Seg SP16 187

© 2012 Society of Economic Geologists, Inc.
Special Publication 16, pp. 187–213
Chapter 9
Geologic Overview of the Oyu Tolgoi Porphyry Cu-Au-Mo Deposits, Mongolia

DAVID CRANE† AND IMANTS KAVALIERIS
Asia Gold Mongolia LLC, Shuren Bldg., Olympic Street-8, Sukhbaatar District, Ulaanbaatar-13, Mongolia
Abstract
The Oyu Tolgoi porphyry Cu-Au deposits in southern Mongolia constitute the largest high-grade group of
Paleozoic porphyry deposits known in the world. Exploration by Ivanhoe Mines has thus far defined total con-
tained metal exceeding 92 billion pounds (41.7 million metric tons) of copper and 49.8 million troy ounces
(1,549 metric tons) of gold.
The deposits are related to multiple intrusions of Late Devonian (~372 Ma) quartz monzodiorite, emplaced
within juvenile calc-alkaline basalts that belong to the Gurvansayhan island-arc terrane. The tectonic setting is
part of the Central Asian orogenic belt, a zone of arc-continent collision, active from the Silurian to Early Car-
boniferous. Porphyry Cu-Au deposits and exploration targets occur along a 26 km-long, north-northeast belt
termed the Oyu Tolgoi trend. All deposits are related to phenocryst-crowded quartz monzodiorite intrusions
and contorted anastomosing A-type quartz veins. The individual deposits have varied characteristics in regard
to host rock, quartz monzodiorite morphology, alteration assemblages, sulfide mineralogy, grade, and Au/Cu
ratios.
The pre-Carboniferous stratigraphy of Oyu Tolgoi consists of the Oyu Tolgoi sequence, consisting of massive
augite basalt, conglomerate, dacitic tuffs, and siltstones, which is overthrust by the Heruga sequence, com-
prising basaltic flows, volcaniclastic rocks, and siltstones. Only the lower parts of the Oyu Tolgoi sequence host
porphyry mineralization and associated alteration. The Carboniferous Sainshandhudag Formation uncon-
formably overlies the older rocks. Major Carboniferous or younger faults disrupt the Oyu Tolgoi trend and
bound the western side of the Hugo Dummett deposits.
Early sodic-calcic alteration overprinted by younger wall-rock biotite-magnetite alteration along with K-
feldspar alteration, the latter two largely restricted to the host quartz monzodiorite porphyry, dominate the
deeper parts of the system, especially in the southern parts of the trend. Gold-rich chalcopyrite mineralization
is directly related to the biotite-magnetite and K-feldspar alteration. Carapace-style quartz-sericite alteration
with associated chalcopyrite-molybdenite mineralization overprints the quartz monzodiorite and wall rocks in
the upper parts of the system and uncommonly at depth. In the central and northern parts of the trend, ad-
vanced argillic alteration occurs at the top of the system and is telescoped onto earlier alteration. Parts of the
telescoped system are characterized by high-grade, bornite-rich mineralization, especially where a series of
prograde and retrograde alteration events overlap. High sulfidation-style hypergene pyrite-enargite ± covellite
and chalcocite mineralization occurs on the fringes of the alteration system, with broad zones of hypergene cov-
ellite-pyrite mineralization in the central part of the trend weathering to form a supergene chalcocite blanket
close to the surface.
Introduction Mongolia and is related to granodiorite of Triassic age. Oyu

