mer, ISOMAR, and NSF-EAR grant. We thank Charles Makuni for access to drill core; the Department of Geology, University of Zimbabwe for logistical support; and Emmanuel Ponzevera, Yoan Germain, and Celine Liorzou (PSO, Brest, France) for analytical support. Constructive comments by journal editor Bernd Lehmann, Boswell Wing, and two additional reviewers are gratefully acknowledged.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geology, University of Johannesburg, Auckland Park, 2006, South Africa

    Axel Hofmann

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

    Andrey Bekker

  3. Geophysical Laboratory, Carnegie Institution, Washington, DC, 20015, USA

    Andrey Bekker & Doug Rumble

  4. School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD, 4812, Australia

    Paul Dirks

  5. Technopôle Brest-Iroise, European Institute for Marine Studies, University of Brest, UEB, Place Nicolas Copernic, 29280, Plouzané, France

    Bleuenn Gueguen

  6. IFREMER, Centre de Brest, 29280, Plouzané, France

    Bleuenn Gueguen & Olivier J. Rouxel

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  1. Axel Hofmann
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Hofmann, A., Bekker, A., Dirks, P. et al. Comparing orthomagmatic and hydrothermal mineralization models for komatiite-hosted nickel deposits in Zimbabwe using multiple-sulfur, iron, and nickel isotope data. Miner Deposita 49, 75–100 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00126-013-0476-1

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