A review of nickel mineralisation and ore potential in the Arthrath intrusion, Aberdeenshire
Bibliographic record
Abstract
Syn- to post-orogenic mafic-ultramafic intrusions of Ordovician age underlie extensive areas of the Caledonide belt in north-east Scotland. Scientific studies over the last forty years by Aberdeen University and the British Geological Survey (BGS) have revealed a complex assemblage of cumulate and other rock types in these bodies, locally altered and disrupted by late, high-temperature shearing. In detail the geology of most of these intrusions remains poorly known on account of the thick till deposits that cover most of the region. \nSignificant magmatic nickel-copper sulphide mineralisation was discovered at two localities in these intrusions by Exploration Ventures Ltd (EVL) during a major exploration programme conducted between 1968 and 1973. Around the farms of Littlemill and Auchencrieve on the flank of the Knock intrusion EVL outlined a small deposit that has been intensely disrupted by shearing. At the second prospect, located in the Arthrath intrusion close to Ellon, disseminated and net-textured magmatic nickel-copper sulphide mineralisation was identified in five zones over a strike length of more than four kilometres. Anomalous concentrations of platinum-group elements (PGE) and cobalt are found locally in these zones. At Arthrath investigations by EVL and later workers have indicated that there has been much less tectonic disruption than in the Knock intrusion with the consequent preservation of thick intervals, locally exceeding 100 metres, of sulphide mineralisation. \nReview of existing data in the light of deposit models for magmatic nickel-copper sulphide deposits worldwide suggests that there is good potential for the discovery of economic mineralisation of this type in the Arthrath intrusion. Further investigations are recommended to evaluate the potential in two settings in this body. First, given the limited drilling carried out to date and the lack of clear understanding of the controls on the known mineralisation, additional work is required to elucidate the lateral and vertical continuity of mineralisation identified by EVL. The second target is located in the broader area at the junction between the Arthrath intrusion and the larger Arnage mass to the west where investigations should be carried out to test the application of the conceptual model developed for the world-class Voisey’s Bay nickel-copper-cobalt deposit in Canada. \nThe first stage of a future exploration programme should involve a thorough review by appropriate experts of the results of all previous work in the area. This should be followed by field investigations, including both geochemical and ground geophysical surveys and drilling. It is important that the programme at Arthrath take into account the results of work carried out in other parts of the region, such as Huntly-Knock, where the geology and mineralisation controls are better understood. Drill targets should be identified on the basis of the results of previous work, supplemented by new overburden/soil geochemistry and ground geophysical surveys (magnetic, electromagnetic and gravity). In order to acquire adequate data to identify an economic resource compliant with international reporting standards it is recommended that a diamond drilling programme of at least 15 boreholes be carried out in the most prospective zone identified from previous work and new surface investigations.
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How this classification was reachedexpand
Full frame machine prediction
Teacher imitationNot calibrated prevalence, not ground truth. Human validation pending. The Gemma side is a direct model label for every work in the frame, read from the title-only record. The Codex side is a classifier learned from the 10,348 direct Codex labels and calibrated to design-weighted sample rates; fields without enough sample support carry no Codex call. Candidate is the union of the two sides; consensus is their intersection. These outputs are machine_predicted_unvalidated and are not human labels.
Distilled classifier scores by category (both heads)
| Category | Codex | Gemma |
|---|---|---|
| Metaresearch | 0.001 | 0.001 |
| Meta-epidemiology (narrow) | 0.001 | 0.000 |
| Meta-epidemiology (broad) | 0.001 | 0.000 |
| Bibliometrics | 0.007 | 0.008 |
| Science and technology studies | 0.000 | 0.001 |
| Scholarly communication | 0.001 | 0.002 |
| Open science | 0.001 | 0.001 |
| Research integrity | 0.001 | 0.000 |
| Insufficient payload (model declined to judge) | 0.004 | 0.001 |
Machine scores (provisional)
The two teacher heads of the student model, read on this work. A score orders the frame for review; it never asserts a category, and the validation status ships verbatim with every row.
Baseline scores from an immature model (maturity gate not passed, 7 training rounds). Scores rank; they never assert a category.
score_only:v0-immature-baseline · verbatim from the scoring run: score_only means the number may rank works, and no category label ships from itClassification
machine, unvalidatedMachine predicted; a candidate call from one source (direct Gemma or distilled Codex), not a consensus.
How this classification was reached, model by model and score by score, is at the end of the page under "How this classification was reached".