- Mineral Resources
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- Global assessment of undiscovred copper resources
Argentina Miocene–Pliocene Nevados de Famatina
Mainly late Miocene to early Pliocene calc-alkalic plutons and consanguineous coeval to slightly older lavas, breccias, pyroclastic rocks, and volcanic domes.
| Tract ID |
005pCu1014d |
| Country |
Argentina |
| Commodity |
Cu |
| Study area name |
Andes |
| Tectonic setting |
continental margin |
| Deposit type |
porphyry copper |
| Grade-tonnage model |
General porphyry copper model (Singer and others, 2005) |
| Geologic age |
| Geologic feature age |
late Miocene through early Pliocene |
| Generalized age |
Tertiary-Neogene |
| Oldest rocks age |
11.2Ma
|
| Youngest rocks age |
3.6Ma
|
| Age range |
7.6Ma
|
|
| Identified Cu resources |
1,100,000metric tons
|
| Mean Cu (t/sq km) |
2080t/sq km
|
| Map scales used |
1M |
Results of the assessment
| Assessment date |
2005 |
| Estimators |
Charles G. Cunningham, Klaus J. Schulz, Joseph A Briskey, and Eduardo O. Zappettini |
| Assessment depth |
1km
|
| Quantitative assessment |
Yes |
Estimated number of deposits
| Number of deposits |
Confidence level |
| 1 |
90% |
| 3 |
50% |
| 7 |
10% |
| 7 |
5% |
| 7 |
1% |
|
| Mean estimated deposits |
3.53 |
±2.26 |
(0.64%) |
| Probability of mean |
0.3 |
| Probability of no copper |
0.07 |
Estimated deposit density
Known
deposits |
Total
deposits |
Area
(sq km) |
Deposit density
per 100,000 sq km |
| 1 |
4.53 |
5,770 |
79 |
Mean estimated tonnage
| Copper |
12,000,000 |
| Molybdenum |
320,000 |
| Gold |
290 |
| Silver |
4,100 |
| Ore |
2,400,000,000 |
Undiscovered copper resource
| Confidence level |
90% |
50% |
10% |
5% |
| Tonnage |
280,000 |
6,100,000 |
29,000,000 |
44,000,000 |
Economic analysis
| Fraser country |
Argentina (La Rioja, Catamarca*) |
| Fraser type |
0.46%
|
| Fraser high |
0.54%
|
| Typical cost |
0.33%
|
| High cost |
0.67%
|
| Infrastructure setting |
Mixed |
| Comments on depth |
70% cover; skew deep |
| Expected depth distribution |
|---|
| 0 - 250m |
0.2 |
| 250m - 500m |
0.3 |
| 500m - 1km |
0.5 |
| Economically recoverable resources |
|---|
| Copper |
6,300,000t
|
| Molybdenum |
120,000t
|
| Gold |
110t
|
| Silver |
2,100t
|
| Probability no econ recoverable |
0.52 |
| Econ NPV |
1,500x $1M
|
| Exp dollars |
171.1x $1M/100,000 sq km
|
| Exp value class |
High |
Bibliographic references
| General |
Cunningham and others (2008) |
| Economic |
Robinson and Menzie (2012) |
Cunningham, C.G., Zappettini, E.O., Vivallo S., Waldo, Celada, C.M., Quispe, Jorge, Singer, D.A., Briskey, J.A, Sutphin, D.M., Gajardo M., Mariano, Diaz, Alejandro, Portigliati, Carlos, Berger, V.I., Carrasco, Rodrigo, and Schulz, K.J., 2008, Quantitativemineral resource assessment of copper, molybdenum, gold, and silver in undiscovered porphyry copper deposits in the Andes Mountains of South America: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 20081253, 282 p., http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2008/1253/.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 |
| Nevados de Famatina |
deposit |
La Rioja |
Argentina |
Prospect |
Details |
