Economic Geology

Vol. 70, 1975, pp. 568-576

TheSarCheshmeh
Porphyry
Copper
Deposit
GLENNC. WATERMAN
ANDR. L. HAMILTON

Abstract

The Sar Cheshmeh porphyry copper,

locatedin southern
Iran, wasminedin ancient
times,"rediscovered"about1966,exploredduring1966-1969, andwill be in full pro-
duction in 1977at a rateof 40,000tonsof oreper day. Mineralization
is associated
with a lateTertiarygranodiorite
porphyrystock,cutby a seriesof genetically
related
intramineralintrusivesandlate postmineral
dikes. The orebody occursin the early
porphyryandperipheral intrudedTertiaryvolcanics.The predominant hypogenesul-
fidesare disseminated
chalcopyrite,
pyrite,andminormolybdenite. Copperandmolyb-
denurncontents and chalcopyrite-pyrite
ratiosare relatedto rocktype and concentric
hypogene alteration
zoneswhichsurround the porphyry._A_significant
layerof super-
geneore overliesgoodgradeprimarymineralization.
Within a 900X 2,000 meter area, an outer 0.40 percentcopperline, and to an
averagedrilleddepthof about150meters,the orebodycontains
450,000,000
milliontons
of ore. Averagesulfidegradeis 1.13 percentcopperand approximately0.03 percent
molybdenum.Goodore continues belowthe zonetestedby drilling.

Introduction Ancient excavationson "oxide" copper mineral-

The Sar Cheshmehcopperdepositis locatedin ization exposedat the surface,and remainsof old
southernIran at 30 degreesN lat., 56 degreesE villages,smelterworks, and slag dumpsattest to the
long. (Fig. 1). It is ownedby the Iranian Govern- antiquity of the earliest work at Sar Cheshmeh.
ment and is being readied for productionby a However, moderninvestigations of the copperpo-
group of experts from The AnacondaCompany tential did not beginuntil about 1966.
under a technical assistance contract which will ulti-
mately place the entire operation under Iranian Geology of the Deposit
personnel. Presentplans call for a 40,000 ton con- The orebodyis oval shapedwith a long dimension
centrator,smelter,townsite,and all necessaryancil- of about 2,000 meters, a width of about 900 meters,
lary facilities. Full operationis scheduledfor 1977. and is centeredon the late Tertiary Sar Cheshmeh
The datapresented are largelybasedon exploration granodiorite porphyry stock. The porphyry is a
of the depositby the Kerman CopperCo. and Selec- memberof a complexseriesof magmaticallyrelated
tion Trust during the period 1966 to 1969, and a intrusivesemplaced in the Tertiary Volcanicsa short
furtherevaluation of thegeologyandore reserves by distancefrom the edge of an older near-batholith-
Anacondapersonnel. sizedgranodioritemass. Three kilometersnorth of
the ore depositPlio-Pleistocene ignimbritesand tuff
GeologicSetting brecciasappearto havebeendeposited overa north-
The Sar Cheshmeh porphyrycopperis locatednear erly prong of the Sar Cheshmehaltered and min-
the center of an elongated NNW-SSE mountain eralized zone.
belt which is principallycomposed of a foldedand The Sar Cheshmehporphyryis cut by a seriesof
faultedearly Tertiary volcano-sedimentary complex intramineraldikesmagmaticallyrelatedto the por-
whichextendsintermittentlyfrom Turkey to Balu- phyry. The andesiticvolcanics,Sar Cheshmehpor-
chistan in southern Iran. This belt is bordered to phyry, and .the early dikes are cut by fine-grained
the southwestby a major thrust zone and the com- intrusiveswhichhaveproducedigneousbreccia.All
plexly folded,faulted,and metamorphosed Tertiary of theserockshavebeencut by a seriesof late intra-
and Paleozoicsedimentaryrocks which form the mineral dikes,and subsequently by a seriesof post-
Zagros Mountains. mineral dikes. The original subcircularSar Chesh-
In the Sar Cheshmeh regionthe volcanicsand as- meh porphyrystocknow showsan east-westelonga-
sociated conformable sediments form a series of tion due to dilationby the dike swarm.
gently westerlyplungingfolds. Late Tertiary in- Sar Cheshmehporphyryand peripheralandesitic
trusivesoccurnear the axial portionsof the anti- volcanicsare well mineralized. The early intramin-
clinalfolds; coppermineralizationis associated with eral dikes may contain sufficientmineralizationto
some of these intrusives. make low-gradehypogeneore; the later intramineral
568
 SAR CHESHMEH PORPHYRY COPPER DEPOSIT 569

