Mineral paragenesis of the alteration, ore and gangue minerals of the lepanto epithermal copper. The chapter then discusses current world copper re sources, and the copper content or ore grade of current mine production. Cross section of a porphyry copper deposit showing idealized alteration. Pdf copper is a moderately incompatible chalcophile element. Chuquicamata, the worlds greatest copper orebody 3 eoceneoligocene intrusions the porphyritic rocks in the chuquicamata pit, with the dominantly barren fortuna complex to the. Gold is normally present in potassium silicate alteration, which commonly carries an unusually high magnetite content. The copper flat porphyry copper deposit in the northern part of the hillsboro district was discovered in 1975 castellano et al. Owing to the complexity, a succinct definition that includes the essential attributes of this deposit class is elusive. We believe this porphyry system is analogous to other wellknown worldclass tourmaline breccia porphyry copper deposits, such as the ei teniente porphyry copper deposit 75 mt copper metal in chile and the soledad porphyry copper gold deposit in peru. The radiometric survey its important to discover the alteration k u t. Copper is a moderately incompatible chalcophile element. A mineralogical analysis of the igneous rocks and alteration zones including halogen element systematics related to cu mineralization processes.
Pdf elatsite is one of the largest operating porphyrycopper deposits in eastern europe. Exploration of kahang porphyry copper deposit using advanced. These includes potassic, propylitic, argillic and phyllic. Regional characteristics of porphyry copper deposits of. View porphyrytype copper deposits research papers on academia. The speciation of sulfur is controlled by oxygen fugacity. Previous studies have revealed that porphyry copper deposits are usually associated with oxidized, calcalkalic, adakitic shallow intrusive rocks. Development of a copper porphyry porphyry copper deposits are copper orebodies that are formed from hydrothermal fluids that originate from a voluminous magma chamber several kilometers below the. It refers to large, relatively low grade, epigenetic, intrusionrelated deposits. Classes of copper deposits copper deposits are classified by general geologic setting, including the type of rock in which the copper deposit. Therefore, porphyry cu deposits are usually oxidized with oxygen fugacities. Introduction porphyry cu systems are defined as large volumes 10. Company news releases relating to copper porphyry deposits will often refer to these various alteration zones. The problem is that while most of the magmas at convergent margins are highly oxidized, porphyry cu deposits.
Seal porphyry copper deposits result from the complex interactions and feedbacks of many. The problem is that while most of the magmas at convergent margins are highly oxidized, porphyry cu. The chahfiruzeh porphyry copper deposit is located in the southern section of the cenozoic urumiehdokhtar magmatic belt figure 1. Operations commenced in 1905 on a reserve of about 40 million short tons at the then very low grade of 1.
Chemistry of magmatic and alteration minerals in the. In silicate mineral deposits, the copper is linked with silicon and oxygen. They occur in a very complex geological environment controlled by various. Part or all of this report is presented in portable document format pdf. Gold abundances in porphyry copper deposits vary greatly, complicating efforts to define goldrich porphyry copper deposits. Skarns are formed when hot magma intrudes the limestone the fluids from the intrusive alter the limestone to form an exoskarn. Today the median copper grade for porphyry mines is around 0. A geologist at the university of exeter has developed a new and relatively inexpensive way to establish whether certain types of magmatic rocks are more likely to contain valuable metal deposits. Porphyry deposits are the worlds principal resources of cu, mo, and re, and are major. Exploration of kahang porphyry copper deposit using advanced integration of geological, remote sensing, geochemical, and magnetics data s. As a mining interested learner, the geology of porphyry copper deposits is vital to your education. A deposit of copperbearing minerals is classed as an ore reserve if there are sufficient quantities and concentrations of minerals to be extracted at a profit. Pdf a description of the structural geology, mineralogy.
This report contains a revised descriptive model of porphyry copper deposits pcds, the worlds largest source about 60 percent and resource about 65 percent of copper and a major source of. Exploration for porphyry copper deposits in pakistan using. The purpose of this report is to compile the record of pipeline, seepage control and tailings impoundment failures at operating copper porphyry mines in the u. However, the formation mechanism and controlling factors of porphyry copper deposits remain obscure. Jozanikohan school of mining engineering, college of engineering, university of tehran, tehran, iran. Ophiolitehosted copper and gold deposits of southeastern.
These are somewhat the giants of the ore deposits world. The different stages of cooling that create porphyritic textures in intrusive and hypabyssal porphyritic rocks also lead to a separation of dissolved metals into distinct zones. Small exotic copper deposit in older holocene gravel deposits that cover kelvinriverside porphyry. Copper has an atomic number of 29 and atomic weight of 63. The kahang cumo porphyry deposit is located in the middle part of the urumieh. Geological surveyscientific investigations report 20105070bporphyry copper deposit model 2. Information on porphyry copper deposits from around the world with grade and tonnage models, a general classification based on geologic setting, mineralogy, with data allowing locations of these deposits to be plotted using gis. Most of these deposits are in the 58 to 72 millionyearold range, with one 163 m. Tempo of magma degassing and the genesis of porphyry copper.
