WOLFGANG D.

MAIER 35

The potential for magmatic Ni sulfide ores in South African

komatiites: a review
Wolfgang D. Maier
Centre for Research on Magmatic Ore Deposits, Department of Geology,
University of Pretoria, Pretoria, 0002, South Africa
e-mail: wdmaier@scientia.up.ac.za
© 2003 Geological Society of South Africa

ABSTRACT
South African komatiites apparently do not host Ni sulfide ores similar to those found associated with komatiites in
Western Australia, Zimbabwe, or Canada. The present paper examines whether the lack of mineralization could be
related to the greater age of the South African komatiites, relative to most mineralized komatiites elsewhere. Many
younger komatiites formed at shallower mantle levels than older komatiites. Therefore, they were potentially less S
undersaturated during eruption and may have required less contamination to achieve S supersaturation. Further, they
could possibly interact with more evolved and/or S-rich crust during eruption and/or intrusion. Alternatively, the age
of komatiites may have little importance in controlling their mineralization potential. The lack of sulfide ores in the
South African komatiites could then be related to (i) the relatively small size of the greenstone belts, (ii) the absence
of lava channels in which sulfide ores tend to be concentrated, or (iii) the lack of a S-rich contaminant necessary to
trigger S supersaturation in the lavas.

Introduction belts/fragments do not appear to host Ni sulfide deposits

Naldrett (1989) and Barnes et al. (1997) have reviewed
geologic controls on the formation of massive magmatic
Ni-Cu-(PGE) sulfide ores. The most important factors
appear to be the composition of the magmas and their
host rocks, as well as the tectonic setting. This is
exemplified by the common occurrence of massive
magmatic sulfide ores in continental rift settings. Such
environments permit rapid transport of mantle magma
into the crust. As a result, rift magmas tend to be less
susceptible to ponding, differentiation, assimilation, and
sulfide loss during ascent through the mantle lithosphere
and lower levels of the crust, and thus they tend to be
more metal-rich during emplacement in the upper crust.
Rifts may also contain S-rich sediments that could
provide external sulfur to the magmas and thereby
trigger S supersaturation.
The relative importance of the factors mentioned
above is at least partially controlled by geological age.
Plume-related komatiite magmatism was more abundant
in the Archean (Fyfe, 1978; Condie, 2001) and the crust
was younger and probably more primitive, i.e denser,
allowing for more rapid transport of the magmas to
upper crustal levels. This may have favoured the
formation of massive magmatic sulfide ores in
the Archean. On the other hand, S-rich sediments that
are ideal contaminants may have been less abundant in
the Archean than in younger Eras. Thus, the age of a
mafic-ultramafic igneous suite and its hostrocks may
play an important role as an exploration guideline. This
is highlighted by the fact that certain types of magmatic
Ni sulfide ores are predominantly found associated with
late Archean/early Proterozoic komatiites and komatiitic
basalts.
Komatiites from the type locality in the Barberton
greenstone belt and other South African greenstone
similar to those found associated with komatiites in
Western Australia, Zimbabwe, or Canada (e.g. at
Kambalda, Shangani, and in the Abitibi greenstone belt)
or with komatiitic basalts at Raglan and in the Thompson
belt (Naldrett, 1989, and references therein). The Bon
Accord deposit is probably genetically unrelated to
typical komatiite-hosted ores (de Waal, 1986; de Wit
et al., 1986) as it has extremely high Ni contents (up to
36% NiO) and is essentially devoid of S. The reasons for
the apparent absence of Ni sulfide ores in the South
African komatiites remain poorly understood. In the
following, I will first briefly review the most widely used
genetic models for komatiite-hosted sulfide ores. I will
then highlight differences in the petrogenesis and age of
the best-known South African komatiites (in the
Barberton greenstone belt) relative to other komatiites.
Finally, I will evaluate whether these differences may
explain the apparent absence of sulfide ores at
Barberton.
