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Kharmagtai

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Porphyry copper prospect in Ömnögovi, Mongolia

Names and other identifiers

GMRAP ID 453
Tract name Oyu Tolgoi (142pCu8506)
Included sites Gold Hill (Altan Tolgoi), White Vein (Tsagan Sudal), Copper Hill (Zesen Uul), Wolf (Chun)
Site status prospect

Geographic location

Country Mongolia
State or province Ömnögovi
Geographic location 106.1995, 44.0217
Geologic map unit 106.1995, 44.0217
Nearby data
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Geologic information

Deposit type Porphyry copper
Age (Ma) 330Ma
Age determination method Re-Os
Age range 330 Ma
Age reference unknown
Minerals azurite/malachite, bornite, calaverite, chalcocite, chalcopyrite, chrysocolla, copper, cuprite, galena, gold, molybdenite, pyrite, sphalerite
Associated rocks diorite, diorite porphyry, monzdiorite, quartz diorite, explosive breccia, monzonite porphyry, monzodiorite porphyry, andesite
Tectonic setting island arc
Stratigraphic age Carboniferous

Commodity and development information

Development status Prospect
Major commodities Cu, Au
Minor commodities Mo
Gold-Moly ratio -9999

Reference information

Comments The resource (229 Mt at 0.35% Cu) reported in Singer and others (2008) is only partial, but drilling has apparently been suspended. Monzodiorite, monzonite, and diorite intrude Devonian sedimentary rocks in a 25 sq km mineralized area. At least four mineralized zones are present. The area is variably oxidized to a depth of several tens of meters. Cu-Au mineralization is developed as both quartz- and sulfide-rich stockworks. Deposit features mineralized tourmaline breccias.
Study area name Central Asian Orogenic Belt
References Singer and others (2008); Berzina and others (1999); Kirwin, Foster and others (2005); Kirwin, Wilson and others (2005); Nokleberg and others (1999); Nokleberg and others (2003); Sillitoe, Gerel, and others (1996); Dejidmaa and others (2002); Nokleberg (2010); Ivanhoe Mines Ltd. (2002a); Shin and others (2005); Porter GeoConsultancy (2004a); Seltmann and Porter (2005)
Site reference Mihalasky, Ludington, Hammarstrom, and others (2015)
Berzina, A.N., Sotnikov, V.I., Ponomarchuk, V.A., Berzina, A.P., and Kiseleva, V.Yu., 1999, Temporal periods of formation of Cu-Mo porphyry deposits, Siberia and Mongolia, in Stanley, C.J., and others, Mineral deposits—Processes to processing: Rotterdam, A.A. Balkema Publishers, p. 321–324.
Dejidmaa, G., Bujinlkham, B., Ganbaatar, T., Oyuntuya, N., Enkhtuya, B., Eviihuu, A., and Monkh-Erdene, N., 2002, Distribution map of mineral deposits and occurrences in Mongolia: Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia Mineral Resources Authority, Geologic Information Center, 540 p., 12 sheets, scale 1:1,000,000.
Ivanhoe Mines Ltd., 2002a, Drilling expands significant copper-gold porphyry system at Ivanhoe's Kharmagtai project in Mongolia: Ivanhoe Mines Ltd. press release, November 26, 2002, 6 p., accessed December 4, 2013, at http://www.turquoisehill.com/i/pdf/02Nov26withmaps.pdf.
Kirwin, D.J., Foster, C.N., Kavalieris, I., Grane, D., Orssich, C., Panther, C., Gramajav, D., Munkhbat, T.O., and Niiselekhuu, G., 2005, The Oyu Tolgoi copper-gold porphyry deposits, south Gobi, Mongolia, in Seltmann, Reimar; Gerel, Ochir; and Kirwin, Douglas, eds., Geodynamics and metallogeny of Mongolia with a special emphasis on copper and gold deposits: London, British Natural History Museum, Centre for Russian and Central Eurasian Mineral Studies (CERCAMS), IAGOD Guidebook Series 11, p. 155–168.
Kirwin, D.J., Wilson, C.C., Turmagnai, D., and Wolfe, R., 2005, Exploration history, geology, and mineralisation of the Kharmagtai gold-copper porphyry district, South Gobi region, Mongolia, in Seltmann, Reimar; Gerel, Ochir; and Kirwin, Douglas, eds., Geodynamics and metallogeny of Mongolia with a special emphasis on copper and gold deposits: London, British Natural History Museum, Centre for Russian and Central Eurasian Mineral Studies (CERCAMS), IAGOD Guidebook Series 11, p. 175–191.
Nokleberg, W.J., ed., 2010, Metallogenesis and tectonics of northeast Asia: U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 1765, 624 p., CD-ROM. (Also available at http://pubs.usgs.gov/pp/1765/.)Nokleberg, W.J., Naumova, V.V., Kuzmin, M.I., and Bounaeva, T.V., eds., 1999, Preliminary publications book 1 from project on mineral resources, metallogenesis, and tectonics of northeast Asia: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 99-165, 6 p. and digital data, CD-ROM. (Also available at http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/1999/of99-165/.)Nokleberg, W.J., Bounaeva, T.M., Miller, R.J., Seminskiy, Z.V., and Diggles, M.F. eds., 2003, Significant metalliferous and selected non-metalliferous lode deposits, and selected placer districts of northeast Asia: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 03-220, 422 p., CD-ROM. (Also available at http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2003/of03-220/.)Porter GeoConsultancy, 2004a, Kharmagtai, Mongolia: Porter Geoconsultancy database accessed March 22, 2012, at http://www.portergeo.com.au/database/mineinfo.asp?mineid=mn995.Seltmann, R., and Porter, T.M., 2005, The porphyry Cu-Au/Mo deposits of central Eurasia—1. Tectonic, geologic and metallogenic setting, and significant deposits, in Porter, T.M., ed., Super porphyry copper and gold deposits—A global perspective: Adelaide, PGC Publishing, v. 2, p. 467–512. (Abstract also available at http://www.portergeo.com.au/publishing/superporphyry/superpstart.html.)Shin, H.C.; Wolfe, Rohan; Bell, Chris; Kirwin, Doug; Hitzman, Murray; and Hedenquist, Jeff, 2005, Geology and mineralization of the Kharmagtai porphyry Cu-Au deposit, Mongolia [abs.]: Geological Society of America Annual Meeting, Salt Lake City, Utah, October 16–19, 2005, Abstracts with Programs, v. 37, no. 7, p. 499. (Also available at http://gsa.confex.com/gsa/2005AM/finalprogram/abstract_93282.htm.)
Sillitoe, R.H., Gerel, O., Dejidma, G., Gotovsuren, A., Sanjaadorj, D., Baasandorj, S., and Dashiin, B.E., 1996, Mongolia’s gold potential: Mining Magazine, July 1996, p. 12–15.
Singer, D.A., Berger, V.I., and Moring, B.C., 2008, Porphyry copper deposits of the world—Database and grade and tonnage models, 2008: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2008-1155, [45] p. and digital data, accessed December 31, 2013, at http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2008/1155/.