Michael L. Zientek

Rhenium-Osmium and Samarium-Neodymium Isotopic Systematics of the Stillwater Complex

Isotopic data for the Stillwater Complex, Montana, which formed about 2700 Ma (million years ago), were obtained to evaluate the role of magma mixing in the formation of strategic platinum-group element (PGE) ore deposits. Neodymium and osmium isotopic data indicate that the intrusion formed from at least two geochemically distinct magmas. Ultramafic affinity (U-type) magmas had initial εNd of -0.8 to -3.2 and a chondritic initial 187Os/186Os ratio of ∼0.88, whereas anorthositic affinity (A-type) magmas had εNd of -0.7 to +1.7 and an initial 187Os/186Os ratio of ∼-1.13. These data suggest that U-type magmas were derived from a lithospheric mantle source containing recycled crustal materials whereas A-type magmas originated either by crustal contamination of basaltic magmas or by partial melting of basalt in the lower crust. The Nd and Os isotopic data also suggest that Os, and probably the other PGEs in ore horizons such as the J-M Reef, was derived from A-type magmas. The Nd and Os isotopic heterogeneity observed in rocks below the J-M Reef also suggests that A-type magmas were injected into the Stillwater U-type magma chamber at several stages during the development of the Ultramafic series.

A lead isotopic study of the Stillwater Complex, Montana: constraints on crustal contamination and source regions

Analyses of the Pb isotopic compositions of plagioclase from 23 samples covering the stratigraphic thickness of the Stillwater Complex indicate a narrow range of apparent initial isotopic compositions (206Pb/ 204Pb=13.95; 207Pb/204Pb=14.95–15.01; 208Pb/204Pb=33.6). The uniformity of our data is in contrast to, but not necessarily contradictory to, other recent investigations which give indications that the complex formed by repeated injection of magmas with at least two distinct compositions that were presumably derived from different source regions. Samples from the Basal series of the complex have consistently higher 207Pb/204Pb ratios, suggesting either minor contamination from adjacent country rocks or a slight distinction between parental magmas. Apparent initial Pb isotopic compositions of the complex are very radiogenic compared to Late Archean model-mantle values, but are nearly identical to initial Pb isotopic compositions found for the the adjacent, slightly older (2.73–2.79 Ga), Late Archean crustal suite in the Beartooth Mountains. Contamination of magmas parental to the Stillwater Complex by the Late Archean crustal suite is rejected for two reasons: (1) Th and U concentrations in Stillwater rocks and plagioclase are very low (about 0.08 and 0.02 ppm respectively), yet Th/U ratios are uniform at about 4, in contrast to the highly variable (2–26) but often high Th/U ratios found for the Late Archean crustal complex; (2) it seems improbable that any contamination process would have adjusted the isotopic compositions of the diverse magmas entering the Stillwater chamber to near-identical values. The preferred hypothesis to explain the Pb isotopic data for the Stillwater Complex and the associated Late Archean crustal suite involves a major Late Archean crust-forming event that resulted in a compositionally complex crust/mantle system with relatively homogeneous and unusual Pb isotopic compositions. The parental magmas of the Stillwater Complex were generated at different levels within this crust/mantle system, before isotopic contrasts could develop by radioactive decay within compositionally discrete reservoirs. This situation limits the utility of all isotopic tracer systems in discriminating among the various mantle and crustal reservoirs that may have affected the final isotopic character of the Stillwater magmas. The late Archean crustal complex and the Stillwater Complex melts were ultimately derived from the same distinct mantle without obvious direct interaction with the Middle to Early Archean crust present in the region.

Chalcophile and platinum-group element distribution in the Ultramafic series of the Stillwater Complex, MT, USA—implications for processes enriching chromite layers in Os, Ir, Ru, and Rh

