Spatial distribution of low-sulfide platinum group element mineralization in the Kivakka intrusion, northern Karelia

The structure of the sulfide-bearing sequence of the Kivakka basic-ultrabasic layered intrusion of the Olanga group (northern Karelia) was investigated. The chemical and quantitative mineralogical compositions of rocks were statistically processed using factor and cluster analysis. We distinguished two sulfide levels consistently extending parallel to the strike of layering in the massif. The exact boundaries of these levels could not be defined because of the patchy distribution of sulfide minerals. The highest contents of sulfide pockets were observed near the top and base of each sulfide level. The extension of the zones with high sulfide concentrations along the strike allows us to consider them as horizons. The sulfide-bearing rocks are norites with varying mineral proportions. They may differ in the association of cumulus phases (bronzite and bronzite-plagioclase). It was shown that the specific features of the structure of the sulfide levels and horizons do not inherit the structural patterns of the silicate matrix and are not correlated with the chemical composition of rocks.