Porphyry copper

deposit

Porphyry copper deposits are copper ore bodies that are formed from hydrothermal fluids that
originate from a voluminous magma chamber several kilometers below the deposit itself.
Predating or associated with those fluids are vertical dikes of porphyritic intrusive rocks from
which this deposit type derives its name. In later stages, circulating meteoric fluids may interact
with the magmatic fluids. Successive envelopes of hydrothermal alteration typically enclose a
core of disseminated ore minerals in often stockwork-forming hairline fractures and veins.
Because of their large volume, porphyry orebodies can be economic from copper concentrations
as low as 0.15% copper and can have economic amounts of by-products such as molybdenum,
silver, and gold. In some mines, those metals are the main product.

Morenci mine open pit in 2012. The red rocks in the upper benches, and the outcrops in the background, are in the leached
capping. It appears that the bottom of the pit is in the mixed oxide-sulfide zone, and that's also what the two haul trucks in
the foreground are carrying. Click to enlarge photo.
Bingham Canyon mine in 2005. The gray rocks visible in the pit are almost all in the primary-sulfide ore zone.

The first mining of low-grade copper porphyry deposits from large open pits coincided roughly
with the introduction of steam shovels, the construction of railroads, and a surge in market
demand near the start of the 20th century. Some mines exploit porphyry deposits that contain
sufficient gold or molybdenum, but little or no copper.

Porphyry copper deposits are currently the largest source of copper ore. Most of the known
porphyrys are concentrated in: western South and North America and Southeast Asia and
Oceania - along the Pacific Ring of Fire; the Caribbean; southern central Europe and the area
around eastern Turkey; scattered areas in China, the Mideast, Russia, and the CIS states; and
eastern Australia.[1][2] Only a few are identified in Africa, in Namibia[3] and Zambia;[4] none are
known in Antarctica. The greatest concentration of the largest copper porphyrys is in northern
Chile. Almost all mines exploiting large porphyry deposits produce from open pits.

Geological overview

Geological background and economic significance

Porphyry copper deposits represent an important resource and the dominant source of copper
that is mined today to satisfy global demand.[5] Via compilation of geological data, it has been
found that the majority of porphyry deposits are Phanerozoic in age and were emplaced at
depths of approximately 1 to 6 kilometres with vertical thicknesses on average of 2 kilometres.[5]
Throughout the Phanerozoic an estimated 125,895 porphyry copper deposits were formed;
however, 62% of them (78,106) have been removed by uplift and erosion.[5] Thus, 38% (47,789)
remain in the crust, of which there are 574 known deposits that are at the surface.[5] It is
estimated that the Earth's porphyry copper deposits contain approximately 1.7×1011 tonnes of
copper, equivalent to more than 8,000 years of global mine production.[5]

Porphyry deposits represent an important resource of copper; however, they are also important
sources of gold and molybdenum - with porphyry deposits being the dominant source of the
latter.[6] In general, porphyry deposits are characterized by low grades of ore mineralization, a
porphyritic intrusive complex that is surrounded by a vein stockwork and hydrothermal
breccias.[7] Porphyry deposits are formed in arc-related settings and are associated with
subduction zone magmas.[6] Porphyry deposits are clustered in discrete mineral provinces,
which implies that there is some form of geodynamic control or crustal influence affecting the
location of porphyry formation.[7] Porphyry deposits tend to occur in linear, orogen-parallel belts
(such as the Andes in South America).[8]

There also appear to be discrete time periods in which porphyry deposit formation was
concentrated or preferred. For copper-molybdenum porphyry deposits, formation is broadly
concentrated in three time periods: Palaeocene-Eocene, Eocene-Oligocene, and middle Miocene-
Pliocene.[7] For both porphyry and epithermal gold deposits, they are generally from the time
period ranging from the middle Miocene to the Recent period,[7] however notable exceptions are
known. Most large-scale porphyry deposits have an age of fewer than 20 million years,[7]
however there are notable exceptions, such as the 438 million-year-old Cadia-Ridgeway deposit
in New South Wales. This relatively young age reflects the preservation potential of this type of
deposit; as they are typically located in zones of highly active tectonic and geological processes,
such as deformation, uplift, and erosion.[7] It may be however, that the skewed distribution
towards most deposits being less than 20 million years is at least partially an artifact of
exploration methodology and model assumptions, as large examples are known in areas which
were previously left only partially or under-explored partly due to their perceived older host rock
ages, but which were then later found to contain large, world-class examples of much older
porphyry copper deposits.

