The EM target occurs at the contact of sulphidised felsic volcanics and
komatiite lava, allowing comparisons with the Silver Swan nickel sulphide mine, located 30km west southwest.
Within the central area of the tenements the geology is dominated by the folded and structurally thickened Walter Williams
komatiite unit.
For their research, the team analysed a piece of rock melt, called
komatiite -- named after the type occurrence in the Komati river near Barberton in Mpumalanga -- that are the leftovers from the hottest magma ever produced in the first quarter of Earth's existence (the Archaean).
That produced a type of rock called
komatiite, which are "basically superhot versions of Hawaiian-style lava flows," study leader and Virginia Tech professor Esteban Gazel said.
Komatiite lavas are inferred to have the ability, to flow over considerable distances from eruption sites (Dann 2001; Sproule et al.
One interpretation of the origins of canali is that they were formed by huge, sustained outpourings of ordinary basaltic silicate lava or of a more fluid and hotter lava called
komatiite. But calculations Goro Komatsu (University of Arizona) and I made indicate that such lavas should solidify quickly and would not easily flow thousands of kilometers if erupted in amounts enough to fill their channel banks.
The 132 North deposit is one of a number of small
komatiite (ultramafic)-hosted nickel sulfide deposits in the Widgiemooltha district (McQueen.
And one of the first important fruits of their labors is a report in the June 13 NATURE on the melting of natural rocks to form
komatiite, a very hot, magnesium-rich lava that erupted on the earth 2.5 billion to 3.8
Geological evidence from core demonstrated that the majority of holes have intersected the main Silver Swan thermal erosion area found beneath the
komatiite channel.
The Aztec Dome has a very similar regional magnetic signature to that seen at the Kambalda Dom where significant
komatiite hosted nickel deposits have been discovered and mined over many years.
They are prospective for Archean
komatiite related nickel sulphide deposits, Proterozoic circum-cratonic intrusive related nickel deposits, volcanogenic massive sulphide (VMS) copper-zinc deposits and lode gold-style deposits.
"This tells us that the deep source where the
komatiite came from, down near the boundary between the Earth's core and mantle, was gradually gaining platinum over time," he said.