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Mesozoic gabbro from the Stanovoy convergent margin and adakitic dacite lava from the Pliocene–Quaternary Bakening volcano in Kamchatka contain iron–titanium oxide–apatite–sulfide–sulfate (ITOASS) microinclusions along with abundant isolated iron–titanium minerals, sulfides and halides of base and precious metals. Iron–titanium minerals include magnetite, ilmenite and rutile; sulfides include chalcopyrite, pyrite and pyrrhotite; sulfates are represented by barite; and halides are predominantly composed of copper and silver chlorides. Apatite in both gabbro and adakitic dacite frequently contains elevated chlorine concentrations (up to 1.7 wt.%). Mineral thermobarometry suggests that the ITOASS microinclusions and associated Fe-Ti minerals and sulfides crystallized from subduction-related metal-rich melts in mid-crustal magmatic conduits at depths of 10 to 20 km below the surface under almost neutral redox conditions (from the unit below to the unit above the QFM buffer). The ITOASS microinclusions in gabbro and adakite from the Russian Far East provide possible magmatic links to iron oxide–apatite (IOA) and iron oxide–copper–gold (IOCG) deposits and offer valuable insights into the early magmatic (pre-metasomatic) evolution of the IOA and ICOG mineralized systems in paleo-subduction- and collision-related geodynamic environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Ildeus mafic–ultramafic complex represents plutonic roots of a Triassic magmatic arc tectonically emplaced into the thickened uppermost crust beneath the Mesozoic Stanovoy collided margin. The mafic–ultramafic complex cumulates host Ni-Co-Cu-Pt-Ag-Au sulfide-native metal-alloy mineralization produced through magmatic differentiation of subduction-related primary mafic melt. This melt was sourced in the metal-rich sub-arc mantle wedge hybridized by reduced high-temperature H-S-Cl fluids and slab/sediment-derived siliceous melts carrying significant amounts of Pt, W, Au, Ag, Cu and Zn. Plutonic rocks experienced a pervasive later-stage metasomatic upgrade of the primary sulfide–native metal–alloy assemblage in the presence of oxidized hydrothermal fluid enriched in sulfate and chlorine. The new metasomatic assemblage formed in a shallow epithermal environment in the collided crust includes native gold, Ag-Au, Cu-Ag and Cu-Ag-Au alloys, heazlewoodite, digenite, chalcocite, cassiterite, galena, sphalerite, acanthite, composite Cu-Zn-Pb-Fe sulfides, Sb-As-Se sulfosalts and Pb-Ag tellurides. A two-stage model for magmatic–hydrothermal transport of some siderophile (W, Pt, Au) and chalcophile (Cu, Zn, Ag) metals in subduction–collision environments is proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Igneous rocks from the Russian Far East contain Cu-Ag-Au microspherules with distinct exterior and interior structures, compositions and assemblages of Cu-rich micro-inclusions. Natural microspherules are compared in this study with technogenic Cu-Ag-Au microspherules, which are experimentally produced and extracted from gold scrap jewelry. The following set of diagnostic criteria are considered to distinguish natural from technogenic microspherules on a genetic basis as follows: (1) compacted-related features versus cellular appearance of the exterior; (2) lack of exsolution- or crystallization-related features in natural and domain-type internal structure in technogenic microspherules; (3) absence of spherical copper-oxide inclusions along with meniscus-type textural boundaries in technogenic mcirospherules; (4) pure copper-oxide composition of inclusions versus the common presence of Fe, Ni, Zn, Cu and Na in natural microspherules. The diagnostic characteristics of natural Cu-Ag-Au microspherules suggest extremely fast cooling rates during their formation, which is possible during violent explosive volcanic eruptions or injection of partially molten, pulverized metal alloys into shallow intra-crustal cavities and fault-related tectonic gashes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A magnesian low-Ti shoshonite dike intruding Archean Norwegian Terrane includes numerous grains of black, blue and gray moissanite (SiC). Moissanite contains inclusions of native Si, Fe and Al, Fe-Cr carbides, Fe-Cr-Mn alloys and diamond. The range of observed δ13C values (-24.8 to -29.6‰) is similar to ophiolite-hosted SiC, lower mantle diamonds and slab-derived biogenic carbon. Norwegian moissanites may have been formed during interaction of Earth’s mantle with carbonaceous slab fluids under extremely reducing conditions as suggested by native metal and carbide inclusions. 13C-depleted moissanite can be used as a new exploration tool for sub-lithospheric diamonds in Archean to Phanerozoic accreted terranes and mobile belts.