Magmas and mantle processes

In general, the majority of large porphyry deposits are associated with calc-alkaline intrusions,
although some of the largest gold-rich deposits are associated with high-K calc-alkaline magma
compositions.[7] Numerous world-class porphyry copper-gold deposits are hosted by high-K or
shoshonitic intrusions, such as Bingham copper-gold mine in USA, Grasberg copper-gold mine in
Indonesia, Northparkes copper-gold mine in Australia, Oyu Tolgoi copper-gold mine in Mongolia
and Peschanka copper-gold prospect in Russia.[9]

The magmas responsible for porphyry formation are conventionally thought to be generated by
the partial melting of the upper part of post-subduction, stalled slabs that are altered by
seawater.[10] Shallow subduction of young, buoyant slabs can result in the production of adakitic
lavas via partial melting.[6] Alternatively, metasomatised mantle wedges can produce highly
oxidized conditions that results in sulfide minerals releasing ore minerals (copper, gold,
molybdenum), which are then able to be transported to upper crustal levels.[10] Mantle melting
can also be induced by transitions from convergent to transform margins, as well as the
steepening and trenchward retreat of the subducted slab.[10] However, the latest belief is that
dehydration that occurs at the blueschist-eclogite transition affects most subducted slabs,
rather than partial melting.[6]

After dehydration, solute-rich fluids are released from the slab and metasomatise the overlying
mantle wedge of MORB-like asthenosphere, enriching it with volatiles and large ion lithophile
elements (LILE).[6] The current belief is that the generation of andesitic magmas is multistage,
and involves crustal melting and assimilation of primary basaltic magmas, magma storage at
the base of the crust (underplating by dense, mafic magma as it ascends), and magma
homogenization.[6] The underplated magma will add a lot of heat to the base of the crust,
thereby inducing crustal melting and assimilation of lower-crustal rocks, creating an area with
intense interaction of the mantle magma and crustal magma.[6] This progressively evolving
magma will become enriched in volatiles, sulfur, and incompatible elements – an ideal
combination for the generation of a magma capable of generating an ore deposit.[6] From this
point forward in the evolution of a porphyry deposit, ideal tectonic and structural conditions are
necessary to allow the transport of the magma and ensure its emplacement in upper-crustal
levels.

Tectonic and structural controls

Although porphyry deposits are associated with arc volcanism, they are not the typical products
in that environment. It is believed that tectonic change acts as a trigger for porphyry formation.[7]
There are five key factors that can give rise to porphyry development: 1) compression impeding
magma ascent through crust, 2) a resultant larger shallow magma chamber, 3) enhanced
fractionation of the magma along with volatile saturation and generation of magmatic-
hydrothermal fluids, 4) compression restricts offshoots from developing into the surrounding
rock, thus concentrating the fluid into a single stock, and 5) rapid uplift and erosion promotes
decompression and efficient, eventual deposition of ore.[11]

Porphyry deposits are commonly developed in regions that are zones of low-angle (flat-slab)
subduction.[7] A subduction zone that transitions from normal to flat and then back to normal
subduction produces a series of effects that can lead to the generation of porphyry deposits.
Initially, there will be decreased alkalic magmatism, horizontal shortening, hydration of the
lithosphere above the flat-slab, and low heat flow.[7] Upon a return to normal subduction, the hot
asthenosphere will once again interact with the hydrated mantle, causing wet melting, crustal
melting will ensue as mantle melts pass through, and lithospheric thinning and weakening due
to the increased heat flow.[7] The subducting slab can be lifted by aseismic ridges, seamount
chains, or oceanic plateaus – which can provide a favourable environment for the development
of a porphyry deposit.[7] This interaction between subduction zones and the aforementioned
oceanic features can explain the development of multiple metallogenic belts in a given region;
as each time the subduction zone interacts with one of these features it can lead to ore
genesis.[7] Finally, in oceanic island arcs, ridge subduction can lead to slab flattening or arc
reversal; whereas, in continental arcs it can lead to periods of Flat Slab Subduction.[7]

Arc reversal has been shown to slightly pre-date the formation of porphyry deposits in the south-
west Pacific, after a collisional event.[12] Arc reversal occurs due to collision between an island
arc and either another island arc, a continent, or an oceanic plateau.[10] The collision may result
in the termination of subduction and thereby induce mantle melting.[10]

