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Cerro Colorado

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Porphyry copper deposit in Tarapacá, Chile

Names and other identifiers

GMRAP ID 278
Tract name Chile-Peru Paleocene–Eocene Toquepala (005pCu1008)
Site status deposit

Geographic location

Country Chile
State or province Tarapacá
Geographic location -69.259722222, -20.044722222
Geologic map unit -69.259722222, -20.044722222
Nearby data
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Geologic information

Deposit type Porphyry copper
Age (Ma) 51.8Ma
Age determination method Ar-Ar
Age range 51.8 ±0.5 Ma
Age reference Bouzari and Clark (2002)
Minerals albite, alunite, andalusite, antlerite, atacamite, biotite, chalcanthite, chalcocite, chalcopyrite, chlorite, chrysocolla, covellite, diaspore, kaolinite/illite, jarosite, magnetite, molybdenite, muscovite/sericite, pyrite, pyrophyllite, tennantite, tourmaline, turquoise
Associated rocks andesite porphyry, breccia, dacite porphyry, quartz monzonite porphyry, andesite, felsic volcanic rocks, ignimbrite
Tectonic setting continental margin
Stratigraphic age Eocene

Commodity and development information

Development status Producer
Major commodities Cu, Mo
Tonnage (Mt) 607Mt
Cu grade (%) 0.81%
Mo grade (%) 0.005%
Contained copper 4,900,000t
Gold-Moly ratio -9999

Reference information

Comments Cu enrichment age (K/Ar, alunite), 30 to 36 Ma. >50% of the deposit area is covered by gravel and ignimbrite.
Study area name Andes
References BHP Billiton Ltd. (2006); Bouzari and Clark (2002); Bouzari and Clark (2006); Briggs (2006); Anonymous (1999); Sillitoe (1991); Sillitoe and McKee (1996); Zappettini and others (2001); Singer and others (2008)
Site reference Cunningham and others (2008)
BHP Billiton Ltd., 2006, Annual Reports 1994–2006.
Bouzari, Farhad, and Clark, A.H., 2002, Anatomy, evolution, and metallogenic significance of the supergene orebody of the Cerro Colorado porphyry copper deposit, I Región, northern Chile: Economic Geology, v. 97, no. 8, p. 1701–1740. (Also available at http://dx.doi.org/10.2113/gsecongeo.97.8.1701.)Bouzari, Farhad, and Clark, A.H., 2006, Prograde evolution and geothermal affinities of the major porphyry copper deposit—The Cerro Colorado hypogene protoore, I Región, northern Chile: Economic Geology, v. 101, p. 95–134. (Also available at http://dx.doi.org/10.2113/gsecongeo.101.1.95.)
Briggs, D.F., 2006, Mining operations report, ver. 2005: unpublished report, [unknown] p.
SEG Newsletter, 1999, SEG Student Chapter News—New Mexico Tech—Ore deposits of northern Chile: Society of Economic Geologists SEG Newsletter, no. 37, p. 19–20. (Also available at http://www.segweb.org/pdf/publications/newsletters/1999/SEG-Newsletter-37-1999-April.pdf.)Sillitoe, R.H., 1991, Gold metallogeny of Chile—An introduction: Economic Geology, v. 86, p. 1187–1205. (Also available at http://dx.doi.org/10.2113/gsecongeo.86.6.1187.)Sillitoe, R.H., and McKee, E.H., 1996, Age of supergene oxidation and enrichment in the Chilean porphyry copper province: Economic Geology, v. 91, p. 164–179. (Also available at http://dx.doi.org/10.2113/gsecongeo.91.1.164.)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/.
Zappettini, Eduardo; Miranda-Angles, Vitaliano; Rodriguez S., Carolina; Palacios, Oscar; Cocking,Robert; Godeas, Marta; Uribe-Zeballos, Hernán; Vivallo S., Waldo; Paz, M.M.; Seggiaro, Raúl; Heuschmidt, Bertand; Gardeweg P., Moyra; Boulangger Rondoy, Elmere; Korzeniewski, Lidia I.; Mpodozis M., Constantino; Carpio R., Mario; and Rubiolo, Daniel, 2001, Mapa metalogénico de laregión fronteriza entre Argentina, Bolivia, Chile y Perú (14ºS–28ºS): Santiago, Chile, Servicio Nacional de Geología y Minería, Publicacion Geológica Multinacional No. 2, 222 p., 1 map, scale 1:1,000,000.