Breccias Processes in Porphyry Copper

and Epithermal Gold Environments

Bronto Sutopo
Bandung, 08 October 2010
Indonesia

Quartz-roscoelite-pyrite-gold cemented mudstone clast

breccia, Porgera Gold Mine, PNG
…BRECCIA, BRECCIA, BRECCIA:
all’s about Breccias..
Outlines

- Definitions
- Descriptions
- Processes
- Breccias in Major Mineral Deposits

22 cm
cm
Definitions

* a ‘diatreme’ breccia is the vent zone of a maar-type or

hydro-magmatic volcanism; and results from a
phreatomagmatic eruption.

* a phreatomagmatic breccia MUST have evidence for a

juvenile
magmatic component = juvenile clasts and matrix.

* a phreatic is formed by over-pressured

fluids but with no direct magmatic connection.

* phreatomagmatic and phreatic breccias can commonly occur

within the same breccia complex.

22 cm
cm
Definitions

Hydrothermal breccia:
Clastic, coarse-grained aggregate generated by the
interaction of hydrothermal fluid with magma and/or
wallrocks

Infill:
Material that has filled the space between clasts in breccias
Breccias can have two infill components :
– crystalline cement or clastic matrix

22 cm
cm
 Breccia Description
Ideal combination:
5 + 4 + 3 + 2 +1
Alteration Internal Components Grainsize Geometry
organisation A + B + C + D

Minimum Combination: 4 + 3 + 2

1) Geometry
pipe, cone, dyke, vein, bed, irregular,
tabular...
Contact relationships:
sharp, gradational, faulted,
irregular, planar, concordant,
discordant

Bat Cave breccia pipe, Northern Arizona.

(Wenrich, 1985)
Breccia Description
5 + 4 + 3 + 2 +1
Alteration Internal Components Grainsize Geometry
organisation A + B + C + D

2) Grainsize
breccia (> 2mm), sandstone (1/16 – 2 mm) or mudstone (<
1/16 mm)

The term ‘breccia’ is derived from sedimentology,

where it refers to clastic rocks composed of large
angular clasts (granules, cobbles and boulders)
with or without a sandy or muddy matrix

Monomictic sericite-altered diorite clast breccia with roscoelite-

quartz cement, Porgera, PNG
Breccia Description
5 + 4 + 3 + 2 +1
Alteration Internal Components Grainsize Geometry
organisation A + B + C + D

3) Components
A: clasts
monomict or polymict
Composition: lithic, vein, breccia, juvenile magmatic,
accretionary lapilli, mineralised, altered
Morphology: angular, subangular, subround, round,
faceted, tabular, equant

Polymictic trachyandesite clast-rich

sand matrix breccia, Cowal, NSW
Breccia Description
5 + 4 + 3 + 2 +1
Alteration Internal Components Grainsize Geometry
organisation A + B + C + D

3) Components (cont.): INFILL

B: matrix
Mud to sand to breccia-sized particles
Crystal fragments, lithic fragments, vein fragments

Textures:
-bedded
-laminated
-banded
-foliated
-massive

Polymictic diorite clast breccia with pyrite-quartz-roscoelite

cement and roscoelite-altered mud matrix, Porgera, PNG
Breccia Description
Ideal combination:
5 + 4 + 3 + 2 +1
Alteration Internal Components Grainsize Geometry
organisation A + B + C + D

3) Components (cont.): INFILL

C: cement
Ore & gangue mineralogy
Grainsize
Alteration
textures:
cockade, massive, drusy, etc.

