Although trace element concentrations in clinopyroxene serve as a useful tool for assessing the depletion and enrichment history of mantle peridotites, this is not applicable for peridotites in which the clinopyroxene component has been consumed (~ 25% partial melting). Orthopyroxene persists in mantle residues until ~ 40% melting and it is therefore this mineral that offers petrological insights into the evolution of refractory peridotites. Major and trace element concentrations in orthopyroxene ± clinopyroxene from two spinel facies harzburgitic xenolith suites from New Zealand are examined. Samples from Cape L'Evique (CLEV) on Chatham Island contain traces of clinopyroxene (< 2 modal %) but a suite from Lake Moana (MOA) in the South Island is devoid of this mineral. When compared with modelled orthopyroxene trace element budgets, which are constructed from a review of published source modes, melting modes and element/melt partition co-efficients, the measured orthopyroxene rare earth element data in both suites generally indicate minimums of 25–30% partial melting. These results are consistent with co-existing elevated Mg# in olivine (mostly 91.4 to 93.0) and orthopyroxene (mostly 91.3 to 93.6), high spinel Cr# (commonly > 45) and low orthopyroxene Al2O3 (generally < 3.1 wt%). However, comparison of modelled and measured orthopyroxene compositions shows that all samples, even the most refractory, have undergone metasomatism by small volume light rare earth element-bearing agents. Measured orthopyroxene Ti concentrations show that the metasomatic agent that affected the CLEV suite carried Ti, but that the MOA suite metasomatiser was Ti-poor. Orthopyroxene trace elements in the inspected rocks are therefore partly decoupled from the major element abundances, with the results demonstrating that even highly refractory peridotites can record evidence for mantle metasomatism.