Porphyry deposits do not generally have any requisite structural controls for their formation;
although major faults and lineaments are associated with some.[10][13] The presence of intra-arc
fault systems are beneficial, as they can localize porphyry development.[8] Furthermore, some
authors have indicated that the occurrence of intersections between continent-scale traverse
fault zones and arc-parallel structures are associated with porphyry formation.[8] This is actually
the case of Chile's Los Bronces and El Teniente porphyry copper deposits each of which lies at
the intersection of two fault systems.[13]

Characteristics
From Cox, (1986) US Geological Survey Bulletin 1693

Characteristics of porphyry copper deposits include:

The orebodies are associated with multiple intrusions and dikes of diorite to quartz monzonite
composition with porphyritic textures.

Breccia zones with angular or locally rounded fragments are commonly associated with the
intrusives. The sulfide mineralization typically occurs between or within fragments. These
breccia zones are typically hydrothermal in nature, and may be manifested as pebble dikes.[14]

The deposits typically have an outer epidote - chlorite mineral alteration zone.

A quartz - sericite alteration zone typically occurs closer to the center and may overprint.

A central potassic zone of secondary biotite and orthoclase alteration is commonly

associated with most of the ore.

Fractures are often filled or coated by sulfides, or by quartz veins with sulfides. Closely spaced
fractures of several orientations are usually associated with the highest grade ore.

The upper portions of porphyry copper deposits may be subjected to supergene enrichment.
This involves the metals in the upper portion being dissolved and carried down to below the
water table, where they precipitate.

Porphyry copper deposits are typically mined by open-pit methods.

Examples

Mexico
Cananea

La Caridad

Santo Tomas

Canada
Highland Valley

Chile
Cerro Colorado[8]

Chuquicamata

Collahuasi[8]

Escondida

El Abra[8]

El Salvador[8]

El Teniente

Los Pelambres[8]

Radomiro Tomić

Peru
Toquepala

Cerro Verde, southeast of the city of Arequipa

United States
Ajo, Arizona

Bagdad, Arizona

Lavender Pit, Bisbee, Arizona

Morenci, Arizona

Pebble Mine, Alaska

 Safford Mine, Safford, Arizona

San Manuel, Arizona

Sierrita, Arizona[15]

Resolution Copper, Superior, Arizona

El Chino, Santa Rita, New Mexico

Ely, Nevada

Bingham Canyon Mine, Utah

Ray Mine, Arizona[16]

Indonesia
Batu Hijau, Sumbawa

Grasberg, West Papua at >3 billion tonnes at 1 ppm Au, is one of the world's largest and
richest porphyry deposits of any type

Tujuh Bukit, Java, still under exploration, but likely to be bigger than Batu Hijau[17]

Sungai Mak and Cabang Kiri, Gorontalo, at 292 million tonnes at 0.50 ppm gold and 0.47%
copper[18]

Australia
Cadia-Ridgeway Mine, New South Wales, copper-gold deposit mined by open pit and block
caving.

Northparkes copper porphyry deposit, New South Wales, with 63 million tonnes at 1.1% Cu
and 0.5 ppm Au.

Papua New Guinea

Ok Tedi

Panguna/Bougainville Copper

Wafi-Golpu project/Wafi-Golpu mine

Other
Coclesito, Panama[19]

Majdanpek mine, Serbia[8]

Oyu Tolgoi is one of the world's largest and richest Cu porphyry deposits, Mongolia
 La Caridad, Sonora, Mexico

Dizon, Philippines[8]

Saindak Copper Gold Project, Pakistan[20]

Porphyry-type ore deposits for metals other than copper

Copper is not the only metal that occurs in porphyry deposits. There are also porphyry ore
deposits mined primarily for molybdenum, many of which contain very little copper. Examples of
porphyry molybdenum deposits are the Climax, Urad, Mt. Emmons, and Henderson deposits in
central Colorado; the White Pine and Pine Grove deposits in Utah;[21][22] the Questa deposit in
northern New Mexico; and Endako in British Columbia.

The US Geological Survey has classed the Chorolque and Catavi tin deposits in Bolivia as
porphyry tin deposits.[23]

Some porphyry copper deposits in oceanic crust environments, such as those in the Philippines,
Indonesia, and Papua New Guinea, are sufficiently rich in gold that they are called copper-gold
porphyry deposits.[24]

References

1. "Archived copy" (https://web.archive.org/web/20090510154307/http://geopubs.wr.usgs.gov/

open-file/of02-268/maps/map1.pdf) (PDF). Archived from the original (http://geopubs.wr.us
gs.gov/open-file/of02-268/maps/map1.pdf) (PDF) on 2009-05-10. Retrieved 2009-08-31.