THE OYU TOLGOI deposits (106.85° E and 43.01° N) are lo- Tolgoi comprises the largest group of Paleozoic porphyry de-
cated in the South Gobi Desert, approximately 650 km south posits in the world, with a total Proven and Probable reserve
of Ulaanbaatar. The average elevation in the area of the de- of 1,392 Mt at 0.93 wt % Cu and 0.38 g/t Au and a total Indi-
posits is 1,160 m and relief is less than 50 m. The deposits are cated and Inferred Resources of 3,093 Mt at 0.84% Cu and
being developed under a joint venture agreement between 0.33 g/t Au (at 0.6% Cu equiv cut-off) in six main deposits
the Government of Mongolia (34%) and Ivanhoe Mines Ltd. (Rio Tinto, 2011 Annual Report). Construction of the Oyu
(66%; Rio Tinto took a majority stake in Ivanhoe Mines on Tolgoi mine commenced in late 2009, and first production is
January 24th, 2012). Oyu Tolgoi is a newly discovered por- expected in late 2012.
phyry Cu-Au mineral district within the early to mid-Paleo- Other significant porphyry and related alteration systems in
zoic Gurvansayhan arc terrane, which extends through south- the Gurvansayhan terrane include Tsagaan Suvarga, Khar-
ern Mongolia as an arcuate belt (Fig. 1). magtai, and Shuteen (Fig. 1). At Tsagaan Suvarga, chalcopy-
Prior to the discovery of Oyu Tolgoi, the potential for is- rite and molybdenite mineralization (92 Mt at 0.71% Cu and
land-arc gold-rich porphyry deposits in Mongolia was unrec- 0.025% Mo; Kirwin et al., 2005) of Late Devonian age (370.4
ognized. The only well-known porphyry deposit at the time ± 0.8 Ma; Watanabe and Stein, 2000) is hosted by syenogran-
was the Erdenet mine (1.78 billion metric tons (Bt) at 0.62 wt ite and granodiorite porphyry intrusions of comparable age to
% Cu and 0.025 wt % Mo; Kirwin et al., 2005), which occurs the Oyu Tolgoi deposits. At Kharmagtai, gold-bearing chal-
within Precambrian and early Paleozoic rocks in northern copyrite mineralization is hosted by quartz diorite porphyry
intrusions associated with tourmaline alteration; there are no
† Corresponding author: e-mail, davecrane@bigpond.com published age data for the Kharmagtai complex. The Shuteen
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188 CRANE AND KAVALIERIS
a Mongolia (before 1991), when the Erdenet Cu-Mo deposit
650, 000 mE
Russia b Ulaan was found and developed, despite these Bronze-age work-
Drill proven Khuud
deposit ings. Joint Mongolian and Russian geochemical surveys re-
Mongolia
Cu-Au
prospect ported only a Mo geochemical anomaly in the vicinity of the
Geological
trend
Central deposit (Kirwin et al., 2005).
Korea Fault Identification of porphyry Cu mineralization at Oyu Tolgoi is
China
Hugo Dummett North
accredited to BHP (Magma Copper Ltd.) geologists, who vis-
Japan Hugo Dummett South
ited the area in September 1996 and undertook the first explo-
Central Oyu
Oyu Tolgoi Southwest Oyu South Oyu ration between 1997 and 1999 (Perelló et al., 2001; Kirwin et
India
Heruga North
al., 2003, 2005). BHP completed geochemical and geophysical
Philippines
4,760,000 mN
Heruga
surveys (ground and airborne magnetics, induced polariza-
Burma
tion) and 23 diamond drill holes, culminating in the identifica-
1000 km Javkhlant 5 km tion of the North, Central, and South mineralized zones, for
which Perelló et al. (2001) quoted a total in situ resource of
c 90 96 102 108 114 438 Mt at 0.52% Cu and 0.25 g/t Au. The mineralized zones
Russia are related to intermediate-composition porphyritic intrusions
with advanced argillic, sericitic, and potassic alteration (Perelló
48 Erdenet Cu-Mo et al., 2001). BHP did not discover the largest deposit, Hugo
Dummett, which is concealed beneath more than 800 m of
Oyu Tolgoi unmineralized rock. In 1999, BHP offered the tenements for
joint venture and a resulting agreement with Ivanhoe Mines
44 allowed acquisition of up to 100% of the properties.
Gurvansayhan Exploration by Ivanhoe Mines Mongolia Inc. (IMMI) began
island arc terrane China
Island arc in May 2000, and exploration is still ongoing (exploration up
Backarc/forearc basin to 2005 was summarized by Kirwin et al., 2005). More than
400km
Cratonic basement 1,000 km of diamond core has been drilled to date in over
Early Permian
2,400 holes. The exploration focus in 2000 to 2001 was a su-
d Sodic-alkalic granite pergene chalcocite zone at the Central deposit, which en-
Kharmagtai N
Shuteen
Tsagaan Early to
tailed 8,000 m of reverse-circulation percussion drilling,
suvarga Late Carboniferous which defined an indicated resource of 31.7 Mt at 0.8% Cu
Tavan Tolgoi
Granitoids and an inferred resource of 11.2 Mt at 0.78% Cu (Kirwin et
Coal
Cu-Au-Mo prospects al., 2005). A turning point in exploration came from the re-
Advanced argillic sults of three diamond holes drilled at the end of the reverse
Oyu Tolgoi alteration circulation program in late 2001; OTRCD150, drilled be-
deposits
Cu-Au-Mo
Cu-Au-Mo or
or coal
coal
Tavan Tolgoi Permian
coal mine
tween two shallow BHP holes in the western side of South
50
50 kms
kms
China
China 00 50km
Dalanzadgad
deposit, intersected 508 m of 0.81% Cu and 1.17 g/t Au, start-
ing below 70 m, which was the discovery hole for the South-
FIG. 1. (a). Location of the Oyu Tolgoi district in southern Mongolia. (b). west deposit. This hole essentially defined the Southwest de-
The Oyu Tolgoi mineral trend. (c). Erdenet Cu-Mo deposit located in cra-
tonic basement, distribution of the Gurvansayhan terrane and related island- posit in terms of grade, Au (g/t)/Cu (%) ratio, host rock,
arc terranes (after Badarch et al., 2002). (d). Inset showing porphyry nature of quartz monzodiorite intrusions, and depth extent of
prospects, alteration zones, and the Tavan Tolgoi Permian coal deposit. mineralization, despite a huge amount of later exploration. An
extensive diamond drilling program ensued, using north-
south gradient array induced polarization (IP) surveys to tar-
prospect encompasses a large lithocap zone of unmineralized get alteration and sulfide minerals. Southwest Oyu and the
quartz-alunite-pyrophyllite-topaz alteration. A microgranite mineralized zones already identified by the BHP program
from Shuteen has a U-Pb zircon age of 330 ± 1.0 Ma (Blight were initially explored. A broad east-west−oriented IP target
et al., 2010). in the northern part of North Oyu was drilled in mid-2002
along north-south lines and found to be mainly related to
Exploration History pyrite in advanced argillic-altered rocks. However, a final hole
Porphyry Cu-Au deposits and mineral occurrences in the at the east side of the IP target, OTD270 drilled to the north
Oyu Tolgoi district occur in a 26-km-long, N-NWE−trending in September 2002, encountered 638 m at 1.6% Cu, starting
belt. The main deposits and occurrences, from north to south, from 230-m depth; this discovery would be known later as the
are Ulan Khuud, Hugo Dummett North, Hugo Dummett Hugo Dummett South deposit. Because this was such a high-
South, Central, Southwest, South, Heruga North, Heruga, grade result, a program to drill across this zone was imple-
and Javkhalant (Fig. 1). The Oyu Tolgoi deposits are partly ex- mented. OTD289, drilled at an azimuth of 125°, encountered
posed, particularly at the South deposit, where the occur- 369 m at 1.9% Cu from 296 m downhole. Later holes at 305°
rence of small pits and stone implements suggest Bronze-age azimuth in this same section defined the best (or type) section
exploitation for copper or blue-green−colored secondary for the Hugo Dummett South deposit. Exploration continued
copper minerals for paint. The Oyu Tolgoi district was not to the north-northeast by stepping out at 100-m intervals
explored by trenching or drilling during the Soviet era in and drilling a number of holes per section, but there were
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GEOLOGIC OVERVIEW OF THE OYU TOLGOI PORPHYRY Cu-Au-Mo DEPOSITS, MONGOLIA 189
signs that the mineralization was disappearing 800 m north alkalic Khanbogd granite (Fig. 1). Although some authors
of the intersection in OTD270. In January 2003, a large (Kovalenko et al., 2006) regard the Khanbogd granite to be
step-out of 300 m was made beyond known mineralization related to extensional and hot-spot activity, whole-rock geo-
to the north-northeast; drill hole OTD367 encountered 164 chemistry and Sr, Pb, and Nd isotopes suggest it is more likely
m of 4.0% Cu and 1.42 g/t Au, making it the discovery hole to be an orogenic granite, i.e., with a subduction-related geo-
for the Hugo Dummett North deposit. By late 2003, up to chemical signature (Amaramgalan, 2008).
23 diamond rigs were operating at Oyu Tolgoi. The Heruga During the Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous, rifting, in-
deposit was discovered in 2007 (Crane et al., 2009), again cluding formation of metamorphic core complexes (Webb et
targeting an IP anomaly. The discovery of Heruga to the al., 1999) and synrift basins with thick sediment accumula-
south strengthened the geologic concept of an alignment of tions, occurred in southeastern Mongolia (Johnson, 2004).
deposits along a N-NE trend, and also gave impetus to test Extension was followed in the Cenozoic by transpressional
the 3 km gap between the Heruga and Southwest deposits, tectonic events related to the Himalayan collision (Cunning-
where ongoing drilling has led to the discovery of additional ham, 2010), which dominate the present-day regional struc-
mineralization. ture of southern Mongolia.
Regional Geology Geology of the Oyu Tolgoi District
The Oyu Tolgoi deposits are located within the Central The complex tectonic history, as well as extensive cover
Asian orogenic belt (Zonenshain et al., 1990), one of the rocks up to 2 km in thickness, obscure fundamental charac-
largest orogenic belts in the world and extending for over teristics of the early arc terrane that hosts the Oyu Tolgoi de-
5,000 km (Fig. 1). Contained within this orogenic belt is the posits. Our present understanding of the stratigraphy of the
southern Mongolian fold system (Ruzhentsev and Pospelov, Oyu Tolgoi district (Fig. 2) derives mainly from diamond
1992), a zone of arc-continent collision that was active from drilling and limited isotopic dating.
the Silurian to Early Carboniferous. Recently, the tectonics of The interpreted bedrock geology of the Oyu Tolgoi district
Mongolia were interpreted in terms of accreted terranes (Fig. is presented in Figure 3. A large portion of the map area is
1). Oyu Tolgoi is located within the Gurvansayhan arc terrane blanketed by Cretaceous and younger superficial cover, the
(Badarch et al., 2002) for which the type locality is about 400 distribution of which, for clarity, is not shown. Carboniferous
km west of Oyu Tolgoi and thus may be too far away to be Sainshandhudag Formation crops out over most of the map
representative of the terrane around Oyu Tolgoi. area and is intruded by granitoids, which are mainly Car-
The Gurvansayhan terrane extends as an arcuate belt, 600 boniferous based on geologic relationships and limited iso-
km long and up to 200 km wide through southern Mongolia. topic dating (Amaramgalan, 2008; Wainwright, 2011b).
It comprises mid- to late Paleozoic basaltic to dacitic volcanic Because of the uncertain stratigraphic correlation to pub-
and sedimentary rocks, intruded by Late Devonian and Car- lished descriptions from elsewhere in the South Gobi, pre-
boniferous granitoids (Lamb and Badarch, 1997; Badarch et Carboniferous units of the district are informally grouped into
al., 2002). The structure of the Gurvansayhan terrane at its the Heruga and Oyu Tolgoi sequences, which are separated
type locality is dominated by imbricate thrust sheets, dismem- by the district-scale Contact fault (Fig. 4g). The upward-fac-
bered blocks, and mélange, and includes serpentinite in addi- ing Oyu Tolgoi sequence hosts the Oyu Tolgoi deposits, lies in
tion to oceanic basalts with a mid-ocean ridge basalt (MORB) the footwall of the Contact fault at Oyu Tolgoi, and has very
geochemical signature (Ruzhentsev and Pospelov, 1992; Lamb limited exposure, whereas the Heruga sequence in the hang-
and Badarch 1997; Badarch et al., 2002; Helo et al., 2006). ing wall of the Contact fault represents an allochthonous,
The terrane at its type locality is poorly dated but is probably probably overturned sequence stratigraphically uncorrelated
Silurian to Devonian based on a 420 Ma age for volcaniclastic to the Oyu Tolgoi sequence. The Heruga sequence crops out
rocks in the nearby Zoolen accretionary terrane, which Helo extensively in the southern portion of the map area.
et al. (2006) suggested may belong to the Gurvansayhan ter- An important geologic feature is a N-NE−trending ductile
rane, constituting the forearc region of a juvenile island arc. fault zone comprising mylonite up to 100 m wide, which paral-
Similar, poorly dated basalts (Perelló et al., 2001) at Oyu lels the Oyu Tolgoi trend about 5 km to the northwest (Fig. 3).
Tolgoi are also of island-arc affinity and are intruded by
Late Devonian quartz monzodiorite of the Oyu Tolgoi por- Stratified rocks
phyry system. A significant hiatus separates the basalts from The Oyu Tolgoi sequence has mainly been intersected by di-
younger rhyodacitic extrusive rocks that are of similar age amond drilling at the Heruga and Hugo Dummett deposits
(Wainwright, 2011a) and probably comagmatic with the but does crop out at the Southwest and South deposits and in
quartz monzodiorite, suggesting that the Oyu Tolgoi por- a limited area west of the Heruga deposit. It is dominated by
phyry system is not genetically related to the older Gur- porphyritic augite basalt (Fig. 4b), characterized by approxi-
vansayhan terrane island-arc basalts. Unconformably over- mately 35% augite phenocrysts, 5 to 10 mm across. The
lying Carboniferous sequences of continental margin augite basalt forms a volcanic complex over 1 km thick, cov-
affinity (Yarmolyuk et al., 2008), including sequences pre- ering a known area along the Oyu Tolgoi trend of 12 × 3 km.
sent in the Oyu Tolgoi district, are also not considered part Overall, the basalt is internally massive, without evidence of
of the terrane. individual flows, pillow structure, or vesicles and without flow
The Oyu Tolgoi district is intruded by a large number of alignment of fabric in thin section. At the northern end of
mid- to late Paleozoic granitoid plutons, including the mid- Hugo Dummett, the augite basalt is less than 200 m thick and
Carboniferous Javkhlant granodiorite and Late Permian sodic overlies laminated siltstone, with a siltstone clast breccia along
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FIG. 2. Stratigraphy of the Oyu Tolgoi area (U/Pb dates on zircon by Wainwright, 20011a, b; marine fossil biostratigraphy
by Minjiin et al., 2005).
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the contact. West of the Southwest deposit, massive augite dates for the augite basalt results in uncertain correlation of
basalt may be transitional with basaltic volcaniclastic rocks (or the lower part, below the major erosional hiatus represented
pepperite) comprising coarse sand and irregular clasts up to by the conglomerate. The lower part could be unrelated to
10 to 20 cm in size that are supported by a sandy matrix (Fig. the Alagbayan Group and potentially much older. The dacitic
4a). The augite basalt and associated volcaniclastic rocks over- ash-flow tuff unit above the hiatus is dated as Late Devonian
lie and are interbedded with laminar bedded siltstones of un- (367 ± 3 Ma) at Oyu Tolgoi (Wainwright et al., 2011a) and it
known thickness, encountered at depth below all deposits. An may correlate with ignimbrite belonging to the Khalzan-Ovoo
interval tens of meters thick below the upper contact of the Formation of the Alagbayan Group (Minjin et al., 2005).
augite basalt is commonly obscured by porphyry-related, The Heruga sequence crops out extensively in the Heruga
patchy alteration but could be fragmental. The presence of deposit area, about 5 km southwest of the Southwest deposit
laminated siltstone interbedded with fine- and coarse-graded (Fig. 3), and has been intersected in many drill holes overly-
units in the unit below the basalt implies a turbidite origin, ing the Hugo Dummett and Heruga deposits. The Heruga
but the depositional environment of the basalt is not clear. sequence is typically overturned in these areas and also inter-
The augite basalt sequence is overlain by coarse polymictic nally disrupted structurally. Description of the stratigraphic
conglomerate with igneous clasts (Fig. 4c) and by dacitic ash- succession of units is therefore uncertain. The Heruga se-
flow tuff (Fig. 4d) above an erosional contact. The presence quence primarily comprises basaltic flow breccia and green
of large, rounded boulders up to 2 m in diameter in poorly to red, finely laminated siltstone interbedded with thick mas-
sorted conglomerate interbedded with finer units implies a sive green volcanogenic sandstone. Characteristic (but sub-
high-gradient, terrestrial or shallow aqueous environment for ordinate) hyaloclastite of basalt-trachyandesite composition
the conglomerate; evidence for semimolten blocks in ash- includes ash to lapilli-sized, tuff-like beds (densely welded in
flow tuff implies a terrestrial environment for the tuff. Clasts part) in addition to angular boulder beds interbedded with
of augite basalt, trachyandesite, and quartz diorite are present reworked polymictic conglomerate and fine-grained lami-
in the conglomerate but quartz monzodiorite clasts are absent nated siltstone. The hyaloclastite is typically red to green and
(Savage, 2010). Altered igneous clasts are present in the exhibits alkali metasomatism (albite and K-feldspar alter-
dacitic ash-flow tuff (Wainwright et al., 2011a). ation). Sills and dikes of the same composition are intimately
The dacitic tuff and conglomerate are overlain by dark gray, associated with the hyaloclastite south of the Heruga deposit.
carbonaceous, laminated siltstone-sandstone (Fig. 4e) in ex- At the base of the main basaltic sequence, but possibly also
cess of 300 m thick, characterized by silicified carbonate nod- at other stratigraphic positions, alkali basalt, typically red and
ules and conglomerate lenses with quartz, chert, and siltstone green breccia or conglomerate and characterized by fine
clasts toward the base. The carbonaceous, generally fine- green needles of hornblende, has been identified by whole-
grained sequence suggests deposition in a tranquil lacustrine rock geochemistry as having an intraplate association (see
environment. whole-rock geochemistry section, below).
Wainwright et al. (2011a) divided the Oyu Tolgoi sequence The Heruga sequence was likely to have formed in a sub-
into a mineralized fragmental sequence and an uncon- aqueous marine environment as evidenced by the presence of
formably overlying unmineralized dacite tuff sequence, with rare crinoid fossil detritus in siltstones and possible poorly de-
the quartz monzodiorite being older than the unmineralized veloped pillow texture in the basalts. Minjin et al. (2005) cor-
sequence. The relationships in the alteration system are dis- related the Heruga sequence with the upper part of the
rupted by later dikes, faulting, or deformation and it is rarely Khalzan-Ovoo Formation of the Late Devonian Alegbayan
possible to clearly observe the relationships between mineral- Group; however this correlation is uncertain. Surface expo-
ized (altered) and unmineralized (unaltered) rocks. sures at the Heruga deposit were previously assigned to the
We regard the contact between the unmineralized and min- Silurian Tumurtei Formation on the published 1:200,000 ge-
eralized sequences, where not faulted or intruded by dikes, to ologic maps (Goldenberg et al., 1978).
be an alteration boundary, with rocks above and below being The Sainshandhudag Formation (Minjin et al., 2005) com-
lithologically the same except where the alteration boundary prises volcano-sedimentary rocks of Carboniferous age, form-
corresponds to the unconformity between augite basalt below ing subcrops over more than half of the Oyu Tolgoi district,
and conglomerate or ignimbrite above. We note the presence and it is separated by a major unconformity from the Heruga
of quartz and altered igneous clasts in fresh ignimbrite and sequence. In contrast to the older rocks, the formation at Oyu
conglomerate and interpret that they came from an older sys- Tolgoi is readily comparable to sequences throughout the
tem; however, this does not imply that they came from the al- South Gobi region, for example, at Deng Nuruu 300 km west
tered rocks directly below. The lack of zircons, used to recog- and Tsagaan Suvarga 130 km east-northeast of Oyu Tolgoi. At
nize the ”mineralized fragmental sequence” by Wainwright et Oyu Tolgoi, the underlying Heruga sequence is overturned,
al. (2011a), and trace element composition (Khashgerel et al., with an angular discordance along the contact with the over-
2008) are consistent with at least part of the protolith being lying Sainshandhudag Formation locally approaching 180°.
altered augite basalt. The amoeboid textures noted by Wain- This unconformity is widespread throughout southern Mon-
wright et al. (2011a) constitute patchy alunite-quartz alter- golia, for example, at Deng Nuruu, where underlying rocks
ation (“gusano texture;” Gustafson et al., 2004). Khashgerel are schist (Tumurtei Formation), and at Tsagaan Suvarga,
et al. (2008) also documented the same patchy-altered rock where underlying rocks are the Late Devonian Tsagaan Su-
transitional downward to less altered augite basalt. varga granite (Minjin et al., 2005).
Minjin et al. (2005) correlated the Oyu Tolgoi sequence to At Oyu Tolgoi, the Sainshandhudag Formation commences
the Devonian Alagbayan Group but the absence of reliable with the Ulgii Member, comprising andesitic to dacitic ash
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FIG. 3. Simplified geology map of the Oyu Tolgoi area (compiled from IMMI unpub. data).
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flow tuffs, 50 to 200 m thick, with local sandstone, siltstone,

