S saturation history of Nain Plutonic Suite mafic intrusions: origin of the Voisey’s Bay Ni–Cu–Co sulfide deposit, Labrador, Canada

Abstract

The Voisey’s Bay deposit is hosted in a 1.34-Ga intrusion composed of troctolite, olivine gabbro, and ferrogabbro. The sulfide mineralization is associated with magmatic breccias that are enveloped by weakly mineralized olivine gabbros and troctolites, and also occurs as veins along structures in adjacent paragneiss. A dyke is connected to the base of the north wall of the Eastern Deeps Intrusion, and the entry point of this dyke into the chamber is the locus of the Eastern Deeps nickel sulfide deposit. A detailed exploration in the area between the Eastern Deeps and the Ovoid has shown that these intrusions and ore deposits are connected by a splayed dyke. The Eastern Deeps Deposit is surrounded by a halo of moderately to weakly mineralized variable-textured troctolite (VTT) that reaches a maximum thickness above the axis of the Eastern Deeps Deposit along the northern wall of the Eastern Deeps Intrusion. The massive sulfides and breccia sulfides are petrologically and chemically different when compared to the disseminated sulfides in the VTT, and there is a marked break in Ni tenor of sulfide between the two. Sulfides hosted in the dyke tend to have low metal tenors ([Ni]100 = 2.5–3.5%), sulfides in Eastern Deeps massive and breccia ores have intermediate Ni tenors ([Ni]100 = 3.5–4%), and disseminated sulfides in overlying rocks have high Ni tenors ([Ni]100 = 4–8%). Four principal processes control the compositions of the Voisey’s Bay sulfides. Coarse-grained loop-textured ores consisting of pyrrhotite crystals separated by chalcopyrite and pentlandite exhibit a two orders of magnitude variation in the Pd/Ir ratio which is due to mineralogical variations where pentlandite is enriched in Pd and Ir is dispersed throughout the mineral assemblage. A decrease in Ir and Rh from the margin of the Ovoid toward cubanite-rich parts at the central part of the Ovoid is consistent with fractionation of the sulfide from the margins toward the center of the Ovoid. The Ovoid ores have higher Ni and Pd tenor than the Eastern Deeps massive sulfides; this is consistent with both a higher R factor and greater degree of silicate parental magma evolution in the Ovoid than the Eastern Deeps. The disseminated sulfides surrounding the Eastern Deeps deposit have some of the highest Ni and Pd tenors at Voisey’s Bay, which are indicative of not only more primitive magmas but also higher R factors than the Ovoid or the Eastern Deeps. VTT and normal-textured troctolite of the Eastern Deeps that contain trace sulfide have 0.1–3 ppb Pt and 0.1–3 ppb Pd, whereas weakly to heavily mineralized variable troctolites in the same unit have one to two orders of magnitude higher abundances of Pt and Pd. Troctolites and olivine gabbros from other parts of the Voisey’s Bay Intrusion and other Nain Plutonic Suite Intrusions, including the Kiglapait, Newark Bay, Barth Island, Mushua, and Nain Bay South Intrusion, also have low platinum group element abundances. Although it is possible that this is a signature of a widespread sulfide saturation event that pre-dated ore formation at Voisey’s Bay, it is more likely that platinum group element (PGE) depletion is a product of the source melting process where low degrees of melting resulted in the retention of PGE in the mantle source. If so, this indicates that PGE depletion should be used with caution as an exploration tool in the Nain Plutonic Suite.