The Rock Record
Porphyry deposits are associated with plutonic/ hypabyssal rocks that are typically altered and lack direct evidence of coexisting melt. This is an impediment to reconstructing magmatic processes.
The solution presented in WP1 is to use arc volcanic rocks with MIs and the chemical records contained in the crystal cargo of plutonic rocks to distinguish which process “gates” are likely to control the formation of porphyry-Cu deposits.
We will then compare chemical variations in the fractionating and accumulating minerals and melts (inclusions) from mineralised, weakly mineralised and “barren” sites to:
- Identify critical gates for porphyry genesis.
- Track melt evolution through key gates using minerals alone.