and boulder conglomerate at its base (Fig. 2). Wainwright et
al. (2011a) reported a 354 ± 2 Ma age (early to mid Tour-
naisian) for the Ulgii Member. This unit is overlain by the
Tsagaan Suvarga Member, a sedimentary sequence 50 to 200
m thick comprising, from the base up, a distinctive 2-m-thick
coaly bed, a sequence of fluvial conglomerate and sandstone
with thin coal beds, and an upper shallow marine sequence of
fossiliferous bioturbated siltstones with interbedded water-
lain tuffs. Quartz and K-feldspar detritus as well as granitic
clasts suggest a continental origin for these sediments; marine
fossils at Oyu Tolgoi, Tsagaan Suvarga, and Deng Nuruu are
all of similar Early Carboniferous (late Tournaisian-early
Visean) age (Minjin et al., 2005). Overall, the Sainshandhudag
Formation throughout southern Mongolia represents a pe-
riod of slow deposition in a stable environment.
The Aman-Us Member overlies the Tsagaan Suvarga Mem-
ber and comprises basaltic trachyandesite flows and flow-re-
lated fragmental rocks up to 1,000 m thick. This unit has an
erosional base over the underlying Tsagaan Suvarga Member,
with the basal 100 m or so comprising pink volcanic sand-
stone, conglomerate, and intercalated andesitic lava with a
characteristic crowded texture defined by aligned feldspar
phenocrysts. The overlying basaltic volcanic rocks are com-
monly red, due to hematite alteration, and locally contain na-
tive copper. Deep pervasive oxidation (>500 m) suggests that
this volcanic unit may have formed in a stratovolcanic envi-
ronment with a complex interfingering of flows and oxidized
breccias above the water table. However, Wainwright et al.
(2011a) suggested that pepperitic volcanic textures imply a
subaqueous environment of formation.
Cretaceous clays, sandstones, and conglomerates fill a dish-
shaped depression about 6 km in diameter overlying much of
the Hugo Dummett North and South, Central, and South-
west deposits. Red montmorillonitic clays are the dominant
lithology, with thin carbonate-cemented sandstone and poorly
sorted conglomerate lenses. Dinosaur eggs found at the base
of the sequence near the southern end of the Hugo Dummett
South deposit suggest a Cretaceous age for the sequence. The
sequence is up to 100 m thick, with thickest occurrences ad-
jacent to a fault contact with Early Carboniferous granodior-
ite (Fig. 3). It probably formed in a fault scarp-bounded in-
ternal drainage basin in an arid environment (Perelló et al.,
2001), comparable to present examples in the Gobi Desert,
e.g., the large depression west of Ulgii Khiid, 50 km northeast
of Oyu Tolgoi. Bedrock weathering at Oyu Tolgoi extends
downward for up to 100 m, with 60 m of weathering being
common. This weathering was related to the Cretaceous pa-
leosurface, as reflected by Cretaceous K-Ar dates for super-
gene alunite from the Central deposit (Perelló et al., 2001).
Recent features include aeolian sand and gravel deposits up
to 3 m thick that blanket much of the area. Gypsum is com-
mon at the bottom of this layer, next to bedrock. Sand-filled
frost cracks are common at Oyu Tolgoi and extend down from
the surface for up to 5 m into underlying gravels, Cretaceous
clay, and even Paleozoic bedrock.
Intrusive rocks
Intrusive rocks in the Oyu Tolgoi district range in age from
FIG. 3. (Cont.) Late Devonian or older to Jurassic and in composition from
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a b
Volcaniclastic Cpx
2.5 cm
1.5 cm
c
Qtz
Dacite d
2.5 cm 2.5 cm
e f
1.5 cm
1.5 cm
g
h
15 cm 1.5 cm
FIG. 4. Oyu Tolgoi sequence, Contact fault, and Late Devonian intrusions. (a). Hyaloclastite textures; the irregular mar-
gin is interpreted to be due to hot augite basalt lava coming in contact with sea water, producing fragmentation to a coarse
sand volcaniclastic rock. (b). Porphyritic augite basalt, characterized by large augite phenocrysts (Cpx), within a groundmass
with conspicuous plagioclase, no fabric alignment. (c). Polymictic conglomerate at the base of dacitic ash flow, and overlies
augite basalt, composed of igneous and quartz clasts (Qtz), red hematite alteration. (d). Dacitic ash-flow tuff, characterized
by brown dacitic xenoliths. (e). Laminar bedded carbonaceous siltstone-sandstone, overlying dacitic ash-flow tuff. (f). Rela-
tively unaltered augite-hornblende-biotite quartz monzodiorite, from deep levels below Southwest. (g). Typical drill inter-
section of the Contact fault. (h). Biotite granodiorite dike, which cuts through the Heruga sequence.
gabbro to granite. They are presented in the following section 20%) and augite occur in the deepest, relatively unaltered
in approximate chronologic order. quartz monzodiorite (Fig. 4f) below the Southwest deposit; in
Porphyritic quartz monzodiorite of Late Devonian age (368− addition, magnetite (5%) and sphene (2%) are present. All de-
372 Ma; Wainwright et al., 2011b) is the causative intrusion for posits were intruded by apparently similar quartz monzodiorite
all the Oyu Tolgoi porphyry copper deposits. Equigranular va- bodies, but deformation and alteration may mask more subtle
rieties occur at deeper levels and may comprise a larger in- distinctive features. Multiple stages of intrusion are apparent
trusion. The quartz monzodiorite is characterized by a crystal- at the Southwest deposit and most likely characterize all de-
crowded texture, formed by elongate plagioclase (45 vol %) posits. Intrusions in the core of the Southwest deposit are fine
phenocrysts up to 8 mm long and K-feldspar (15−20%) as dis- grained, xenolithic, and contain quartz vein clasts. In general,
crete euhedral crystals, or more commonly intergrown with late nonmineralized intrusions do not cut earlier mineralized
quartz in the groundmass. Hornblende and biotite (up to intrusions, supporting a model of coaxial intrusion, where final
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intrusions do not breach the earlier outer shells (e.g., Sillitoe, Unit 3. Early Carboniferous hornblende-biotite granodi-
2010). Uniaxial solidification quartz textures (USTs) occur in orite (Gd1; Fig. 3; 350± 4 Ma; Wainwright et al., 2011b)
the apex of highly mineralized quartz monzodiorite at the forms a N-NE−oriented lensoid pluton about 15 × 5 km in
Southwest deposit but are uncommon. Deep drilling indi- size that intruded metamorphic rocks and possibly the my-
cates the quartz monzodiorite is 3 km wide beneath the lonite zone. The Early Carboniferous (mid-Tournaisian) age
Southwest deposit. The upper margin of the quartz monzodi- of the granodiorite is the same as that of the Sainshandhudag
orite, to the east of the Central and Southwest deposits, ap- Formation, and large granitic boulders common at its base
pears to have intruded subparallel to enclosing volcanic and may have been eroded from this granodiorite. The southeast
sedimentary units, as well as to the Contact fault (Fig. 5b). side of this granitoid is juxtaposed against Carboniferous
Hydrothermal breccias are uncommon at Oyu Tolgoi and basaltic trachyandesite belonging to the Aman Us Member
not volumetrically significant. Early hydrothermal breccias, (Fig. 2), and dacitic ring dikes cut the granodiorite (Fig. 3).
dominated by angular quartz monzodiorite and quartz-vein Unit 4. Hornblende-biotite granodiorite in a number of
clasts, occur at Central but are not widespread. Similar frag- bodies (Gd2; Fig. 3), possibly of mid-Carboniferous age
mental rocks, comprising shard-like clasts of intensely biotite (based on nearby rocks dated at 320−310 Ma; Amaramgalan,
altered basaltic wall rock, quartz vein fragments, and <10 vol 2008; Wainwright et al., 2011b), intruded the western side of
% quartz monzodiorite clasts (the latter in some cases milled), the Oyu Tolgoi trend, resulting in moderate hornfelsing of the
occur in the core of the Southwest deposit. These breccias are surrounding country rocks, with zones rich in epidote.
intruded by later stages of the quartz monzodiorite. Late, un- Unit 5. The late Permian alkalic Khanbogd Granite
common porphyry-related breccias are limited to thin tuff- (288−284 Ma; Kovalenko et al., 2006; Amaramgalan, 2008)
isite or pebble dikes (several cm wide) in the upper parts of forms a large circular body about 35 km in diameter approxi-
the alteration system. mately 5 km east of the Hugo Dummett North deposit. The
Postmineral biotite granodiorite intrusions of Late Devon- granite dips at a moderate angle away from its exposed edge
ian age (365.3 ± 1.5 Ma; Wainwright et al., 2011b) typically and has a zone of strong hornfelsing about 1 km wide above
intruded the Oyu Tolgoi sequence as dikes and sills and along the contact. Contact metamorphic effects from the Khanbogd
the Contact fault as sills (Fig. 4h). The biotite granodiorite Granite do not overprint the Hugo Dummett deposits but
does not breach the Heruga sequence, except in the Hugo porphyry mineralization at Ulaan Khuud farther to the north
Dummett deposits, where it flares upward above the Contact is strongly hornfelsed (Fig. 6).
fault, breaching the Heruga sequence above the zone of high-
est grade mineralization. A similar upward flaring of the bi- Structural geology
otite granodiorite is evident at Ulaan Khuud. The biotite gra- The oldest basalts and sedimentary rocks of the Oyu Tolgoi
nodiorite comprises about 40% plagioclase phenocrysts sequence form part of an arc-related, E-W−oriented, ac-
(0.5−8 mm), typically with a square outline, 10% biotite (1−2 creted terrane across southern Mongolia (Fig. 1; Wainwright
mm, typically altered to white muscovite), and 5% quartz et al., 2011a). Porphyry deposits postdate the early arc-related
phenocrysts (1−2 mm) in a brown aphanitic groundmass. basaltic volcanic rocks and are aligned along the 25-km-long
Carboniferous dikes and small intrusions are common at Oyu Tolgoi trend (N20E) and correspond with the top of a
Oyu Tolgoi and all postdate the Early Carboniferous Sain- quartz monzodiorite body (Fig. 6). A Late Devonian thrust
shandhudag Formation. Some dolerite dikes, sills, and plugs fault, the Contact fault (Fig. 5), parallels the bedding at the
of this group of intrusive rocks (not shown in Fig. 3) proba- top of the Oyu Tolgoi sequence, with subordinate parallel
bly predate Carboniferous granodiorite intrusions. Por- structures partitioning the underlying porphyry and Oyu Tol-
phyritic hornblende-biotite andesite dikes have a similar age goi sequence. The Contact fault and enclosing rocks drape
(345 ± 2 Ma; Wainwright et al., 2011b) to the Early Car- over the deposits, as observed at Hugo Dummett South and
boniferous granodiorite (Gd1, Fig.3) and are probably co- also at the Heruga deposit (Fig. 5c). To the east of the Late
magmatic. Rhyolite forms dikes and sills, commonly intruded Carboniferous West Bat fault, the Contact fault extends 12
as dilational arrays, but also may occur as volcanic domes; km from the Heruga deposit to the Hugo Dummett deposits
they have been dated at 330 to 340 Ma (Wainwright et al., and dips at moderate to steep angles to the east-southeast. On
2011b). Basalt dikes and small plugs (not shown in Fig. 3) are the western side of the West Bat fault, the nature of the Con-
widespread. tact fault is poorly known, due to limited drill intersections.
Large granite and granodiorite intrusions in the Oyu Tolgoi The age of the Contact fault is constrained by the 365.3 ± 1.5
area are grouped into five units (Fig. 3). Ma biotite granodiorite that intrudes it (Wainwright et al.,
2011b) and the 367 ± 3 Ma dacitic ash-flow tuff in the Oyu
Unit 1. Medium-grained equigranular granite (Gr; Fig. 3) Tolgoi sequence that is cut by it (Wainwright et al., 2011a).
of inferred Carboniferous age occurs in a narrow, NE-trend- The Oyu Tolgoi sequence below the Contact fault is upright
ing strip, 2 km wide, which is about 5 km northwest of the and relatively undeformed. Ductile-brittle deformation of
Oyu Tolgoi deposits. This granitoid is cut by a major ductile sulfides and possibly the alunite alteration zone appears to be
fault zone (Fig. 3), with a zone of foliated and mylonitized focused within the Hugo Dummett deposits (see “Mineral-
granite up to 100 m wide, juxtaposed against mylonitized ization” section). In contrast, the Heruga sequence above the
mafic rocks, greenschist, and phyllite. Contact fault is commonly overturned within intervals of up
Unit 2. A small volume of fine-grained granite (Gr2) in- to 1 km thick, implying the presence of major recumbent
truded the mylonitized rocks on the east side of the ductile folds (Ayush, 2006). Zones of ductile deformation in basalt of
fault zone. the Heruga sequence are characterized by deformed and
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FIG. 5. Cross sections (refer to Fig. 3 for location). (a). Hugo Dummett North; inset box indicates approximate location
of the cross section in Figure 8, (b). Southwest. (c). Heruga. The shape of the quartz monzodiorite intrusions are constrained
by diamond drilling but drill traces are omitted for clarity. The 1 g/t gold shell in (b) and (c) is approximately equivalent to
the shapes of the 0.8 and 0.5% Cu shells, respectively.
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SSW N20E oriented section NNE

