Osmium Isotope Constraints on Ore Metal Recycling in Subduction Zones

摘要

Veined peridotite xenoliths from the mantle beneath the giant Ladolam gold deposit on Lihir Island, Papus New Guinea, are 2 to 800 times more enriched in copper, gold, platinum, and palladium than surrounding depleted arc mantle. Gold ores have osmium isotope compositions similar to those of the underlying Subduction-modified mantle peridotite source region, indicating that the pri- Mary origin of the metals was the mantle.