S-XANES measurements of apatite inclusions in zircon and matrix apatite to trace the sulfur speciation in porphry copper systems

This study aims to enhance our understanding of the formation of high-grade porphyry copper deposits, urged by the growing global demand of copper to support a sustainable transition to green energy. The proposed experiment will focus on apatite, which is a mineral that has enormous potential in exploration targeting for porphyry copper deposits due to its unique ability to record and retain information that fingerprints magmatic and hydrothermal mineralising processes. We propose to conduct micro-X-ray absorption near-edge structures (µ-XANES) spectroscopy at the S K-edge on natural and experimental apatite from two of the world’s most significant high-grade porphyry copper deposits: La Escondida (Chile) and Resolution (Arizona, USA). Unveiling the sulfur speciation in apatite will provide crucial information about redox conditions prevailing throughout the evolution of magmas associated with high-grade copper mineralisation.