1 km to SE of section
N130E
N60E
N60E
N30E Hugo Dummett Hugo Dummett Ulaan
Heruga Heruga North Southwest Central South North Khud
Solongo fault
0m Conta
ct fa
ult
Ce
nt
ra
lf
au
lt
2 km
2000m
OLDER THAN LATE DEVONIAN Porphyry-related

CARBONIFEROUS
intrusions
Basaltic trachyandesite, Thin bedded sandstone-
sandstone, siltstone, carbonaceous siltstone Quartz monzodiorite
andesitic-dacitic ash flow (368-372 Ma)
Dacitic ash flow tuff & basal
tuff polymictic conglomerate
Plutonic rocks
Porphyritic augite basalt Late Permian
Porphyry deposit Laminated siltstone Hanbogd alkalic
granite
Inferred porphyry target Basaltic breccia
Early-mid Carboniferous
Zone of strong Green-red siltstone, volcanic Granodiorite
hornfels sandstone
FIG. 6. N 20 E oriented long section along the Oyu Tolgoi trend (refer to Fig. 3 for location), showing ~ 25° tilt of ore-
bodies to the north-northeast; deposits occur at close spacing (1.5−2 km), and additional inferred porphyry targets are shown.
disrupted metamorphogenic quartz-prehnite veins. These The Solongo fault cuts the West Bat fault, has a vertical dis-
zones are especially common close to the Contact fault. Cleav- placement of about 2 km (Fig. 6), and is intruded at the South
age is absent from the Heruga sequence except in exposures Oyu deposit by Late Carboniferous rhyolite (Wainwright et
east of the Heruga deposit, where a slatey cleavage is present. al., 2011b). A subparallel fault system cuts off the Solongo
There is a major angular unconformity between the Car- fault and displaces the contact of the Permian Khanbogd
boniferous and older rocks. Outcrops of Devonian rocks in Granite. The Javkhlant fault also displaces the Khanbogd
the Heruga deposit area have a different structural grain Granite contact with the Heruga sequence and must have
than the typically gently dipping Carboniferous rocks that been active in recent times due to damming of the Umdai
unconformably overlie or are faulted against them. Angular River, as shown by accumulation of Quaternary gravels against
discordances between the Heruga sequence and overlying the fault scarp. The Granodiorite Boundary fault is in part
Carboniferous sedimentary rocks approach 180° in drill holes post-Cretaceous, with Cretaceous clay faulted against gran-
east of the Hugo Dummett deposits. odiorite directly above the Hugo Dummett North deposit.
Gently dipping Carboniferous Sainshandhudag Formation A major N-NE−trending ductile fault zone (mylonite up to
crops out on both the east and west sides of the Oyu Tolgoi 100 m wide) parallels the Oyu Tolgoi trend about 5 km to the
trend as well as in a narrow fault-controlled sliver directly west (Fig. 3). The fault zone cuts Carboniferous granite, cre-
above the Heruga deposit. Large-scale fold interference pat- ating a zone of foliated and mylonitized granitoid up to 100 m
terns in exposures east of the Heruga deposit indicate multi- wide. Along the eastern side of the ductile fault zone there
ple generations of overprinted deformation, implying large are exposures of metamorphic rocks, phyllite, schist, amphi-
changes in the principal compressive stress regime (Wain- bolite, and metadiorite (Fig. 3).
wright et al., 2011a).
Mid-Carboniferous faults are usually vertical, displace older General Characteristics of the Oyu Tolgoi Deposits
rocks, and are consumed and truncated by the Late Carbonif-
erous granodiorites. The West Bat fault is an important exam- Spacing of deposits and vertical extent
ple of mid-Carboniferous faulting, as it defines and most likely The Oyu Tolgoi deposits are distinctive in terms of their
cuts the northwestern side of the Hugo Dummett North de- close spacing; six major deposits from Hugo Dummett North
posit (Fig. 5). The West Bat fault has an apparent vertical dis- to Heruga occur along a 12-km strike length, with gaps be-
placement of 1.5 km based on stratigraphic offsets from lim- tween the deposits of just 1.5 to 2 km (Fig. 6). Extensive
ited drilling on its western side. Similar faults displace the drilling indicates that economic mineralization within the
Heruga deposit, and these form part of a N-NE−trending Oyu Tolgoi deposits, where completely preserved (i.e., Hugo
fault system across the Oyu Tolgoi district (Fig. 3). Dummett North and South and Heruga), extends for about 1
Three major E-NE−oriented faults, Javkhlant, Solongo, km vertically (Fig. 5); the tops of the outcropping Southwest,
and Granodiorite Boundary, displace the Carboniferous gran- South, and Central deposits were eroded by up to 500 m
odiorites and are thus Late Carboniferous or younger (Fig. 3). based on the comparative thickness of the preserved tops at
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Heruga (cf. Southwest and South deposits) and Hugo Dum- deeper in the core of the Hugo Dummett deposits envelops a
mett South (cf. Central deposit). separate zone of gold-bearing, bornite-rich mineralization.
Diversity of deposits Alteration assemblages
The Oyu Tolgoi deposits are diverse in terms of mineralized Sodic-calcic (actinolite-magnetite-albite-apatite-titanite and
host rock, alteration assemblages, sulfide mineralogy, and Au green biotite) alteration (Fig. 7a) is common in the southern
(g/t)/ Cu (wt %) ratios, as compiled in Table 1. The southern deposits within augite basalt. This alteration assemblage gen-
deposits (Southwest, Heruga North, and Heruga) are charac- erally precedes biotite alteration, as is clearly evident from
terized by high Au (g/t)/ Cu (%) ratios (0.8−3:1), chalcopyrite replacement of augite phenocrysts by actinolite. In the
is present, and they are predominantly hosted by biotite-mag- groundmass, plagioclase is recrystallized to albite and inter-
netite−altered augite basalt (overprinted by hematite-chlo- grown with actinolite-magnetite-apatite-titanite. Primary
rite-sericite). Although synmineral quartz monzodiorite is magmatic magnetite (~5 vol %) is relatively coarse (up to 1−2
present at the Heruga (Fig. 5c) and Heruga North deposits, it mm in size) and was locally recrystallized to fine disseminated
is volumetrically less than 20% of the orebodies and not pre- magnetite. Actinolite alteration is generally a pervasive re-
sent in adjacent sections. Similarly, in the Southwest deposit, placement of augite phenocrysts and groundmass augite but
synmineral quartz monzodiorite is restricted to a pipe-like rare actinolite-albite veins also occur. Green biotite (Fig. 7b)
zone about 250 m in diameter and 700 m high in the core of accompanies this alteration at the Heruga deposit; the biotite
the deposit. In contrast, the Hugo Dummett deposits are was confirmed by short wave infrared spectrometer analysis
characterized by lower Au (g/t)/ Cu (%) ratios (0.1−1:1) and and is coarser and distinct from the typical brown biotite al-
the presence of bornite and hypogene chalcocite, and they teration widespread in the basaltic wall rocks.
are hosted mainly by quartz monzodiorite with extensive Biotite-magnetite alteration (Fig. 7c) is characteristic of
sericitic and advanced argillic alteration. At the Hugo Dum- gold-rich chalcopyrite mineralization in the southern de-
mett North deposit, quartz monzodiorite (possibly as several posits; it is distinctive in hand specimen due to its brown
intrusions) comprises a large volume of the mineralized sys- color, and the intensity of alteration correlates with a deepen-
tem. Chalcopyrite is the dominant sulfide at deeper levels in ing brown color. Strong brown biotite alteration partly re-
the Hugo Dummett deposits, whereas bornite is more com- places actinolite-altered augite phenocrysts, and secondary
mon at depth in the southern deposits. magnetite is commonly present as pervasive alteration or in
Further diversity is illustrated at the Central deposit, where microveinlets. Titanite and possibly apatite are invariably as-
advanced argillic and sericitic alteration with an upward-flar- sociated with secondary biotite alteration as byproducts of the
ing, conical outline overprints an early porphyry system alteration of primary augite or hornblende.
within quartz monzodiorite. This alteration hosts a high sulfi- K-feldspar alteration (Fig. 7d) is generally restricted to
dation assemblage of covellite and pyrite (Perelló et al., quartz monzodiorite, although less commonly it occurs in
2001). basaltic wall rocks where the original rock texture is com-
At the Javkhlant prospect, chalcopyrite-pyrite mineraliza- pletely destroyed. Pink secondary K-feldspar is present rim-
tion is associated with advanced argillic alteration that is char- ming or completely replacing plagioclase phenocrysts and oc-
acterized by a higher temperature assemblage of corundum, curs as selvages to some quartz veins. Primary K-feldspar is
andalusite, muscovite, pyrophyllite, kaolinite, and distinctive found as a minor phenocryst phase and is mainly intergrown
blue lazulite. with quartz in the groundmass. Recrystallization of the
The Ulaan Khuud prospect is hosted by hornfelsed quartz groundmass to coarser K-feldspar is apparent in strongly K-
monzodiorite and is not well understood due to limited feldspar-altered rocks.
drilling at the time of writing. Quartz-sericite (muscovite) alteration overprints the quartz
monzodiorite (Fig. 7e) and is most extensively developed at
Alteration of the Deposits the Central deposit and the southern part of the Hugo
The Oyu Tolgoi deposits generally exhibit typical porphyry Dummett deposits, where the quartz monzodiorite is al-
Cu-Au alteration assemblages compatible with relatively tered to depths of up to 1,000 m. In quartz monzodiorite,
potassium rich, intermediate-composition intrusions hosted quartz-sericite alteration is particularly destructive, with
by basalt. complete replacement producing a pale rock with original
The Heruga deposit is typical of this alteration scheme, porphyritic textures barely discernible (Fig. 7e). By con-
with distal propylitic alteration enclosing early sodic-calcic trast, sericitic alteration is generally less intense in augite
and potassic (biotite-magnetite-K-feldspar) alteration, and basalt; earlier mineral phases are only partly replaced by
quartz-sericite alteration at the top of the deposit. The South- sericite, secondary quartz is less abundant, and the rock re-
west deposit is similar, although with a partially eroded top. tains a greenish color.
The Heruga North deposit, although faulted, is also similar. The deep core of the Hugo Dummett North deposit has a
At the northern end of the Oyu Tolgoi trend, advanced carapace-like zone of intense sericite (muscovite) alteration,
argillic alteration is a major feature near the tops of the de- mantling red K-feldspar-altered quartz monzodiorite (Fig. 8b).
posits, where it envelops the high-grade core of the Hugo Andalusite, as elongate prisms up to 1 mm in size, occurs at the
Dummett deposits and deeply overprints earlier quartz-sericite base of the sericitic zone, usually partly or completely replaced
alteration. This is due to less erosion to the north, such that the by muscovite. In rare occurrences without strong sericitic alter-
high level advanced argillic-altered zone is largely preserved. A ation, andalusite is intergrown with greenish biotite (or phlogo-
carapace-like zone of intense muscovite-andalusite alteration pite; Fig. 9a, b), which is possibly an equilibrium assemblage.
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TABLE 1. Summary of Porphyry Deposits in the Oyu Tolgoi Mineral District
on 05 August 2020
Au (g/t)/
Deposit Host rocks Intrusions Geometry Ages (Ma) Alteration Sulfides Cu (wt %) Comments
Ulan Khud Va Qmd Cu mineralization known Qmd: U/Pb Q vns, K, Mus Cp dominant, Low: 0.2 Concealed beneath 40 to +80 m
postmineral over an area of 2 km2 361.4 ± 3.71 includes Py, includes of Cretaceous soil and gravel;
BiGd Mo, Bo up to 1 strongly hornfelsed by Lower
Permian sodic-alkalic granite,
which adds Gar, Cpx, Act, Ep,
Chl, and Pyrrh
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Hugo Dummett Vatl, Va Qmd, MzGr Elongate zone: north-northeast Qmd: U/Pb Q vns, K, Bo dominant, Low: 0.2 avg,
North postmineral 2.5 by 1 km; related to small 369 ± 22 Mus, AA includes Cp, significant
BiGd dikes, with larger intrusions in Mo, En, zones of 1
core; northwest side truncated Tn-Tt, Cv,
by faulting; mineralized system Cc, Sph
extends more than 2 km vertically
Hugo Dummett Va Qmd Elongate zone: north-northeast Mo: Re/Os Q vns, K, Bo dominant, Low: 0.2, no Q-Mus zone in Qmd extends
South postmineral 1 by 0.1 km; related to small 370 ± 1.23 Mus, AA includes Cp, significant for about 1 km vertically
BiGd dikes; mineralized system extends Mo, En, Au-rich zones
over 1 km vertically; large weakly Tn-Tt, Cv,
mineralized Qmd on west side Cc, Sph
Central Qmd, Qmd 600 m in diam and about Qmd: U/Pb Q vns, K, Py-Cv domi- Very low: 0.1 Cretaceous supergene
minor Va postmineral 600 m deep, in the form of 371 ± 14 Mus, AA, Chl nant, minor Cc, Cc blanket
BiGd an inverted cone Mo: Re/Os Bo, En, Tn-
373 ± 1.23 Bo, Cp, Sph

