Chromite in the Platreef (Bushveld Complex, South Africa): occurrence and evolution of its chemical composition

Abstract

The regional distribution and chemical composition of massive and disseminated chromitites through a Platreef sequence and along a strike distance of over ∼20 km were investigated to correlate them both within the framework of the northern limb and to the eastern and western limbs of the Bushveld Complex. The chromitite layers and seams of the Platreef form two main chromite-bearing zones: the Upper Chromitite that occurs as two to three discontinuous seams in feldspathic pyroxenite at approximately 20 m below the Platreef top contact and the Lower Chromitite that is composed of multiple seams in feldspathic harzburgite, pyroxenite and norite close to the bottom contact of the Platreef with footwall. Electron micro-probe analyses reveal that the chemical composition of chromite depends on the host rock type. Norite and pyroxenite host chromite with the highest Cr2O3 content while harzburgite-hosted chromites are Cr and Mg poor. The wide range in chromite compositions is explained by the influence of late-magmatic processes including post-cumulus growth and re-equilibration, interaction with fluid- and sulphide-saturated magmatic liquid and contact metamorphism. Each of these processes is characterised by its own distinct geochemical signature, but generally they lead to a decrease in Mg and Al and an increase in both di- and tri-valent Fe in the chromite. The occurrence of chromitite locally on the different distance from the contact between the upper Platreef sills and the overlying Main Zone magma suggests erosion of the upper Platreef by the Main Zone as it was emplaced. The localisation of chromitites supports an independent development of the northern limb during the Critical Zone emplacement although the chemical composition of chromite and co-existing silicates from ultramafic rocks suggest a Critical Zone affinity with the eastern and western limbs of the Bushveld Complex.