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Esperanza

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Porphyry copper deposit in Antofagasta, Chile

Names and other identifiers

GMRAP ID 291
Tract name Chile Eocene–Oligocene Chuquicamata (005pCu1010)
Site status deposit

Geographic location

Country Chile
State or province Antofagasta
Geographic location -69.058333333, -22.966666667
Geologic map unit -69.058333333, -22.966666667
Nearby data
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Geologic information

Deposit type Porphyry copper
Age (Ma) 41Ma
Age determination method unknown
Age range 41.3 ±0.3 Ma; 41.8 ±0.13 Ma
Age reference Singer and others (2008)
Minerals alunite, anhydrite/gypsum, atacamite, biotite, bornite, brochantite, chalcocite, chalcopyrite, chlorite, chrysocolla, diopside, electrum, epidote, garnet, gold, hedenbergite, jarosite, magnetite, molybdenite, pyrite, sericite, smectite, tourmaline
Associated rocks granodiorite porphyry, andesite, andesite breccia, limestone, granodiorite, tuff, tuffite
Tectonic setting continental margin
Stratigraphic age Eocene

Commodity and development information

Development status Prospect
Major commodities Cu, Mo, Au
Tonnage (Mt) 1,435Mt
Cu grade (%) 0.51%
Mo grade (%) 0.011%
Au grade (g/t) 0.16g/t
Contained copper 7,300,000t
Gold-Moly ratio 15

Reference information

Comments Cu enrichment age 20 Ma. Exposed.
Study area name Andes
References Antofagasta PLC (2001a); Antofagasta PLC (2003); Antofagasta PLC (2007); Boric and others (1990); Cabello (2002); Münchmeyer (1996); Perelló, Brockway and others (2004); Sillitoe and McKee (1996); Singer and others (2008)
Site reference Cunningham and others (2008)
Antofagasta PLC, 2001a, Annual report, Chairman’s review: Antofagasta PLC Annual Report 2001, 17 p. (Also available at http://www.antofagasta.co.uk/pdf/annual_01/chaimansreview.pdf.)Antofagasta PLC, 2003, Annual report and financial statements 2003: Antofagasta PLC Annual Report, 100 p. (Also available at http://www.antofagasta.co.uk/pdf/annual_03/annual2003.pdf.)
Antofagasta PLC, 2007, Esperanza project approval: Web page accessed 2008, at http://www.hemscott.com/news/rna/item.do?newsId=46059229350063. [Web page no longer available.]
Boric, R.P., Diaz, F.F., and Maksaev, V.J., 1990, Geología y yacimientos metalíferos de la Región de Antofagasta: Santiago, [Chile] Servicio Nacional de Geología y Mineneria, Boletin 40, 246 p., 1 map, scale 1:500,000.
Cabello, J., 2002, Copper exploration in the central Andes—A review: Chile, BHP Billiton, 7 p., accessed 2008, at http://www.metabulletin.com/speakerpaper/copper/presentations/bhpbilliton.pdf. [Web page no longer available.]
Münchmeyer, C., 1996, Exotic deposits—Products of lateral migration of supergene solutions from porphyry copper deposits, in Camus, F., Sillitoe, R.H., and Petersen, R., eds., Andean copper deposits—New discoveries, mineralization, style and metallogeny: Society of Economic Geologists Special Publication 5, p. 43–58.
Perelló, J., Brockway, H., and Martini, R., 2004, Discovery and geology of the Esperanza porphyry copper-gold deposit, Antofagasta reion, northern Chile, in Sillitoe, R.H., Perelló, J., Vidal, C., eds., Andean metallogeny—New discoveries, concepts and updates: Society of Economic Geologists Special Publication 11, p. 167–186.
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/.