Chile-Argentina Cretaceous Turbio

Cretaceous calc-alkaline batholiths and plutons composed mostly of biotite and hornblende-bearing granite, granodiorite, and tonalite.
Tract ID 005pCu1020
Country Argentina-Chile
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 Cretaceous
Generalized age Mesozoic
Oldest rocks age 145.5Ma
Youngest rocks age 65.5Ma
Age range 80Ma
Known prospects 2
Mean Cu (t/sq km) 35t/sq km
Map scales used 1M

Results of the assessment

Assessment date 2007
Estimators Carlos Mario Celada, Waldo Vivallo S., Donald A. Singer, Charles G. Cunningham, and Eduardo O. Zappettini
Assessment depth 1km
Quantitative assessment Yes

Estimated number of deposits

Number of deposits Confidence level
2 50%
5 10%
5 5%
5 1%
Mean estimated deposits 2.3 ±1.83 (0.8%)
Probability of mean 0.27
Probability of no copper 0.2

Estimated deposit density

Known
deposits
Total
deposits
Area
(sq km)
Deposit density
per 100,000 sq km
2.3 223,010 1

Mean estimated tonnage

Copper 7,800,000
Molybdenum 180,000
Gold 190
Silver 2,500
Ore 1,500,000,000

Undiscovered copper resource

Confidence level 50% 10% 5%
Tonnage 3,000,000 20,000,000 31,000,000

Economic analysis

Fraser country Chile* (almost all in Chile)
Fraser type 0%
Fraser high 1%
Typical cost 0%
High cost 1%
Infrastructure setting High cost
Comments on depth well-exposed; parts too deeply eroded to preserve deposits; skew shallow
Expected depth distribution
0 - 250m 0.35
250m - 500m 0.25
500m - 1km 0.4
Economically recoverable resources
Copper 3,900,000t
Molybdenum 67,000t
Gold 65t
Silver 1,200t
Probability no econ recoverable 0.74
Econ NPV 780x $1M
Exp dollars 1.12x $1M/100,000 sq km
Exp value class Very Low

Bibliographic references

General Cunningham and others (2008)
Economic Robinson and Menzie (2012)

Deposits and prospects associated with this tract

Name Type State Country Development Details
Gualletué prospect Araucanía Chile Prospect Details
Turbio prospect Aisén del General Carlos Ibáñez del Campo Chile Occurrence Details