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Lecture for students at the University of the Philippines , 2015

Porphyry Copper Deposits

Doug Kirwin
What is a porphyry copper deposit?

A copper +/- gold orebody formed from hydrothermal fluids associated

with porphyritic igneous rocks that originated several kilometers
below the deposit itself.

Successive envelopes of hydrothermal alteration typically enclose a

core of disseminated minerals occurring as stockwork quartz veins
and fractures
Localisation of porphyry Cu-Au systems
➢Associated with
subduction related
magmatic arc.
➢Emplaced during a
change in convergence from
orthogonal to transcurrent
convergence
➢Partial melting of
lower crust emplaced
in dilational transfer ➢ Slab tear facilitates upwelling of mafic
structures magmas from asthenosphere to
increasing Cu-Au endowment
 Controls to porphyry Cu-Au-Mo
mineralisation

 Fertile magmatic source

 Trigger provided by
change in convergence
 Dilatant setting eg splay
 Sheeted veins
 Competent host rock
 Polyphasal intrusions
 Only minor post-mineral
porphyry
ALTERATION MINERALS AND QUARTZ VEIN TEXTURE CONSIDERATIONS
 Potassic alteration

Qtz-cpy-mo vns in bio altd sed Bio altd porphyry bxa OK Tedi, PNG A veins Goonumbla, NSW
Wafi-Golpu

K-feldspar altd porphyry K-feldspar altd volc Cadia, NSW M veins Ridgeway, NSW
Goonumbla
 Potassic & calc-potassic alteration
orthoclase selvage alteration pervasive bio-cpmt alteration
around qz-cal-sulfide veins of volcanic wallrock
3 cm 3 cm

early laminated qz-mt-bn veins and

simple qz-mt-bn cp veins in calc-
potassic altered EM monzonite

3 cm

calc-potassic alteration of FRV

Newcrest Mining Limited Cadia Valley Operations
wallrock, multiple vein stages 4 cm
Centre line quartz vein textures, Grasberg porphyry Cu-Au deposit, Indonesia
Pervasively sericite altered quartz stockwork veining, Erdenet porphyry Cu-Mo deposit, Mongolia
Propylitic alteration

chlorite

epidote

Corbett in prep actinolite

 CH - CQ: Propylitic alteration
minor hematite alteration
associated with chlorite-matrix
breccias
selectively pervasive chl-cal-epi
alteration of all mafic phenocrysts
is ubiquitous

peripheral prehnite-calcite  2 cm
epidote veining in FRV
propylitic alteration,
QMP, Cadia Quarry
 Quartz vein density mapping

Could be 50-500m

Level of erosion is an important consideration

Stock work quartz density in porphyry copper deposits

Stockwork quartz veining, Ntina. Note high Au/Cu ratios and sulphide –rich veins
 Porphyry vein styles

Wormy A veins Wafi-Golpu A veins with Kspar selvage cut

PNG (Muller et al, 2012. by later B Vein- Ridgeway

Retrograde and peripheral

M veins - Qtz-mag-cpy-born veins. D vein -Wafi-Golpu, PNG

 B veins

Chatree, Thailand Copper Hill, Australia

 C veins

Grasberg, Indonesia

Copper Hill Ridgeway

 B veins cut M veins

Namosi Fiji

Lindero Argentina Rio Grande Argentina

Sulphide Zonation
Section 11050E 22,400mN 22,800mN 23,200mN

Sulfide Zonation post-mineral cover

no sulfide
5800mRL
py only

5400mRL
py > cp

cp > bn 5000mRL
bn > cp

cp > py
Factors contributing high Cu-Au grades
 Wafi-Golpu - later epithermal quartz-carbonate-base metal veins overprinting the system produced by the mixing of
magmatic fluids with bi-carbonate bearing meteoric fluids

Wafi- 85m at 3.2 g/t WR444 – Wafi free gold in quartz-

Au. carbonategalena-
sphalerite vein reporting 1m of up to
110 g/t Au

Ref: Newcrest quarter report, June 2013; Harmony 3rd quarter report, 2013
Geochemistry Stream sediments, soils and rock chip

Important elements copper, gold, molybdenum, zinc and lead

Concepts of oxidation, leaching and secondary enrichment

Exploration implications
Typical rock chip and soil values for a non-leached porphyry
Typical anomalous values for stream sediments
Batu Hijah–surface geochem zonation

Cu ppm. Au ppm.