Here lets understand the geology of porphyries and iron oxide copper gold deposits or iocg as they are known. The term porphyry is also used for a mineral deposit called a copper porphyry. Several mesozoic age porphyry copper deposits occur northwest of the main cluster, and midtertiary age porphyry molybdenum and porphyry copper deposits are present in the colorado mineral belt and at bingham canyon, utah. Studies reexamine how major copper deposits form the bingham copper mine in utah, one of the largest in the world, exploits a massive porphyry copper deposit. Pdf preliminary model of porphyry copper deposits researchgate. Pdf auagtese minerals in the elatsite porphyrycopper deposit.
Porphyry deposits, our main source of copper and of significant amounts of mo, re and au, form at convergent. Critical metal particles in copper sulfides from the. The link between reduced porphyry copper deposits and. The most distal deposit types at all levels of the systems tend. What investors need to know about porphyry copper deposits. Predating or associated with those fluids are vertical dikes of porphyritic intrusive rocks from which this deposit type derives its name. The foundation of mineral deposit models is information about known depositsthe purpose of this publication is to make this kind of information available in digital form for a group of porphyry copper deposits. Copper is a chemical element in the periodic table with the symbol cu from the latin word cuprum, meaning metal of cyprus, where it was mined during the roman era.
Start this article has been rated as startclass on the projects quality scale. Studies reexamine how major copper deposits form earth. Consequently, this descriptive model uses a working definition of a porphyry copper deposit. Porphyry copper deposits account for more than 80% of the worlds total cu resources. Some thoughts on goldrich porphyry copper deposits. Porphyry copper assessment of western central asia. The formation of porphyry copper deposits article pdf available in acta geochimica november 2016 with 3,753 reads how we measure reads.
Porphyry copper deposits commonly contain hundreds of millions of metric tons of. Porphyrytype copper deposits research papers academia. Codes the australian research councils centre for excellence in ore deposit research, university of tasmania, private bag 126, hobart, tasmania 7001, australia. In later stages, circulating meteoric fluids may interact with the magmatic. This was the start of the porphyry era, which continues to this day. It refers to large, relatively low grade, epigenetic, intrusionrelated deposits that can be mined using mass mining techniques. Porphyry copper deposits are very large mineralized systems that are typically formed by relatively small intrusions stocks, which are several thousand. Sillitoe 27 west hill park, highgate village, london n6 6nd, england abstract porphyry cu systems host some of the most widely distributed mineralization types at convergent plate. Porphyry copper deposit model, chapter b of mineral deposit. The purpose of the study was to 1 delineate permissive areas tracts for undiscovered porphyry copper deposits. Bingham, the porphyry copper deposit to be worked as a bulktonnage operation, is gold rich. It is located 5 kilometres north of molong in eastern new south wales and is held 100% by golden cross resources ltd gcr figure 1. The formation of porphyry copper deposits springerlink.
The average minimum exploitable grade for a copper deposit is 0. Regional characteristics of porphyry copper deposits of the. Bingham canyon was the first low grade porphyry copper deposit off the rank. Significant quantities of byproduct molybdenum, silver, gold, and platinum are also produced. This paper presents a brief history of the technological evo lution of southwest porphyry copper deposits as bulk lowgrade. What investors need to know about porphyry copper deposits priscila barrera may 4th, 2017 porphyry copper deposits are among the worlds most valuable deposits. Small exotic copper deposit in older holocene gravel deposits that cover kelvin riverside porphyry. Ip survey can used for the sulfide mapping not for porphyry copper. We believe this porphyry system is analogous to other wellknown worldclass tourmaline breccia porphyry copper deposits, such as the ei teniente porphyry copper deposit 75 mt copper metal in chile and the soledad porphyry coppergold deposit in peru. The copper hill porphyry copper gold project summary the copper hill cuau deposit contains 535,000 tonnes of copper and 1.
Porphyry copper deposits pcds are classically regarded as large upper crustal volumes of. Porphyry copper deposits of the american cordillera. Mineral paragenesis of the lepanto copper and gold and the. Porphyry copper deposits result from the complex interactions and. Rosita hosts a skarn copper deposit that is estimated to have produced 305 million pounds of copper, 177,737 ounces of gold and. Copper deposits definition of copper deposits by medical. Intrusionrelated copperbearing ore deposits in mexico span a widerange of deposit types and geological settings and formed from the midmesozoic through.
