Antucoya

Porphyry copper deposit in Antofagasta, Chile

Names and other identifiers

GMRAP ID 665
Alternate names Buey Muerto
Tract name Chile Cretaceous Antucoya (005pCu1017)
Site status deposit

Geographic location

Country Chile
State or province Antofagasta
Geographic location -69.9167, -22.5333
Geologic map unit -69.9167, -22.5333
Nearby data

Geologic information

Deposit type Porphyry copper
Age (Ma) 142Ma
Age determination method SHRIMP U-Pb
Age range 142.7 ±1.6 to 140.6 ±1.5 Ma
Age reference Maksaev and others (2006)
Minerals albite, anhydrite, atacamite, biotite, brochantite, chalcopyrite, chlorite, chrysocolla, epidote, hematite, jarosite, kaolinite/illite/dickite, limonite, molybdenite, pyrite, sericite, smectite
Associated rocks breccia, dacite dike, granodiorite porphyry, monzodiorite, tonalite porphyry, andesite, tuffaceous sandstone, tuffaceous siltstone
Tectonic setting continental margin
Stratigraphic age Early Cretaceous

Commodity and development information

Development status Prospect
Major commodities Cu
Tonnage (Mt) 300Mt
Cu grade (%) 0.45%
Contained copper 1,400,000t
Gold-Moly ratio -9999

Reference information

Comments Fairly well explored. Oxide ore resources. Mostly covered by gravel. Buey Muerto prospect 137 ±4 to 132 ±4 Ma (biotite and sericite).
Study area name Andes
References Perelló, Martini and Muhr (2003); Maksaev and others (2006); Camus (2005); Cunningham and others (2008); Sillitoe and Perelló (2005); Singer and others (2008)
Site reference Cunningham and others (2008)
Camus, F., 2005, The Andean porphyry systems, in Porter, T.M., ed., Super porphyry copper and gold deposits—A global perspective: Adelaide, PGC Publishing, v. 1, p. 45–63. (Abstract also available at http://www.portergeo.com.au/publishing/superporphyry/superpstart.html.)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, Quantitative mineral 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 2008-1253, CD-ROM, 282 p. (Also available at http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2008/1253/.)Maksaev, Victor; Munizaga, Francisco; Fanning, Mark; Palacios, Carlos; and Tapia, José, 2007, SHRIMP U-Pb dating of the Antucoya porphryr copper deposit—New evidence fo an Early Cretaceous porphyry-related metallogenic epoch in the Coastal Cordillera of northern Chile: Mineralium Deposita, v. 41, p. 637–644. (Also available at http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00126-006-0091-5.)
Perelló, J., Martini, R., and Muhr, R., 2003, Buey Muerto: Porphyry copper mineralization in the early Cretaceous arc of northern Chile [abs.]: Congresso Geológico Chileno, 10th, Concepción, 2003, CD-ROM, 1 p.
Sillitoe, R.H., and Perelló, Jose, 2005, Andean copper province—Tectonomagmatic settings, deposit types, metallogeny, exploration, and discovery, in Hedenquist, J.W., Thompson, J.F.H., Goldfarb, R.J., and Richards, J.P., eds., Economic Geology One Hundredth Anniversary Volume, 1905–2005: Littleton, Colo., Society of Economic Geologists, p. 845–890.
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/.