2. Base Metals (http://www.mme.gov.na/gsn/basemetals.htm#Haib) Archived (https://web.arc

hive.org/web/20080602022301/http://www.mme.gov.na/gsn/basemetals.htm) 2008-06-02
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4. https://web.archive.org/web/20100307202424/http://www.mawsonwest.com.au/multimedia
/1/ASX%20Chimpantika%20160407.pdf

5. Kesler, S.E. and B.H. Wilkinson, Earth's copper resources estimated from tectonic diffusion of
porphyry copper deposits, Geology, 2008, 36(3): pp. 255-258. Abstract (http://geology.gsapub
s.org/content/36/3/255.abstract)
 6. Richards, J.P., Tectono-Magmatic Precursors for Porphyry Cu-(Mo-Au) Deposit Formation.
Economic Geology, 2003. 98: p. 1515-1533.

7. Cooke, D.R., P. Hollings, and J.L. Walshe, Giant Porphyry Deposits: Characteristics, Distribution,
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8. Sillitoe, R.H., Porphyry Copper Systems. Economic Geology, 2010. 105: p. 3-41.

9. Müller D., Groves D.I. (2019) Potassic igneous rocks and associated gold-copper
mineralization (5th ed.). Mineral Resource Reviews. Springer-Verlag Heidelberg, 398 pp

10. Sillitoe, R.H., Characteristics and controls of the largest porphyry copper-gold and epithermal
gold deposits in the circum-Pacific region. Australian Journal of Earth Sciences: An
International Geoscience Journal of the Geological Society of Australia 1997. 44(3): p. 373-
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11. Sillitoe, R.H. Major regional factors favoring large size, high hypogene grade, elevated gold
content and supergene oxidation and enrichment of porphyry copper deposits. in Porphyry
and hydrothermal copper and gold deposits: A global perspective. 1998. Glenside, South
Australia: Australian Mineral Foundation.

12. Solomon, M., Subduction, arc reversal, and the origin of porphyry copper-gold deposits in
island arcs. Geology, 1990. 18: p. 630-633.

13. Piquer Romo, José Meulen; Yáñez, Gonzálo; Rivera, Orlando; Cooke, David (2019). "Long-lived
crustal damage zones associated with fault intersections in the high Andes of Central Chile"
(http://www.andeangeology.cl/index.php/revista1/article/view/V46n2-3106/pdf) . Andean
Geology. 46 (2): 223–239. doi:10.5027/andgeoV46n2-3108 (https://doi.org/10.5027%2Fandg
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14. Sillitoe, R.H., 1985, Ore-Related Breccias in Volcanoplutonic Arcs: Economic Geology, v. 80, p.
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15. West, Richard J. and Daniel M. Aiken, Geology of the Sierrita-Esperanza Deposit, Chapter 21 in
Advances in the Geology of the Porphyry Copper Deposits, The University of Arizona Press,
1982, ISBN 0-8165-0730-9

16. Banks, Norman G., Sulfur and Copper in Magma and Rocks: Ray Porphyry Copper Deposit,
Pinal County, Arizona, Chapter 10 in Advances in the Geology of the Porphyry Copper
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17. Tujuh Bukit – Indonesia | Intrepid Mines (http://www.intrepidmines.com/Operations/Project_-_

Tujuh_Bukit/)
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e-Panama/default.aspx) Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20110510081156/http://ww
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21. Keith, J.D., Shanks III, W.C., Archibald, D.A., and Farrar, E., 1986, Volcanic and Intrusive History
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22. Jensen, Collin (2019). "Multi-Stage Construction of the Little Cottonwood Stock, Utah: Origin,
Intrusion, Venting,Mineralization, and Mass Movement" (https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/et
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23. Bruce L. Reed (1986) Descriptive model of porphyry Sn, in Mineral Deposit Models, US
Geological Survey Bulletin 1693, p.108.

24. R. L. Andrew (1995) Porphyry copper-gold deposits of the southwest Pacific, Mining
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Dennis P. Cox, 1986, "Descriptive model of porphyry Cu," in Mineral Deposit Models, US
Geological Survey, Bulletin 1693, p. 76, 79.

Michael L. Zientek, et al., 2013, Porphyry copper assessment of Southeast Asia and Melanesia,
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