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Quebrada Blanca

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Porphyry copper deposit in Tarapacá, Chile

Names and other identifiers

GMRAP ID 283
Tract name Chile Eocene–Oligocene Chuquicamata (005pCu1010)
Site status deposit

Geographic location

Country Chile
State or province Tarapacá
Geographic location -68.8, -21
Geologic map unit -68.8, -21
Nearby data
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Geologic information

Deposit type Porphyry copper
Age (Ma) 36Ma
Age determination method unknown
Age range 38–34 Ma
Age reference Singer and others (2008)
Minerals anhydrite/gypsum, atacamite, azurite/malachite, biotite, bornite, chalcanthite, chalcocite/digenite, chalcopyrite, chlorite, copper, covellite, cuprite/tenorite, epidote, goethite/limonite, hematite/specularite, magnetite, molybdenite, pyrite, sericite, tourmaline
Associated rocks breccia, dacite porphyry, feldspar porphyry, quartz monzonite, quartz porphyry, andesite, conglomerate, diorite, quartz diorite, rhyolite
Tectonic setting continental margin
Stratigraphic age Eocene

Commodity and development information

Development status Producer
Major commodities Cu
Tonnage (Mt) 1,090Mt
Cu grade (%) 0.72%
Contained copper 7,800,000t
Gold-Moly ratio -9999

Reference information

Comments 60% of the deposit area is covered by Miocene piedmont gravel.
Study area name Andes
References Hunt (1985); Hunt and others (1983); Long (1995); Masterman, Cooke and Moore (2005); Moore and Masterman (2002); Rowland and Wilkinson (1999); Sillitoe (1991); Sillitoe (1995e); Zappettini and others (2001); Singer and others (2008)
Site reference Cunningham and others (2008)
Hunt, J.P., 1985, Applied geology at Quebrada Blanco and Collahausi, Chile, and in the future of U. S. metal mining: Economic Geology, v. 80, p. 794–800. (Also available at http://dx.doi.org/10.2113/gsecongeo.80.3.794.)
Hunt, J.P., Bratt, J.A., and Marquardt, L.J.C., 1983, Quebrada Blanco—An enriched porphyry copper deposit: Mining Engineering, June, p. 636–644.
Long, K.R., 1995, Production and reserves of Cordilleran (Alaska to Chile) porphyry copper deposits, in Pierce, F.W., and Bolm, J.G., eds., Porphyry copper deposits of the American Cordillera: Tucson, Arizona Geological Society Digest 20, p. 35–68.
Masterman, G.J., Cooke, D.R., and Moore, 2005, Geology and discovery of porphyry Cu-Mo-Ag deposits in the Collahuasi district, northern Chile, in Porter, T.M., ed., Super porphyry copper and gold deposits—A global perspective: Adelaide, PGC Publishing, v. 1, p. 175–188. (Abstract also available at http://www.portergeo.com.au/publishing/superporphyry/superpstart.html.)
Moore, R.L., and Masterman, G.J., 2002, The corporate discovery history and geology of the Collahuasi porphyry copper deposits, Chile, in Cooke, D.R., and Pongratz, J., eds., Giant ore deposits—Characteristics, genesis and exploration: CODES Special Publication 4, p. 23–50.
Rowland, M.G., and Wilkinson, J.J., 1999, Significance of intermediate stage veins at Quebrada Blanca, Chile, in Stanley, C.J., and others, eds., Mineral deposits—Processes to processing: Rotterdam, Balkema, Society for Geology Applied to Mineral Deposits (SGA) Biennial Meeting, 5th, London, U.K., 1999 [Proceedings], v.1, p. 99–102.
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., 1995e, Quebrada Blanca, Chile, in Exploration and discovery of base- and precious-metal deposits in the Circum-Pacific region during the last 25 years: Tokyo, Society of Resource Geology, Resource Geology Special Issue 19, p. 6–7.
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.