Arc-related magmas are frequently enriched in Au, Pt and Pd in respect to MORB and OIB igneous suites. Magmatic arcs commonly host large-scale hydrothermal Au and Au-Cu and PGE mineralization related to young volcanic systems and zoned ultramafic complexes respectively. Island-arc mantle xenoliths show Au, Pt, Pd enrichments related to mantle wedge metasomatism by slab-derived fluids. Long-lived plumbing systems in arc crust (arc magma chambers) show further enhancement of Au, Pt and Pd enrichments through subduction-related metamorphic and metasomatic processes in the presence of halogen-rich, aqueous fluids. We propose that Au-Pt-Pd enrichments in arcs are caused by mantle wedge-slab interactions followed by differentiation and metamorphism of magmatic conduits in arc crust.

Mantle-derived spinel harzburgites from the Kamchatka arc have fractionated Pd-group element patterns, and Pt is clearly enriched relative to Pd and Rh. This fractionation is also consistent with chondritic Ir-group-platinum-group element distribution and super-chondritic Pt/Pd, chondrite-normalized [(Pt/OS).sub.N] and [(Pt/Ir).sub.N] found in harzburgite xenoliths from the Tubaf seamount in the Lihir island group of the Tabar-Lihir-Tanga-Feni island arc in Papua New Guinea. The nonchondritic Pt/Pd ratios and Pt enrichment in the island-arc mantle are best explained by extraction of melt in a back-arc volcanic-arc setting, which left refractory Pt-Fe alloys in the residual mantle. Pt-Fe alloys selectively concentrate Pt relative to Pd and, overall, increase the Pt/Pd in a subarc mantle wedge. Partial melting of this Pt-enriched mantle wedge above the subduction zone, due to hydrous flux from the subducting lithosphere, is potentially capable of producing Pt-rich primitive melts parental to the Alaskan-type uitramafic-mafic complexes. Keywords: island-arc mantle, peridotite xenoliths, platinum group elements.

Ultramafic xenoliths from a veined mantle wedge beneath the Kamchatka arc have non-chondritic, fractionated chondrite-normalized platinum-group element (PGE) patterns. Depleted (e.g., low bulk-rock Al2O3 and CaO contents) mantle harzburgites show clear enrichment in the Pd group relative to the Ir group PGEs and, in most samples, Pt relative to Rh and Pd. These PGE signatures most likely reflect multi-stage melting which selectively concentrates Pt in Pt–Fe alloys while strongly depleting the sub-arc mantle wedge in incompatible elements. Elevated gold concentrations and enrichment of strongly incompatible enrichment (e.g., Ba and Th) in some harzburgites suggest a late-stage metasomatism by slab-derived, saline hydrous fluids. Positive Pt, Pd, and Au anomalies coupled with Ir depletions in heavily metasomatized pyroxenite xenoliths probably reflect the relative mobility of the Pd and Ir groups (especially Os) during sub-arc metasomatism which is consistent with Os systematics in arc mantle nodules. Positive correlations between Pt, Pd, and Au and various incompatible elements (Hf, U, Ta, and Sr) also suggest that both slab-derived hydrous fluids and siliceous melts were involved in the sub-arc mantle metasomatism beneath the Kamchatka arc. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

While gold partitioning into hydrothermal fluids responsible for the formation of porphyry and epithermal deposits is currently well understood, its behavior during the differentiation of metal-rich silicate melts is still subject of an intense scientific debate. Typically, gold is scavenged into sulfides during crustal fractionation of sulfur-rich mafic to intermediate magmas and development of native forms and alloys of this important precious metal in igneous rocks and associated ores are still poorly documented. We present new data on gold (Cu-Ag-Au, Ni-Cu-Zn-Ag-Au, Ti-Cu-Ag-Au, Ag-Au) alloys from iron oxide deposits in the Lesser Khingan Range (LKR) of the Russian Far East. Gold alloy particles are from 10 to 100 µm in size and irregular to spherical in shape. Gold spherules were formed through silicate-metal liquid immiscibility and then injected into fissures surrounding the ascending melt column, or emplaced through a volcanic eruption. Presence of globular (occasionally with meniscus-like textures) Cu-O micro-inclusions in Cu-Ag-Au spherules confirms their crystallization from a metal melt via extremely fast cooling. Irregularly shaped Cu-Ag-Au particles were formed through hydrothermal alteration of gold-bearing volcanic rocks and ores. Association of primarily liquid Cu-Ag-Au spherules with iron-oxide mineralization in the LKR indicates possible involvement of silicate-metallic immiscibility and explosive volcanism in the formation of the Andean-type iron oxide gold-copper (IOCG) and related copper-gold porphyry deposits in the deeper parts of sub-volcanic epithermal systems. Thus, formation of gold alloys in deep roots of arc volcanoes may serve as a precursor and an exploration guide for high-grade epithermal gold mineralization at shallow structural levels of hydrothermal-volcanic environments in subduction zones. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]