Platinum-group element geochemistry of the Zhuqing Fe-Ti-V oxide ore-bearing mafic intrusions in western Yangtze Block, SW China: control of platinum-group elements by magnetite

Abstract

Platinum-group element (PGE) geochemistry combined with elemental geochemistry and magnetite compositions are reported for the Mesoproterozoic Zhuqing Fe–Ti–V oxide ore-bearing mafic intrusions in the western Yangtze Block, SW China. All the Zhuqing gabbros display extremely low concentrations of chalcophile elements and PGEs. The oxide-rich gabbros contain relatively higher contents of Cr, Ni, Ir, Ru, Rh, and lower contents of Pt and Pd than the oxide-poor gabbros. The abundances of whole-rock concentrations of Ni, Ir, Ru, and Rh correlate well with V contents in the Zhuqing gabbros, implying that the distributions of these elements are controlled by magnetite. The fractionation between Ir–Ru–Rh and Pt–Pd in the Zhuqing gabbros is mainly attributed to fractional crystallization of chromite and magnetite, whereas Ru anomalies are mainly due to variable degrees of compatibility of PGE in magnetite. The order of relative incompatibility of PGEs is calculated to be Pd < Pt < Rh < Ir < Ru. The very low PGE contents and Cu/Zr ratios and high Cu/Pd ratios suggest initially S-saturated magma parents that were highly depleted in PGE, which mainly formed due to low degrees of partial melting leaving sulfides concentrating PGEs behind in the mantle. Moreover, the low MgO, Ni, Ir and Ru contents and high Cu/Ni and Pd/Ir ratios for the gabbros suggest a highly evolved parental magma. Fe–Ti oxides fractionally crystallized from the highly evolved magma and subsequently settled in the lower sections of the magma chamber, where they concentrated and formed Fe–Ti–V oxide ore layers at the base of the lower and upper cycles. Multiple episodes of magma replenishment in the magma chamber may have been involved in the formation of the Zhuqing intrusions.