D: open space (vugs)

Rhodochrosite-kaolinite cemented
mudstone-clast breccia Kelian, Indonesia
 Breccia Description
5 + 4 + 3 + 2 +1
Alteration Internal Components Grainsize Geometry
organisation A + B + C + D

4) Internal Organisation
Clast distribution:
In-situ (jigsaw-fit)
Rotated
Chaotic

5) Alteration
Clasts, matrix or cement
Alteration paragenesis (pre-, syn- and post-brecciation)

Sericite-altered polymictic sand-matrix

breccia, Braden Pipe, El Teniente, CHILE
Breccia Description and Interpretation

Breccias should be described in terms of their components,

texture, morphology and contact relationships
The next step is genetic interpretation, which can be difficult
What are we interested in?
The processes that trigger fragmentation?
The processes that redistribute the components and
modify the fragments?
The likely location of high-grade ore?
 Volcanic Breccias Surface
Breccia Genesis
Magma intrusion

al
rm
HYDROTHERMAL into hydrothermal

s e
BRECCIAS system

cia th
ec ro
br yd
• More than one Sub-surface
Phreato-

c -h
process can be magmatic

ni
involved in breccia

lca
breccias

Vo
formation
• Many hybrid Phreatic Magmatic-hydrothermal Magmatic
breccias breccias Breccias
breccias

l
• This overlap means

rus ntro
Igneous-

Stockwork
that genetic

s
Ve ccias cemented

ion
o
veins
bre

on ural c
terminology is in breccias
generally applied Hydraulic

int
Breccias

uct
inconsistently Structural control

St r
on breccia
location

Fault breccias
& brecciated veins
Tectonic Breccias
 Breccias in Hydrothermal Systems

1 - Magmatic-
Volatile-saturated intrusion undergoes
hydrothermal breccias catastrophic brittle failure due to
• Permeability enhancement through hydrostatic pressure exceeding
the formation of a subsurface lithostatic load and the tensile strength
breccia body allows for focussed of the wallrocks
fluid flow
• Can precipitate abundant, well-
mineralised cement which contains
hypersaline & vapour-rich fluid
inclusions
• Clastic matrix and clasts may be
altered to high temperature mineral
assemblages (e.g. biotite)
• Containment and focussing of
volatiles  birth of a magmatic-
hydrothermal ore deposit
 Characteristic
Features

Angular clasts -implies limited clast

transport & abrasion
Juvenile clasts (?)
Variable amounts of clastic matrix
High temperature alteration rinds
(clasts) and altered matrix
Open space fill textures

Tourmaline-
chalcopyrite cement, Polymict tourmaline
Rio Blanco breccia, Sierra Gorda, Chile
 Magmatic-
Hydrothermal Breccias

Can form monogenetic pipes

In-situ breccia textures are common
on the pipe margins
Appreciable vertical transport
uncommon
Evidence for minor downward and
upward transport of clasts
Cause for brecciation?:
explosive volatile release
magma withdrawal
vapour bubble collapse
hydrothermal corrosion

Sierra Gorda tourmaline

breccia, Chile
 Breccia-Enhanced Permeability

Farellones Fm
~2 km paleodepth
Drawdown of
meteoric water?

Buoyant Upwelling magmatic-

magmatic gas hydrothermal brines
streams up precipitate ore
through bx
column
San Francisco
Batholith

Strongly mineralised magmatic-

~5 km paleodepth hydrothermal breccias probably
don’t vent to the surface
 Breccias in Hydrothermal Systems

2 – Volcanic-hydrothermal
Maar-diatreme
breccias breccia complex
• Clastic matrix & milled
clasts abundant

paleodepth
2 - 5 km
• Surficial and subsurface
breccia deposits
Late intrusion
• Bedded and massive breccia into active
facies hydrothermal
system
• Venting of volatiles to the
surface
 death of a porphyry deposit
 shortcut to the epithermal
environment
 Diatremes - Volcanological Model
Modified after
‘wet’ pyroclastic eruptions Lorenz, 1973

0m
Water
Table
depressed

Increasing
eruption
depth
> 2500 m
No direct link to mineralisation - this model fails to account for common
association of diatremes and magmatic-hydrothermal ore deposits

