Fluid inclusion and oxygen-isotope evidence for low-temperature Au-Pt-Pd (± U) mineralization at Corronation Hill, NT

The fluid inclusion and isotope data have been used to constrain the ore genesis models for the Au-Pt-Pd-U mineralization at Coronation Hill. The fluid inclusions demonstrate that the ore fluid was strongly saline with an unusually high CaCl2 content, and that the mineralisation was probably formed from a boiling fluid at around 140 deg C. Furthermore, the fluids were highly oxidised and the replacement of earlier chlorite by hematite is common throughout the deposit. It is concluded that both U-rich and U-poor Au-Pt-Pd mineralisation were formed by descending, low-temperature, highly oxidised, very saline, meteoric fluids. The segregation of U was controlled by fluid-rock interaction in the feldspathic or carbonate rocks. Interaction with carbonaceous or chloritic rocks resulted in a reduction in fO2, and consequent precipitation of U, Au, Pt and Pd. The other two types of metal associations can be explained by further reaction of the mineralizing fluids. 3 figs