Authors / CoAuthors
Robertson, C.W.
Abstract
The sulphide deposit at Mount Isa, northwest Queensland, is a siltstone-shale sequence that has been metamorphosed to lower greenschist facies and variously altered by hydrothermal events. Galena and sphalerite, forming the lead- zinc-silver orebodies, and fine-grained pyrite are interbedded with the sediments, but chalcopyrite mineralisation appears to have overprinted these. In the largest copper orebody, the 1100 Ore body, a massive high-grade core of chalcopyrite is developed at the same stratigraphic level as rich pyrite mineralisation; with a reduction in the concentration of pyrite in this core. Cobalt is strongly associated with the copper ores and shows this same relationship. Sulphur isotope values for the chalcopyrite and pyrite are in the same range, indicating a common sulphur source. Sulphur abundances in the pyritic horizons do not increase with increasing copper grade. These factors support the view that sulphur needed for the formation of chalcopyrite and cobalt-rich sulphides was derived from the pre-existing sequence. Those sulphur sources controlled the copper, silica, and cobalt deposition from the mineralising solutions, and provide the link in explaining the spatial relationship of the copper to the lead-zinc-silver ores.
Product Type
nonGeographicDataset
eCat Id
81109
Contact for the resource
Custodian
Owner
Custodian
Cnr Jerrabomberra Ave and Hindmarsh Dr GPO Box 378
Canberra
ACT
2601
Australia
Keywords
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- GA PublicationJournal
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- QLD
- Australian and New Zealand Standard Research Classification (ANZSRC)
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- Earth Sciences
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- Published_External
Publication Date
1982-01-01T00:00:00
Creation Date
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Purpose
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unknown
Topic Category
geoscientificInformation
Series Information
BMR Journal of Australian Geology and Geophysics 7:2:119-124
Lineage
Unknown
Parent Information
Extents
[-21.0, -20.0, 138.0, 139.5]
Reference System
Spatial Resolution
Service Information
Associations
Source Information
Source data not available.