Copper and Nickel Isotopes

The chapter describes a technique of analysing copper and nickel isotopes in ores and magmatic rocks of deposits. Average δ65Cu value strongly diverges in rich intrusions: Kharaelakh (−1.55‰), Talnakh (−0.7‰), and Norilsk-1 (+0.25‰). Perhaps this is due to the mixing of the crustal and mantle sources of matter in the formation of these massifs. The Kharaelakh intrusion by δ65Cu has a large share of crustal matter. In the remaining massifs, the average value of δ65Cu is almost the same (−0.8 to −0.3‰) and does not correlate with the isotope composition of sulphur. The average values of nickel 61Ni/60Ni isotope composition vary within narrow limits from −0.6 to 0‰ in all intrusions of the region and point to a single source of this metal. Data on copper and nickel isotopes in the products of mining and metallurgical companies in the world are given. Variations in the isotopic composition of copper are more associated with raw materials sources of companies, and the isotope composition of nickel, with different technological processes. A possible change in the isotopic composition of nickel during carbonylation (a mond process) is considered.