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M. L. Zientek

Publications and source records attributed to M. L. Zientek.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
USGS2018

Origin of placer laurite from Borneo: Se and As contents, and S isotopic compositions

We examined grains of the platinum-group mineral, laurite (RuS2), from the type locality, Pontyn River, Tanah Laut, Borneo, and from the Tambanio River, southeast Borneo. The grains show a variety of morphologies, including euhedral grains with conchoidal fractures and pits, and spherical grains with no crystal faces, probably because of abrasion. Inclusions are rare, but one grain contains Ca-Al amphilbole inclusions, and another contains an inclusion of chalcopyrite+bornite+pentlandite+heazlewoodite (Ni3S2) that is considered to have formed by a two-stage process of exsolution and crystallization from a once homogeneous Fe-Cu-Ni sulphide melt. All grains examined are solid solutions of Ru and Os with Ir (2.71-11.76 wt.%) and Pd (0.31-0.66 wt%). Their compositions are similar to laurite from ophiolitic rocks. The compositions show broad negative correlations between Os and Ir, between As and Ir, and between As (0.4-0.74 wt.%) and Se (140 to 240 ppm). Laurite with higher Os contains more Se and less Ir and As. The negative correlations between Se and As may be attributed to their occupancy of the S site, but the compositional variations of Os. Ir and As probably reflect the compositional variation of rocks where the crystals grew. Ratios of S/Se in laurite show a narrow spread from 1380 to 2300, which are similar to ratios for sulphides from the refractory sub-are mantle. Sulphur isotopic compositions of laurite are independent of chemical compositions and morphologies and are similar to the chondritic value of 0???. The data suggest that S in laurite has not undergone redox changes and originated from the refractory mantle. The data support the formation of laurite in the residual mantle or in a magnia generated from such a refractory mantle, followed by erosion after the obduction of the host ultramafic rocks. ?? 2004 The Mineralogical Society.

Mineralogical Magazine↗
USGS2009

Emissions from the copper-nickel industry on the Kola Peninsula and at Noril'sk, Russia

Published estimates for base metal emissions from the copper-nickel industry on the Kola Peninsula are re-examined in the light of (a) chemical data on the composition of the ores; (b) official emission figures for 1994; and (c) modelled emissions based on dry and wet deposition estimates derived from data for snow and rain samples collected in 1994. The modelled emissions, official emission figures and chemical data are mutually compatible for Ni, Cu and Co and show that previously published figures underestimated the emissions of the major elements, Ni and Cu (though within the same order of magnitude) and overestimated the emissions of As, Pb, Sb and Zn by up to several orders of magnitude, in some cases exceeding the calculated total input to the plants. Published estimates have neglected information on the nature and chemistry of the ores processed in metallurgical industries in the Noril'sk area of Siberia and the Urals. Revised emission estimates for 1994, using knowledge of the chemistry of the ores, are proposed: taken with published information on total emissions up to 2000 these data give an indication of emission levels in more recent years. ?? 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Atmospheric Environment↗
USGS2006

Platinum-group element, Gold, Silver and Base Metal distribution in compositionally zoned sulfide droplets from the Medvezky Creek Mine, Noril'sk, Russia

Concentrations of Ag, Au, Cd, Co, Re, Zn and Platinum-group elements (PGE) have been determined in sulfide minerals from zoned sulfide droplets of the Noril'sk 1 Medvezky Creek Mine. The aims of the study were; to establish whether these elements are located in the major sulfide minerals (pentlandite, pyrrhotite, chalcopyrite and cubanite), to establish whether the elements show a preference for a particular sulfide mineral and to investigate the model, which suggests that the zonation in the droplets is caused by the crystal fractionation of monosulfide solid solution (mss). Nickel, Cu, Ag, Re, Os, Ir, Ru, Rh and Pd, were found to be largely located in the major sulfide minerals. In contrast, less than 25% of the Au, Cd, Pt and Zn in the rock was found to be present in these sulfides. Osmium, Ir, Ru, Rh and Re were found to be concentrated in pyrrhotite and pentlandite. Palladium and Co was found to be concentrated in pentlandite. Silver, Cd and Zn concentrations are highest in chalcopyrite and cubanite. Gold and platinum showed no preference for any of the major sulfide minerals. The enrichment of Os, Ir, Ru, Rh and Re in pyrrhotite and pentlandite (exsolution products of mss) and the low levels of these elements in the cubanite and chalcopyrite (exsolution products of intermediate solid solution, iss) support the mss crystal fractionation model, because Os, Ir, Ru, Rh and Re are compatible with mss. The enrichment of Ag, Cd and Zn in chalcopyrite and cubanite also supports the mss fractionation model these minerals are derived from the fractionated liquid and these elements are incompatible with mss and thus should be enriched in the fractionated liquid. Gold and Pt do not partition into either iss or mss and become sufficiently enriched in the final fractionated liquid to crystallize among the iss and mss grains as tellurides, bismithides and alloys. During pentlandite exsolution Pd appears to have diffused from the Cu-rich portion of the droplet into pentlandite. ?? Springer-Verlag 2006.

Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology↗
USGS2002

Preliminary cellular-automata forecast of permit activity from 1998 to 2010, Idaho and Western Montana

For public land management in Idaho and western Montana, the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) has requested that the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) predict where mineral-related activity will occur in the next decade. Cellular automata provide an approach to simulation of this human activity. Cellular automata (CA) are defined by an array of cells , which evolve by a simple transition rule, the automaton . Based on exploration trends, we assume that future exploration will focus in areas of past exploration. Spatial-temporal information about mineral-related activity, that is permits issued by USFS and Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in the last decade, and spatial information about undiscovered resources, provide a basis to calibrate a CA. The CA implemented is a modified annealed voting rule that simulates mineral-related activity with spatial and temporal resolution of 1 mi 2 and 1 year based on activity from 1989 to 1998. For this CA, the state of the economy and exploration technology is assumed constant for the next decade. The calibrated CA reproduces the 1989–1998-permit activity with an agreement of 94%, which increases to 98% within one year. Analysis of the confusion matrix and kappa correlation statistics indicates that the CA underestimates high activity and overestimates low activity. Spatially, the major differences between the actual and calculated activity are that the calculated activity occurs in a slightly larger number of small patches and is slightly more uneven than the actual activity. Using the calibrated CA in a Monte Carlo simulation projecting from 1998 to 2010, an estimate of the probability of mineral activity shows high levels of activity in Boise, Caribou, Elmore, Lincoln, and western Valley counties in Idaho and Beaverhead, Madison, and Stillwater counties in Montana, and generally low activity elsewhere.

Idaho, Montana↗
USGS1998

Geodynamics of magmatic Cu-Ni-PGE sulfide deposits: New insights from the Re-Os isotope system

In this study, we reassess crustal contamination and sulfide ore-forming processes in some of the largest magmatic ore deposits, using published Re-Os isotope data and a modeling methodology that incorporates the R factor, defined as the effective mass of silicate magma with which a given mass of sulfide magma has equilibrated, in an Re-Os isotope mixing equation. We show that there is less disparity between conclusions based on Re-Os isotope data compared to other isotopic systems if the R factor is considered. Komatiite-associated Ni sulfide ore systems typically have high Os concentrations. low Re/Os ratios, and near-chondritic initial Os isotope compositions. For magmatic sulfide ores that are interpreted to have experienced relatively low R factors (<500), such as those at Kambalda, this severely limits the amount of wholesale crustal contamination as well as selective contamination of komatiitic magma by sedimentary sulfide components. The Re-Os geochemistry of these ores is most consistent with derivation from uncontaminated komatiites unless R factors are much higher (<2,000). Sulfide saturation in these ore systems may, therefore, have been achieved via changes in intensive parameters of the komatiite lavas cooling or decompression) or changes in compositional parameters transparent to the Re-Os isotope system (e.g., f O2 /f S2 /f H2O ). Basalt-gabbro-associated Cu-Ni sulfide ore systems at Duluth. Sudbury, and Stillwater are quite distinct from those at Kambalda by having comparatively low Os concentrations, high Re/Os ratios, and high initial Os isotope compositions. These chemical and isotopic characteristics are indicative of significant interactions between their parental basaltic magmas and old crust because there are no known mantle reservoirs with such extreme geochemical characteristics. Our modeling suggests that for Cu-Ni sulfide ores at Duluth, Sudbury, and Stillwater to maintain the observed high initial Os isotope compositions inherited from a crustal contaminant, R factors for these systems must have been low (<10,000), consistent with their low metal concentrations. Thus, we interpret this style of base metal sulfide mineralization to be derived from crustally contaminated but less dynamic magmatic systems that did not permit extensive equilibration of sulfide magma with silicate magma. For basalt-gabbro-associated Cu-Ni-PGE-rich sulfide ore systems that have Re-Os geochemical characteristics more similar to those associated with komatiites, R factors must have been high (>10,000 for Noril'sk-Talnakh and the J-M reef, Stillwater Complex). In these very dynamic magmatic ore systems, crustal contamination processes are more difficult to assess using Re-Os isotopes as the effects of contamination are masked by the R factor process in which sulfide magma equilibrates with extensive amounts of asthenospheric mantle-derived magma. Sulfide protore for these systems may, then, have been very radiogenic and of crustal origin prior to R factor processes that occurred during transport in feeder conduits and in upper crustal magma chambers. This study, therefore, highlights the need for caution when interpreting the Re-Os isotope geochemistry of sulfide ores from dynamic magmatic systems. The results of our reinvestigation of these giant ore deposits suggest that geodynamic processes associated with large magmatic systems, including major lithospheric pathways to the surface, changes in flow regime, coupled magma flow-through and magma mixing (providing enhanced R factors), may be critical to our understanding of the emplacement, localization, and quality of magmatic sulfide deposits. Thus, the timing and exact mechanism of sulfide saturation may be subordinate to dynamic magmatic processes in the localization of economic concentrations of magmatic sulfides.