Southwest Va Qmd Pipe-like high-grade zone Qmd: U/Pb Q vns, Bi, Cp dominant, High: 1.2−1 Hosted mainly by basaltic
199
postmineral (1g/t Au), 250-m diam by 372 ± 14 Mus, Chl, includes Py, wall rocks: 80% of
BiGd 700-m vertical Mo: Re/Os Tour, Anhyd Mo, Bo rare mineralized zone
373 ± 1.23
South Va Qmd Subcircular zone: 600 by 400 m: Qmd: U/Pb Q vns Bi, Cp-Bo, Low: 0.2−0.4
0.5 wt % Cu; east-northeast− 374 ± 32 Mus, Chl includes
oriented Q vns; intensely intruded Py, Mo
by postmineral dikes
Heruga North Vatl, Va Qmd Continues from Heruga north- Q vns, Bi, Cp dominant, High: >1 Currently being explored;
postmineral northeast 2 by 0.6 km mineraliza- Mus, Chl, includes Py, top 1,200 m below surface,
BiGd tion extends 800 m vertically minor AA Bo, Mo plunging north
Heruga Vatl, Va Qmd Elongate zone: north-northeast Mo: Re/Os Q vns, Bi, Cp dominant, Upper part: 0.2 Mo zone (>150 ppm) up to 200 m
postmineral 2 by 0.6 km mineralization 371 ± 15 Mus, Chl, includes Py, High in main thick overlies the gold-rich zone,
BiGd extends over 1 km vertically Tour, Anhyd Bo, Mo ore zone: 1.2 which is similar to Southwest
Javkhlant ?Va, ?Ign ? Co, And, Mus, Py dominant Upper part low, Thick pyritic high-temperature
Pyr, kao, Laz includes Cp some Au in AA zone
lower part
GEOLOGIC OVERVIEW OF THE OYU TOLGOI PORPHYRY Cu-Au-Mo DEPOSITS, MONGOLIA
Notes: Abbreviations = Lithology: BiGd = biotite granodiorite, MzGr = monzogranite, Qmd = quartz monzodiorite, Va = augite basalt,Vatl = fine mafic volcaniclastics and laminated sedimentary
rocks; Alteration: AA = advanced argillic, Act = actinolite, And = andalusite, Anhyd = anhydrite, Bi = biotite, Chl = chlorite, Co = corundum, Cpx = clinopyroxene, Ep = epidote, Gar = garnet, K =
potassic, Kao = kaolinite, Laz = lazulite, Mus = muscovite, Pyr = pyrophyllite, Q vns = quartz veins, Tour = tourmaline; Mineralization: Bo = bornite, Cc = chalcocite, Cp = chalcopyrite, Cv = covellite,
En = enargite, Mo = molybdenite, Py = pyrite, Pyrrh = pyrrhotite, Sph = sphalerite, Tn-Tt = tennantite-tetrahedrite
1 U/Pb (zircon) shrimp (Reimar Seltmann, pers. commun., 2006; Ivanhoe Mines Mongolia Inc., unpub. data), considered here to be a minimum age
2 U/Pb (zircon) shrimp RG (Wainwright, 2011)
3 Re/Os (Mo) (Kirwin et al., 2005)
4 U/Pb (zircon) TIMS (Wainwright, 2011)
5 Re/Os (Mo) (Holly Stein, pers. commun., 2008; Ivanhoe Mines Mongolia Inc., unpub. data)
199
a b
0.4 mm 0.4 mm
c d
0.4 mm 0.4 mm
e f
Py
0.4 mm 2 cm
g h
Qtz
Alu
2 cm 0.1 mm
FIG. 7. Alteration assemblages. (a). Actinolite-albite and secondary green biotite replacing augite basalt. (b). Green bi-
otite alteration. (c). Strong biotite alteration after augite phenocrysts and replacement of groundmass in augite basalt. (d).
Secondary potassic feldspar intergrown with quartz. (e). Quartz-sericite alteration after quartz monzodiorite; note shapes of
original plagioclase phenocrysts are discernible. (f). Tourmaline forming a large rosette, nucleating on pyrite. (g). Typical in-
termediate argillic alteration (see text) of augite basalt is yellow-brown, with relict augite phenocrysts discernible. (h). K-alu-
nite in prismatic crystals (50−100 μm, intergrown with quartz.
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Sainshandhudag Formation
a Geology
Aman-Us member; basaltic lava and breccia
Tsagaan Survarga member; sediments
Ulgii member; andesitic volcanic rocks

Oyu Tolgoi Sequence
Laminated carbonaceous siltstone
0 mRL Dacitic ash flow tuffs
Augite basalt
Heruga Sequence
Heruga sequence
Intrusives
West Bat fault
Biotite granodiorite
Co
651000mE
n tac
Late quartz monzodiorite
t fa
ult
-500 mRL Early quartz monzodiorite (QV90)
b Alteration Advanced argillic (quartz-muscovite)
Alunite
Quartz-muscovite
Chlorite-muscovite-illite-hematite-siderite,
+/- pyrophyllite-topaz altered
Andalusite overprinted by intense muscovite
K-feldspar decreasing at depth

West Bat fault
Co
nta
ct
fau
lt
c Mineralization
Pyrite-enargite
Py-En
Cc
Chalcopyrite (> 0.6 Cu)
Bornite (> 0.6 % Cu)
Cp
Bornite-chalcopyrite (> 2.5 % Cu)
Bo-Cp Intense quartz veining (> 2.5% Cu)
Gold rich (ratio: 1 g/tAu : 2 % Cu)

