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GEOREF RECORD

The Aguablanca Ni-Cu-PGE deposit, southwestern Iberia; magmatic ore-forming processes and retrograde evolution

Lorena Ortega, Rosario Lunar, Felix Garcia-Palomero, Teresa Moreno, Jose Ramon Martin-Estevez, Hazel M. Prichard and Peter C. Fisher
The Aguablanca Ni-Cu-PGE deposit, southwestern Iberia; magmatic ore-forming processes and retrograde evolution (in Platinum-group elements; petrology, geochemistry, mineralogy, James E. Mungall (editor), William E. Meurer (editor) and Robert F. Martin (editor))
The Canadian Mineralogist (April 2004) 42, Part 2: 325-350

Abstract

The Aguablanca Ni-Cu-PGE deposit, SW Spain, has a magmatic origin and has been reworked by later skarn-related hydrothermal activity. Base-metal sulphides are associated with igneous cumulates with sub-vertical layering of gabbro, norite and dolerite, with fragments of pyroxenite and peridotite. These rocks show a pervasive early overprint of actinolite + or - chlorite + or - epidote + or - albite + or - serpentine, followed by growth of talc + or - chlorite + or - carbonates. The base-metal sulphides are concentrated in two subvertical bodies and consist of pyrrhotite, pentlandite and chalcopyrite, overprinted by fluid-deposited pyrite. The mineralization includes: 1) disseminated ore (1 < Ni/Cu < 1.5), with sulphides interstitial to the igneous silicates, 2) semi-massive to massive ore (2 < Ni/Cu < 5) with net-textured to poikilitic sulphides, 3) breccia ore with fragments of unmineralized ultramafic rocks in a massive sulphide matrix, 4) nodules of sulphides, 5) pyrrhotite veinlets and 6) chalcopyrite veinlets.The PGE content and (Pt + Pd)/Ru + Ir + Os) ratio are highest in the Cu-rich disseminated ore and associated veinlets of chalcopyrite. The PGM minerals associated with the base-metal sulphides include michenerite, merenskyite, moncheite, melonite and sperrylite, which mostly occur enclosed in sulphides or close to contacts between them. The PGE tellurides show extensive substitutiion of Bi for Te, indicating formation temperatures < 500 degrees C. The composition of the PGM and their association with magmatic base-metal sulphides suggest that they exsolved from the sulphides during subsolidus recrystallization, though some remobilization may have occurred in areas of pervasive fluid circulation.


ISSN: 0008-4476
EISSN: 1499-1276
Coden: CAMIA6
Serial Title: The Canadian Mineralogist
Serial Volume: 42, Part 2
Title: The Aguablanca Ni-Cu-PGE deposit, southwestern Iberia; magmatic ore-forming processes and retrograde evolution
Title: Platinum-group elements; petrology, geochemistry, mineralogy
Author(s): Ortega, LorenaLunar, RosarioGarcia-Palomero, FelixMoreno, TeresaMartin-Estevez, Jose RamonPrichard, Hazel M.Fisher, Peter C.
Author(s): Mungall, James E.editor
Author(s): Meurer, William E.editor
Author(s): Martin, Robert F.editor
Affiliation: Universidad Complutense, Departamento de Cristalografia y Mineralogia, Madrid, Spain
Affiliation: University of Toronto, Department of Geology, Toronto, ON, Canada
Pages: 325-350
Published: 200404
Text Language: English
Publisher: Mineralogical Association of Canada, Ottawa, ON, Canada
Meeting name: 9th international platinum symposium
Meeting location: Billings, MT, USA, United States
Meeting date: 20020725July 25-29, 2002
References: 73
Accession Number: 2007-049921
Categories: Economic geology, geology of ore depositsIgneous and metamorphic petrology
Document Type: Serial Conference document
Bibliographic Level: Analytic
Illustration Description: illus. incl. 5 tables, sketch map
N37°57'51" - N37°57'51", W06°11'41" - W06°11'41"
Secondary Affiliation: University of Houston, USA, United StatesMcGill University, CAN, CanadaAtlantic Copper, ESP, SpainUniversity of Cardiff, GBR, United Kingdom
Country of Publication: Canada
Secondary Affiliation: GeoRef, Copyright 2018, American Geosciences Institute. Reference includes data from Mineralogical Abstracts, United Kingdom, Twickenham, United Kingdom
Update Code: 200713

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