An optical examination of the massive chalcopyrite vein reveals traces of pentlandite and at least one white platinum group mineral (most probably sperrylite, platinum arsenide). Inclusions and late veinlets include carbonate and anhydrite, translucent yellow-brown sphalerite and magnetite. A remarkable ore, with an undiluted grade of circa 30 weight percent copper plus values of nickel, zinc, platinum and no doubt other metals. Although pentlandite and magnetite inclusions could have formed in a magmatic setting, the presence of carbonate, anhydrite and sphalerite as inclusions and along fractures speaks to a post-magmatic, lower-temperature deposition during vein filling in the footwall of the Sudbury igneous complex, as it cooled following an unimaginably large asteroidal impact event some 1,850 million years ago.

The McCreedy West mine lies on the west side of the North Range of the Sudbury structure, and is well-documented in terms of mining, geology, geophysics and mineralization (e.g., Hoffman et al., 1979; Coats and Snajdr, 1984; Naldrett, 1984; Whiteway, 1990; Naldrett et al., 1992; Pessaran, 1993; Farrow and Watkinson, 1997; Naldrett et al., 1999; Farrow and Lightfoot, 2002; Roussell et al., 2002; Morgan et al., 2002; Farrow et al., 2005).

The 8-km Hardy-Longvack section is the most intensely mineralized portion of the North Range, including the McCreedy West, Onaping, Strathcona and other deposits. Amongst several styles of mineralization are spectacular footwall veins which extend downwards and outwards from the Sudbury igneous complex into the host rocks, and contain often-spectacular grades of Cu and platinum group elements, justifying a) pursuit of these veins to depth, and b) paying a cost in dilution (the term for reduction of the grade of ore recovered, in taking out a minimum thickness of the barren or at least subeconomic wall rocks, in order to permit safe mechanized mining). The footwall vein deposits are enriched in copper, gold and silver, platinum, palladium and other metals. Total Pt+Pd+Au in massive sulphide veins is commonly 10-20 ppm (grams per tonne), a very desirable target, even neglecting the bonanza copper grades! The Sudbury igneous complex crystallized at 1850±1 Ma. Osmium isotope ratios show substantial variation, which may be explained if a large (>50%) proportion of the igneous complex is derived by impact-induced melting of local crust (Walker et al., 1991).

FNX, in a joint venture with Dynatec, acquired McCreedy West and four other Sudbury mines from Inco in 2002 (Scales, 2005). Commercial production was declared at McCreedy West in November 2003. The deposit was mined originally from 1970 to 1998, with total production of 15.8 MT grading 1.70% Cu, 1.44% Ni and 1.3 ppm Pt + Pd + Au across 7 known ore zones. Levack and McCreedy West, aka the Levack complex, contain foorwall veins with grades much higher than the above average of different ore types.

The basal contact of the Sudbury igneous complex dips SSE at about 35 degrees on the McCreedy West property. The granite gneiss footwall is invaded by Sudbury breccia which includes a "sandwich" of disseminated- sulphide and massive- sulphide orebodies. Above these, in turn, are granite breccia, the thin sublayer norite, then thicker mafic norite and felsic norite units. The mineralised package is often separated from the overlying Sudbury igneous complex by several hundred feet of relatively unbrecciated granitic gneiss. Pyrrhotite-dominant Ni- Cu contact ores occur at the base of the igneous complex in sublayer norite and granite breccia. Both sharp-walled and relatively low-sulphide (PM orebody) ores are dominated by chalcopyrite, with less-common pentlandite, millerite, cubanite and pyrrhotite. The contact zones are relatively rich in Ni plus Ir- Ru- Rh. In contrast, footwall veins as shown here are much richer in Cu plus Pt- Pd- Au- Ag. Tellurides such as moncheite and hessite are the most common precious-metal ore minerals, and are most often hosted by chalcopyrite. The footwall Cu veins at McCreedy West "are the only footwall veins economically exploited in the Sudbury camp to date that are physically connected to contact Ni sulphide mineralization" (Poulin and Everest, 2010).

Acknowledgements: This sample was obtained in a field trip led by Roger Poulin and John Everest, on behalf of FNX Mining, on 17 June 2010.

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