Models for the formation of Ni sulfide ores
associated with komatiites
Thermal erosion of the substrate
Magmatic Ni sulfide ores tend to be found at the bases
of lava channels of some komatiites and komatiitic
basalts. The most popular model for the formation of the
ores remains one whereby the magma assimilated
external S from the sedimenatary substrate. This resulted
in S supersaturation and segregation of an immiscible
sulfide melt to the base of the flow (Lesher and Keays,
2002, and references therein). The elevated potential of
komatiites relative to basalts to host Ni sulfide ores may
be explained by their relatively higher extrusion
temperature (1560º vs. 1200 to 1250º, Arndt et al., 1998).
Thus, komatiites are thought to be more capable to

SOUTH AFRICAN JOURNAL OF GEOLOGY, 2003, VOLUME 106, PAGE 35-40

36 MAGMATIC NI SULFIDE ORES IN SOUTH AFRICAN KOMATIITES
assimilate any S-bearing country rocks. Further,
komatiites have significantly higher Ni contents than
basalts so that any sulfides that may form are more likely
to be economic. And finally, komatiite lavas are thought
to flow in a turbulent manner. Thus any sulfides that
form may be kept in suspension before being
concentrated in flow-dynamic traps, at the base of lava
flows or in widened portions of feeder dykes/sills.
Lesher and Keays (2002) argue that this model has
proved to be robust and “explains the absence of ores
in areas that contain S-rich sedimentary rocks, but no
lava channels, or in areas that contain lava channels but
no S source”.
Sulfide entrainment from depth
The concept of thermal erosion of sediments by
komatiite lava flows has been questioned by a number
of authors. Cas and Beresford (2001) believe that the
localized development of erosional channels,
the presence of coherent and conformable bottom
contacts of most komatiites, and the lack of autobreccias
point to laminar flow of komatiites. Under these
conditions, thermal erosion of the substrate by komatiite
lava would be insignificant. Further, they claim that clear
field evidence for thermally eroded lava channels are
lacking and most depressions at the base of komatiites
are fault-bounded, as originally proposed by Gresham
and Loftus-Hill (1981).
Citing numerous industrial and natural examples,
Rice and Moore (2001) suggest that lava flows form
chilled basal contact zones that thermally isolate
the substrate sufficiently to prevent thermal erosion. The
formation of chilled contact zones is a commonly
observed feature in both intrusions and lava flows, but
in intrusive environments the heatflux to the hostrocks
is more longlived than in lava flows, facilitating partial
melting. This may explain why empirical evidence for
assimilation of country rocks is much more abundant in
intrusive than in extrusive environments. In many of
these examples the assimilation is thought to have
triggered sulfide supersaturation (e.g., Theriault and
Barnes, 1998; Li and Naldrett, 1999).
An application of these observations to the origin of
komatiite ores has been originally proposed by Groves
et al. (1979) and Green and Naldrett (1981). They
suggested that komatiite magmas assimilate sedimentary
S prior to eruption, during ascent through the crust, and
then entrain the sulfides to surface. Later studies on a
number of sulfide ores in intrusive settings including
Noril’sk, Voisey’s Bay (Naldrett, 1997), and Okiep (Maier,
2000), and experimental work by de Bremond d’Ars
et al. (2001) confirmed that sulfide entrainment in
silicate magma is possible, inspite of the considerable
density contrast between sulfide and silicate melt.
Notably, in many examples of lava-associated Ni sulfide
ores (e.g. at Raglan), significant lateral sulfide transport
is a key component of the genetic models applied
(Lesher et al., 2001), for example, to explain the
common occurrence of internal sulfide lenses. Vertical
SOUTH AFRICAN JOURNAL OF GEOLOGY
sulfide entrainment from sub-volcanic staging intrusions
seems to be equally compatible with this feature.
Perhaps a more serious problem with the model of
sulfide entrainment from depth is that in many of the
major mineralized conduit systems where this model has
been applied (Uitkomst: Gauert et al. 1995; Kabanga:
Evans et al. 1999; Voisey’s Bay, Li and Naldrett, 1999)
there is an abundance of disseminated sulfides in large
portions of the intrusions. In contrast, basal sulfide ores
in most mineralized komatiites are overlain by rocks that
are virtually barren of sulfides. Lesher and Keays (2002)
suggest that this feature is best explained if the ores
formed largely in situ.
