Petrogenesis of the Melba Flats Ni-Cu-PGE Deposit in Western Tasmania: Insights from a Geochemical and Geochronological Investigation
© 2016 Marcus Phua Since its discovery in 1893, the Melba Flats Ni-Cu-PGE deposit has produced 10,000 tons of Ni and Cu at an average grade of 9.7% and 4.7% respectively. It is a magmatic sulphide deposit located 8 km north-east of the township of Zeehan, along the eastern margin of the Dundas Troug...
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ftumelbourne:oai:jupiter.its.unimelb.edu.au:11343/336940 2024-06-02T08:05:57+00:00 Petrogenesis of the Melba Flats Ni-Cu-PGE Deposit in Western Tasmania: Insights from a Geochemical and Geochronological Investigation Phua, Marcus 2016 http://hdl.handle.net/11343/336940 unknown http://hdl.handle.net/11343/336940 Terms and Conditions: Copyright in works deposited in Minerva Access is retained by the copyright owner. The work may not be altered without permission from the copyright owner. Readers may only download, print and save electronic copies of whole works for their own personal non-commercial use. Any use that exceeds these limits requires permission from the copyright owner. Attribution is essential when quoting or paraphrasing from these works. Geology Petrology Geochemistry Geochronology Tasmania Economic Geology Masters Coursework thesis 2016 ftumelbourne 2024-05-06T13:09:08Z © 2016 Marcus Phua Since its discovery in 1893, the Melba Flats Ni-Cu-PGE deposit has produced 10,000 tons of Ni and Cu at an average grade of 9.7% and 4.7% respectively. It is a magmatic sulphide deposit located 8 km north-east of the township of Zeehan, along the eastern margin of the Dundas Trough in Western Tasmania. The deposit is associated with a suite of bifurcating mafic intrusions hosting magmatic Ni-Cu-PGE sulphides intruded into a sequence of volcaniclastic lithic greywackes, which are correlated to the Crimson Creek Formation. U-Pb detrital zircon geochronology was utilized to show that the Melba Flats sediments have a maximum depositional age of c. 582 Ma. The Melba Flats mafic intrusions were formed by primitive magmas with 13 to 16 wt% MgO and a sub-alkaline tholeiitic affinity. 40*Ar/39Ar hornblende geochronology was employed to establish that the mafic intrusions were emplaced at c. 568 Ma, along an attenuated continental margin characterized by a transitional rift setting, analogous to the early Paleogene break-up margin of East Greenland. Melba Flats Ni-Cu-PGE sulphides are characterized by massive-to-semi-massive sulphides that possess high Ni, Cu and PGE tenors and mantle-like δ34S values and S/Se ratios and disseminated sulphides that have low Ni, Cu and PGE tenors, along with crustal δ34S values and S/Se ratios. Geochemical data indicates that the massive-to-semi-massive sulphides were formed at depth before being transported to their current sites, whilst the disseminated sulphides were formed during transport as the primitive magma interacted with the S-bearing crustal rocks. Other/Unknown Material East Greenland Greenland The University of Melbourne: Digital Repository Dundas ENVELOPE(-68.784,-68.784,76.563,76.563) Greenland |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
The University of Melbourne: Digital Repository |
op_collection_id |
ftumelbourne |
language |
unknown |
topic |
Geology Petrology Geochemistry Geochronology Tasmania Economic Geology |
spellingShingle |
Geology Petrology Geochemistry Geochronology Tasmania Economic Geology Phua, Marcus Petrogenesis of the Melba Flats Ni-Cu-PGE Deposit in Western Tasmania: Insights from a Geochemical and Geochronological Investigation |
topic_facet |
Geology Petrology Geochemistry Geochronology Tasmania Economic Geology |
description |
© 2016 Marcus Phua Since its discovery in 1893, the Melba Flats Ni-Cu-PGE deposit has produced 10,000 tons of Ni and Cu at an average grade of 9.7% and 4.7% respectively. It is a magmatic sulphide deposit located 8 km north-east of the township of Zeehan, along the eastern margin of the Dundas Trough in Western Tasmania. The deposit is associated with a suite of bifurcating mafic intrusions hosting magmatic Ni-Cu-PGE sulphides intruded into a sequence of volcaniclastic lithic greywackes, which are correlated to the Crimson Creek Formation. U-Pb detrital zircon geochronology was utilized to show that the Melba Flats sediments have a maximum depositional age of c. 582 Ma. The Melba Flats mafic intrusions were formed by primitive magmas with 13 to 16 wt% MgO and a sub-alkaline tholeiitic affinity. 40*Ar/39Ar hornblende geochronology was employed to establish that the mafic intrusions were emplaced at c. 568 Ma, along an attenuated continental margin characterized by a transitional rift setting, analogous to the early Paleogene break-up margin of East Greenland. Melba Flats Ni-Cu-PGE sulphides are characterized by massive-to-semi-massive sulphides that possess high Ni, Cu and PGE tenors and mantle-like δ34S values and S/Se ratios and disseminated sulphides that have low Ni, Cu and PGE tenors, along with crustal δ34S values and S/Se ratios. Geochemical data indicates that the massive-to-semi-massive sulphides were formed at depth before being transported to their current sites, whilst the disseminated sulphides were formed during transport as the primitive magma interacted with the S-bearing crustal rocks. |
format |
Other/Unknown Material |
author |
Phua, Marcus |
author_facet |
Phua, Marcus |
author_sort |
Phua, Marcus |
title |
Petrogenesis of the Melba Flats Ni-Cu-PGE Deposit in Western Tasmania: Insights from a Geochemical and Geochronological Investigation |
title_short |
Petrogenesis of the Melba Flats Ni-Cu-PGE Deposit in Western Tasmania: Insights from a Geochemical and Geochronological Investigation |
title_full |
Petrogenesis of the Melba Flats Ni-Cu-PGE Deposit in Western Tasmania: Insights from a Geochemical and Geochronological Investigation |
title_fullStr |
Petrogenesis of the Melba Flats Ni-Cu-PGE Deposit in Western Tasmania: Insights from a Geochemical and Geochronological Investigation |
title_full_unstemmed |
Petrogenesis of the Melba Flats Ni-Cu-PGE Deposit in Western Tasmania: Insights from a Geochemical and Geochronological Investigation |
title_sort |
petrogenesis of the melba flats ni-cu-pge deposit in western tasmania: insights from a geochemical and geochronological investigation |
publishDate |
2016 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/11343/336940 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-68.784,-68.784,76.563,76.563) |
geographic |
Dundas Greenland |
geographic_facet |
Dundas Greenland |
genre |
East Greenland Greenland |
genre_facet |
East Greenland Greenland |
op_relation |
http://hdl.handle.net/11343/336940 |
op_rights |
Terms and Conditions: Copyright in works deposited in Minerva Access is retained by the copyright owner. The work may not be altered without permission from the copyright owner. Readers may only download, print and save electronic copies of whole works for their own personal non-commercial use. Any use that exceeds these limits requires permission from the copyright owner. Attribution is essential when quoting or paraphrasing from these works. |
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1800750829017235456 |