Distribution of Platinum Group Elements in the New Afton Alkalic Cu-Au Porphyry Deposit, Kamloops, British Columbia

New Afton is an alkalic Cu-Au porphyry deposit situated 10 km west of Kamloops, British Columbia, within the Quesnel island arc terrane, a Late Paleozoic to Mesozoic arc complex that occupies the eastern part of the Intermontane Belt of the Canadian Cordillera. Bulk rock and sulfide minerals from New Afton contain potentially economic concentrations of platinum group elements (PGE). Primary PGE (Pd ± Pt) enrichment occurs within the main Cu-Au ore body and is spatially associated with the Cherry Creek monzonite. Platinum group element mineralization occurs as both discrete platinum group minerals (PGM) and as trace components in nickeliferous pyrite. The early hydrothermal fluids that caused primary Cu-Au-PGE mineralization precipitated both Pd, transported as a HS- complex, and Ni during cooling and the formation of the main ore body. The initially deposited PGE were susceptible to subsequent hydrothermal re-mobilization and reprecipitation as platinum group minerals.