Nevados de Famatina, Porphyry copper deposit

Nevados de Famatina

Porphyry copper (Cu-Au) deposit in La Rioja, Argentina

Names and other identifiers

GMRAP ID	326
Alternate names	La Estrechura
Tract name	Argentina Miocene–Pliocene Nevados de Famatina (005pCu1014d)
Included sites	La Mejicana (Cu-Au epithermal vein system)
Site status	deposit

Geographic location

Country	Argentina
State or province	La Rioja
Geographic location	-67.75, -29 (click for info)
Geologic map unit	-67.75, -29
Nearby data	List Map

Geologic information

Deposit type	Porphyry copper
Deposit subtype	Cu-Au
Age (Ma)	4Ma
Age determination method	unknown
Age range	5–3.8 Ma
Age reference	Singer and others (2008)
Minerals	alunite, anhydrite, biotite, barite, bornite, chalcocite, chalcopyrite, enargite, famatinite, gold, goldfieldite, hematite, idaite, kaolinite/illite, luzonite, magnetite, molybdenite, pyrite, pyrophyllite, pyrrhotite, sericite, sphalerite, svanbergite, sylvanite, tennantite/tetrahedrite, wolframite, zunyite
Associated rocks	dacite porphyry, rhyodacite porphyry, granite, sandstone, shale, siltstone
Tectonic setting	continental margin
Stratigraphic age	Pliocene

Commodity and development information

Development status	Prospect
Major commodities	Cu, Mo, Au, Ag
Tonnage (Mt)	300Mt
Cu grade (%)	0.37%
Mo grade (%)	0.06%
Au grade (g/t)	0.3g/t
Ag grade (g/t)	0.9g/t
Contained copper	1,100,000t
Gold-Moly ratio	5

Reference information

Comments	30% of the deposit area is covered by alluvium and colluvium.
Study area name	Andes
References	Brodtcorb de and Schalamuk (1999); Losada-Calderón and McPhail (1996); Mayon (1999); Paar and others (1997); Singer and others (2008)
Site reference	Cunningham and others (2008)

Brodtcorb de, M.K., and Schalamuk, I.B., 1999, Yacimentos de cobre y oro, la Sierra de Famatina, La Rioja, in Zappettini, E.O., ed., Recursos minerales de la República Argentina: Buenos Aires, Instituto de Geología y Recursos Minerales (SEGEMAR), Anales 35, p. 16591663.

Losada-Calderón, A.J., and McPhail, D.C., 1996, Porphyry and high-sulfidation epithermal mineralization in the Nevados del Famatina mining district, Argentina: in Camus, Francisco, Sillitoe, R.M., and Petersen, Richard, eds., Andean copper depositsNew discoveries, mineralization, styles and metallogeny: Society of Economic Geologists, Special Publication 5, p. 91117.

Mayon, C.L., 1999, Depositos de molybdeno y cobre diseminados en la Sierra de Famatina, La Rioja, in Zappettini, E.O., ed., Recursos minerales de la República Argentina: Buenos Aires, Instituto de Geología y Recursos Minerales (SEGEMAR), Anales 35, p. 14951505.

Paar, W.H., Topa, D., Brotkorb de, M.K., and Ametrano, S., 1997, CuAu veins of la Mejicana ore district, ArgentinaMineralogical aspects, in Papunen, H., ed., Mineral depositsResearch and exploration, where do they meet?: Rotterdam, Balkema, Society for Geology Applied to Mineral Deposits (SGA) Biennial Meeting, 4th, Turku, Finland, 1997 [Proceedings], p. 273276.

Singer, D.A., Berger, V.I., and Moring, B.C., 2008, Porphyry copper deposits of the worldDatabase 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/.