Porphyry Deposits - Introduction Porphyry deposits – characteristics

Large tonnage and low grade Related to porphyritic

bulk mineable deposits intrusions

Stockwork and
breccia-hosted ore
Large volumes of
Río
Río Blanco,
Blanco, Chile
Cerro
Cerro Casale
Casale porphyry
porphyry Cu-Au
Cu-Au deposit,
deposit, Chile
Chile
Chile
hydrothermal alteration
David R. Cooke Supergene enrichment
E27 Cu-
Cu-Au porphyry, NSW

Classification by metal content Alkalic or Subalkalic?

Au (*10,000) • Porphyry Cu-Au-Mo deposit classification
• Increasing Classification can be difficult due
Calc-alkalic Silica- to K- and Na-metasomatism
magnetite contents
in early-formed undersaturated
High-K calc-alkalic 16 Silica-

Na2O + K2O (wt%)

veins and alteration alkalic
s

saturated
ing

assemblages Alkalic al i c
alkalic al k ic
kal
ett

12 b -a l
cs

• Decreasing su
Cu-Au
ar

depth of
d

emplacement 8 Cu-Au(-Mo)
an

Modified from Kesler

(1973) and Thompson
Cu-Mo
isl

u
(1994)
C u-A Cu-Au
4 Arizona calc-
SW Pacific High-K calc- alkalic
Cr

calc-alkalic alkalic
ato
n

Cu Mo (*10) 40 50 60 70
Continental arc SiO2
Increasing SiO2
settings content of magmas Diorite cut by monzodiorite cut by (wt%) Modified from Lang et al., 1995
monzonite, Dinkidi, Philippines
 Magma chemistry Porphyry Cu-Mo deposits
(Au << 0.1 g/t)
Metal endowment of
101
intrusion-related
deposits controlled
by the magma’s:
100
Cu - Au Cu - Mo Mo • oxidation state
W - Mo Sn • compositional
Fe2O3 / W evolution (e.g., silica
FeO
content)
10-1 Increasing Sn ± W
oxidation
Increasing Largest deposits:
fractionation
Rio
Rio Blanco
Blanco –
– Los
Los Bronces:
Bronces: 29.9
29.9 Gt
Gt @
@ 0.65
0.65 Cu
Cu (195.9
(195.9 Mt
Mt Cu
Cu +
+ 8.5
8.5 Mt
Mt past
past production)
production)
10-3 10-2 10-1 100 101 102 103
El
El Teniente:
Teniente: >16
>16 Gt
Gt @
@ 0.554%
0.554% Cu
Cu (93.6
(93.6 Mt
Mt Cu)
Cu) +
+ 7.8
7.8 Gt
Gt @
@ 0.018%
0.018% Mo
Mo (1.4
(1.4 Mt
Mt Mo)
Mo)
Rb/Sr
Chuquicamata:
Chuquicamata: 7,521
7,521 Mt
Mt @
@ 0.55
0.55 wt
wt %
% Cu,
Cu, 0.024
0.024 wt
wt %
% Mo,
Mo, 0.04
0.04 g/t
g/t Au,
Au, (301
(301 tt Au)
Au)
Modified from Anhydrite phenocryst with apatite
Blevin, 2003 inclusions, North Parkes, NSW Sewell
Sewell township,
township, El
El Teniente,
Teniente, Chile
Chile

Where in the world? The largest

Giant porphyry copper deposits
porphyry Cu-Mo deposits / districts
204.3 Mt Cu

90

80 Cu-Mo deposits
Contained copper metal (Mt)

Cu-Au deposits Aktogay-

Aktogay-
70 Aiderly
Aiderly
Cu-Au-Mo deposits
60 Butte
Butte

50 Behemothian SW
SW Arizona
Arizona //
Sonora
Sonora
40
La
La Granja
Granja
30 Southern
Southern Peru
Peru
Super-giant
Northern
Northern Chile
Chile
20
Central
Central Chile
Chile
10

0
Oyu Tolgoi

Escondida
Pebble

La Granja
Pima
Los Pelambres

Lone Star
Grasberg

Morenci-Metcalf
Reko Diq

Aktogay-Aiderly

Ray
Collahuasi

Bingham

Cerro Colorado
Resolution
Radomiro Tomic

Cuajone

El Salvador
Butte
Rio Blanco

Cananea
El Teniente
Chuquicamata
– Los Bronces

Porphyry Cu-Mo Map source: http://www.gebco.net

 Gold-rich porphyry deposits Porphyry copper -gold deposits
copper-gold
> 0.4 g/t Au 0.1 to 0.4 g/t Au