Zn ppm. Mo ppm.
Maula and Levet (1996)
Bougainville.
Stream
geochemistry.
Copper values
Bougainville
Geochemical soil
values. Copper
Geochemistry Stream sediments, soils and rock chip

Important elements copper, gold, molybdenum, zinc and lead

Concepts of oxidation, leaching and secondary enrichment

Exploration implications
Copper mineralogy in oxidized deposits
Oyu Tolgoi site visit in July 1999
South Oyu Tolgoi Cu Deposit
 Interpretation of leached caps

Haematite-goethite-jarosite ratios template

Chalcocite enrichment (replacement of pyrite and chalcopyrite)
Stage model for the evolution of
porphyry Cu-Au systems

Corbett in prep
Lithocap geochemistry in porphyry copper deposits
Typical anomalous stream sediment values for As lithocap
 Geophysics

Magnetics and Induced Polarization

Normal systems and high sulphidation deposits

 OTD270
Hugo Dummett

North Oyu

Central Oyu

South Oyu
SW Oyu

Far SW Oyu

Ground Magnetics and IP Maps

Southwest Oyu Section; OTD-150
 IP Chargeability Oyu Tolgoi

OTD367A

N-S lines, 2001 E-W lines, 2002

Drill Section Illustrating OTD-159 at Central Oyu, Compiled in August 2001.
 IP Chargeability Oyu Tolgoi

OTD367A

N-S lines, 2001 E-W lines, 2002

 Discovery of Hugo North: OTD367A

OTD399

OTD405
144m: 4.41% Cu, 1.61g/t Au
Se
c tio
nF
N-
1 4
OTD363 OTD367A
OTD361

OTD355
OTD355, 56m; 3.01%, 0.09g/t

OTD344, 78m; 3.30%, 0.34g/t

Outline of Hugo South, March 2003

“We just wanted to know
what was out there”,
David & Imants justifying the
big step out on OTD367
 OTD 270

638m @ 0.07g/t Au 1.61% Cu

 Oyu Tolgoi Team

Proof that Geophysics causes hair loss to Geologists !

Longitudinal Section of Oyu Tolgoi, 2005
 Selected Porphyry Copper Deposits
Kilong-Olao (Solfotara) St. Anthony (Solfotara)
50 MMt, 0.40% Cu, 0.4 g/t Au 100MMt 0.34% Cu, 0.4 g/t Au

Far Southeast (Lepanto) Tawi-Tawi (Solfotara)

650 MMt, 0.65%Cu, 1.3 g/t Au 250 MMt 0.41% Cu, 0.25% Au

San Fabian (Asian Arc)

PADCAL (Philex) 245 MMt, 0.35% Cu, 0.23 g/t Au
449 MMt, 0.375% Cu, 0.7 g/t Au
Basay (Solfotara)
Dizon (Benguet-DMC) 233 MMt, 0.44% Cu
187 MMt, 0.36% Cu, 0.93 g/t Au
Toledo-Carmen (Atlas)
Taysan (Asian Arc) 1,480 MMt, 0.41% Cu
734 MMt, 0.24% Cu, 0.11 g/t Au

San Antonio (Marcopper) Boyungan (Philex)

178.3 MMt, 0.44% Cu, 0.09 105MMt, 0.8% Cu, 1.0 g/t Au
g/t Au, 1.19 g/t Ag

Tapian (Marcopper) Amacan -Davao Mining)(PDMC)

504 MMt, 0.55% Cu, 0.11 116 MMt, 0.37% Cu, 0.36 g/t Au
g/t Au, 0.70 g/t Ag
KINGKING (Benguet Corp.)
Sipalay(MMC) 400 MMt, 0.35% Cu, 0.6 g/t Au
807 MMt, 0.473% Cu

TAMPAKAN (SMI-Xstrata)
Hinoba’an (Selenga-CDC) 2,400 Mmt, 0.6% Cu, 0.2 g/t Au
173 MMt, 0.42% Cu
Location: Padcal, Benguet
• A pipelike orebody with 730 m vertical extension.
• Total Existing -lke porphyry Cu-Au orebody with 550 x 500 Resource:
73.8 Mmt, 0.23% Cu, 0.48 g/t Au (30 June. 2009)
• Production rate: 13,700 tpd, 0.27% Cu, 0.74 g/y Au (5 years mine life)
NW SE

67
• A 500 x 200 m, monzonite-hosted pipe-like
copper-gold porphyry orebody extending
800-1000 meters below the surface.

• Total Resource : 64 Mmt, 0.45% Cu,

2.17 g/t Au.
Placer Geology
Placer Geology
Model of Ntina Deeps Porphyry Gold-Copper Deposit, Placer District, Surigao
Stockwork quartz veining, Ntina. Note high Au/Cu ratios and sulphide –rich veins
•
Porphyry copper exploration Papua New Guinea 1970
Sulphide Zonation
 Critical Assessment of the Facts..

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