Platinum group minerals in chromitite bodies of the Santa Elena Nappe, Costa Rica: mineralogical characterization by electron microprobe and Raman-spectroscopy

Forty-seven grains of platinum group minerals (PGM) associated with small chromitite bodies of the Santa Elena ultramafic Nappe (Costa Rica) were mineralogically investigated with electron microscope, electron microprobe and Raman spectroscopy. The mineralogical assemblage includes sulfides of the laurite-erlichmanite series (RuS₂-OsS₂), irarsite (IrAsS), osmium, Ir-Rh sulfides containing relevant amounts of Ni, Fe and Cu, and a Ru-As-S compound, possibly ruarsite (RuAsS). Most platinum group element (PGE) sulfides and sulfarsenides represent primary magmatic phases entrapped in chromite at high temperatures, whereas native osmium is probably formed by subsolidus exsolution. The lack of primary PGE alloys suggests relatively high S-fugacity in the chromite forming system. This investigation emphasizes the efficiency of Raman spectroscopy in the identification of PGM of extremely small size, and shows how this technique can be used in revealing distinctive compositional differences among PGM of the laurite-erlichmanite series and irarsite.