Bandor

.)Khoram•

irman

lOO •oo 500 Km

I

I Quoternory
I: :'-:.!:'5:1•'-Cr,t-T,rt,ar,
• TertiaryVolcanic
y////////• 'illelan,
(• SAR
CHESI"IMEH
MINING
DISTRICT
Fro.1. Geol(•gical
mapof Iran,simplified
fromGeological
Survey
of Iran.
570 G. C. WATERMAN AND R. L. HAMILTON

intrusiveporphyries
are generallylow grade. Late Intramineralporphyryintrusives
forma seriesof
intramineraIdikes are virtually free of significant irregular-shaped
masses
and dikes,and igneousbrec-
mineralization,althoughlocallysulfidized.The post- ciascontainingfragmentsof olderrock types.These
mineral dikes are fresh and barren. porphyriesare characterizedby sparseplagioclase
laths,thinbiotiteboc•ks,
smallquartzeyes,andrare
Rock Descriptions
K-spar phenocrysts
set in a fine-grainedfeldspathic
The volcanic rocks in the Sar Cheshmeh area are groundmasswhich contains abundant small, thin
principallyfine-grainedandesiteporphyries;a de- flakes of biotite.
tailed subdivisionof theserocksis incomplete. There are two varieties of later intramineral dikes.
The oldest intrusive in the district is the near-
The most prominentdike type is hornblendepor-
batholith-sized granodioritemass. Composition and phyry, characterizedby large euhedralplagioclase,
texture are variable,rangingfrom extremesof gabbro biotite,and hornblende phenocrystsset in a dense,
to aplite. This unit is premineraland appearsto fine-grainedgroundmass.T.he secondtype, feldspar
predateSar Cheshmeh porphyry. porphyry,is characterized
by largeplagioclase
pheno-
The Sar Cheshmeh porphyryis somewhatvariable crystswidely dispersedin a feldspathicgroundmass.
in mineral compositionand texture but generally Quartz eyes,biotite,and hornblendeare presentbut
containsa significantpopulationof euhedralto sub- are not generallyabundant.
hedral plagioclasephenocrysts,a few quartz eyes, Postmineralbiotite porphyry dikes, in general,
erratic biotite books, and minor hornblende set in a have a fine-grainedfeldspathicgroundmasswhich
medium-grained apliticgroundmass composed prin- showsprominent flow structure. Biotite books are
cipallyof quartzandK-spar. unusuallywell developed,quartzeyesrare to absent;
Quartz-eyeporphyry is nearly contemporaneousplagioclase lathsare generally small.
with the Sar Cheshmehporphyry. It intrudes Figure 2 showsthe general distributionof rock
andesiteandgranodioriteto the northof the orebody. typesat the 2,400-meterbenchelevationin the hypo-
This porphyryconsistsof generallyeuhedralplagio- gene zone. Granodioriteand quartz porphyry are
claseand K-spar phenocrysts, biotitebooks,and er- outsidethe orebodyat this elevation. Figure 3 is
ratic quartzeyessetin an apliticgroundmass. an east-westcrosssectionthrough the orebody.
E GO0 E tO0 E 1000 E 1200 E .I.400 E .I.GO0 œ 1800 IE•000 IElq'00 # •400

200
I •oo
I • •oo
I 400
I soo
f .,ter, .:'• Set
Cheehateh
Porphyry

Fro. 2. Distributionof rock types at 2,400-meterelevationwithin outer 0.40 percentcopperline,

Sar Cheshmehcopperdeposit.
5'AR CHESHMEH PORPHYRY COPPER DEPOSIT 571

'.!..
•:•;¾..
.:½.:..
¾..v-':
,(
....f•..'
':.-".:.•
.:-
:i::
i-'.::'
":'i?