Differences between South African komatiites and
mineralized komatiites elsewhere
Age
Ni sulfide ores throughout the world are mainly
associated with late Archean and early Proterozoic
komatiites and komatiitic basalts (Lesher and Keays,
2002). In the Archean, these are found in the Norseman-
Kalgoorlie, Agnew-Wiluna and Forrestania greenstone
belts of Western Australia, the Kidd-Munro and Tisdale
areas in the Abitibi greenstone belt, and the Reliance
unit in Zimbabwe. Early Proterozoic occurrences include
the Thompson, Fox River, and Cape Smith belts of
Canada and the Petchenga belt of Russia. The South
African komatiites are mostly significantly older than
these mineralized komatiites and komatiitic basalts, at
between ~3.2 and ~3.5 Ga (Brandl and de Wit, 1997).
One may therefore speculate that the absence of Ni
sulfide ores is somehow related to the greater age of the
South African komatiites (Arndt et al., 1997), particularly
since other “old” komatiites in the Pilbara craton of
Australia and the Aldan craton of Siberia are also
characterized by an apparent absence of Ni sulfide ores.
Further, Sproule et al. (2002) have shown that in the
Abitibi belt there is a trend of the older komatiites being
barren of mineralization and lacking geochemical
evidence of contamination, whereas some of the
younger, mineralized, komatiites are contaminated. This
could support a possible relationship between the age of
the lavas and their potential to assimilate country rocks
and to host sulfide ores.
Composition
The Barberton komatiites are by far the best-studied
komatiites in South Africa. They are characterized by
distinct major and trace element compositions relative to
many younger komatiites from elsewhere. Most notably,
the Barberton komatiites are relatively depleted in Al2O3,
Ti, V, Sc, and HREE (Nesbitt et al., 1979). It has been
proposed that these compositional characteristics are the
result of relatively low degrees (ca. 30%) of batch partial
melting of the mantle, at a high pressure (above 5 to 7
GPa, Herzberg, 1992). Under these conditions, the
stability of garnet and orthopyroxene is increased at
the expense of olivine and near-solidus melts may
contain more than 30wt.% MgO. Herzberg (1995)
 WOLFGANG D. MAIER
Figure 1. Composition of komatiites and picrites as a function of age, and in relation to the mantle solidus. From Herzberg (1995) in
Condie (2001).
showed that high-P melting was characteristic of the
early Archean mantle (Figure 1), probably as a result of
the relatively higher temperatures of the young Earth
(Richter, 1988). However, some greenstone belts such as
the ~2.7 Ga Abitibi belt and the Lumby Lake greenstones
in the Superior Province of Canada may contain both
types of komatiite (Condie 2001, and references therein)
and it has been proposed that Al-depleted and
undepleted komatiites may form from different parts of
the same plume (Tomlinson et al., 1999).
Following ideas by Allègre (1982) Parman et al.
(1997) suggested that the Barberton komatiites formed
by hydrous melting of metasomatized sub-continental
lithospheric mantle in a subduction zone environment,
with the depth of melting being comparable to modern
MOR environments. However, the model has not been
widely accepted (see Arndt et al., 1998, for a discussion).
Keays (1983) and Maier et al. (in press) have
documented that Barberton komatiites have significantly
lower PGE contents and Pd/Ir ratios than Al-undepleted
komatiites from elsewhere. The S solubility and thus
PGE content of basaltic-picritic magmas depends
strongly on the depth of melting (Figure 2; Mavrogenes
and O’Neill, 1999). At 10 GPa and 1810°C, picrites may
dissolve some 685 ppm S. At 14 GPa and 2000°C, they
can dissolve 386 ppm S (J. Mavrogenes, personal
communication). If these results are applicable to
komatiites, and assuming that the primitive mantle
contained approximately 200 ppm S (Lorand, 1990),
then late Archean Al-undepleted komatiites require
some 30% melting to consume all sulfides in the source,
SOUTH AFRICAN JOURNAL OF GEOLOGY
37
whereas early Archean Al-depleted komatiites require
some 50% partial melting. The latter estimate is in
agreement with the low PGE content of the Barberton
komatiites in that the degree of melting (30%) was too
small to consume all the sulfides in the source, with the
residual sulfides scavenging the highly chalcophile PGE.
