Compositional and mineralogic constraints on the genesis of ophiolite hosted nickel mineralization in the Pevkos area, Limassol Forest, Cyprus

Mineralization composed dominantly of primary troilite, maucherite, pentlandite, and chalcopyrite, and secondary valleriite occurs in serpentinized transition zone rocks of the Limasol Forest segment of the Troodos ophiolite complex, Cyprus. Whole-rock and electron microprobe analyses of this mineralization gives ranges of Cu/(Cu+Ni)=0.16 to 0.47, Pt/(Pt+Pd)=0.66 to 0.51, Ni/Co=6.33 to 13.4, and chondrite normalized plots with low concentrations of Rh, Pt, and Pd, but relatively high Au. Estimated distribution coefficients of nickel and iron between olivine and ore range from 0.5 to 7.4. Most of these data are unlike values from magmatic sulfide deposits and indicate either a complete alteration of a preexisting magmatic sulfide concentration or, more likely, a nonmagmatic origin for this mineralization. ?? 1985 Springer-Verlag.