Mineralogical–Geochemical Characteristics of the Ore-Bearing Chernogorsky Intrusion, Norilsk Area

One of the pivoting problems in the genesis of magmatic deposits is the role of silicate melt in the origin of sulfide ores. A way of solving this problem is to compare massifs with different mineralization, using contents of major and trace elements in the rocks. However, intrusions of the Norilsk intrusive complex are rarely compared with one another in terms of ore composition and volume in them. This paper is the first geochemical data, all of which were acquired with the application of modern analytical techniques, on the Chernogorsky intrusion in the Norilsk trough. The structure and composition of this intrusion are well comparable to the intrusions of the same complex hosting the uniquely large deposits: Talnakh, Kharaelakh, and Norilsk 1. The weighted mean composition of the Chernogorsky intrusion (wt %) is as follows: 47.2 SiO2, 0.62 TiO2, 16.7 Al2O3, 9.94 FeO, 0.16 MnO, 11.7 MgO, 11.3 CaO, 1.53 Na2O, 0.46 K2O, 0.07 P2O5, and 0.18 Cr2O3,, and the ratios of trace elements (La/Sm)n = 1–2, (Gd/Yb)n = 1.2–1.4, and (Th/Nb)n = 1–4 are same as typical of other rocks of the Norilsk complex. The ores of the Chernogorsky intrusion are close to the ores of Norilsk 1, their Cu/Ni ratio slightly exceeds 1, and the Pt + Pd = 5–6 ppm on average. However, the predicted resources of metals in this massif (0.8 Mt Cu + Ni and 0.5 kt Pt + Pd) are 140 times lower than the resources of the Kharaelakh intrusion (113 Mt Cu + Ni, 17.5 kt Pt + Pd), and 50 times lower than in Talnakh (40 Mt Cu + Ni, 8.3 kt Pt + Pd). This confirms that the ore content in an intrusion does not depend on the composition of its silicate rocks, and hence, the compositions of these rocks cannot be used as an exploration guide for new deposits.