Platinum, palladium, gold, copper-rich stringers at the Strathcona Mine, Sudbury; their enrichment by fractionation of a sulfide liquid

Abstract

Recent study of the platinum-group elements (PGE) in the Strathcona Ni-Cu sulfide deposit has shown that their distribution is zoned. Pt, Pd, Au, and Cu increase progressively, from the Hanging-wall ore zone through the Main zone into the Deep ore zone; Rh, Ru, Ir, and Os show a reverse trend (Naldrett et al., 1982).The Copper and Deep Copper zones at Strathcona are the farthest away from contact with the Sudbury Igneous Complex and consist of veins of massive sulfides up to 6 m in width, which narrow down to thin veins (