Identifying controls on the thickness and geometallurgy of the Flatreef PGE deposit, Turfspruit farm, Northern Limb of the Bushveld Complex....

Identifying controls on the thickness and geometallurgy of the Flatreef PGE deposit, Turfspruit farm, Northern Limb of the Bushveld Complex, South Africa.

The Northern Bushveld Complex, South Africa, hosts the world's largest deposit of platinumgroup elements (PGEs), the Platreef. In recent years, given their role in green energy production, PGEs have become essential for the transition to net-zero. The recently discovered down-dip extension of the Platreef, the Flatreef PGE-Ni-Cu deposit, has known to have highgrade mineralisation and a resource potential of ~10-years of global supply of Pt.

Stratigraphically, the Flatreef has a very heterogenous thickness, and its relationship between Ni, Cu, and PGEs grades is unclear. Orthomagmatic ore-forming processes cannot fully explain the distribution of the mineralisation, nor its relationship to the thickness. Assimilation of dolomites and shales during ore formation may have remobilised mineralisation, however, these effects are not fully understood.

This project will investigate potential controls on mineralisation in the Flatreef by logging drill core along strike and in different country-rock assimilation zones. TIMA automated mineralogical mapping will be used to investigate the geometallurgy in these different zones. TOF LA-ICP-MS analyses of silicate trace element geochemistry, and stable isotope ( 18O and 13C) analyses of silicate and carbonate phases will assess the extent of assimilation, allowing to track the effect of the assimilation on the system, and understand the cryptic assimilation of each footwall lithology.