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The Rompas-Rajapalot gold prospect is located in the northern part of the Paleoproterozoic Peräpohja belt. It covers an area of at least 10 x 10 km and comprises various styles of gold mineralization ranging from localized high-grade Au pockets in uraniniteand pyrobitumen-bearing calcsilicate-carbonate-quartz veins in mafic metavolcanic rocks (Rompas area) to disseminated gold grains in Fe-Mg-rich metasediments and quartz-tourmaline-sulfide-native gold veins (Palokas area). This study deals with the petrography and mineral chemistry of the gold mineralization at Palokas, which occurs in the eastern part of the Rompas-Rajapalot prospect. Major and trace element data and fluid inclusion characteristics of tourmaline are used to evaluate the origin and the pressure-temperature-fluid composition parameters of hydrothermal fluids. Whole-rock geochemical analyses are utilized to evaluate the nature of the protolith of the host rocks. Gold occurs in a native form in at least two different textural settings: 1) single, relatively coarse grains disseminated among the rock-forming silicates in cordierite-orthoamphibole rocks and 2) smaller grains occurring in fractures of tourmaline in quartz-sulfide-tourmaline breccias and in fractures of chloritized cordierite-orthoamphibole rocks adjacent to the tourmaline-rich breccias. Fracture-related gold is associated with Bi-Se-S-bearing tellurides, native Bi, molybdenite, chalcopyrite, and pyrrhotite. Coarser-grained disseminated gold were not found to be clearly associated with sulfides nor any fractures. Statistical correlations show that the Au concentration correlates strongly with Te, Cu, Co, Se, Bi, Mo, and Ag (ρ = 0.730–0.619) whereas Au correlates moderately with As, Fe, W (ρ = 0.523–0.511) and to a lesser extent with U, Pb, and Ni (ρ = 0.492–0.407). Gold has the strongest negative correlations with Sr and Ca. The chondrite-normalized REE patterns of tourmaline from the Au-mineralized rocks (both vein type and host-rock tourmaline) and the late- to post-orogenic granite partly overlap and show similar LREE-enriched trends, with the enrichment being lower in tourmaline from the granite. Fluid inclusion studies from tourmaline in gold-bearing quartz-tourmaline-sulfide veins indicate that the veins were formed from H2O-Na2O-CO2- CH4-(H2S) fluids in a boiling system under pressure conditions ranging from lithostatic to hydrostatic, with the depth being ~5 km and the temperature ~300°C. The properties of the ore-forming fluids support the genetic link between the late- to post-orogenic granitoid magmatism at ~1.78 Ga and the formation of the fracture-hosted gold mineralization, suggested based on earlier studies (including Re-Os-molybdenite age and boron isotope data from tourmaline). Based on the whole-rock geochemistry, it is highly plausible that the cordierite-orthoamphibole rocks and interlayered calcsilicatealbite rocks are part of a basin-wide lacustrine, at least partly evaporitic, sequence. The protolith of the cordierite-orthoamphibole rock was most probably a lake-margin sedimentary pile with abundant Mg-rich clays.

The ca. 2.06 Ga Kevitsa intrusion is one of the ore-bearing mafic-ultramafic igneous bodies in the Central Lapland greenstone belt. A large disseminated Ni-Cu-(PGE) sulfide ore deposit is hosted by olivine-pyroxene cumulates in the lower ultramafic part of the intrusion, indicating involvement of a multiply saturated magma in the ore formation. There are also various dunitic rocks, which occur as numerous inclusions within the Kevitsa intrusion, most commonly in the economic resource area. On textural basis, two distinct types of inclusions are recognized: i) cumulate-textured (Kevitsa Dunite) and ii) recrystallized ultramafic inclusions. In addition, there also exists a separate dunitic body (Central Dunite) with a suface area of 0.6 x 1.0 km, cropping out in the central part of the intrusion. The Central Dunite and Kevitsa Dunite are similar olivine-chromite cumulates and with comparable whole-rock and mineral compositions, suggesting that they are cogenetic. A magmatic, rather than replacement origin for the dunitic cumulates is evidenced by their systematic mineral compositional trends consistent with magmatic fractionation. Wholerock major and trace element and mineral compositional data of the dunitic cumulates and Kevitsa olivine pyroxenites fall on the same linear trends and record similar REE characteristics indicating a genetic link between these two. The parental magmas for the dunitic cumulates were probably picritic and related to the picritic and basaltic volcanic rocks in the area. The high Fo content of olivine (up to ~89 mol.%) is consistent with a high- Mg parental melt. The recrystallized ultramafic inclusions are fine-grained and show a granoblastic/interlobate textures indicative for thermal textural readjustment. Two subgroups are identified: Group 1 shows a chemical affinity towards the dunitic cumulates and are interpreted as their recrystallized clasts. The Group 2 inclusions are compositionally comparable to the ~2.06 Ga komatiitic volcanic rocks in the area and are considered as dehydrated metavolcanic xenoliths. A decrease in the flow rate of the Kevitsa magmas due to entrapment of a high number of inclusions is proposed as a mechanism to promote settling of sulfides, contributing to the formation of the Ni-Cu-(PGE) ore.

Cobalt is a highly sought-after metal due to its economic importance in many hightech applications. It is mainly obtained from sedimentary-hosted Cu-Co deposits and magmatic Ni-Cu deposits as a by-product. We describe a recently discovered Co-enriched Cu-Ni deposit hosted by the Hietakero mafic intrusion in north-western Finnish Lapland. The intrusion contains gabbroic to pyroxenitic cumulates and was emplaced into a supracrustal strata composed mainly of mafic volcanic rocks, sulfurbearing graphite schists and felsic volcanic interlayers. Hybrid rocks provide clear evidence for interaction of mafic magma with its country rocks. All these rocks have undergone intensive post-magmatic hydrothermal alteration by influx of H2O-, CO2- and Cl-bearing saline fluids, forming strongly scapolitized (±albitized) rocks and resulting in re-mobilization of sulfides and their metals. The Hietakero deposit is associated with pyroxenitic cumulates and hybrid rocks, with the sulfides (pyrrhotite, cobaltian pentlandite, chalcopyrite and pyrite) occurring as patches, brecciated to net-textured and vein to veinlet forms. Sulfur content is 6.1 wt.% on average, reaching 20 wt.% in some cases. Nickel and Cu tenors are low, but Co is elevated, resulting in very low Ni/Co of 2.6 compared to ‘classic’ Ni-Cu sulfide deposit globally. The average metal tenors are: 0.55 wt.% Ni, 1.07 wt.% Cu, and 0.23 wt.% Co. In-situ sulfur isotope analyses of sulfides from mineralized rocks yielded δ34S values from -2.0 to +4.5‰. In spite of strong post-magmatic alteration, we can conclude that the Hietakero cumulates were formed from a low-MgO and PGE-depleted basaltic magma, which developed in a staging chamber at a deeper crustal level. The magma produced compositionally different gabbroic to pyroxenitic rocks (i.e., high-Ti and low- Ti groups). Model calculations indicate that the relatively high Co tenor and low Ni/Co cannot be explained by an earlier phase of fractional crystallization or sulfide segregation. Instead, an external source of cobalt is needed, which is also consistent with the high Zn, Pb and Mo contents of the mineralized rocks. Based on sulfur isotope compositions, the associated black shales were not the primary source of sulfur, but sulfur was rather derived from a so far unrecognized, potentially Co-bearing contaminant with close to mantle-like δ34S. Our study reveals a new Co-Cu-Ni deposit type related to the widespread Paleoproterozoic mafic magmatism in Lapland.