Economic Geology↗
USGS1997

Ni, Cu, Au, and platinum-group element contents of sulphides associated with intraplate magmatism: A synthesis

The tectonic setting of intraplate magmas, typically a plume intersecting a rift, is ideal for the development of Ni – Cu – platinum-group element-bearing sulphides. The plume transports metal-rich magmas close to the mantle–crust boundary. The interaction of the rift and plume permits rapid transport of the magma into the crust, thus ensuring that no sulphides are lost from the magma en route to the crust. The rift may contain sediments which could provide the sulphur necessary to bring about sulphide saturation in the magmas. The plume provides large volumes of mafic magma; thus any sulphides that form can collect metals from a large volume of magma and consequently the sulphides will be metal rich. The large volume of magma provides sufficient heat to release large quantities of S from the crust, thus providing sufficient S to form a large sulphide deposit. The composition of the sulphides varies on a number of scales: ( i ) there is a variation between geographic areas, in which sulphides from the Noril'sk–Talnakh area are the richest in metals and those from the Muskox intrusion are poorest in metals; ( ii ) there is a variation between textural types of sulphides, in which disseminated sulphides are generally richer in metals than the associated massive and matrix sulphides; and ( iii ) the massive and matrix sulphides show a much wider range of compositions than the disseminated sulphides, and on the basis of their Ni/Cu ratio the massive and matrix sulphides can be divided into Cu rich and Fe rich. The Cu-rich sulphides are also enriched in Pt, Pd, and Au; in contrast, the Fe-rich sulphides are enriched in Fe, Os, Ir, Ru, and Rh. Nickel concentrations are similar in both. Differences in the composition between the sulphides from different areas may be attributed to a combination of differences in composition of the silicate magma from which the sulphides segregated and differences in the ratio of silicate to sulphide liquid ( R factors). The higher metal content of the disseminated sulphides relative to the massive and matrix sulphides may be due to the fact that the disseminated sulphides equilibrated with a larger volume of magma than massive and matrix sulphides. The difference in composition between the Cu- and Fe-rich sulphides may be the result of the fractional crystallization of monosulphide solid solution from a sulphide liquid, with the Cu-rich sulphides representing the liquid and the Fe-rich sulphides representing the cumulate.

Noril'sk–Talnakh area↗
USGS1992

Placer and lode platinum-group minerals in south Kalimantan, Indonesia: Evidence for derivation from Alaskan-type ultramafic intrusions

Platinum‐group element minerals (PGM) occur in significant proportions in placer deposits in several localities in South Kalimantan. They consist of Pt‐Fe alloy that may be intergrown with or contain inclusions of Ir‐Os‐Ru alloy, laurite and chromite. Alluvial PGM found along Sungai Tambanio are in part derived from chromitite schlieren in dunitic bodies intruded into clinopyroxene cumulates that may be part of an Alaskan‐type ultramafic complex. A chromitite schlieren in serpentinite from one of these dunitic bodies is anomalous in PGE (Pt: 580 ppb; Pd: 3.4 ppb; Rh: 1 ppb; Ru: 9 ppb; Ir: 21 ppb; and Os: 3.9 ppb). The chondrite‐normalized PGE pattern for this rock, pan concentrates from this area, and PGM concentrates from diamond‐Au‐PGM placer deposits have an ‘M'‐shaped pattern enriched in Ir and Pt that is typical of PGE‐mineralization associated with Alaskan‐type ultramafic complexes.

