Geochemical characteristics and metallogenic potential of nickel in Papua New Guinea
Located at the convergent boundary of the Pacific and Indo-Australian Plates,Papua New Guinea(PNG)consists of three tectonic units and features two nickel mineralization types.National-scale geochemical mapping was conducted in PNG between 2015-2018,where 1399 samples of stream sediments were collected from the Highlands Region,Papua Peninsula,and New Guinea Islands.This paper reports preliminary study of the geochemical background,spatial distribution characteristics,and metallogenic potential of nickle in PNG.The nickle concentration ranged between 2.7-2430.0 μg/g,with a median value of 42.0 μg/g,close to the Ni abundance in the Earth's upper crust and higher than the geochemical baselines of nickle in Europe,Australia,North America,and China.With widely developed mafic-ultramafic magmatic rocks,the Central Arc Land Collision Zone-consisting the Papuan Fold Belt,New Guinea Thrust Belt,Finisterre Terrane,Aure Fold Belt,Eastern Fold Belt,and Eastern Papuan Composite Terrane—had higher nickle baseline level than the Melanesian Arc.The ophiolitic complexes,such as the April ophiolite,Marum ophiolite,and Papua ultramafic belt,showed good correlation with Ni-enrichment areas.Seven nickle geochemical provinces and eight nickel anomaly areas with laterite mineralization potential were delineated.
national-scale geochemical mappingnickelanomalylaterite mineralizationPapua New Guinea
万方数据
维普
