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Los Pelambres

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Porphyry copper (Cu-Mo) deposit in Coquimbo, Chile

Names and other identifiers

GMRAP ID 308
Alternate names El Pachon
Tract name Argentina-Chile Miocene–Pliocene Los Pelambres (005pCu1013b)
Site status deposit

Geographic location

Country Chile
State or province Coquimbo
Geographic location -70.5, -31.708333333
Geologic map unit -70.5, -31.708333333
Nearby data
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Geologic information

Deposit type Porphyry copper
Deposit subtype Cu-Mo
Age (Ma) 10Ma
Age determination method unknown
Age range 10–9 Ma
Age reference Singer and others (2008)
Minerals andalusite, albite, anhydrite/gypsum, apatite, azurite/malachite, biotite, bornite, brochantite, calcite, chalcanthite, chalcocite, chalcopyrite, chlorite, copper, covellite, chrysocolla, corundum, cuprite, epidote, galena, goethite, hematite, jarosite, kaolinite, magnetite, molybdenite, pyrite, pyrrhotite, rutile, sericite, sphalerite, tenorite, tetrahedrite/tennantite, tourmaline
Associated rocks breccia, dacite porphyry, diorite, quartz monzodiorite porphyry, tonalite, tonalite porphyry,conglomerate, granodiorite, gypsum, sandstone, siltstone,andesite, andesite porphyry, andesitic agglomerate, granite, tuff, volcaniclastics
Tectonic setting continental margin
Stratigraphic age Miocene

Commodity and development information

Development status Producer
Major commodities Cu, Mo, Au, Ag
Tonnage (Mt) 7,458Mt
Cu grade (%) 0.617%
Mo grade (%) 0.015%
Au grade (g/t) 0.028g/t
Ag grade (g/t) 1.26g/t
Contained copper 46,000,000t
Gold-Moly ratio 1.9

Reference information

Comments Exposed.
Study area name Andes
References Antofagasta PLC (2006); Atkinson and others (1996); Briggs (2006); Casaceli (1993); Gemuts and others (1996); Little (1994b); Noranda Exploration Inc. (2001a); Pachon S.A. Minera (1999); Reich and others (2003); Sillitoe (1973); Sillitoe (1995c); Skewes and Atkinson (1985); Skewes and Stern (1995); Singer and others (2008)
Site reference Cunningham and others (2008)
Antofagasta PLC, 2006, Annual Reports, 1998–2006.
Atkinson, W.W., Jr., Souviron, A., Vehrs, T.I., and Faunes, A., 1996, Geology and mineral zoning of the Los Pelambres porphyry copper deposit, Chile, in Camus, F., Sillitoe, R.H., and Petersen, R., eds., Andean copper deposits—New discoveries, mineralization, styles and metallogeny: Society of Economic Geologists Special Publication 5, p. 131–156.
Briggs, D.F., 2006, Mining operations report, ver. 2005: unpublished report, [unknown] p.
Casaceli, R.J., 1993, The geology and mineral potential of Argentina, in Randol at Acapulco ""93, Latin American mining opportunities"": Golden, Colorado, Randol International, p. 49–66.
Gemuts, Ilmars, Little, M.L., and Giudici, Jorge, 1996, Precious and base metal deposits in Argentina: Society of Economic Geologists SEG Newsletter, no. 25, p. 1, 7–14. (Also available at http://www.segweb.org/pdf/publications/newsletters/1996/SEG-Newsletter-25-1996-April.pdf.)Little, M.L., 1994b, Exploration review—South America—Chile: Society of Economic Geologists SEG Newsletter, no. 19, p. 31–32. (Also available at http://www.segweb.org/pdf/publications/newsletters/1994/SEG-Newsletter-19-1994-October.pdf.)
Noranda Exploration Inc., 2001a, El Pachon: Noranda Exploration Inc. Fact Sheet, September 28, 2001, accessed 2008, at http:// www.noranda.com. [Web page no longer available.]
Pachon S.A. Minera, 1999, El porfiro cuprifero El Pachon, San Juan, in Zappettini, E.O., ed., Recursos minerales de la Republica Argentina: Buenos Aires, Instituto de Geologia y Recursos Minerales (SEGEMAR), Anales 35, 2 v., p. 1507–1512.
Reich, Martin; Parada, M.A.; Palacios, Carlos; Dietrich, Andreas; Schultz, Frank; and Lehman, Bernd, 2003, Adakite-like signature of Late Miocene intrusions at the Los Pelambres giant copper deposit in the Andes of central Chile—Metallogenic implications: Mineralium Deposita, v. 38, p. 876–885. (Also available at http://dx.doi.org/10.1007%2Fs00126-003-0369-9.)Sillitoe, R.H., 1973, Geology of the Los Pelambres porphyry copper deposit, Chile: Economic Geology, v. 68, p. 1–10. (Also available at http://dx.doi.org/10.2113/gsecongeo.68.1.1.)
Sillitoe, R.H., 1995c, Los Pelambres, 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. 14–16.
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/.
Skewes, M.A., and Atkinson, W., Jr., 1985, Petrology of the early formed hydrothermal veins within the central potassic alteration zone of Los Pelambres porphyry copper deposit, Chile: Revista Geologica de Chile, no. 25–26, p. 39–56.
Skewes, M.A., and Stern, C.R.,1995, Genesis of the giant Late Miocene to Pliocene copper deposits of central Chile in the context of Andean Magmatic and tectonic evolution: International Geology Review, v. 37, p. 893–909. (Also available at http://geode.colorado.edu/~skewes/pdf/skewes_stern1995.pdf.)