Morphology of the base of the J-M Reef Package and its bearing on the localization of platinum group metal mineralization in the Stillwater Complex, Montana
- Montana College of Mineral Science and Technology, Butte, MT (United States). Dept. of Geological Engineering
Economic concentrations of platinum group metals (PGM) in the Stillwater Complex are typically localized within a unique lithologic sequence, the J-M Reef Package. The J-M Reef Package is generally believed to be the result of the influx of a pulse of undifferentiated' magma into the chamber subsequent to the appearance of plagioclase as a cumulus mineral in the more differentiated resident melt. Underground workings of Stillwater Mining Company, together with over 3,000 underground core holes on 50-foot centers, facilitate the definition of the igneous stratigraphy below the J-M Reef Package and the relationship of its base to it. As much as 350 feet of consolidated footwall igneous cumulates were removed by thermochemical ablation in terraced channels prior to the accumulation of the J-M Reef Package. Distribution of PGM mineralization within the J-M Reef Package, as well as the differential accumulation of the Reef Package itself, is related to channel morphology. Models of ore genesis must account for a new magma pulse that debouched with vigor along the top of the pre-existing cumulus pile.
- OSTI ID:
- 5128081
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-9305259-; CODEN: GAAPBC
- Journal Information:
- Geological Society of America, Abstracts with Programs; (United States), Vol. 25:5; Conference: 89. annual meeting of the Cordilleran Section and the 46th annual meeting of the Rocky Mountain Section of the Geological Society of America (GSA), Reno, NV (United States), 19-21 May 1993; ISSN 0016-7592
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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