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  3. Global assessment of undiscovred copper resources

Border Folds

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Late Cretaceous to 3arly Paleocene continental arc of the Tethyan Metallogenic Belt.
Tract ID 142pCu9007
Country Iran-Iraq-Turkey
Commodity Cu
Study area name Tethys
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 early Paleocene
Generalized age Tertiary-Paleogene
Oldest rocks age 99.6Ma
Youngest rocks age 55.8Ma
Age range 43.8Ma
Known prospects 7
Mean Cu (t/sq km) 102t/sq km
Map scales used 500K, 1M, 2M

Results of the assessment

Assessment date 2012
Estimators Arthur A. Bookstrom, Jane M. Hammarstrom, Steve Ludington, John C. Mars, Michael L. Zientek, Lukas Zurcher.
Assessment depth 1km
Quantitative assessment Yes

Estimated number of deposits

Number of deposits Confidence level
1 50%
2 10%
4 5%
4 1%
Mean estimated deposits 1.15 ±1.18 (1%)
Probability of mean 0.22
Probability of no copper 0.31

Estimated deposit density

Known
deposits		 Total
deposits		 Area
(sq km)		 Deposit density
per 100,000 sq km
1.15 45,300 3

Mean estimated tonnage

Copper 4,600,000
Molybdenum 120,000
Gold 120
Silver 1,400
Ore 930

Undiscovered copper resource

Confidence level 50% 10% 5%
Tonnage 760,000 10,000,000 20,000,000

Economic analysis

Fraser country Iran, Iraq, Turkey*
Fraser type 0.7%
Fraser high 0.31%
Typical cost 1%
High cost 0%
Infrastructure setting Typical
Comments on depth shallow
Expected depth distribution
0 - 250m 0.35
250m - 500m 0.25
500m - 1km 0.4
Economically recoverable resources
Copper 3,200,000t
Molybdenum 59,000t
Gold 66t
Silver 880t
Probability no econ recoverable 0.72
Econ NPV 890x $1M
Exp dollars 9.57x $1M/100,000 sq km
Exp value class Low

Bibliographic references

General Zürcher and others (in press)
Economic Robinson and Menzie (2012)
Zürcher, Lukas, Bookstrom, A.A., Hammarstrom, J.M., Mars, J.C., Ludington, Steve, and Zientek, M.L., with contributions from Drew, L.J., Sutphin, D.M., Berger, B.R., Herrington, R.J., Billa, Mario, Kuscu, Ilkay, Moon, C.J., and Richards, J.P., in press, Porphyry copper assessment of the Tethys Region of western and southern Asia: U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2010–5090–?, xx p., http://pubs.usgs.gov/sir/2010/5090/?/.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 2010–5090–H, 21 p., http://pubs.usgs.gov/sir/2010/5090/h/.

Deposits and prospects associated with this tract

Name Type State Country Development Details
Afsin prospect Kahramanmaras Turkey Prospect Details
Ispendere prospect Malatya Turkey Prospect Details
Cherarlu prospect Kordestan Iran Occurrence Details
Keban prospect Elazig Turkey Prospect Details
Nazarusagi prospect Elazig Turkey Prospect Details
SE Sanandaj prospect Kermanshah Iran Occurrence Details
Uslu prospect Elazig Turkey Prospect Details