South Kalimantan↗
USGS1991

A lead isotopic study of the Stillwater Complex, Montana: constraints on crustal contamination and source regions

Analyses of the Pb isotopic compositions of plagioclase from 23 samples covering the stratigraphic thickness of the Stillwater Complex indicate a narrow range of apparent initial isotopic compositions (206Pb/ 204Pb=13.95; 207Pb/204Pb=14.95-15.01; 208Pb/204Pb=33.6). The uniformity of our data is in contrast to, but not necessarily contradictory to, other recent investigations which give indications that the complex formed by repeated injection of magmas with at least two distinct compositions that were presumably derived from different source regions. Samples from the Basal series of the complex have consistently higher 207Pb/204Pb ratios, suggesting either minor contamination from adjacent country rocks or a slight distinction between parental magmas. Apparent initial Pb isotopic compositions of the complex are very radiogenic compared to Late Archean model-mantle values, but are nearly identical to initial Pb isotopic compositions found for the the adjacent, slightly older (2.73-2.79 Ga), Late Archean crustal suite in the Beartooth Mountains. Contamination of magmas parental to the Stillwater Complex by the Late Archean crustal suite is rejected for two reasons: (1) Th and U concentrations in Stillwater rocks and plagioclase are very low (about 0.08 and 0.02 ppm respectively), yet Th/U ratios are uniform at about 4, in contrast to the highly variable (2-26) but often high Th/U ratios found for the Late Archean crustal complex; (2) it seems improbable that any contamination process would have adjusted the isotopic compositions of the diverse magmas entering the Stillwater chamber to near-identical values. The preferred hypothesis to explain the Pb isotopic data for the Stillwater Complex and the associated Late Archean crustal suite involves a major Late Archean crust-forming event that resulted in a compositionally complex crust/mantle system with relatively homogeneous and unusual Pb isotopic compositions. The parental magmas of the Stillwater Complex were generated at different levels within this crust/mantle system, before isotopic contrasts could develop by radioactive decay within compositionally discrete reservoirs. This situation limits the utility of all isotopic tracer systems in discriminating among the various mantle and crustal reservoirs that may have affected the final isotopic character of the Stillwater magmas. The late Archean crustal complex and the Stillwater Complex melts were ultimately derived from the same distinct mantle without obvious direct interaction with the Middle to Early Archean crust present in the region. ?? 1991 Springer-Verlag.

Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology↗
USGS1991

Low-K granophyres of the Stillwater Complex, Montana

Small bodies of granophyre occur as a volumetrically insignificant but ubiquitous component of the Banded series of the Stillwater Complex. White to pink granophyre typically occurs as veins, 1-12cm thick and as much as 100m long. A geochemically similar body of coalescing alaskite dikes, associated with an occurrence of Pt-group elements in the Banded series of the complex, crops out approximately 2km south-southeast of Picket Pin Mountain over an area 130 by 210m. Considering host rocks and chemistry, these rocks are comparable to the most siliceous examples of oceanic plagiogranite. The Stillwater granophyres, however, are enriched in Si, Th, U, and LREEs, and depleted in K, Fe, and Eu, relative to oceanic granophyres. -from Authors

American Mineralogist↗
USGS1990

Sulfur isotope studies of the Stillwater Complex and associated rocks, Montana

The Stillwater Complex in south-central Montana is a late Archean layered, ultramafic to mafic intrusion emplaced into middle to late Archean metagraywacke, metashale, and ironformation. Sulfide minerals are concentrated near the base of the intrusion in some chromitite layers, podiform pegmatoids, discontinuous discordant pods or pipes, and numerous thin, stratiform layers. This investigation focuses on the isotopic composition of sulfur in metamorphosed sedimentary rocks, Stillwater-associated sills and dikes, sulfide accumulations near the base of the complex, and platinum-group element-enriched sulfide mineralization that constitutes the J-M reef and the Picket Pin deposit.The delta 34 S values for 233 samples analyzed in this study have a mean of 0.4 per mil, a standard deviation of 1.7, and a maximum and minimum of-3.8 and 7.8 per mil, respectively. Despite the very narrow range of values, analysis of variance calculations confirms that the data comprise three statistically distinct groups. These groups are (1) metagraywackes and metashales (mean = 2.8ppm); (2) iron-formation, Stillwater-associated sills and dikes, and basal sulfide accumulations in the complex (mean = -0.7ppm); and (3) disseminated sulfide minerals that occur above the basal accumulations in the Stillwater Complex (mean -- 1.2ppm). The isotopic composition of sulfur in the basal sulfide accumulations indicates that assimilation of substantial amounts of sulfur from iron-formation may have occurred. The low tenor of the basal sulfide ores is also consistent with assimilation of sulfur into a limited volume of magma near the base of the intrusion.

