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Chaucha

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Porphyry copper (Cu-Mo) deposit in Azuay, Ecuador

Names and other identifiers

GMRAP ID 228
Tract name Colombia-Ecuador Miocene Chaucha (005pCu1005)
Site status deposit

Geographic location

Country Ecuador
State or province Azuay
Geographic location -79.416666667, -2.933333333
Geologic map unit -79.416666667, -2.933333333
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Geologic information

Deposit type Porphyry copper
Deposit subtype Cu-Mo
Age (Ma) 11Ma
Age determination method K-Ar
Age range 12–10 Ma
Age reference Chiaradia and others (2004)
Minerals alunite, azurite/malachite, barite, biotite, bornite, chalcanthite, chalcocite/digenite, chalcopyrite, chlorite, clay minerals, copper, covellite, cuprite, epidote, goethite/limonite, gypsum, hematite/specularite, kaolinite, magnetite, molybdenite, ferrimolybdite, pyrite, sericite, tenorite, tourmaline, zeolite
Associated rocks breccia, dacite porphyry, amphibolite, andesite, conglomerate, dacite, diorite, diorite porphyry, granodiorite porphyry, quartz diorite, quartzite, schist, tonalite
Tectonic setting continental margin
Stratigraphic age Miocene

Commodity and development information

Development status Unknown
Major commodities Cu, Mo
Tonnage (Mt) 363Mt
Cu grade (%) 0.4%
Mo grade (%) 0.03%
Contained copper 1,500,000t
Gold-Moly ratio -9999

Reference information

Comments Exposed.
Study area name Andes
References Ascendant Copper Corp. (2007a); Carten and others (1993); Chiaradia and others (2004); Gemuts and others (1992); Goossens and Hollister (1973); Hollister (1978); PRODEMINCA (2000b); Singer and others (2008)
Site reference Cunningham and others (2008)
Ascendant Copper Corp., 2007a, Chaucha mineral property: 5 p., accessed 2008, at http://www.ascendantcopper.com/Chaucha. [Web page no longer available.]
Carten, R.B., White, W.H., and Stein, H.J., 1993, High-grade granite-related molybdenum systems—Classification and origin, in Kirkham, R.V., Sinclair, W.D., Thorpe, R.J., and Dike, J.M., eds., Mineral deposit modeling: Geological Association of Canada Special Paper 40, p. 521–554.
Chiaradia, Massimo; Fontboté, LluÌs; and Beate, Bernardo, 2004, Cenozoic continental arc magmatism and associated mineralization in Ecuador: Mineralium Deposita, v. 39, p. 204–222. (Also available at http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00126-003-0397-5.)Gemuts, Ilmars; Lopez, Guillermo; and Jimenez, Franklin, 1992, Gold deposits of southern Ecuador: Society of Economic Geologists SEG Newsletter, no. 11, p. 1, 13–16. (Also available at http://www.segweb.org/pdf/publications/newsletters/1992/SEG-Newsletter-11-1992-October.pdf.)Goossens, P.J., and Hollister, V.F., 1973, Structural control and hydrothermal alteration pattern of Chaucha porphyry copper, Ecuador: Mineralium Deposita, v. 8, p. 321–331. (Also available at http://dx.doi.org/10.1007%2FBF00207515.)
Hollister, V.F., 1978, Geology of the porphyry copper deposits of the western hemisphere: New York, American Institute of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers, 219 p.
PRODEMINCA, 2000b, Manual de exploracion de depositos metaliferos en el Ecuador: Ministerio de Energia y Minas, Subsecretaria de Minas, Direccion Nacional de Geologia, Proyecto de Desarrolo Minero y Control Ambiental (PRODEMINCA), 100 p.
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/.