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Los Bronces/Rio Blanco

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Porphyry copper deposit in Valparaíso, Chile

Names and other identifiers

GMRAP ID 310
Alternate names Andina
Tract name Chile Miocene–Pliocene El Teniente (005pCu1014b)
Included sites La Americana, Sur-Sur
Site status deposit

Geographic location

Country Chile
State or province Valparaíso
Geographic location -70.266666667, -33.133333333
Geologic map unit -70.266666667, -33.133333333
Nearby data
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Geologic information

Deposit type Porphyry copper
Age (Ma) 4.7Ma
Age determination method unknown
Age range 5.32 ±0.277 to 4.37 ±0.06 Ma
Age reference Singer and others (2008)
Minerals actinolite, anhydrite/gypsum, arsenopyrite, biotite, bornite, calcite, chalcocite/digenite, chalcopyrite, chlorite, cuprite/tenorite, enargite, epidote, galena, goethite/limonite, hematite/specularite, jarosite, magnetite, molybdenite, pyrite, biotite, bornite, chalcopyrite, chlorite, epidote, galena, magnetite, malachite, molybdenite, pyrite, sericite, sphalerite
Associated rocks breccia, quartz monzonite porphyry, rhyolite porphyry, andesite, granite, granodiorite, quartz diorite, quartz monzodiorite, quartz monzonite, rhyodacitic pyroclastics, syenite
Tectonic setting continental margin
Stratigraphic age Miocene–Pliocene

Commodity and development information

Development status Producer
Major commodities Cu, Mo
Minor commodities Au
Tonnage (Mt) 16,816Mt
Cu grade (%) 0.601%
Mo grade (%) 0.02%
Contained copper 101,000,000t
Gold-Moly ratio -9999

Reference information

Comments Au <30 ppb. 15% of the deposit area is covered.
Study area name Andes
References Armbrust and others (1977); Briggs (2006); Codelco (2006); Davidson and Kamenetsky (2001); Deckart and othyers (2005); Fuller (1989); Serrano and others (1996); Skewes and others (2003); Skewes and Stern (1995); Skewes and Stern (1996); Vargas R. and others (1999); Warnaars and others (1985); Singer and others (2008)
Site reference Cunningham and others (2008)
Armbrust, G.A., Oyarzun M., J., and Arias, J., 1977, Rubidium as a guide to ore in Chilean porphyry copper deposits: Economic Geology, v. 72, p. 1086–1100. (Also available at http://dx.doi.org/10.2113/gsecongeo.72.6.1086.)
Briggs, D.F., 2006, Mining operations report, ver. 2005: unpublished report, [unknown] p.
Codelco, 2006, Corporación Nacional del Cobre de Chile (Codelco), Annual Reports 1983–2006.
Davidson, Paul, and Kamenetsky, V.S., 2001, Immiscibility and continuous felsic melt-fluid evolution within the Rio Blanco porphyry system, Chile—Evidence from inclusions in magmatic quartz: Economic Geology, v. 96, p. 1921–1929. (Also available at http://dx.doi.org/10.2113/gsecongeo.96.8.1921.)Deckart, Katja, Clark, A.H., Aguilar A., Celso, Vargas R., Ricardo, Bertens N., Alfredo, Mortensen, J.K., and Fanning, Mark, 2005, Magmatic and hydrothermal chronology of the giant Río Blanco porphyry copper deposit, Central Chile: Implications of anintegrated U-Pb and 40Ar/39 database, Economic Geology, v. 100, p. 905–934. (Also available at http://dx.doi.org/10.2113/gsecongeo.100.5.905.)
Fuller, C.R., 1989, Distribution and characteristics of Chilean copper deposits, in Ericksen, G.E., Cañas Pinochet, M.T., and Reinemund, J.A., eds., Geology of the Andes and its relation to hydrocarbon and mineral resources: Houston, Circum Pacific Council for Energy and Mineral Resources Earth Science Series, v. 11, p. 245–256.
Serrano, L., Vargas, R., Stambuk, V., Aguilar, C., Galeb, M., Holmgren, C., Contreras, A., Goday, S., Vela, I., Skewes, M.A., and Stern, C.R., 1996, The Late Miocene to Early Pliocene Río Blanco-Los Bronces copper deposit, central Chilean Andes, 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. 119–130.
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., Holmgren, Carmen, and Stern, C.R., 2003, The Donoso copper-rich, tourmaline-bearing breccia pipe in central Chile—Petrologic, fluid inclusion and stable isotope evidence for an origin from magmatic fluids: Mineralium Deposita, v. 38, p.2–21. (Also available at http://dx.doi.org/10.1007%2Fs00126-002-0264-9.)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.)
Skewes, M.A., and Stern, C.R., 1996, Late Miocene mineralized breccias in the Andes of Central Chile—Sr- and Nd-isotopic evidence for multiple magmatic sources, 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. 33–42.
Vargas R., R., Gustafson, L.B., Vukasovic, M., Enrique, T.F., and Skewes, M.A., 1999, On breccias in the Rio Blanco-Los Bronces porphyry copper deposit, Chile, in Skinner, B.J., ed., Geology and ore deposits of the Central Andes: Society of Economic Geologists Special Publication 7, p. 281-297.
Warnaars, F.W., Holmgren D., Carmen, and Barassi F., Sergio., 1985, Porphyry copper and tourmaline breccias at Los Bronces–Rio Blanco, Chile: Economic Geology, v. 80, p. 1544–1565. (Also available at http://dx.doi.org/10.2113/gsecongeo.80.6.1544.)