Bo-Cp
Cp
Bo-Cp-Au
En
Bo
West Bat fault
Co
n tac
t fa
Cp
ult
FIG. 8. Simplified cross section along N4767395 of Hugo Dummett North showing (a) geology, (b) alteration zones, and
(c) sulfide assemblages. See Figures 3 and 5 for approximate section location. Bo = bornite, Cc = chalcocite, Cp = chal-
copyrite, En = enargite, Py = pyrite.
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a b
0.4 mm 0.1 mm
FIG. 9. Photomicrographs of andalusite (And) as elongate prisms, intergrown with biotite (Bi), and quartz (Qtz) from
Hugo North, drill hole OTD1396A at 1,255.4 m downhole. Note square basal andalusite sections in (a) cross-polarized light
and magnetite (Mt), (b) plain-polarized light.
Tourmaline-sericite alteration is present in parts of the without a significant meteoric water component (Khashgerel
southern deposits but is rare in the Hugo Dummett and Cen- et al., 2006, 2009). Dickite formed at low temperature
tral deposits. At the Heruga deposit, fine-grained tourmaline (150°C) during ingress of meteoric water into the advanced
occurs in the uppermost parts of the sericite alteration that argillic zone.
overprinted quartz monzodiorite. In the Southwest deposit, Pseudo-pegmatitic minerals (phlogopite, muscovite, albite,
late-stage tourmaline occurs with sericite in the core of the de- and tourmaline) fill vugs or veins up to 1 m wide (Fig. 10a-d)
posit (Fig. 7f) as well as in intensely altered and mineralized in the core of the Southwest deposit and are associated with
quartz monzodiorite intrusions. The late tourmaline-sericite small, highly altered quartz monzodiorite dikes, magmatic-
alteration is characterized by large rosettes of tourmaline hydrothermal breccias, and late quartz monzodiorite intru-
(Fig. 7f), commonly nucleated on pyrite, and large crystals of sions containing xenoliths.
pink-white albite up to several centimeters in size. Propylitic alteration is only clearly developed in the west-
Intermediate argillic alteration is present in augite basalt ern parts of the Southwest and Heruga deposits; elsewhere,
wall rock. It is yellow-brown to greenish (Fig. 7g) and is com- the eastern side of the system is deeply buried, with no
posed of chlorite-muscovite-illite-siderite-specular hematite, drilling information or, in the case of the Hugo Dummett de-
with minor pyrophyllite-kaolinite (after magnetite-biotite). posits, the western side of the system is faulted off. Propylitic
Intermediate argillic alteration forms a relatively narrow zone alteration is characterized by epidote veining and alteration,
(meters to decimeters) and defines the transition from buff, magnetite and hematite veining and alteration, veins of semi-
advanced argillic to green chlorite-sericite−altered (after bi- massive pyrite, and albite alteration; locally there are carbon-
otite) augite basalt. ate-base metal-gold veins with epithermal textures cutting
Advanced argillic alteration extends south from the Hugo this alteration. A younger epidote alteration event is common
Dummett North deposit to the Central deposit and then into throughout the region, also affecting Carboniferous volcano-
a downfaulted zone between the Southwest and South de- sedimentary rocks and the dikes that intrude them. This
posits, a strike length of about 5.9 km that has a drill-defined younger stage cannot be readily distinguished from the older
maximum width of about 1 km at the Hugo Dummett South porphyry-related propylitic alteration.
deposit. Minor pyrophyllite-dominated alteration also occurs
in the outer part of the Heruga deposit. Advanced argillic al- Mineralization
teration is dominated by residual quartz and pyrophyllite and
lesser corundum, diaspore, K-alunite, aluminum-phosphate Hugo Dummett deposits
sulfate (APS) minerals, zunyite, topaz, dickite, kaolinite, an- The Hugo Dummett North deposit has a total reserve of
hydrite, gypsum, and relict andalusite (Fig. 8b). Alunite (Fig. 410 Mt at 1.9% Cu and 0.4 g/t Au plus Indicated and Inferred
7h) constitutes less than 10% of the entire advanced argillic Resources of 1,016 Mt at 1.18% Cu and 0.32 g/t Au (at 0.6%
zone and occurs in discrete zones or layers up to about 50 m Cu equiv cut-off; Rio Tinto Annual Report 2011) and it is the
thick and is closely associated with high-grade (>2.5% Cu), highest grade part of the Oyu Tolgoi deposits. The highest
bornite-dominated mineralization at the Hugo Dummett grades (>2.5 wt % Cu) are associated with bornite-rich min-
North and South deposits (Fig. 8). eralization in a narrow zone of intense A-type quartz veining
Stable isotope studies of a spectrum of alteration minerals (Figs. 8c, 11); this zone is referred to as QV90 (Fig. 8a), des-
(Khashgerel et al., 2006, 2009) indicate that alunite formed ignating a vein density of about 90 vol %. This is closely en-
at moderate temperature (~270°C) from condensation of veloped by advanced argillic alteration and deeply overprinted
magmatic vapor that mixed with up to 25% meteoric water. by a quartz-sericite assemblage (Fig. 8b). In this zone, bornite
By contrast, the muscovite (sericitic alteration) and pyro- impregnates quartz, filling spaces and fractures. Chalcocite
phyllite likely formed from cooling of a late magmatic-hydro- appears with the most intense bornite mineralization (Fig.
thermal fluid, as documented by Hemley and Hunt (1992), 11c); bornite and chalcocite are intergrown and chalcocite
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a b
2 cm 2 cm
c d
2 cm 2 cm
FIG. 10. Characteristics of the core from the Southwest deposit. (a). Highly altered quartz monzodiorite, with contorted
and anastomosing A-type porphyry veins. (b). Shard-like magmatic-hydrothermal breccia, composed on biotite-altered augite
basalt and quartz vein fragments. (c). Xenolith quartz monzodiorite phase, entraining quartz vein and biotite-altered augite
basalt wall rock. (d). Pseudopegmatitic coarse minerals in veins or vugs; crystals of phlogopite enclosed by coarse albite, with
arrow showing infilling of molybdenite.
may occur as veins up to 5 cm wide, cutting bornite-dominant overlain by a carapace of (previously discussed) intense mus-
mineralization. It is likely that the intense quartz veining pri- covite alteration (Fig. 8b) where gold grades are very low. In
marily provided a structural control for the later mineralizing this zone, fine-grained, disseminated bornite-chalcopyrite is
fluids. Elsewhere, outside the highest grade zone, chalcopyrite intimately intergrown with the muscovite (Fig. 11g, h).
and bornite are estimated to occur in about equal proportions; Ductile deformation of sulfides is common in the Hugo
typically, chalcopyrite and bornite are intergrown or deposited Dummett deposits and occurs on various scales. The alunite
sequentially, with bornite replacing chalcopyrite (Fig. 11b), zone (Fig. 8b) is interpreted to be folded, based on close-
which suggests enrichment by bornite-stable fluids. On the spaced drilling at the Hugo Dummett South deposit. High-
margins of the high-grade bornite-dominant zone, large chal- grade (>2.5% Cu) mineralization associated with intense
copyrite veins (up to 5 cm wide) crosscut earlier sulfide assem- quartz veining (Fig. 8) locally exhibits strong ductile defor-
blages. In addition, there is an outward zonation to advanced mation (Fig. 12a) within quartz. At the microscopic scale,
argillic and high sulfidation assemblages (Fig. 8b). Intermedi- chalcopyrite is deformed and folded (Fig. 12b), and mechan-
ate to high sulfidation assemblages form unusual textures due ically injected into fractured pyrite (Fig. 12c). The last two
to the close spatial and temporal relationship between por- textures occur in high to intermediate sulfidation assemblages
phyry Cu-Au mineralization and advanced argillic alteration and show that the ductile deformation postdates formation of
(Khashgerel et al., 2006, 2009). Enargite-pyrite occurs as veins the advanced argillic zone. Molybdenite, which is highly sus-
in the outer parts of the Hugo Dummett deposits (Fig. 8c), ceptible to deformation, occurs as kinked flakes enclosed in
within advanced argillic alteration, and enargite is also inter- bornite (Fig. 12d) or chalcopyrite and thus appears to be early
grown with tennantite and closely associated with high-grade in the sulfide paragenesis. Elsewhere, the distribution of
bornite that commonly overprints it (Fig. 11d). Advanced molybdenite is not well understood and it appears to occur at
argillic minerals, such as topaz, zunyite, and alunite, occur in- all depths within the copper-mineralized zone.
tergrown with bornite and chalcocite (Fig. 11e). Rarely hessite Parts of the Hugo Dummett North deposit have Au
(Ag2Te) and clausthalite (PbSe) occur as inclusions in bornite. (g/t)/Cu (%) ratios >1, corresponding to areas with native gold
The deep core of the Hugo Dummett North deposit is char- observed in polished section. Gold and silver assay values cor-
acterized by gold-bearing, bornite-chalcopyrite mineraliza- relate well with those of copper, and native gold is closely as-
tion with subordinate tennantite related to red-colored potas- sociated with copper sulfides, particularly bornite and chal-
sic-altered quartz monzodiorite (Fig. 11f). This gold zone is copyrite (Fig. 13a) and, to a lesser extent, pyrite (Fig. 13b)
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a b
Cp
Bo
4 cm 0.2 mm
Qtz c d
Py Py
En
Cc
He
Tn
Bo
Bo Py
Qtz
0.4 mm 0.4 mm
e f
Bo
Zu
Zu
Cc
0.4 mm 1.5 cm
g h
Bo
Bo
Bo
Mus
Mus
2 cm 0.1 mm
FIG. 11. Sulfide mineralization of the Hugo Dummett deposits. (a). High-grade bornite mineralization (OTD918C-1124
m: 15% Cu, 1.4 g/t Au). (b). Chalcopyrite (Cp) intergrown with bornite (Bo) (OTD841A-976.1). (c). Hypogene chalcocite
(Cc) replacing bornite, intergrown with hematite (He). (d). Pyrite (Py) rimmed by enargite (En, darker gray) and tennantite-
tetrahedrite (Tn), juxtaposed against or replacing bornite (OTD976A-1074). (e). Euhedral zunyite (Zu) enclosed by bornite
and chalcocite (OTD401-512). (f). Red potassic-altered quartz monzodiorite, with sparse quartz veins, and fine bornite on
fractures and disseminated (OTD514-1493.5). (g). Fine disseminated bornite within intensely muscovite-altered quartz
monzodiorite (OTD576C-1165.8). (h). High magnification in reflected light, showing muscovite intergrown with bornite (g).
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a b
Cp
Bo
Qtz
2 cm 0.2 mm
c d
0.4 mm 0.2 mm
FIG. 12. Deformation of sulfides. (a). Ductile deformation of chalcopyrite and bornite in quartz (OTD963-1203.2). (b).
Ductile folding of chalcopyrite, enclosing grains of relatively more brittle pyrite; dark area at left of image is fine topaz, and
minor amounts of tennantite-tetrahedrite occur as inclusions in the chalcopyrite (OTD623-462). (c). Mechanical deforma-
tion (or cracking) of pyrite, with ductile chalcopyrite infilling (OTD514-1235.2). (d). Deformed flakes of molybdenite en-
closed by bornite (OTD918C-1134).
and tennantite-tetrahedrite. Most native gold grains are less supergene chalcocite blanket, and crop out at the surface in
than 10 μm across and commonly occur at sulfide grain the oxidized zone.
boundaries. An electron microprobe study (Oyunchimeg, The supergene chalcocite blanket overlies the pyrite-covel-
2008), combined with polished section petrography, indicates lite mineralization over an area of about 500 × 700 m. The
that gold is generally >95% pure in the porphyry Cu-Au min- zone (~0.8% Cu) is highly irregular, varies from 0 to 55 m
eralization. Gold is also present in the base metal veins (Fig. thick, and underlies a leached zone (mainly after quartz
13c) that either cut or occur on the margins of the porphyry- monzodiorite) developed from surface to 40-m depth. The
style mineralization in the Hugo Dummett North deposit. chalcocite blanket is of Cretaceous age based on K-Ar dates
Drill core assays are on the order of 3 to 5 g/t Ag to 1 g/t Au, of 93 and 117± 1 Ma for supergene alunite (Perelló et al.,
but the mineralogy of silver is uncertain; it may substitute for 2001).
copper in chalcopyrite, bornite, and tennantite. A small occurrence of exotic copper is developed in a Cre-
taceous paleochannel on the northern side of the Central de-
Central deposit posit. Elsewhere at Oyu Tolgoi, exotic copper mineralization
The Central deposit comprises approximately 20% of the is absent, probably due to a lack of adequate permeability and
southern Oyu Tolgoi inpit reserve. It is the only deposit where the small size of the source area.
high sulfidation-state mineralization is significant, with about 80
vol % of the copper occurring as disseminated covellite. Pyrite Southwest, South, Heruga, and Heruga North deposits
accompanies the covellite (~10 vol %) and the gold content is The Southwest deposit comprises a large part of the south-
low. There also is local hypogene chalcocite in millimeter- ern Oyu deposits inpit reserve of 955 Mt at 0.49% Cu and
wide veins and minor enargite, tennantite, and molybdenite. 0.36 g/t Au (at 0.3% Cu equiv cut-off). The South deposit has
The high sulfidation mineralization occurs in an upward- an additional 431.22 Mt of Indicated and Inferred resources
flaring cone that overprints earlier gold-bearing chalcopyrite at 0.37% Cu and 0.25 g/t Au (at 0.3% Cu equiv cut-off; Rio
in porphyry-style mineralization, relics of which are pre- Tinto Annual Report 2011).
served at depth on the southern and western margins. The The Heruga deposit has an Inferred resource of 970 Mt at
early, intense A-type veins are preserved in the core of the 0.48% Cu and 0.48 g/t Au (at 0.6% Cu equiv cut-off; Rio
system, unaffected by the high sulfidation event; the veins Tinto Annual Report 2011), which does not include the
are also present in the high sulfidation zone and an overlying Heruga North deposit where resource drilling is ongoing. As
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Bo a b
Cp
Py
Mus Au
Au
Cp Bo
Qtz Bo
Py
Py
20 micron 100 micron
c Others
d
(465 grains) 0.2 mm
sulfide
Bo
90
6.6% boundary
80 Quartz &
Qtz silicate
70
mineral 20.9%
35.7%
60
Frequency
50
Within 8.6%
40 Cp
8.8% 19.4%
30 Cp
Au 20 boundary Within Bo
10
0
1 cm 1 3 5 7 9 12 16 20 24 28 32 36 40 60 80 170
Micron
FIG. 13. Characteristics of gold (images (a)-(c) are from Hugo Dummett North). (a). Gold at grain boundary between
chalcopyrite and bornite (OTD514B-1460). (b). Gold associated with chalcopyrite and pyrite with bornite infilling. (c). 10-
cm-wide quartz-carbonate base metal vein with visible gold (~1,000 g/t), (d). Histogram of size distribution of gold, 465 gold
grains from all deposits but with the majority from Hugo Dummett; pie chart of sulfide or silicate mineral association with
gold. Au = gold, Bo = bornite, Cp = chalcopyrite, Py = pyrite, Qtz = quartz, Mus = muscovite.
previously discussed, alteration zoning is similar in all of these The tops of the Southwest and South deposits are weath-
deposits, which is reflected by the comparable grades and ered, forming an oxidized zone 20 to 40 m thick. Due to the
Au/Cu ratios. low pyrite content, leaching has been minimal, with copper
Chalcopyrite dominates in the Southwest, Heruga, and carbonate (mainly malachite) coating fractures in basalt. At the
Heruga North deposits but in their deeper parts bornite con- South deposit, blue-green copper minerals were known and
tents increase. The bornite commonly impregnates quartz partly exploited since prehistoric time. Native copper occurs
veins and may precede the precipitation of chalcopyrite, sporadically in a thin zone at the oxide-fresh rock transition.
which is generally disseminated throughout the host rocks. In
the South deposit, chalcopyrite and bornite occur in equal Whole-rock geochemistry
proportions. Gold is associated with chalcopyrite and bornite Whole-rock compositions (Figs. 14, 15; App. Tables A1, A2)
and its grain size and distribution are similar to those in the indicate that the basaltic rocks from the Oyu Tolgoi and
Hugo Dummett deposits. In addition, gold-base metal veins, Heruga sequences (Fig. 2) are assignable to the islandarc
containing chalcedony, calcite, sphalerite, galena, electrum, calc-alkaline and intraplate magma series. Four magma suites
native gold, and sulfosalts, occur on the periphery of the are identified (Fig. 14).
Heruga and Southwest deposits and in thin (millimetric)
veins in a late quartz monzodiorite intrusion in the Heruga 1. Augite basalts of the Oyu Tolgoi sequence (Fig. 2) are
deposit. the country rocks to the quartz monzodiorite intrusions. Dis-
Pyrite contents are low except in the upper part of the criminant diagrams (Fig.14b) and AFM (Na2O + K2O, A;
Heruga deposit in association with a zone of increased molyb- FeO + Fe2O3, F; and MgO, M) plots (Fig. 14d) suggest that
denite content (150−300 ppm Mo) that is several hundred they could be island-arc tholeiites. The basalts have low Al2O3
meters thick. This zone has low gold values, overlies the gold- (<16 wt %), typical of island-arc tholeiites but relatively high
copper mineralization, and partly correlates with stronger K2O (Table A1). In addition, they have high TiO2 contents,
sericitic alteration. The zone is absent at the Southwest and which suggests they are alkalic (Fig. 14c). Based on multiele-
South deposits due to erosion; however, a downdropped ment plots (Fig. 14e, f), the basalts are classified as juvenile
wedge between these deposits contains advanced argillic-al- calc-alkaline island-arc basalts, characterized by flat rare
tered augite basalts and may represent the downfaulted top of earth element (REE) patterns (Fig. 14f), in contrast to the
the system. tholeiitic classification of Wainwright et al. (2011a).
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(a) (b) (e) (f) Augite basalt
Basaltic breccia
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Carboniferous basalt Basaltic breccia
Augite basalt Alkalic basalt A, B Low K (island arc) B, C Calc-alkaline (g) (h)
tholeiite island arc basalts Alkalic basalt
B Ocean floor basalts D Within plate basalts Augite basalt
(c) (d)

