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Monywa

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Porphyry copper deposit in Sagaing Division, Myanmar

Names and other identifiers

GMRAP ID 475
Tract name Wuntho-Popa (142pCu7024)
Group name Monywa
Included sites Letpadaung, Kyisintaung, Sabetaung, Sabetaung South
Site status deposit

Geographic location

Country Myanmar
State or province Sagaing Division
Geographic location 95.040813, 22.129632
Geologic map unit 95.040813, 22.129632
Nearby data
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Geologic information

Deposit type Porphyry copper
Age (Ma) 5.8Ma
Age determination method unknown
Age range 5.8 Ma
Age reference geologic inference(?)
Minerals alunite, bornite, carbonate, chalcocite, chalcopyrite, covellite, diaspore, enargite, kaolinite, pyrite, pyrophyllite, sericite
Associated rocks andesite porphyry, breccia, dacite porphyry, basalt, conglomerate, rhyolite flow, rhyolite tuff, andesite pyroclastics, mudstone, quartz feldspar porphyry, sandstone, siltstone
Tectonic setting continental margin
Stratigraphic age Miocene

Commodity and development information

Development status Prospect
Major commodities Cu
Minor commodities Au, Ag
Tonnage (Mt) 1,700Mt
Cu grade (%) 0.37%
Contained copper 6,300,000t
Gold-Moly ratio -9999

Reference information

Comments 0.1% Cu (Letpadaung deposit) and 0.15% Cu (three other deposits) cut-off grades. 0.43 g/t Au and 6 g/t Ag reported in early estimations. This may not truly be a porphyry copper deposit, but a high-sulfidation Cu(Au) deposit. A porphyry copper may well lie below. Late Miocene 19 to13 Ma on alteration - premineral rock is 5.8 Ma.
Study area name Southeast Asia and Melanesia
References Goossens (1978a); Goossens (1978b); Goossens and Myint (1977); Ivanhoe Mines Ltd. (1999); Ivanhoe Mines Ltd. (2001a); Ivanhoe Mines Ltd. (2004b); Ivanhoe Mines Ltd. (2007); Metal Mining Agency of Japan (1998); Mitchell and others (2008); Taylor and van Leeuwen (1980); Win and Kirwin (1999); Mitchell and others (2008); Singer and others (2008)
Site reference Hammarstrom and others (2013)
Goossens, P.J., 1978a, Comments on the publication by S. Jankovic—The copper deposits and geotectonic setting of the Tethyan Eurasian metallogenic belt and additional information on Monywa copper deposit (Burma): Mineralium Deposita, v. 13, p. 275–277. (Also available at http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/BF00204648.)
Goossens, P.J., 1978b, The metallogenic provinces of Burma—Their definitions, geologic relationships and extension into China, India and Thailand, in Nutalaya, P., ed., Geology and mineral resources of southeast Asia: Bangkok, Asian Institute of Technology, GEOSEA Regional Conference, 3d, Bangkok, November 14-18, 1978 [Proceedings], p. 431–492.
Goossens, P.J., and Myint, H., 1977, Metallogenic map of Burma, 1:1,000,000, explanatory brochure: Rangoon, Burma, Rangoon Arts and Sciences University, Geology Department, 139 p.
Ivanhoe Mines Ltd., 1999, The Letpadaung project, executive summary: Ivanhoe Mines Ltd., 16 p., accessed [date unknown], at http://www.ivanhoe-mines.com/s/Monywa Copper.asp. [Web page no longer available.]
Ivanhoe Mines Ltd., 2001a, Background to Ivanhoe Mines' investment in the Monywa copper project in Myanmar: Ivanhoe Mines Ltd. Web page, 9 p., accessed [date unknown], at http://www.ivanhoe-mines.com/s/Monywa Copper.asp. [Web page no longer available.]
Ivanhoe Mines Ltd., 2004b, Production from Monyva copper joint-venture projected to rise to 50,000 tonnes of copper per year: Ivanhoe Mines Ltd. press release, June 16, 2004, 3 p., accessed December 20, 2013, at http://www.turquoisehill.com/s/news_releases.asp?ReportID=375389.
Ivanhoe Mines Ltd., 2007, Drilling program intersects 194 m of 1.5% Cu in Monywa’s Sabetaung deposit: Ivanhoe Mines Ltd. press release, October 13, 2007, 1 p., accessed [date unknown], at http://www.ivanhoe-mines.com/s/NewsReleases.asp?numCols=1&page=0. [Web page no longer available.]
Metal Mining Agency of Japan, 1998, Mineral Resources Map of Asia: Metal Mining Agency of Japan (MMAJ), 43 p., 1 sheet, scale 1:10,000,000.
Mitchell, A.H.G., Myint, W., Lynn, K., Htay, M.T., Oo, M., and Zaw, T., 2008, The Monywa copper deposits, Myanmar—Chalcocite-covellite veins and breccia dykes in a Late Miocene epithermal system: International Symposia on Geoscience Resources and Environments of Asian Terranes (GREAT 2008) (also IGCP 516, 4th, and APSEG, 5th), Bangkok, Thailand, November 24–26, 2008 [Proceedings], p. 219–222. (Also available at http://www.geo.sc.chula.ac.th/Geology/Thai/News/Technique/GREAT_2008/PDF/077.pdf.)Mitchell, A.H.G., Myint, W., Lynn, K., Htay, M.T., Oo, M., and Zaw, T., 2008, The Monywa copper deposits, Myanmar—Chalcocite-covellite veins and breccia dykes in a Late Miocene epithermal system: International Symposia on Geoscience Resources and Environments of Asian Terranes (GREAT 2008) (also IGCP 516, 4th, and APSEG, 5th), Bangkok, Thailand, November 24–26, 2008 [Proceedings], p. 219–222. (Also available at http://www.geo.sc.chula.ac.th/Geology/Thai/News/Technique/GREAT_2008/PDF/077.pdf.)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/.
Taylor, D., and van Leeuwen, T.M., 1980, Porphyry-type deposits in southeast Asia, in lshihara, S., and Takenouchi, S., eds., Granitic magmatism and related mineralization: Mining Geology Special Issue, v. 8, p. 95–116.
Win, U.K., and Kirwin, D.J., 1998, Exploration, geology, and mineralization of the Monywa copper deposits, central Myanmar, in Porter, T.M., ed., Porphyry and hydrothermal copper and gold deposits—A global perspective: Adelaide, PGC Publishing, Australian Mineral Foundation International Conference, Perth, Western Australia, November 30–December 1, 1998 [Proceedings], p. 61–74. (Abstract also available at http://www.portergeo.com.au/publishing/porphyry98/porphyry98startpl.html.)