Sulfide and Fe-Ti-P liquid immiscibility in the Ni-Cu-Co ovoid deposit of the Voisey’s Bay complex, Labrador, Canada

Abstract

In the Voisey’s Bay complex, sulfide-matrix breccias developed through the percolation of dense sulfide melt, leading to the displacement of the silicate melt within partially molten silicate-matrix breccias. In these sulfide matrix-breccias, hydrous silicate rims are commonly present at the interface between the sulfide matrix and the silicate framework. Multiple lines of evidence support a magmatic origin of these hornblende-biotite rims, which was largely coeval with the emplacement of the sulfide melt in the magmatic breccias. The formation of the hornblende-biotite rims required the addition of alkalis and water that could not have entirely been sourced from either the sulfide melt or the silicate framework. Through the integration of compositional maps with major and trace element analyses of the main accessory minerals, we propose that the critical components required for the development of the hydrous silicate rims in sulfide-matrix breccias originated from an immiscible Fe-Ti-P melt. Distinct textural and compositional features of apatite, hercynite, ilmenite and magnetite support the presence of small amounts of Fe-Ti-P melt in the sulfide melt. This Fe-Ti-P melt likely formed through melt immiscibility in the early stages of the development of the Voisey’s Bay complex, and was transported in the magma conduits together with the sulfide melt.