Erosion level is a cogent control on the deposit types that may be preserved and, by the same token, on those that may be anticipated at depth. Rocktype classification by digitalcomputer processing of landsat1 formerly erts1 multispectral scanner data has been used to select 23 prospecting targets in the chagai district, pakistan, 5 of which have proved to be large areas of hydrothermally altered porphyry containing pyrite. Copper and gold deposits of southeastern turkey introduction ophiolitehosted copper and gold deposits have been mined since 2500 b. May 31, 2015 development of a copper porphyry porphyry copper deposits are copper orebodies that are formed from hydrothermal fluids that originate from a voluminous magma chamber several kilometers below the. Ray mine, arizona, one of the largest porphyry copper deposits in the united states. Briggs over the last several years, many of you have probably heard the term porphyry copper and wondered what everyone is talking about. Porphyry copper deposits are copper orebodies that are formed from hydrothermal fluids that originate from a voluminous magma chamber several kilometers below the deposit itself. Stochastic modelling of deep magmatic controls on porphyry copper. Although copper has been mined from a number of different types of mineral deposits, porphyry copper deposits are the most important source for copper, accounting for more than 60 percent of the annual world copper production and approximately 65 percent of the known total copper resource.
The bingham copper mine in utah, one of the largest in the world, exploits a massive porphyry copper deposit. We focus on andeantype porphyry cu deposits associated with synsubduction arc magmatism. What caused the formation of the giant bingham canyon porphyry. Porphyry copper deposit, large body of rock, typically a porphyry of granitic to dioritic composition, that has been fractured on a fine scale and through which chalcopyrite and other copper minerals are disseminated. Copper is a nonferrous base metal and its average concentration in the earths crust is about 50 ppm parts per million. May 28, 2014 idealized crosssection of porphyry copper deposit formation. A different but closely related group of deposits to porphyry copper deposits are the skarn deposits. It is an element in group 11 of the periodic table, sharing many properties with silver and gold. Porphyry cu deposits are commonly thought to have formed by. The known porphyry copper deposit at saindak was used as a control area. Copper porphyry is a form of copper deposit that is often characterized as lowgrade, typically. The different stages of cooling that create porphyritic textures in intrusive and hypabyssal porphyritic rocks also lead to a separation of dissolved metals into distinct zones this process, which occurs primarily when fluids are driven off the cooling magma, is one of the main reasons for the existence in the. Although these zones can overlap and make understanding the deposit difficult, there is a general consensus on how. Sandstone copper assessment of the chusarysu basin, central.
Porphyry copper deposit exploration and resource assessment objectives. Porphyry copper deposits are copper orebodies that are formed from hydrothermal fluids that. Part three resources and technology princeton university. If you would like to participate, you can choose to edit this article, or visit the project page for more information. The sarcheshmeh porphyry copper deposit, kerman, iran. Pdf the sarcheshmeh porphyry copper deposit, kerman.
What the best geophysical survey method for exploring and discovering a porphyry copper deposit. The numbers refer to the deposits described in the text below. Oct 17, 2019 the lowell and guilbert model of porphyry copper deposits based on arizona examples these deposits have been scientifically studied since the 1900s by the usgs and this in depth study over a long period of time has made this region the type area for the description of porphyry copper deposits. Porphyry copper deposits result from the complex interactions and feedbacks of many processes. The original definition was based on the aumo ratios of porphyry copper deposits with no reference to their copper content, and resulted in the suggestion that goldrich deposits were found largely in island arc regions kesler, 1973. Thus, mineral deposit models play the central role in transforming geoscience information to a form useful to policy makers. Porphyry copper deposit is part of wikiproject geology, an attempt at creating a standardized, informative, comprehensive and easytouse geology resource. Copper is more easily extracted from the suifide and carbonate m i nerals. The copper hill porphyry coppergold project summary the copper hill cuau deposit contains 535,000 tonnes of copper and 1.
Therefore, initial magma enrichment in copper and sulphur, although adding to the metallogenic potential, is not. The great porphyry copper deposits of arizona geology for. Copper occurs naturally in all plants and animals, as it is. Primary commodities copper is the primary commodity of economic interest in most porphyry copper deposits, although some deposits with low. Preliminary model of porphyry copper deposits usgs. Jan 11, 2014 although copper has been mined from a number of different types of mineral deposits, porphyry copper deposits are the most important source for copper, accounting for more than 60 percent of the annual world copper production and approximately 65 percent of the known total copper resource. Part three resources and technology, chapter 5 world copper resources, contents.
The major products from porphyry copper deposits are copper and molybdenum or copper and gold. The term porphyry copper now includes engineering as well as geological considerations. Dunn, 1982, 1984, although alteration and mineralization in the area suggested to earlier geologists that a porphyry copper deposit should occur in the district kuelmer, 1954. Porphyry copper definition is a large lowgrade disseminated copper deposit.
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