ABSTRACT

The Rum Jungle area forms part of the Palaeoproterozoic Pine Creek Orogen. The metasedimentary Whites Formation carries abundant black shale with complex Pb-Zn-Ag-Cu-Co-Ni-(U) mineralization in stratiform and cross-cutting settings. The Browns deposit (70 Mt @ 2.6% Pb, 0.8 % Cu, 0.12 % Co, 0.11 % Ni, 10g/t Ag) occurs in carbonaceous and calcareous pelites, is laterally zoned (Pb-Co in SW, Cu-Co in NE), and has siegenite-polydymite as carriers of Co and Ni. Setting and composition of Browns differ distinctly from other Proterozoic Pb-Zn-Ag deposits and show similarities with Kupferschiefer- and Katanga-type mineralization.