,'.Z;...,•_•.•.,
,.:.•..

.."13••.::': :.._•:

'_.*':•(•
,.._.'-
572 ½. C. WATERMAN AND R. L. HAMILTON

.E
E600 ElOG Ezooo EZZO0 E1400 E•,600 EZ800

rotation

. • VorJeble
•'iol•le•wl Kell•
ß o •' • 40O 600mlllrl• Week

patterns
a•2,400-me•er
aleration,
SatCheshmeh
coppe•
deposiL

LeachedCappingand"Oxide"Ore is thinin thecentralportionof theorebody

overthe
intramineraligneousbreccias.
A layerof leached
capping
averaging
26 meters Thegradeofenriched
orewascontrolled
byhypo-
in thickness
overliesa zoneof supergene sulfides.genegrade,chalcopyrite-pyriteratios,and perme-
The bottomof leaching is fairlysharpagainst the abilityas affected
by fracturepatterns,
faultzones,
sulfides.The interface
is a subdued replicaof the andareasof brecciation.Supergene gradeis about
present
topography.
Leached
capping
is thickest
twicehypogene
grade.
underthehillsandthinsmarkedly
or isabsent
under The principalsupergene
coppermineralis dis-
the creeksand valleys. seminatedchalcocite.Digenite has been noted;
An erraticbutsignificant
tonnage
of "oxide"
cop- covelliteoccursnear the bottom of the secondary
permineralization,
principally
copper
carbonates,
is blanket.
contained
in theground above thetopof sulfides. Dikes which containedrelativelyminor hypogene
Mostof the "oxide"appears to be relatedto the sulfideswere erraticallyenrichedto supergeneore
present
cycle oferosion
andhasbeen controlledby grade.Enrichment intensityiscommonly related
to
thedegreeofsupergeneenrichment, zonalareas of dike-porphyrycontacts, oftenstructural
zones which
highchalcopyrite
to pyriteratios
in hypogene ore, facilitated
percolation. Narrowdikesof theintra-
porosity,
andpermeability. Thelocationofsulfides mineral groupmayshowa significant layerof super-
withrespectto thepresent andpredecessor water geneore;in thecentral areaof thickdikes,
enrich-
tables,
andthepresenceofcarbonates
whichfacili- ment is thin to lacking.
tated
theprecipitation
ofcopper
carbonates
fromacid Thelow-grade coreoftheorebody
contains
erratic
solutions
generated
fromthe oxidation
of coppermoderateenrichmentoverlying hypogenewaste.
andironsulfides
werealsosignificant
factors. Alterationin the supergene
zoneconsists
of seri-
citeandkaoliniteoverlyingzonesof stronghypogene
SupergeneZone alteration
andpredominately
clayminerals
overzones
Thesupergene
sulfide
blanket 37metersof weakhypogene
averages alteration.Theclayminerals
ap-
in thickness. low-gradepeartohave
It is thinoverrelatively formed
principally
fromfeldspars
inthe
hypogene
ore,
thickens
over
good
hypogeneand supergene
ore, environment.
 SAR CHESHMEH PORPHYRY COPPER DEPOSIT 573

