Carboniferous platform limestones exposed on the Isle of Man and in the coastal outcrops of the NE Dublin Basin display striking examples of dolomite formation as a result of fault and fracture formation, locally associated with base-metal mineralisation and silicification. The dolomites are proxies for large-scale circulation of salty, metal-enriched fluids, but the details and timing of these fluids can be difficult to constrain. This talk will review 1) field, petrographic and geochemical data from NE Dublin and the Isle of Man and discuss whether these areas are discrete cases of dolomite formation or part of a regionally extensive “plumbing system”; 2) whether these dolomite-rich rocks might host recoverable ore deposits, or even hydrocarbons.

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