- Mineral Resources
- Online Spatial Data
- Global assessment of undiscovred copper resources
Late Paleozoic Balkhash-Ili magmatic arc (west)
Early Carboniferous to Permian magmatic-arc and post-collisional rocks
Tract ID |
142pCu8003c |
Country |
Kazakhstan |
Commodity |
Cu |
Study area name |
West Central Asia |
Tectonic setting |
continental margin |
Deposit type |
porphyry copper |
Grade-tonnage model |
General porphyry copper model (Singer and others, 2008) |
Geologic age |
Geologic feature age |
Early Carboniferous through Permian |
Generalized age |
Paleozoic |
Oldest rocks age |
359.2Ma
|
Youngest rocks age |
251Ma
|
Age range |
108.2Ma
|
|
Identified Cu resources |
1,000,000metric tons
|
Known prospects |
2 |
Mean Cu (t/sq km) |
311t/sq km
|
Map scales used |
200K, 1.5M |
Results of the assessment
Assessment date |
2009 |
Estimators |
Byron R. Berger, Jane M. Hammarstrom, John C. Mars, Jeffrey D. Phillips, David M. Sutphin, Michael L. Zientek |
Assessment depth |
1km
|
Quantitative assessment |
Yes |
Estimated number of deposits
Number of deposits |
Confidence level |
1 |
50% |
5 |
10% |
5 |
5% |
5 |
1% |
|
Mean estimated deposits |
1.9 |
±1.92 |
(1.01%) |
Probability of mean |
0.26 |
Probability of no copper |
0.3 |
Estimated deposit density
Known deposits |
Total deposits |
Area (sq km) |
Deposit density per 100,000 sq km |
2 |
3.9 |
23,800 |
16 |
Mean estimated tonnage
Copper |
7,400,000 |
Molybdenum |
210,000 |
Gold |
190 |
Silver |
2,500 |
Ore |
1,500 |
Undiscovered copper resource
Confidence level |
50% |
10% |
5% |
Tonnage |
1,800,000 |
18,000,000 |
31,000,000 |
Economic analysis
Fraser country |
Kazakhstan |
Fraser type |
0.22%
|
Fraser high |
0.79%
|
Typical cost |
0%
|
High cost |
1%
|
Infrastructure setting |
High cost |
Comments on depth |
patchy distribution of I and V but not together |
Expected depth distribution |
0 - 250m |
0.25 |
250m - 500m |
0.25 |
500m - 1km |
0.5 |
Economically recoverable resources |
Copper |
3,600,000t
|
Molybdenum |
81,000t
|
Gold |
65t
|
Silver |
1,200t
|
Probability no econ recoverable |
0.84 |
Econ NPV |
630x $1M
|
Exp dollars |
3.86x $1M/100,000 sq km
|
Exp value class |
Low |
Bibliographic references
General |
Berger and others (2014) |
Economic |
Robinson and Menzie (2012) |
Berger, B.R., Mars, J.C., Denning, P.D., Phillips, J.D., Hammarstrom, J.M., Zientek, M.L, Dicken, C.L., and Drew, L.J., with contributions from Alexeiev, D., Seltmann, R., and Herrington, R.J., 2014, Porphyry copper assessment of western Central Asia: U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 20105090N, 219 p., 8 plates, and spatial data, http://dx.doi.org/10.3133/sir20105090N.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 |
Karatas Ore Field |
deposit |
Qaraghandy oblysy |
Kazakhstan |
Prospect |
Details |
Saryshagan |
deposit |
Qaraghandy oblysy |
Kazakhstan |
Prospect |
Details |
Sokurkoi |
prospect |
Qaraghandy oblysy |
Kazakhstan |
Occurrence |
Details |