- Mineral Resources
- Online Spatial Data
- Global assessment of undiscovred copper resources
A composite island-continental margin arc that formed during subduction of the Farallon Plate beneath western North America
Tract ID |
003pCu9008 |
Country |
United States of America |
Commodity |
Cu |
Study area name |
United States revised |
Tectonic setting |
continental margin |
Deposit type |
porphyry copper |
Grade-tonnage model |
General porphyry copper model (Singer and others, 2008) |
Geologic age |
Geologic feature age |
Late Cretaceous through Eocene (Laramide) |
Generalized age |
Tertiary-Paleogene |
Oldest rocks age |
99.6Ma
|
Youngest rocks age |
33.9Ma
|
Age range |
65.7Ma
|
|
Identified Cu resources |
90,000,000metric tons
|
Known prospects |
6 |
Mean Cu (t/sq km) |
1554t/sq km
|
Map scales used |
500K |
Results of the assessment
Assessment date |
2010 |
Estimators |
Steve Ludington, Jane Hammarstrom, Gilpin Robinson, and 1996 Team |
Assessment depth |
1km
|
Quantitative assessment |
Yes |
Estimated number of deposits
Number of deposits |
Confidence level |
1 |
90% |
2 |
50% |
6 |
10% |
6 |
5% |
6 |
1% |
|
Mean estimated deposits |
2.83 |
±1.97 |
(0.7%) |
Probability of mean |
0.28 |
Probability of no copper |
0.07 |
Estimated deposit density
Known deposits |
Total deposits |
Area (sq km) |
Deposit density per 100,000 sq km |
7 |
9.83 |
7,080 |
139 |
Mean estimated tonnage
Copper |
11,000,000 |
Molybdenum |
290,000 |
Gold |
270 |
Silver |
3,700 |
Ore |
2,200 |
Undiscovered copper resource
Confidence level |
90% |
50% |
10% |
5% |
Tonnage |
200,000 |
4,600,000 |
24,000,000 |
39,000,000 |
Economic analysis
Fraser country |
New Mexico |
Fraser type |
0.91%
|
Fraser high |
0.09%
|
Typical cost |
1%
|
High cost |
0%
|
Infrastructure setting |
Typical |
Comments on depth |
default |
Expected depth distribution |
0 - 250m |
0.25 |
250m - 500m |
0.25 |
500m - 1km |
0.5 |
Economically recoverable resources |
Copper |
7,400,000t
|
Molybdenum |
140,000t
|
Gold |
140t
|
Silver |
2,300t
|
Probability no econ recoverable |
0.38 |
Econ NPV |
2,000x $1M
|
Exp dollars |
229.48x $1M/100,000 sq km
|
Exp value class |
High |
Bibliographic references
General |
U.S. Geological Survey National Mineral Resource Assessment Team (2002) |
Economic |
Robinson and Menzie (2012) |
U.S. Geological Survey National Mineral Resource Assessment Team, 2002, Assessment of undiscovered deposits of gold, silver, copper, lead, and zinc in the United StatesA portable document (pfd) recompilation of USGS Open-file Report 96-96 and Circular 1178, recompiled by Paul Schruben: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 02-198, http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2002/of02-198/.Robinson, G.R., Jr., and Menzie, W.D., 2012, Economic filters for evaluating porphyry copper deposit resource assessments using grade-tonnage deposit models, with examples from the U.S. Geological Survey global mineral resource assessment (ver 1.2, March 2014): U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 20105090H, 21 p., http://pubs.usgs.gov/sir/2010/5090/h/.
Deposits and prospects associated with this tract
Name |
Type |
State |
Country |
Development |
Details |
Chino |
deposit |
New Mexico |
United States |
Producer |
Details |
Copper Flat |
deposit |
New Mexico |
United States |
Occurrence |
Details |
Gold Lake |
prospect |
New Mexico |
United States |
Occurrence |
Details |
Hanover Mountain |
deposit |
New Mexico |
United States |
Occurrence |
Details |
Morenci-Metcalf |
deposit |
Arizona |
United States |
Producer |
Details |
Red Hills |
prospect |
Texas |
United States |
Prospect |
Details |
Safford |
deposit |
Arizona |
United States |
Producer |
Details |
Sanchez |
deposit |
Arizona |
United States |
Occurrence |
Details |
Steins |
prospect |
New Mexico |
United States |
Prospect |
Details |
Tyrone |
deposit |
New Mexico |
United States |
Producer |
Details |
Lone Mountain |
prospect |
New Mexico |
United States |
Occurrence |
Details |
Lordsburg |
prospect |
New Mexico |
United States |
Occurrence |
Details |