Hypogene Zone eralization,but fracture intensityis much lessthan

in the andesiteand Sar Cheshmehporphyry.
Hypogeneore,as documented
by manydrill holes, Practicallyall the significantplanar structuresob-
is remarkably consistent
in gradewith depthwithin served on the surface,noted in drill core and logs,
significantalterationzones,sulfideassemblages,and and mappedin tunnelsappearto be faults probably
rock types. The principalsulfidesare pyrite, chal- almost entirely postmineralin age. No significant
copyrite,and molybdenite. Bornite, althoughob- veinswere observedor reportedby SelectionTrust.
servedon onetunnel dump,is apparentlyuncommon
Pebble dikes are common and usually contain
to rare within the zone testedby drilling.
fragments of mineralized rock cementedby com-
A very high percentageof the copperand iron minutedrock flour. Severalprobablebrecciapipes
sulfidesare disseminated in the porphyriesand in- were notedon the surface. Others are suspectedon
truded volcanics. A significantpercentageof the the basisof drill core observationsand core logs.
disseminated chalcopyriteis lessthan 50 micronsin
size, with a higherpercentageof fine-grainedsulfide Sulfide Zoning
associatedwith the lower grade ore. The size of There are significantvariationsin the chalcopyrite-
chalcopyrite grainsappearsto be relatedto hostrock; pyrite ratiosin the severalrock typesand alteration
mineralized andesite contains,on average, smaller zones. It appearsthat as hypogene coppergradein-
chalcopyritegrains than Sar Cheshmehporphyry. creases in andesiteand Sar Cheshmeh porphyrythe
Pyrite is commonlycoarsergrainedthan chalcopyrite. ratio of chalcopyriteto pyrite increases.It is clear
Molybdenite, as disseminatedblebs and streaks, that within the internal zone of sericitic alteration
is generallyassociated with a zone of narrow chalco- t.he chalcopyrite to pyrite ratio is higherin the por-
pyrite-bearingquartz stringers,less frequentlyas phyry than in the andesite. The chalcopyriteto
thin, discontinuous quartz-freefilms. It is more or pyrite ratio is higherin weaklyalteredporphyryand
lessassociated with but not directlyrelatedto better biotized andesite than where these rocks are serici-
grade .hypogene copperore. tized. It is alsosignificant
that weaklyalteredSar
The principalhypogenealterationpatternsare con- Cheshmehporphyryand the intramineralintrusives
centricallyzonedaroundthe Sar Cheshmehporphyry showmarkedlydifferentchalcopyrite to pyrite ratios
stock. At the outer edgeof mineralizationthe ande- as well as total coppercontent. The sulfideratios
siteis propylitizedand containssbmepyrite and rare and generalcoppergrade of the late porphyryand
chalcopyrite. Inward the propyliticzone gives way dikesare similar,whichsuggests that theybothwere
to a strong sericitic zone which containsabundant intrudedafter the mainstageof mineralization.
pyrite and minor chalcopyrite. Toward t.he center
Ore Distribution
sericite decreases,alteration biotite becomespromi-
nent, and coppergrade markedly increases.Nearer More thanhalf of the presentlyknowncopperore
the andesite-SarCheshmehporphyrycontactthe bio- at Sar Cheshmeh is contained in biotized and seri-
tite hasbeenreplacedby sericitein a generalarea of citized andesite outside the contact of the Sar Chesh-
quartz stringers and good copper and molybdenum meh porphyry. Peripheralto the halo of good
mineralization. The outer portion of the porphyry andesiteore hypogene graderapidlydecreases.
is sericitized. Inward the sericite decreases and the Sar Cheshmeh porphyryis goodore on the west
porphyry shows erratic K-silicate alteration. Near with coppergradedecreasing inward. To the east
the contact with the later intramineral intrusive the and in the centralarea the low-gradeintramineral
porphyry is weakly altered but does contain low- intrusivescut out the porphyryand someandesite
ore.
grade copperore.
The Sar Cheshmehporphyry rarely showsbiotitic The highestgradehypogenecopperore occursas
alterationalthoughxenolit.hsof biotizedandesiteore an annularring in alteredandesite
aroundthe peri-
claymineralsare phery of the Sar Cheshmeh
occurin the porphyry. I-Iypogene stock. The highest
uncommon;there doesnot appear to be any well- grademolybdenum occursas a semicontinuous
ring
definedargillic alterationzone. insidethe zoneof highestcoppergradeand is more
Figure 4 illustratesthe hypogenealterationpat- or less locatedalong the contactof Sar Cheshmeh
terns as interpretedfrom drill loggingdata. porphyryand andesite. Figures 5 and 6 illustrate
thedistribution
of hypogene
copper
andmolybdenum
Structure grade in relation to rock contactsand an outer 0.40
percent copper ore reserve cutoff.
The mineralizedandesireand Sar Cheshmehpor-
phyry showcomplexfracturepatternssometimesas- Ore Reserves
sociatedwith sulfideand quartz stringermineraliza- The originalexploration
programat Sar Chesh-
tion. The dikes show minor fracture-controlled min- meh involved17,200metersof tunneling,28,300
574 G. C. V/•ITERM•IN AND R. L. HAMILTON

