Strontium isotope stratigraphy through the Flatreef PGE-Ni-Cu mineralization at Turfspruit, northern limb of the Bushveld Igneous Complex: evidence of correlation with the Merensky Unit of the eastern and western limbs.

The origin of PGE-Ni-Cu mineralization in the Platreef, northern limb of the Bushveld Igneous Complex (BIC), and the possible correlation with the Merensky Reef in the eastern and western limbs has been long debated. The Platreef and Merensky Reef share the same stratigraphic position in the uppermost part of the Upper Critical Zone (UCZ), near the transition to the overlaying Main Zone (MZ). However, discrepancies in interpretations have been difficult to resolve due to the effects of intense magma-country rock interaction throughout most of the northern limb succession. To address this problem, we generated a detailed stratigraphic profile of the initial strontium isotopic ratio [Sri = (87Sr/86Sr)i] in plagioclase across a Flatreef interval lacking macroscopic evidence of country rock assimilation. The in situ Sr isotopic ratios in plagioclase were determined using LA-MC-ICP-MS analysis on 37 samples from a drill core (UMT094) at the Turfspruit project. Strontium isotope stratigraphy is useful because of a well-documented shift in Sri near the base of the Merensky Unit in the eastern and western limbs. The results show the existence of a significant shift (from Sri = 0.7060 to Sri = 0.7090) that matches the isotopic shift documented through the Merensky Unit in the eastern and western limbs. Thus, this new Sr isotope data indicates that the main mineralized interval of the Flatreef can be stratigraphically correlated to the Merensky Reef in the remainder of the BIC. In addition, we interpret these results as compelling evidence to suggest that the main mineralization processes in the Flatreef were likely similar to those operating in the eastern and western limbs and that interaction with local country rocks was not a necessary condition.