Importantly, the low PGE contents of the komatiites
cannot be explained by sulfide saturation during ascent,
as this would be incompatible with the low Pd/Ir ratios.
Thus, the PGE data support a model whereby the
Barberton komatiites are derived from a deeper mantle
source than Al-undepleted komatiites.
Tredoux and McDonald (1996) have analysed a bulk
sample of komatiite from the Geluk Subgroup (their
Figure 1). This sample has markedly higher PGE
contents than the samples of Keays (1983) and Maier
et al. (in press). However, Pearson and Woodland (2000)
have recently reanalysed the sample of Tredoux and
McDonald (1996) using more modern instruments and
found markedly lower PGE contents, particularly Pt.
Possible reasons for the lack of sulfide ores at
Barberton (and in other South African komatiites)
(i) Al-depleted Barberton komatiites that form at a
depth of 14 GPa contain up to 50% less S than
Al-undepleted komatiites that form at 10 GPa
(J. Mavrogenes, personal communication). Further,
the eruption temperature of Al-depleted komatiites
may be some 100°C higher than that of
Al-undepleted komatiites (Herzberg, 1995), which
would result in a higher S solubility during eruption
38 MAGMATIC NI SULFIDE ORES IN SOUTH AFRICAN KOMATIITES
Figure 2. Sulfur contents at sulfide saturation in synthetic basalt versus pressure and temperature. From Mavrogenes and O’Neill (1999).
of the Al-depleted komatiites. Therefore, Barberton
komatiites will have required more addition of
external S, and thus more contamination by the
hostrocks, to reach S supersaturation.
(ii) The early Archean Kaapvaal crust may have been
less sulfidic than the late Archean crust in the
Yilgarn Craton, the Zimbabwe Craton, or the Abitibi
belt and as a result more thermal erosion of crust by
the magmas/lavas would have been necessary to
trigger S supersaturation. This model is difficult
to test. Crustal signatures (as reflected by S isotopes)
may be highly diluted in dynamic magmatic systems
(Lesher et al., 2001), and so evidence for crustal
contamination is often difficult to detect. In the case
of Barberton, an additional problem is that the base
of the Komati Formation is not exposed as the
sequence is cut by the Komati Shear Zone and thus
direct determination of the S contents of the
substrate to the lavas is not possible. Strauss
(2002) noted that siltstones and shales from the
Swaziland Supergroup are characterized by
generally low S contents, and other indicators also
point to low S activities early in the history of the
belt, e.g. the predominance of oxide facies iron
formation (de Ronde et al., 1994). A relative paucity
in S contents of the earliest sedimentary rocks has
also been observed in other greenstone belts (Naqvi
et al., 1981).
(iii) The substrate to komatiite flows could have been
more primitive in the early Archean than in the late
Archean or early Proterozoic and therefore more
SOUTH AFRICAN JOURNAL OF GEOLOGY
difficult to assimilate by the lava flows. Similarly, if
the late Archean crust was lighter and more evolved
than the early Archean crust, ponding of magmas
during ascent could have facilitated assimilation of
the hostrocks in an intrusive environment. In the
older komatiites, the crust was denser and
the magmas erupted without intermediate ponding,
and were therefore less contaminated. Accordingly,
one could propose that in the younger komatiites,
crustal assimilation may have triggered sulfide
segregation in sub-volcanic staging chambers. Some
of the sulfides were entrained to surface and
deposited in fluid dynamic traps at the base of lava
flows. Again, the lack of exposure prevents a
satisfactory evaluation of this model. However, it
appears that the oldest crustal fragments in the
Kaapvaal craton (the Ngwane gneiss, ~3.64 Ga;
Brandl and de Wit, 1997) are only slightly older than
the Komati Formation. In contrast, the
~2.7 Ga komatiites at Kambalda interacted with
much older granitoids or granulites during ascent
(Chauvel et al., 1985) and some of the ~2.7 to ~2.75
Ga Abitibi komatiites contain rare zircons up to ~3.0
Ga in age (Gariepy et al., 1984). This could support
that the younger komatiites interacted with more
evolved crust than the Barberton lavas.