207
(i) (j)
Carboniferous basalt
Augite basalt
Carboniferous basalt Basaltic breccia

Augite basalt Alkalic basalt A Tholeiite volcanics B Alkaline and
calc-alkaline
volcanics
GEOLOGIC OVERVIEW OF THE OYU TOLGOI PORPHYRY Cu-Au-Mo DEPOSITS, MONGOLIA
FIG. 14. Geochemical characteristics of basaltic rocks from Oyu Tolgoi (spider diagrams normalized to primordial mantle: Sun and McDonough, 1989, and chron-
drite values: Nakamura, 1974; Evensen et al., 1978). (a). TAS (total alkali-silica) diagram (Le Bas et al., 1986) shows basaltic rocks range in composition from picrobasalt
to basaltic trachyandesite (strong alteration for one Carboniferous basalt sample is indicated). (b). Zr-Ti-Y diagram (Pearce and Cann, 1973) indicates that basalts have
island-arc and within-plate characteristics. (c). Alkalic-tholeiitic diagram (Winchester and Floyd, 1976) shows that augite basalt plots in the alkalic field, due to high TiO2
content. (d). AFM diagram (Irvine and Baragar, 1971) suggests that augite basalt is tholeiitic due to high Fe2O3 content (contrary to (c)). (e) to (j). Spider diagrams show
subdivision of basalts into four suites that have subduction-related and intraplate signatures (see text for details).
207
(a) (b) B Quartz

