The Bushveld Complex in South Africa hosts the lion’s share of the world’s noble metal resources in platinum reefs – thin layers of silicate/chromite rocks containing platinum-rich sulphides. The reefs are widely attributed to multiple replenishments by ore-forming magmas that have been entering the evolving Bushveld chamber through numerous feeder conduits. The replenishment events are marked by regional and local disconformities/unconformities, significant isotopic shifts, and notable reversals in the whole-rock and mineral compositions. Surprisingly, however, so far no single feeder conduit for platinum reefs has been found despite extensive surface and underground mining for over a century. Feeder conduits appear entirely absent from the Bushveld Complex. This paradox has long been known but has never been specifically addressed. Here, we suggest that the absence of feeder channels is a natural consequence of the magma chamber replenishment through a cumulate pile. The fossilization of the feeder channels in the cumulate pile is likely impeded by two principal factors: (a) a cumulate pile is too hot to enable efficient cooling and crystallization of magma flowing through the channels, and (b) the channels are closed by an adjacent elastically deformable pile immediately after cessation of the magma emplacement. The feeding dykes are thus absent because there is little chance for the conduits to get preserved in a hot and deformable cumulate pile of layered intrusions.

南非的布什维尔德杂岩体拥有世界上最大份额的铂矿礁贵金属资源——含有富铂硫化物的硅酸盐/铬铁矿岩石薄层。这些珊瑚礁被广泛归因于成矿岩浆的多次补充，这些岩浆通过众多的供给管道进入不断发展的布什维尔德室。补给事件的特点是区域和局部不整合面/不整合面、显着的同位素变化以及整个岩石和矿物成分的显着逆转。然而，令人惊讶的是，尽管一个多世纪以来进行了广泛的地表和地下采矿，但迄今为止尚未发现单一的铂矿礁馈线管道。布什维尔德综合体似乎完全没有馈线管道。这个悖论早已为人所知，但从未得到具体解决。在这里，我们认为供给通道的缺失是岩浆库通过堆积堆补充的自然结果。堆积堆中的供给通道的石化可能受到两个主要因素的阻碍：（a）堆积堆太热，无法使流过通道的岩浆有效冷却和结晶，以及（b）通道被岩浆侵位停止后立即相邻的弹性变形桩。因此，供给堤不存在，因为管道几乎没有机会保存在热且可变形的层状侵入物堆积堆中。