(iv) Many Al-undepleted and/or younger komatiites also
do not appear to host Ni sulfide ores, e.g. the
Ventersdorp komatiites in South Africa. Thus
the absence of Ni sulfide ores at Barberton and in
other old komatiites may be fortuitous, i.e. related to
 WOLFGANG D. MAIER
the scarcity of preserved early Archean komatiites in
general, and to the relatively small size of the
Barberton and other South African greenstone belts,
in particular (Arndt et al., 1997).
(vi) Sulfide ores in the South African komatiites or in the
unmineralized younger komatiites may remain
undiscovered. The difficulties in locating ore-
bearing lava channel complexes in komatiite flow
fields have been outlined by Hill (2001).
Summary
The potential of komatiites and komatiitic basalts to host
Ni sulfide ores clearly depends on several factors (Lesher
and Keays, 2002). These include the presence of lava
channels and a suitable S-rich contaminant. Both could
have been absent in the “old” South African komatiites
during komatiite emplacement, or they are not exposed.
Lesher and Keays (2002) assign little importance to
the age of komatiites as a factor in ore potential.
However, if many younger komatiites formed at
shallower mantle levels than older komatiites (Herzberg,
1995) then it is reasonable to assume that (i) they were
less S undersaturated during eruption thereby requiring
less contamination to achieve S supersaturation, and
(ii) they could interact with more evolved and/or S-rich
crust during eruption and/or intrusion. Both factors
facilitate the formation of magmatic sulfides. If age is
indeed an important exploration criteria for komatiite-
hosted Ni sulfide ores, then the younger South African
komatiites, e.g. those of the Westonaria Formation of the
Ventersdorp Supergroup should have a higher Ni sulfide
potential than older komatiites such as those at
Barberton.
Acknowledgements
I thank Nick Arndt and Christo van Zyl for their
thorough reviews.
References
Allègre, C.J. (1982). Genesis of Archaean komatiites in a wet ultramafic
subducted plate. In: Arndt, N.T. and Nisbet, E.G. (Editors) Komatiites.
London, George Allen and Unwin, 495-500.
Arndt, N.T., Naldrett, A.J. and Hunter, D.R. (1997). Ore deposits associated
with mafic magmas in the Kaapvaal craton. Mineralium Deposita,
32, 323-334.
Arndt, N.T., Ginibre, C., Chauvel, C., Albarede, F., Cheadle, M., Herzberg, C.,
Jenner, G. and Lahaye, Y. (1998). Were komatiites wet? Geology,
26, 739-742.
Barnes, S.-J., Zientek, M.L. and Severson, M.J. (1997). Ni, Cu, Au and
platinum-group element contents of sulfides associated with intraplate
magmatism: a synthesis. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences, 34, 337-351.
Brandl, G. and de Wit, M.J. (1997). The Kaapvaal Craton, South Africa. In: M.
J. de Wit and L. D. Ashwal (Editors), Greenstone Belts. Oxford: Clarendon,
U.K., 581-607.
Bremond d’Ars, J. De, Arndt, N.T. & Hallot, E. (2001) Analog experimental
insights into the formation of magmatic sulfide deposits. Earth and
Planetary Science Letters, 186, 371-381.
Cas, R.A.F. and Beresford, S.W. (2001). Field characteristics and erosional
processes associated with komatiitic lavas: implications for flow behaviour.
Canadian Mineralogist, 39, 505-524.
Chauvel, C., Dupre, B. and Jenner, G.A. (1985). The Sm-Nd age of Kambalda
volcanics is 500 Ma too old! Earth and Planetary Science Letters,
74, 315-324.
SOUTH AFRICAN JOURNAL OF GEOLOGY
39
Condie, K.C. (2001). Mantle plumes and their record in Earth history.
Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, U.K., 306 pp.