Braden Pipe – surficial? bedded facies
(courtesy Francisco Camus)
Subsurface polymictic sand-matrix
breccia, Braden Pipe, El Teniente
Characteristics of Volcanic-
Hydrothermal Breccias
Abundant fine grained altered clastic matrix
(massive to stratified)
Rounded to angular heterolithic clasts, typically
matrix-supported
Generally significant clast abrasion & transport
(mixing of wallrock clasts – transport upwards
and downwards)
Surficial pyroclastic base surge deposits
Phreatomagmatic breccia –
juvenile quartz-phyric
rhyolite clasts, Kelian,
Characteristic features
Indonesia

Juvenile clasts
Mineralised and altered clasts
Surficial-derived clasts (e.g., logs, charcoal, etc.)
Complex facies relationships
limited open space  little or no hydrothermal cement

0.5 Chalcopyrite clasts, Balatoc diatreme,

0.5 cm
cm
Acupan Au mine, Philippines
 Volcanic-Hydrothermal Breccias
Downward Block
Surface maars / tuff rings have low aspect transport in subsidence
ratios, and in many cases are not pipes
preserved in fossil hydrothermal systems
Surface blocks / tree trunks etc. can be
dragged down to considerable depths 0
Timing: pre-, syn- or post-mineralisation
(e.g., Grasberg, Cripple Creek, El Teniente)
500

1000

1500

Diatreme formation model,

Kelian Au mine, Indonesia 2000
m
 Breccias in Hydrothermal Systems

3: Phreatic & hydraulic breccias

• Phreatic breccias: in-situ

subsurface and surficial
brecciation – matrix can be
abundant (jig-saw fit to rotated • Phreatic steam
to chaotic textures) explosions caused by
• Hydraulic breccias: Vein- / decompression of
fault- / pipe-hosted, only minor hydrothermal fluid
clast transport and abrasion, • No direct magmatic
abundant hydrothermal cement, involvement
little or no matrix produced
(angular clasts common –  epithermal gold
jigsaw fit to rotated textures) deposition
 Phreatic Breccias
Pressure (bars)
Eruption Vent 20 40
Hot Spring
Lit
ho
sta
Gas Silica tic
Brecciation
Extent of

Cap seal
Steam

200

Hy ilin rve
Bo cu
dr g p
os oi
Depth

ta nt
tic
(m)
water 400

Boiling Gas cap in self-sealed geothermal

water system (Hedenquist & Henley, 1985)

Steam and other gases accumulate beneath a silica seal

during upflow of boiling waters
Gas pressure build-up can rupture the hydrothermal seal,
triggering a steam explosion & phreatic brecciation

Depressurisation affects a significant vertical column of rock

(100s of metres) and can trigger ore deposition Multi-stage vein
breccia, Palmerejo,
Mexico
 Mechanisms for Triggering Phreatic
Brecciation
Seismic rupture
Overpressuring and failure of
hydrothermal seal
Instantaneous unloading (landslip,
draining of lake)
Temperature increase (magma-water
interaction)
0ºC 100ºC 200ºC
2,317 m Surface of
glacially-

Hyd point c
dammed lake

ros
2,256 m

tati rve
cB
u
oili
ng
2,195 m Surface level
after draining
of lake
Hydrothermal eruption crater, Pocket Basin,
Yellowstone. Fragments of lake sediments were 2,134 m
deposited in a low aspect ratio ejecta apron after
draining of glacially-dammed lake 20-25,000yr ago
Conclusions

Classification steps: Identification-description-facies

clasification  genetic clasification

Magmatic-hydrothermal breccias have high temperature

cements and alteration minerals

Volcanic-hydrothermal breccia complexes have bedded facies

and juvenile magmatic clasts

Phreatic breccia complexes may contain bedded facies, but will

always lack juvenile clasts

Anhydrite-cemented vein breccia, Acupan gold mine, Philippines

Conclusions

Hydrothermal brecciation typically involves several

fragmentation processes

Genetic pigeonholing of breccias can be difficult, and may not

be particularly helpful

Facies and structure control fluid flow and are the keys to
understanding grade distribution in hydrothermal breccias

Pyrite-roscoelite-gold cemented heterolithic breccia, Porgera Gold Mine, Papua New