Economic Geology↗
USGS1990

As, Bi, Hg, S, Sb, Sn and Te geochemistry of the J-M Reef, Stillwater Complex, Montana: Constraints on the origin of PGE-enriched sulfides in layered intrusions

The J-M Reef is an interval of disseminated sulfides in the Lower Banded series of the Stillwater Complex that is enriched in the platinum group elements (PGE). Palladium and Pt occur in solid solution in base-metal sulfides and as discrete PGE minerals. PGE minerals include sulfides, tellurides, arsenides, antimonides, bismuthides, and alloys with Fe, Sn, Hg, and Au. Several subpopulations can be delineated based on whole-rock chemical analyses for As, Bi, Cu, Hg, Pd, Pt, S, Sb and Te for samples collected from and adjacent to the J-M Reef. In general, samples from within the reef have higher Pt/Cu, Pd/Cu, Pd/Pt, Te/Bi and S/(Te+Bi) than those collected adjacent to the reef. Vertical compositional profiles through the reef suggest that Pd/Cu and Pt/Cu decrease systematically upsection from mineralized to barren rock. The majority of samples with elevated As, Sb and Hg occur adjacent to the reef, not within it, or in sulfide-poor rocks Neither magma mixing nor fluid migration models readily explain why the minor quantities of sulfide minerals immediately adjacent to the sulfide-enriched layers that form the J-M Reef have different element ratios than the sulfide minerals that form the reef. If all the sulfides formed by exsolution during a magma mixing event and the modal proportion of sulfide now in the rocks are simply the result of mechanical processes that concentrated the sulfides into some layers and not others, then the composition of the sulfide would not be expected to be different. Models that rely upon ascending liquids or fluids are incompatible with the presence of sulfides that are not enriched in PGE immediately below or interlayered with the PGE-enriched sulfides layers. PGE-enriched postcumulus fluids should have reacted to the same extent with sulfides immediately outside the reef as within the reef.

Journal of Geochemical Exploration↗
USGS1990

U-Pb and Sm-Nd ages for the Stillwater Complex and its associated sills and dikes, Beartooth Mountains, Montana: Identification of a parent magma?

Seven analyses from two samples of the Lower Banded series of the Stillwater Complex, Montana, yielded a U-Pb zircon-baddeleyite age of 2705 ±4 Ma. A more precise age of 2704 ±1 Ma is obtained if we regress only five of seven analyses. In either case, the age is in very good agreement with the previously reported Sm-Nd mineral isochron age of 2701 ±8 Ma for a gabbro from the Lower Banded series. Noncumulate mafic sills and dikes that immediately underlie the Stillwater Complex are separated into five compositional groups. U-Pb zircon ages for a group 1 gabbronorite (2711 ±1 Ma) and a group 3 mafic norite (2703 ±10 Ma) are comparable to previously reported U-Pb zircon ages for a group 1 diabase (2713 ±3 Ma) and a group 4 high-Ti norite (2712 ±3 Ma). Although group 2 high-Mg gabbronorite and group 6 olivine gabbro have not yet yielded significant amounts of zircon, baddeleyite, or sphene, mineral separates from group 2 ielded a four-point Pb-Pb internal isochron age of 2704 ±25 Ma, and separates from group 6 yielded a Sm-Nd internal isochron age of 2706 ±64 Ma, indicating that these groups are at least contemporaneous with intrusion of the Stillwater Complex. These results indicate that groups 1 and 4 of the associated sills and dikes are perhaps slightly older than the complex and that groups 2, 3, and 6 may be coeval with it, supporting the idea that these three groups are the best candidates for a Stillwater parent magma, a conclusion previously presented on the basis of detailed mineralogic and geochemical evidence.

Geology↗