De Ronde, C.E.J., de Wit, M.J. and Spooner, E.T.C. (1994). Early Archaean
3.2Ga) Fe-oxide-rich hydrothermal discharge vents in the Barberton
Greenstone belt, South Africa. Geological Society of America Bulletin,
106, 86-104.
De Waal, S.A. (1986). The Bon Accord Ni occurrence at Barberton.
In: Anhaeusser, C.R. and Maske, S. (Editors) Mineral deposits of Southern
Africa. Geological Society of South Africa, Johannesburg, 287-291.
De Wit, M., Tredoux, M.J., Hart, R.J., Armstrong, R.A. and Sellschop J.P.F.
(1986). Platinoids in a 3.6 Ga nickel-iron occurence: implications for early
terrestrial evolution and iridium anomalies. Abstract, 17th Lunar and
Planetary Science Conference, Lunar and Planetary Institute, Houston,
U.S.A. 184-185.
Evans, D.M., Byemelwa, L. and Gilligan, J. (1999). Variability of magmatic
sulphide compositions at the Kabanga nickel prospect, Tanzania. Journal
of African Earth Sciences, 29, 329-351.
Fyfe, W.S. (1978). The evolution of Earth’s crust: Modern plate tectonics to
anciant hotspot tectonics? Chemical Geology, 23, 89-114.
Gariepy, C., Allegre, C.J. and Lajoie, J. (1984). U-Pb systematics in single
zircons from the Pontiac sediments, Abitibi greenstone belt, Canadian
Journal of Earth Science, 21, 1296-1304.
Gauert, C.D.K., de Waal, S.A. and Wallmach, T. (1995). Geology of the
ultrabasic to basic Uitkomst Complex, eastern Transvaal, South Africa: an
overview. Journal of African Earth Sciences, 21, 553-570.
Green, A.H. and Naldrett, A.J. (1981). The Langmuir volcanic peridotite
associated nickel sulfide deposits: Canadian equivalents of the Western
Australian occurrences. Economic Geology, 76, 1503-1523.
Gresham, J.J. and Loftus-Hills, G.D. (1981). The geology of the Kambalda
nickel field, Western Australia. Economic Geology, 76, 1373-1416.
Groves, D.I., Barrett, F.M. and McQueen, K.G. (1979). The relative role of
magmatic segregation, volcanic exhalation and regional metamorphism in
the generation of volcanic-associated nickel ores of Western Australia.
Canadian Mineralogist, 17, 319-336.
Herzberg, C. (1992). Depth and degree of melting of komatiite. Journal of
Geophysical Research, 97, 4521-4540.
Herzberg, C. (1995). Generation of plume magmas through time: an
experimental approach. Chemical Geology, 126, 1-16.
Hill, R.E.T. (2001). Komatiite volcanology, volcanological setting and primary
geochemical properties of komatiite-associated nickel deposits.
Geochemistry: Exploration, Environment, Analysis, 1, 365-381.
Keays, R.R. (1983). Archean Gold deposits and their source rocks: the upper
mantle connection. In: Foster, R.P. (ed.), Gold ‘82 - The geology,
geochemistry and genesis of gold deposits. Amsterdam: Balkema, 17-51.
Lesher, C.M., Burnham, O.M., Keays, R.R., Barnes, S.J. and Hulbert, L. (2001).
Trace element geochemsitry and petrogenesis of barren and ore-associated
komatiites. Canadian Mineralogist, 39, 673-696.
Lesher, C.M. and Keays, R.R. (2002). Komatiite-associated Ni-Cu-PGE
deposits: geology, mineralogy, geochemistry, and genesis. In: L. J. Cabri
(Editor) The geology, geochemistry, mineralogy and mineral beneficiation
of platinum-group elements. Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and
Petroleum, Special Volume, 54, 579-617.
Li, C. and Naldrett, A.J. (1999). Geology and petrology of the Voisey’s Bay
intrusion:, reaction of olivine with sulfide and silicate liquids. Lithos,
47, 1-31.
Lorand, J.P. (1990). Are spinel lherzolite xenoliths representative of the
abundance of sulphur in the mantle? Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta
54, 1487-1492.