Largest deposits:
Largest deposits: Cadia
Cadia Hill,
Hill, October
October 2010
2010
Pebble:
Pebble: 5,942
5,942 Mt
Mt @
@ 0.42%
0.42% Cu,
Cu, 0.35
0.35 g/t
g/t Au
Au (2,079
(2,079 tt Au)
Au)
Grasberg:
Grasberg: 3.37
3.37 Gt
Gt @
@ 0.87%
0.87% Cu,
Cu, 0.89
0.89 g/t
g/t Au
Au (2,999
(2,999 tt Au)
Au) Pebble
Pebble Cu-Au
Cu-Au deposit,
deposit,
Alaska
Alaska (Image
(Image courtesy
courtesy Oyu
Oyu Tolgoi:
Tolgoi: 3,545
3,545 Mt
Mt @
@ 1.007
1.007 %
% Cu,
Cu, 0.397
0.397 g/t
g/t Au
Au (1,407
(1,407 tt Au)
Au)
Bingham
Bingham Canyon: 3,865 Mt @ 0.79 wt % Cu, 0.461 g/t Au
Canyon: 3,865 Mt @ 0.79 wt % Cu, 0.461 g/t Au (1,783
(1,783 tt Au)
Au) of
of Northern
Northern Dynasty
Dynasty
Cadia
Cadia district:
district: 3,035
3,035 Mt
Mt @
@ 0.26%
0.26% Cu,
Cu, 0.45
0.45 g/t
g/t Au
Au (1,365
(1,365 tt Au)
Au) Minerals)
Minerals) Reko
Reko Diq:
Diq: 5,900
5,900 Mt
Mt @
@ 0.41
0.41 wt
wt %
% Cu,
Cu, 0.22
0.22 g/t
g/t Au
Au (1,298
(1,298 tt Au)
Au)

Locations of giant Au-rich

Giant gold-rich porphyry deposits
2800
porphyry deposits
Cu-Mo deposits
2400
Cu-Au deposits Galore
Galore
Dalneye
Dalneye
Creek
Creek
2000 Cu-Au-Mo deposits
Oyu
Oyu Tolgoi
Tolgoi Almalyk
Almalyk
Gold (tonnes)

1600 Philippines
Philippines Cerro
Cerro
PNG
PNG – – Irian
Irian Jaya
Jaya Colorado
Colorado Reko
Reko
1200 Diq
Diq
Minas
Minas Conga
Conga
Batu
Batu Panguna
Panguna
Hijau
Hijau
800 Bajo
Bajo de
de la
la
Alumbrera
Alumbrera
Cadia
Cadia Cerro
Cerro
400 Casale
Casale

0
Ok Tedi

Sar Cheshmeh
Grasberg

Bingham
Oyu Tolgoi

Dalneye

Panguna

Batu Hijau
Minas Conga

Escondida

Galore Creek
Alumbrera

Sipilay
Reko Diq

Tampakan
Pebble

FSE/Lepanto

Cerro Casale

El Teniente

Frieda River

Chuquicamata
Atlas
Cadia district

Kal'makyr

Kerr-S-M

Porphyry Cu-Au Map source: http://www.gebco.net

 Giant PCDs Epochs of porphyry deposit formation
• Porphyry & epithermal Magmatic affinity Tectonic Setting
deposits occur in arc-
related settings Butte
Butte 20
throughout the world Bingham
Bingham
• Giant systems are SW
SW Arizona
Arizona
restricted to only a
10
few mineral provinces
Cerro
Cerro Colorado
Colorado
• In total, 18 of the
La
La Granja
Granja
world’s 20 largest
PCD’s occur on the Cuajone
Cuajone 0
western margin of the NN Chile
Chile 0 100 200 300 400 500 0 100 200 300 400 500
Agua
Agua Rica
Rica
Americas C
C Chile
Chile Age (Ma) Age (Ma)
Calc-alkalic Continental arc
• Eight of the 20 largest Island arc
After
After Mitchell
Mitchell &
& High-K calc-alkalic
deposits occur in Chile Beckinsale
Beckinsale (1982)
(1982) Alkalic
Collision zone
Arc of unknown type
Data source: Kirkham & Dunne, 1999

Environments Philippine
Philippine
Sea
Sea
of Formation
• Shallow crustal (<3 km)
magmatic-hydrothermal
ore deposits
Boyongan/Bayugo
• Compressional arc settings Porphyry Complex
with active cross-arc
and/or arc-parallel 00 55 km
km
structures

• Genetically associated
with skarns, HS and L.
L. Mainit
Mainit
IS/LS epithermal
Bohol
Bohol
deposits (telescoping) Sea
Sea

• Rapid uplift and

exhumation – difficult to
preserve supergene N
enrichment zones Image
Image courtesy
courtesy of
of David
David
Braxton
Braxton and
and Anglo
Anglo American
American