Compositional variations of olivine from the Jinchuan Ni–Cu sulfide deposit, western China: implications for ore genesis

The Jinchuan Ni–Cu sulfide deposit is hosted by an elongated, olivine-rich ultramafic body that is divided by subvertical strike-slip faults into three segments (central, eastern, and western). The central segment is characterized by concentric enrichments of cumulus olivine crystals and interstitial sulfides (pyrrhotite–pentlandite–chalcopyrite intergrowth), whereas the eastern and western segments are characterized by an increase of sulfides toward the lower contacts. In all segments sulfides are concentrated at the expense of intercumulus silicates. Olivine re-crystallization is found to be associated with actinolite alteration in some samples. The compositional variations of primary olivine from the sulfide-poor samples can be explained by a small degree of olivine crystallization (<5%) from a basaltic magma followed by local re-equilibration of the olivine with up to 30% trapped silicate liquid. In the sulfide-bearing samples the compositions of primary olivine record the results of olivine-sulfide Fe–Ni exchange that occurred after the trapped silicate liquid crystallized. Our olivine data indicate that Ni in the original sulfide liquids increased inward in the central segment and laterally away from the lower contact in the eastern segment. Variations in the compositions of sulfide liquids are thought to result from fractional segregation of immiscible sulfide liquid from a basaltic magma in a staging chamber instead of in situ differentiation. High concentrations of olivine crystals (mostly >50 modal%) and sulfide (averaging ~5 wt%) in the rocks are consistent with the interpretation that the Jinchuan deposit was formed by olivine- and sulfide-laden magma successively ascending through a conduit to a higher, now-eroded, level. Sulfide enrichment toward the center in the central segment and toward the lower contact in the eastern and western segments may have, in part, resulted from flow differentiation and gravitational settling during magma ascent, respectively.