Maier, W.D. (2000). Platinum-group elements in Cu-sulfide ores at
Carolusberg and East Okiep, Namaqualand, South Africa. Mineralium
Deposita, 35, 422-429.
Maier, W.D., Roelofse, F., and Barnes, S.-J. (in press). The concentration of
the PGE in South African komatiites: implications for mantle sources,
melting regime, and Ni sulfide potential, Journal of Petrology, (in press)
Mavrogenes, J.A. and O’Neill, H.St.C. (1999). The relative effects of pressure,
temperature and oxygen fugacity on the solubility of sulphide in mafic
magma. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 63, 1173-1180.
Naldrett, A.J. (1997). Key factors in the genesis of Noril’sk, Sudbury,
Jinchuan, Voisey’s Bay and other worlds-class Ni-Cu-PGE deposits:
implications for exploration. Australian Journal of Earth Sciences,
40 MAGMATIC NI SULFIDE ORES IN SOUTH AFRICAN KOMATIITES
44, 283-315.
Naldrett, A.J. (1989). Magmatic sulphide deposits. Clarendon Press, Oxford,
U.K., 186 pp.
Naqvi, S.M., Govil, P.K. and Rogers, J.J.W. (1981). Chemical sedimentation in
Archean - early Proterozoic greenschist belts of the Dharwar craton, India.
In: J. E. Glover and D. I. Groves (Editors) Archean geology, Geological
Society of Australia, Special Publication, 7, 245-261.
Nesbitt, R.W., Sun, S.-S. and Purvis, A.C. (1979). Komatiites: geochemsitry
and genesis. Canadian Mineralogist, 17, 165-186.
Parman, S., Dann, J.C., Grove, T.L. and de Wit, M.J. (1997). Emplacement
conditions of komatiite magmas from the 3.49 Ga Komati Formation,
Barberton Greenstone Belt, South Africa. Earth and Planetary Science
Letters, 150, 303-323.
Pearson, D.G. and Woodland, S.J. (2000) Solvent extraction / anion exchange
separation and determination of PGEs (Os, Ir, Pt, Pd, Ru) and Re-Os
isotopes in geological samples by isotope dilution ICP-MS. Chemical
Geology, 91, 439-450.
Rice, A. and Moore, J.M. (2001). Physical modelling of the formation of
komatiite-hosted nickel deposits and a review of the thermal erosion
paradigm. Canadian Mineralogist, 39, 491-503.
Richter, F.M. (1988). A major change in the thermal state of the Earth at the
Archean-Proterozoic boundary: Consequences for the nature and
SOUTH AFRICAN JOURNAL OF GEOLOGY
preservation of continental lithosphere. Journal of Petrology, 29, 39-52.
Sproule, R.A., Lesher, C.M., Ayer, J.A., Thurston, P.C. and Harzberg, C.T.
(2002). Spacial and temporal variations in the geochemistry of komatiites
and komatiitic basalts in the Abitibi greenstone belt. Precambrian
Research, 115, 153-186.
Strauss, H. (2002). The isotopic composition of Precambrian sulfides -
seawater chemistry and biological evolution. In: W. Altermann and P. L.
Corcoran (Editors) Precambrian sedimentary environments: a modern
approach to ancient depositional systems. Blackwell, U.K., 67-106.
Theriault, R.D., and Barnes, S.-J. (1998). Compositional variations in Cu-Ni-
PGE sulfides of the Dunka Road deposit, Duluth Complex, Minnesota: the
importance of combined assimilation and magmatic processes. Canadian
Mineralogist, 36, 869-886.
Tomlinson, K.Y., Hughes, D.J., Thurston, P.C. and Hal, R.P. (1999). Plume
magmatism and crustal growth at 2.9 to 3.0 Ga in the Steep Rock and
Lumby Lake area, western Superior Province. Lithos, 46, 103-136.
Tredoux, M. and McDonald, I. (1996). Komatiite WITS-1, low concentration
noble metal standard for the analysis of non-mineralised samples.
Geostandards Newsletter, 20, 267-276.
Editorial handling: J.M. Barton Jr.