600 E I00 E 1000 E 1200 E 14.00 E •,00 E •100

L I I I I White le.• NNi 0.40 %

Fro. 5. Hypogenecopper-gradedistributionat 2,400-meterelevation,Sar Cheshmehcopperdeposit.

E 600 E I00 E 1000 E 1200 E 1400 E t&00 E 1800 E •000 lr 2200 N •400

200
[ 100
I 7• •00
I 41.00
I 600
I mlflrlWhite' rain#0.40 Copper

Fro. 6. :Molybdenum-grade
distributionat 2,400-meterelevation,Sat Cheshmeh
copperdeposit.
 SAR CHESHMEH PORPHYRY COPPERDEPOSIT 575

meters
of diamond
drilling,
and5,240meters
of copperore reserveis about0.03 percentMo. Gold
rotarydrilling.With theexception
of a fewdeep and silverare presentin the ore in minor amounts.
drill holes,the drilling was confinedto a depthof Within the outer0.40 percentcoppercutofffrom
150 meters beneath the undulating surface. The the surfaceto the 2,350-meter elevation,calculations
panel of ore tested thus involved an area 900 x indicatethe followingwaste-oresubdivisions:
2,000 meters in surfacedimensionby 150 meters Total Ore plusWaste
thick. 762,033,000 M.T.
The explorationdiamonddrill holes were, with Total Ore
minor exceptions,vertical and spacedat 100-meter 449,523,000 M.T.
centersexcluding a portion of the central area as Total Waste
definedby numerousthick dikes and low-grade in- 312,510,000 M.T.
trusives. Evaluationof the reliability of drill core Ore-Waste Ratio 1 to .7
assaysat various core recoverypercentages,com- Total Ore plusWaste in SulfideZone
parisonsof drill assayaverageswith tunnel grade 668,790,000 M.T,
in areas penetratedby drill holes, and statistical Total Ore in Sulfide Zone
analysisof core and tunnel gradeshave established 427,523,000 M.T.
that the 100-meterdrill grid is sufficiently
"tight" to Total Dike Waste in Sulfide Zone
permit calculationof a reliableore reserve. The rela- 206,313,000 M.T.
tive uniformityof coppergradein severaldefinable PorphyryWaste in SulfideZone
rock and alterationzonesin hypogeneore provides 34,954,000 M.T.
a reliablebasefor modestprojectionof drill core Ore-Waste Ratio in Sulfide Zone 1 to .56
and tunnel sampleaverages. The above ore-waste ratios do not reflect the ratios
of ore tonnageand graderequiredan involvedin sequentialmining operations.
Calculation
accurate three-dimensional outline of the distribution
of waste dikesand the low-gradeintramineralin- Summary
trusives so these volumes could be deducted from the
intra-wasteore tonnage. The aboveaccountof the geologyand ore reserves
Ore reserveswere calculatedto the 2,350-bench at $ar Cheshmehis basedon an excellentexplora-
elevationwhich is 250 meters below the highest tion and analyticalinvestigationconductedby Selec-
elevationof ore. However,because of topography tion Trust plusan in-depthcheckof the data and re-
the 2,350-meter elevationwaspenetrated by many finement of the geologicalfeatures by Anaconda
