2.7 Ga plume associated VMS mineralization in the Eastern Goldfields Superterrane: insights from the Ag-Zn-(Au) Nimbus deposit

Economic volcanic - hosted massive sulfide (VHMS) deposits of the Archean Yilgarn Craton, Western Australia, are restricted to zones of juvenile crust as revealed through regional Nd, Pb and Hf isotopic variations and the geochemistry of felsic volcanic rocks. Interpreted as Archean paleo - rift zones, one of these runs N - S through the Eastern Goldfields Superterrane (broadly coincident with the Kurnalpi Terrane) and is associated with the high grade ca. 2690 Ma Teutonic Bore, Jaguar and Bentley deposits, plus sub - economic VHMS mineralization further south. To date, only small, historic Cu deposits (e.g. Anaconda) and barren pyritic lenses have been recognised in the older 2.7 Ga plume - dominated lower stratigraphy of the Eastern Goldfields.