A rapid change in magma plumbing taps porphyry copper deposit-forming magmas.

Porphyry-type deposits are a vital source of green technology metals such as copper and molybdenum. They typically form in subduction-related settings from large, long-lived magmatic systems. The most widely accepted model for their formation requires that mantle-derived magmas undergo an increase in volatiles and ore-forming constituents in mid- to lower crustal reservoirs over millions of years, however, this is mostly based on observations from shallow, sporadically exposed parts of porphyry systems.

Oxidized sulfur-rich arc magmas formed porphyry Cu deposits by 1.88 Ga.

Most known porphyry Cu deposits formed in the Phanerozoic and are exclusively associated with moderately oxidized, sulfur-rich, hydrous arc-related magmas derived from partial melting of the asthenospheric mantle metasomatized by slab-derived fluids. Yet, whether similar metallogenic processes also operated in the Precambrian remains obscure. Here we address the issue by investigating the origin, fO, and S contents of calc-alkaline plutonic rocks associated with the Haib porphyry Cu deposit in the Paleoproterozoic Richtersveld Magmatic Arc (southern Namibia), an interpreted mature island-arc setting.

GZ7 and GZ8 - Two Zircon Reference Materials for SIMS U-Pb Geochronology.

Here, we document a detailed characterisation of two zircon gemstones, GZ7 and GZ8. Both stones had the same mass at 19.2 carats (3.