of the 150-meterdrill holesso that only relatively personnel. As mine geologicalwork is intensified,
minorprojections wereinvolvedin calculatingoreto it is likely that detailsof the geologywill be modi-
this elevation. The averagethickness of sulfideto fied. It is unlikely there will be significantchanges
the 2,350 bench is about 175 meters. in the tons and grade estimatesto the 2,350-meter
horizon.
The classificationof "Prov.ed" ore has been used
to includematerial within a 100 x 100 x 12-1/2 There is no doubt Sar Cheshmehis a very im-
meterslicewhichhasbeenpenetrated by a drill hole. portant porphyry copper deposit. When, in the
"Probable"ore is the tonnagefrom the bottomof a future, deepdrilling outlinesthe extent of significant
drill hole to the 2,350-benchelevationbasedon an coppermineraliza.tion at depth,it is likely $ar Chesh-
meh
acceptableprojection. No "Possible" ore beneath world.will rank with the great copperdepositsof the
the2,350horizonhasbeencalculated
although a few
drill holesshowthat goodhypogeneore continues The authorswish to extendtheir appreciationto
to depth. the Sar CheshmehCopperMining Companyand
The total "Proved"plus "Probable"sulfideore The AnacondaCompanyfor permission
this abbreviated account.
to publish
reservesfrom the surfaceto the 2,350-bencheleva-
tion at a 0.40percenttotalcoppercutoffis as fol- G. C. W., SENIORGEOLOGIST
(RETIRED)
lows: THE ANACONDA COMPANY
TucsoN, ARIZONA
SupergeneOre PRESENT ADDRESS:
92,348,000
M.T. • 1.996percent
totalcopper 5135 CAMINO ALISA
HypogeneOre TUCSON,ARIZONA85718
335,175,000M.T. @ 0.895percenttotalcopper R. L. H., CHIEF GEOLOGIST
An uncertain
but significant
tonnage
of "oxide"ore SAR CHESHMEH COPPER MINING Co.
is excludedfrom the abovereserve. IRAN
The molybdenum
gradeof the plus0.40 percent July 25, November5, 1974
576 G. C. WATERMAN AND R. L. HAMILTON
REFERENCES
Bazin, D., 1968,]gtudeg•ologiquedu gisementde cuivredis-
sgmin6 de Sar Cheshmeh: Iran Geol. Survey Rapport
Interne, p. 26.
and Hiibner, H., 1969a, Copper depositsin Iran: Iran
Geol. Survey Rept. 13, 172 p.
Bazin, Dominique, and Hfibner, Helmuth, 1969b, La r•gion
cuprifere 3t gisementsporphyriquesde Kerman (Iran):
Mineralium Deposita, v. 4, p. 200-212.
Khadem, N., 1964, Summary of base metal resourcesof
Iran, in Symposiumon mining geologyand the basemetals:
Central Treaty Organization, Ankara 1964, p. 71-88.
Nowroozi, Ali A., 1971, Seismo-tectonicsof the Persian
plateau, eastern Turkey, Caucasus,and Hindu-Kush re-
gions: Seismol. Soc. America Bull., v. 61, p. 317-341.
St6cklin, Jovan, 1968 Structural history and tectonics of
Iran; a review: Am. Assoc. Petroleum Geologists Bull.,
v. 52, p. 1229-1258.
Schroeder, J. W., 1944, Essai sur la structure de l'Iran:
Eclogaegeol.Helvetiae,v. 37, p. 37-81.