Shale-hosted Ni–(Cu–PGE) mineralisation: a global overview

AbstractShale-hosted Ni–Cu–platinum group element (PGE) sulphide occurrences represent significant resources of not only Ni, Cu and the PGEs but also, in some cases, other elements such as Mo, Zn, Mn, V and U. The largest known deposit of this type that is currently being mined is the Talvivaara Zn–Ni–Cu–Mn–U shale deposit in Finland. The total resource of this deposit is ∼1·550 Bt of ore, at 0·22%Ni, 0·13%Cu, 0·49%Zn, 200 ppm Co and 17 ppm U, all of which can be extracted using a bioheapleaching mineral processing approach. Other significant examples of this deposit type are the Mo–Ni–Zn–Au–PGE deposits of the Niutitang Formation in China and the Ni–PGE–Zn–Mo–Re–Ag mineralisation of the Nick deposit in the Selwyn Basin, Yukon, Canada. However, although they provide insights into the processes responsible for mineralisation in shale-hosted Ni deposits, the Chinese and Selwyn Basin deposits are of too low a tonnage to make them high priority exploration targets. Other potential resources discussed here inc...