Emplacement and ore potential of the Permian Pobei mafic–ultramafic complex, NE Tarim, NW China

•The Pobei mafic–ultramafic complex is composed of multiple intrusive phases emplaced at ca. 283 Ma.•Multiple injections of magma from a deeper chamber to the shallow magma chamber to form the current Pobei complex.•The ultramafic bodies were formed from the injection of olivine- and sulfide-laden crystal slurry and have the potential of Ni-Cu sulfide mineralization.•The gabbroic body with strong crustal contamination and high differentiation has the reef type Cr-V-PGE ore potential. A number of mafic–ultramafic intrusions with variable degrees of Ni-Cu sulfide mineralization occur in the northeastern Tarim Block and East Tianshan Orogenic Belt (NW China). Among them, the Pobei complex is composed of a gabbro body intruded by several ultramafic bodies including Poyi and Poshi. These bodies have similar mineralogy and chemical compositions and were derived from a common magma. Olivine crystals from the Poyi and Poshi bodies generally have high Fo contents with the highest Fo value of 89.5 and Ni up to 3300 ppm Ni, indicative of crystallizing from Ni-undepleted, high-Mg basaltic magmas. Sr-Nd-Pb isotopic compositions show that more mafic rocks show relatively low degrees of crustal contamination, whereas more evolved rocks experienced higher degrees of contamination, especially in the upper part of the complex. Olivine crystals from both the Poyi and Poshi bodies show sharp decrease of Ni with decreasing Fo values, indicating sulfide segregation in these two bodies. Gabbros may have potential of reef-type chromite mineralization at the deep level, and V-bearing magnetite mineralization at higher stratigraphic level corresponding to the current surface level, but the potential of PGE mineralization is low. We propose that the ultramafic bodies of the Pobei complex may have been formed from the injection of olivine- and sulfide-laden crystal slurry from the bottom of a large magma chamber. The Ni-Cu mineralization was triggered by the crustal contamination. The Pobei complex was formed by the multiple intrusions of magmas to form the current complex.