All of the rocks from the Ultramafic series of the Stillwater Complex are enriched in PGE relative to most mafic magmas. Furthermore, the chromite layers are particularly enriched in IPGE (Os, Ir, and Ru) and Rh. This enrichment appears to be a common characteristic of ultramafic rocks from many types of settings, layered intrusions, ophiolites, and zoned complexes. We have carried out a petrological, mineralogical, and geochemical study to assess how the enrichment occurred in the case of the Stillwater Complex and applied our results to the chromite layers of the Bushveld and Great Dyke complexes. The minerals that now host the PGE are laurite and fine-grained intergrowths of pentlandite, millerite, and chalcopyrite. The laurite occurs as inclusions in chromite, and mass balance calculations indicate that it hosts most of the Os, Ir, and Ru. The sulfide minerals occur both as inclusions in chromite and as interstitial grains. The sulfides host much of the Pd and Rh. The IPGE and Rh correlate with Cr but not with S or Se, indicating that these elements were not collected by a sulfide liquid. Palladium, Cu, and Se correlate with each other, but not with S. The low S/Se (<1500) of the whole rock and magnetite rims around the sulfides indicate some S has been lost from the rocks. We conclude that to account for all observations, the IPGE and Rh were originally collected by chromite, and subsequently, small quantities of base metal sulfide liquid was added to the chromite layers from the overlying magma. The IPGE and Rh in the chromite diffused from the chromite into the base metal sulfides and converted some of the sulfides to laurite.

Porphyry‐style Mineral Deposit Taxonomy—Lessons from the USGS Global Assessment

The completion of the USGS’s Global Mineral Resource Assessment for porphyry copper deposits (Hammarstrom and others, 2013; Johnson and others, 2014) provides a new worldwide database of porphyry copper deposits and prospects that allows examination of how the resource characteristics of porphyry-style deposits vary by tectonic setting and other spatial and temporal characteristics. The new database is distinctly larger than the one published by Singer and others (2008), which contained 422 deposits. The new database contains 452 deposits (and excludes Precambrian deposits). Most of the newly compiled deposits are in Australia, Turkey, Iran, and China. These new data allow us to explore how some of the traditional classifications of porphyry-style deposits present taxonomic challenges.

Spatiotemporal Analysis of Changes in Lode Mining Claims Around the McDermitt Caldera, Northern Nevada and Southern Oregon

Resource managers and agencies involved with planning for future federal land needs are required to complete an assessment of and forecast for future land use every ten years. Predicting mining activities on federal lands is difficult as current regulations do not require disclosure of exploration results. In these cases, historic mining claims may serve as a useful proxy for determining where mining-related activities may occur. We assess the utility of using a space–time cube (STC) and associated analyses to evaluate and characterize mining claim activities around the McDermitt Caldera in northern Nevada and southern Oregon. The most significant advantage of arranging the mining claim data into a STC is the ability to visualize and compare the data, which allows scientists to better understand patterns and results. Additional analyses of the STC (i.e., Trend, Emerging Hot Spot, Hot Spot, and Cluster and Outlier Analyses) provide extra insights into the data and may aid in predicting future mining claim activities.

Undiscovered Phanerozoic Porphyry Copper Deposits—A Global Assessment

Porphyry copper deposits represent the principal source of global copper supply. To address the questions of where future copper supplies are likely to come from and how much copper could exist within the upper kilometer of the earth’s crust, the USGS led a cooperative international effort to assess the world’s undiscovered Phanerozoic porphyry copper deposits using a geologybased, probabilistic form of mineral resource assessment (Singer and Menzie, 2010). Globally, 175 tracts permissive for porphyry copper deposits were defined to include volcanic and intrusive rocks of specified ranges of age and composition. The rocks represent: (1) magmatic arcs that developed on continental crust above subducting oceanic plates, (2) island arcs that formed on oceanic crust, and(or) (3) postconvergent magmatic belts within continents. Quantitative assessments of undiscovered resources were done for 155 of those permissive tracts.

Relationship between Porphyry Copper Occurrences, Crustal Preservation Levels, and Amount of Exploration in Magmatic Belts of the Central Tethys Region

A probabilistic assessment of undiscovered resources in porphyry copper deposits in the Central Tethys region of Turkey, the Caucasus, Iran, western Pakistan, and southern Afghanistan was conducted as part of a U.S.G.S. global mineral resource assessment. The purpose was to delineate areas as permissive tracts for the occurrence of porphyry Cu-Mo and Cu-Au deposits, and to provide estimates of amounts of Cu, Mo, and Au likely to be contained in undiscovered porphyry deposits (Zürcher et al., 2013; Zürcher et al., in review). Tectonic, geologic, geochemical, geochronologic, and ore deposits data compiled and analyzed for this assessment show that magmatism in the region can be rationalized in terms of fundamental plate tectonic principles, including mantle-involved post-subduction processes. However, uplift, erosion, subsidence, and burial of porphyry copper deposits also played an important role in shaping the observed metallogenic patterns.

Sandstone copper assessment of the Chu-Sarysu Basin, Central Kazakhstan: Chapter E in Global mineral resource assessment

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