monzodiorite
Quartz monzodiorite
Dacitic ash flow tuff C Granodiorite
A Trachyandesite
B B Trachydacite
A
C C Dacite
Granite C
(c) (d)
Quartz monzodiorite
(e) (f)
Quartz monzodiorite
Dacitic ash flow tuff
FIG. 15. Geochemical characteristics of late Devonian felsic rocks from Oyu Tolgoi. (a). TAS diagram (Le Bas et al., 1986)
shows felsic rocks range in composition from trachyandesite to trachydacites and dacite. (b). Streckeisen plot (Streckeisen,
1973) for quartz monzodiorite to granodiorite. (c) to (f). Spider diagrams for the three felsic rock suites (see text for details).
2. Basaltic breccias of the Heruga sequence (Fig. 2) are The Late Devonian felsic igneous rocks (dacitic ash-flow tuff,
classified as normal to high K calc-alkaline island-arc basalts quartz monzodiorite, and biotite granodiorite; Table A2) ap-
(Fig. 14a-c, e-f); they are characterized by moderately frac- pear to belong to the high K calc-alkaline series (Fig 15a);
tionated REE patterns (Fig. 14f). based on multielement plots (Fig. 15c-f) they may also be of
3. Alkalic intraplate basalts occur in the Heruga sequence island-arc provenance rather than continental margin affinity.
and are characterized by an enrichment of incompatible ele- Three magma suites are distinguished (Fig. 15).
ments (Fig. 14 g, h).
4. Carboniferous basalts have typical subduction-related 1. Quartz monzodiorite, to which the Oyu Tolgoi porphyry
geochemical signatures and moderately fractionated REE Cu-Au deposits are related, is characterized by a typical sub-
patterns and may be assigned to the high K calc-alkaline se- duction-related geochemical signature (Fig. 15c, d), with a
ries (Fig.14a-b, i-j), as characterized by higher U, Th, and Nb fractionated REE pattern. The REE pattern is distinctive,
contents. having a concave shape, and with the heavy REEs (Ho to Lu)
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showing an upward tail (Fig. 15d). This pattern was docu- siltstone unit, or structural removal of parts of the sequence
mented by Lang and Titley (1998) for the Laramide porphyry by movement along faults parallel to the Contact fault within
copper deposits of the Southwest United States. or near the top of the conglomerate-dacitic tuff sequence,
2. Biotite granodiorite (Fig. 15c, d), which forms postmin- may explain this lack of a thick cover.
eral dikes that cut the Oyu Tolgoi deposits, is relatively more In the absence of a preserved volcanic sequence, constraints
felsic (Table A2) compared to the quartz monzodiorite, and on the depth of formation of the Oyu Tolgoi porphyry deposits
has a different REE pattern (Fig. 15d). can only be inferred from the presence of advanced argillic al-
3. Dacitic ash-flow tuff (Fig. 15e, f) could be comagmatic teration , which forms at relatively shallow depths, less than 500
with the quartz monzodiorite but differs in its high TiO2 con- to 1,000 m deep (Sillitoe, 2010). The conditions of formation
tent (Table A1) and less pronounced concave REE pattern of alunite at Oyu Tolgoi are comparable to alunite found else-
(Fig. 15f). where, such as above the Far Southeast porphyry deposit,
Philippines (Hedenquist et al., 1998) and associated with the
Discussion Summitville high sulfidation deposit, Colorado (Rye, 2005).
A striking feature of the Oyu Tolgoi deposits is their align- The temperature of formation for alunite, 270°C, based on 12
ment to form the Oyu Tolgoi trend and the close spacing of sulfide-sulfate equilibrium pairs that range from 210° to 300°C
the individual and varied porphyry centers of similar age (Khashgerel et al., 2009), suggests that the depth of alunite for-
within this trend. One question is if and how these deposits mation at Oyu Tolgoi may be comparable to that modeled for
are related at depth. Important evidence is provided by the the lithocap over the Far Southeast porphyry deposit, where
geologic section across the Southwest deposit, where the un- the paleodepth to the top of the porphyry orebody was ~1.5
derlying quartz monzodiorite at ~1-km depth has been shown km (Hedenquist et al., 1998). Early, high-temperature, A-type
by drilling to have a width of ~3 km (Fig. 5). This quartz mon- quartz veins at Oyu Tolgoi may have formed at somewhat
zodiorite could extend beneath the entire Oyu Tolgoi trend, greater paleodepths (~2 km), beneath early advanced argillic
as supported by deep drill intersections beneath the Hugo alteration, but the deep veins were then juxtaposed due to up-
Dummett deposits and east of the Central and Heruga de- lift, erosion, and downward telescoping of shallow alteration
posits. The quartz monzodiorite may represent a subvolcanic zones (cf. Sillitoe, 2010). A further constraint is provided by
intrusion, possibly the parent for a series of arc stratovolca- the overturned Heruga sequence, which imposes an overbur-
noes, with magmatic-hydrothermal fluids and contained met- den depth that must have exceeded 3 km, suggesting that this
als derived from a still deeper magma body at 10- to 15-km deposit could not have formed beneath the Contact fault.
depth (Sillitoe, 2010; Richards, 2011). The conventional view Overall the Oyu Tolgoi porphyry deposits are inferred to
is that this arc is oriented roughly east-west across southern have formed in an upright position. This is supported by the
Mongolia (Badarch et al., 2002); however, the arc orientation geometry of both the alteration zoning, with a carapace of rel-
at the time of porphyry formation at Oyu Tolgoi is unclear. atively shallowly formed advanced argillic alteration, and bi-
Due to this ambiguity, it is uncertain if the Oyu Tolgoi trend otite granodiorite dikes at the Hugo Dummett deposits (Fig.
is arc parallel or arc transverse. 5a). However, some postmineral tilting cannot be excluded; a
The quartz monzodiorite at the Heruga deposit, where re- long section (Fig. 6) illustrates tilting of about 25° north-
lationships are preserved, intrudes the conglomerate that un- northeast, with N 70 E cross faults (Fig. 3).
conformably overlies the augite basalt in the Oyu Tolgoi se- The plate tectonic environment of deposit formation can be
quence, but no shallower. The lowermost few tens of meters interpreted in part from the whole-rock geochemical charac-
of the conglomerate are sericitic altered in a similar fashion to teristics of the basaltic rocks (Table A1). The augite basalts that
the underlying quartz monzodiorite; a hematitic halo sur- form the host rocks to the porphyry deposits are interpreted to
rounds this alteration in the conglomerate. At the Hugo Dum- have been generated in a juvenile island arc during the early
mett deposits, as documented by Wainwright et al. (2011a), Paleozoic. Perhaps during or soon after porphyry Cu-Au for-
the quartz monzodiorite intrudes the altered Oyu Tolgoi mation, this arc was involved in an arc-continent collision and
sequence, but original rocks are difficult to identify due to accreted to the Hangay cratonic margin. The allochthonous
texture-destructive advanced argillic alteration. Both the Heruga sequence may have been juxtaposed with the deposits
quartz monzodiorite (372−368 Ma; Wainwright et al., 2011b) along the Contact fault during this collision. Early Carbonifer-
and the unmineralized dacitic ash flow tuff (367 ± 3 Ma; ous calc-alkaline magmatism superimposed on the deposit area
Wainwright et al., 2011a) are Late Devonian and cannot be may indicate a reversal in subduction polarity toward the cra-
chronologically separated. In addition, the tuff and quartz tonic margin and a change from an island-arc to a continental
monzodiorite are compositionally similar and may be comag- margin setting. The high K calc-alkaline basaltic trachyan-
matic. We regard the conglomerate and the dacitic ash-flow desite (Aman Us Member; Fig. 2), with higher U, Th, Zr, and
tuff as part of the volcanic edifice below which the Oyu Tol- Nb contents (Fig.14, Table A1) can be inferred to be of con-
goi porphyry system formed; however, the preserved thick- tinental margin arc affinity (cf. Jakes and White, 1972). Large
ness of up to 500 m of this sequence was likely insufficient to volumes of plutonic rocks were emplaced in southern Mon-
supply the pressure required to develop a porphyry system. golia during the Carboniferous to Early Permian but were es-
The overlying Oyu Tolgoi sequence carbonaceous siltstones sentially derived from mantle sources (Amaramgalan, 2008).
and conglomerates are unaltered and have a completely dif-
ferent provenance, suggesting that they postdate the porphyry Conclusions
system and were absent at the time of its formation. Erosion The recently discovered Oyu Tolgoi deposits are a group of
of part of the sequence prior to deposition of the carbonaceous Paleozoic porphyry Cu-Au deposits of island-arc affinity
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belonging to the Central Asian orogenic belt (or Altaids). dacitic ash-flow tuff?), and the age of the volcanic rocks that
Their discovery changed the perception of the exploration host and structurally overlie the deposits.
potential of Mongolia and nearby regions for porphyry de-
posits. Based on recent tectonic subdivision of southern Mon- Acknowledgments
golia into terranes, pre-Carboniferous rocks at Oyu Tolgoi be- The authors acknowledge our geologic colleagues from
long to the Gurvansayhan island-arc terrane. Ivanhoe Mines, with whom we have worked together during
Early exploration did not reveal the true potential of the the past 11 years, during some very exciting times in explo-
Oyu Tolgoi area due to the extensive Cretaceous and Quater- ration and delineation of the Oyu Tolgoi deposits. In addition
nary cover; the original regional mapping did not recognize we acknowledge the contributions of Jeffrey Hedenquist,
exposures of the Oyu Tolgoi sequence that hosts the porphyry Peter Lewis, and Richard Sillitoe to the understanding of Oyu
Cu-Au deposits. Deep diamond drilling by Ivanhoe Mines Tolgoi and thank them for critically reviewing the manuscript.
Mongolia Inc. defined the stratigraphy of the pre-Carbonifer- We also thank George Steele, Chris Bell, and Dale Sketchley
ous Oyu Tolgoi sequence and the allochthonous Heruga se- for reviewing an early draft of the paper, and we thank Oyu
quence as well as the structure, particularly the recognition of Tolgoi LLC for permission to publish.
the Contact and other major faults, while discovering the
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APPENDIX
TABLE A1. Whole-Rock Composition of Basaltic Rocks
Sample no. 163-105.5 682A(500,7 809-676,8 383-790 976B-552 HGDC006 976B-266 367B-668 963-190.3 399-108
Augite Augite Augite Basalt Basalt Basalt Alkalic Alkalic Alkalic Carboniferous
Unit basalt basalt basalt breccia breccia breccia basalt basalt basalt basalt
(wt %)
SIO2 47.74 45.60 47.21 49.21 48.83 48.79 42.96 48.73 43.84 48.05
Al2O3 14.67 15.17 13.86 14.84 18.08 17.10 14.26 15.99 14.57 18.70
Fe2O3 13.61 14.56 15.14 10.71 8.73 6.32 11.60 10.67 8.64 9.05
MnO 0.27 0.12 0.11 0.18 0.21 0.13 0.20 0.16 0.20 0.35
MgO 7.84 6.54 6.02 6.09 3.76 3.23 4.98 5.33 2.45 2.90
CaO 7.67 7.50 6.22 10.06 5.30 9.44 9.00 6.43 10.39 4.94
Na2O 2.80 2.81 3.14 3.11 5.46 3.41 1.66 4.30 3.31 5.35
K2O 1.06 1.81 2.59 1.76 0.62 4.14 2.60 1.88 2.86 1.14
TiO2 1.21 1.29 1.03 0.68 0.77 0.65 1.64 1.52 1.45 0.89
P2O5 0.29 0.21 0.21 0.30 0.36 0.29 0.56 0.50 0.54 0.28
LOI 2.80 3.99 3.36 3.33 6.54 5.70 9.15 4.54 9.71 7.46
(ppm)
Sc 47.00 46.00 38.00 17.00 35.00 20.00
Be <1 <1 2.00 1.00 3.00 <1 2.00
V 324 532 479 273 243 198 261 224 187 172
Cr 100 160 156 30 <20 30 39 18 25
Co 35 31 32 27 25 36 26 23 44
Ni 41 60 70 38 70 <20 9 27
Cu 1190 4580 3120 140 50 190 120 79 68 107
Zn 78 70 100 81 100 70 120 95 79 156
Ga 20 18 16 20 16 20 17 20 20
Ge 2.70 3.20 2.18 1.60 1.00 1.60 1.44 1.28 1.33
As 9 40 21 29 <5 45 12 18 9
Rb 28 67 74 26 21 85 51 35 73 21
Sr 420 445 578 437 1185 852 792 974 1132 378
Y 26.40 21.80 18.40 16.42 18.80 16.00 24.00 20.58 25.42 22.35
Zr 46 37 41 60 68 78 170 190 220 157
Nb 2.80 1.50 2.40 5.56 3.60 5.90 32.80 32.55 45.22 5.68
Mo 22 49 <2 <2 <2 <2
Ag <0.5 0.6 <0.5 <0.5 <0.5 <0.5
Sn 2.00 3.00 <1 1.19 1.39 <1
Sb 0.3 0.4 1.1 11.7 2.2 7.7 1.1 4.7 <0.2
Cs 1.40 4.90 3.10 0.40 9.80 0.70 6.10 0.70 5.17 2.05
Ba 62 65 57 447 239 862 683 517 716 269
Bi 0.20 0.20 <0.1 0.10 <0.1 <0.1 <0.1
La 8.43 8.75 10.10 12.67 11.40 11.50 39.20 48.13 50.58 13.64
Ce 18.10 18.40 21.30 24.17 25.80 23.80 77.30 83.95 91.02 31.70
Pr 2.75 2.69 2.98 3.02 3.64 2.88 9.23 9.24 10.49 4.32
Nd 14.10 12.60 13.30 12.12 14.50 11.60 31.60 30.88 37.61 17.81
Sm 4.33 3.99 3.59 3.34 3.46 2.81 6.46 6.74 7.66 4.86
Eu 1.53 1.49 1.54 1.11 1.31 1.00 2.27 2.15 2.35 1.32
Gd 5.13 4.71 3.96 3.14 3.44 2.94 6.03 5.05 6.16 4.22
Tb 0.86 0.77 0.64 0.55 0.54 0.45 0.87 0.81 0.92 0.73
Dy 5.41 4.63 3.81 3.20 3.17 2.64 4.50 4.49 4.83 4.12
Ho 1.07 0.91 0.78 0.67 0.62 0.54 0.81 0.86 0.88 0.81
Er 3.13 2.50 2.20 1.91 1.81 1.63 2.15 2.36 2.43 2.36
Tm 0.44 0.34 0.32 0.29 0.26 0.25 0.29 0.33 0.33 0.37
Yb 2.75 2.09 2.02 1.84 1.66 1.58 1.76 2.01 1.88 2.35
Lu 0.40 0.31 0.32 0.27 0.25 0.24 0.27 0.27 0.28 0.36
Hf 1.60 1.20 1.20 1.89 2.00 2.10 4.40 4.57 5.26 4.54
Ta 0.11 0.08 0.10 0.22 0.16 0.49 1.94 2.24 2.65 0.41
W <0.5 <0.5 <0.5 42.60 <0.5 <0.5 <0.5
Tl 0.24 0.30 0.09 0.09 0.18 0.08 0.21 0.07
Pb <5 6 7 6 <5 7 5 8 12 <5
Th 0.92 0.52 0.58 1.52 1.10 1.81 3.81 4.18 4.93 3.88
U 0.55 0.43 0.50 0.63 0.24 0.76 0.99 1.23 1.29 0.83
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TABLE A2. Whole-Rock Compositions of Late Devonian Felsic Rocks
Sample no. 770F-1710.5 1320B-1448.8 1511-1458.6 226-817 243-526 361-597 295-556 463A-746 470-62
Unit Qmd Qmd Qmd BiGd BiGd BiGd Ign Ign Ign
(wt %)
SIO2 63.10 65.13 64.38 65.78 65.93 66.67 62.13 61.63 60.76
Al2O3 16.61 16.21 17.36 15.37 15.02 16.05 16.53 17.68 17.89
Fe2O3 3.78 3.68 3.74 3.21 3.46 2.55 4.92 4.83 4.41
MnO 0.08 0.10 0.04 0.09 0.09 0.03 0.12 0.06 0.09
MgO 0.73 0.79 0.82 1.24 1.25 1.07 1.03 1.46 0.73
CaO 1.96 1.97 1.60 3.12 2.78 2.06 3.44 2.29 2.00
Na2O 4.91 4.99 5.61 4.29 3.93 1.75 4.79 3.47 6.02
K2O 3.96 3.36 3.78 2.53 2.54 3.63 2.97 3.21 2.01
TiO2 0.33 0.31 0.35 0.41 0.45 0.50 0.46 0.49 0.51
P2O5 0.13 0.12 0.12 0.20 0.23 0.23 0.21 0.22 0.25
LOI 3.52 2.52 0.38 4.22 4.69 4.52 3.13 4.70 4.23
Ppm
Sc 3.00 3.00 3.00 4.90 5.10 5.40 <1 6.00 5.50
Be 1.00 <1 1.00 2.00 2.00 2.00 2.00 1.00
V 87 76 91 59 69 77 83 99 93
Cr <20 <20 <20 13 14 21 <20 <20
Co 3 3 4 7 7 6 7 7 5
Ni <20 <20 <20 9 11 11 <20 <20 2
Cu 1750 1340 1790 16 38 622 50 15 82
Zn 30 70 <30 82 92 43 64 64 93
Ga 20 18 20 21 21 23 17 20 22
Ge 1.60 1.60 1.60 1.40 1.40 1.30 1.17 1.50 1.20
As 5 <5 <5 7 4 11 8 5 6
Rb 69 60 70 76 65 93 57 68 31
Sr 695 499 661 456 227 189 901 522 617
Y 12.30 12.10 13.00 10.90 11.90 9.40 18.12 16.00 16.90
Zr 104 111 105 125 124 130 133 106 110
Nb 4.70 4.70 4.90 7.20 7.50 6.40 8.92 7.60 6.00
Mo 2 6 20 4 <2 <2
Ag 0.6 0.7 0.6 0.6 <0.5 <0.5 0.5
Sn <1 <1 <1 1.00 1.17 <1 2.00
Sb 0.4 0.4 0.7 0.9 1.7 1.1 1.1 1.0 0.0
Cs 1.40 1.50 1.80 2.10 2.60 8.80 7.32 6.40 2.70
Ba 821 841 959 1037 757 315 847 272 762
Bi <0.1 0.20 <0.1 0.20 <0.1 <0.1 0.50
La 11.40 11.50 13.90 17.70 19.60 16.60 17.86 13.10 14.40
Ce 20.80 21.90 25.20 37.20 40.70 32.10 33.81 26.40 27.20
Pr 2.33 2.49 2.84 4.30 4.83 3.46 4.14 3.12 3.42
Nd 9.59 10.10 11.40 15.80 18.00 13.60 14.91 12.90 13.90
Sm 2.07 2.09 2.32 3.46 3.87 2.62 3.83 2.90 3.06
Eu 0.68 0.68 0.77 1.00 1.05 0.78 1.06 0.88 0.96
Gd 2.02 1.97 2.21 2.74 2.94 2.22 3.23 2.76 2.74
Tb 0.33 0.31 0.35 0.40 0.42 0.31 0.58 0.47 0.46
Dy 1.91 1.90 2.07 2.05 2.15 1.56 3.42 2.71 2.77
Ho 0.40 0.40 0.43 0.37 0.38 0.30 0.70 0.56 0.57
Er 1.26 1.25 1.32 0.98 1.06 0.89 2.05 1.81 1.77
Tm 0.21 0.20 0.22 0.14 0.16 0.13 0.33 0.29 0.28
Yb 1.54 1.46 1.59 0.92 1.00 0.86 2.23 1.94 1.95
Lu 0.28 0.25 0.28 0.15 0.15 0.13 0.34 0.31 0.31
Hf 2.40 2.50 2.40 3.40 3.40 3.60 3.87 3.30 3.10
Ta 0.34 0.34 0.30 0.53 0.56 0.58 0.40 0.35 0.43
W 1.10 1.70 2.40 2.00 1.40 5.80 <0.5 1.00 0.60
Tl 0.28 0.24 0.27 0.39 0.35 0.43 0.21 0.73 0.28
Pb 9 10 6 25 13 42 13 8 19
Th 2.81 2.63 2.38 3.85 4.17 3.75 2.63 2.40 2.24
U 1.71 1.32 1.54 1.56 1.61 2.18 1.23 1.14 0.85
Notes: BiGd = biotite granodiorite, Ign = dacitic ash-flow tuff, Qmd = quartz monzodiorite, blank field = no data
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© 2012 Society of Economic Geologists, Inc.

Special Publication 16, pp. 187–213

Geologic Overview of the Oyu Tolgoi Porphyry Cu-Au-Mo Deposits, Mongolia

Introduction Mongolia and is related to granodiorite of Triassic age. Oyu

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a Mongolia (before 1991), when the Erdenet Cu-Mo deposit

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flow tuffs, 50 to 200 m thick, with local sandstone, siltstone,

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SSW N20E oriented section NNE

OLDER THAN LATE DEVONIAN Porphyry-related

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Tsagaan Survarga member; sediments

Ulgii member; andesitic volcanic rocks

0 mRL Dacitic ash flow tuffs

b Alteration Advanced argillic (quartz-muscovite)

K-feldspar decreasing at depth

Gold rich (ratio: 1 g/tAu : 2 % Cu)

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Carboniferous basalt Basaltic breccia

(a) (b) B Quartz

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