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Sipalay Group

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Porphyry copper deposit in Negros Occidental, Philippines

Names and other identifiers

GMRAP ID 508
Alternate names Sipalay, Colet, Maracalum
Tract name Masbate-Negros (142pCu7305)
Included sites Baclao, Cansibit-Bunulig
Site status deposit

Geographic location

Country Philippines
State or province Negros Occidental
Geographic location 122.455623594, 9.818323521
Geologic map unit 122.455623594, 9.818323521
Nearby data
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Geologic information

Deposit type Porphyry copper
Age (Ma) 30Ma
Age determination method K-Ar biotite
Age range 30 Ma
Age reference Singer and others (2008); Walther and others (1981)
Minerals azurite/malachite, bornite, calcite, chalcocite, chalcopyrite, chlorite, chrysocolla, covellite, cuprite, epidote, kaolinite, limonite, magnetite, malachite, molybdenite, pyrite, sericite
Associated rocks aplite, breccia, granodiorite, dacite porphyry, conglomerate, limestone, andesite tuff, sandstone, basalt flow, pyroclastics, quartz diorite, quartz diorite porphyry, limestone
Tectonic setting island arc
Stratigraphic age Oligocene

Commodity and development information

Development status Past Producer
Major commodities Cu, Mo, Au, Ag
Tonnage (Mt) 807Mt
Cu grade (%) 0.473%
Mo grade (%) 0.0139%
Au grade (g/t) 0.05g/t
Ag grade (g/t) 1.5g/t
Contained copper 3,820,000t
Gold-Moly ratio 4

Reference information

Comments Mined by open-pit until 2004. Remained reserve 326 Mt at 0.415% Cu, 0.006% Mo, 0.05 g/t Au, 2.5 g/t Ag. Exposed.
Study area name East and Southeast Asia
References Divis (1983); Domingo (1980); Kinkel and others (1956); Philippines Mines and Geosciences Bureau (2007); Motegi (1977); Philippines Mines and Geosciences Bureau (1986); Sillitoe and Gappe (1984); Walther and others (1981); Singer and others (2008)
Site reference Hammarstrom and others (2014)
Divis, A.F., 1983, The geology and geochemistry of Philippine porphyry copper deposits, in Hayes, D.E., ed. The tectonic and geologic evolution of Southeast Asia seas and islands—Part 2: Washington, D.C., American Geophysical Union, Geophysical Monograph 27, p. 173–216.
Domingo, B.B., 1980, Contribution to the geology of the Cansibit-Binulig orebody, Sipalay mine, Negros Occidental: Geological Society of the Philippines Journal, v. 34, no. 2, p. 24–32. (Abstract also available at http://www.geolsocphil.org/journal_abstracts/1980v34n2jun_3abs.htm.)
Kinkel, A.R., Santos-Yñigon, L.M., Sanmaniego, S., and Crispin, O., eds., 1956, Copper deposits of the Philippines: Manila, [Philippines] Bureau of Mines Special Project Series Publication 16—Copper, 305 p.
Motegi, M., 1977, Porphyry copper deposits in Philippines—Their tectonic setting and present status of development: Mining Geology, v. 27, p. 221–230.
[Philippines] Mines and Geosciences Bureau, 1986, Geology and mineral resources of the Philippines, v. 2—Mineral resources: Manila, [Philippines] Mines and Geosciences Bureau, 446 p.
[Philippines] Mines and Geosciences Bureau, 2007, Priority mineral development projects of the Philippines, 27 p.: [Philippines] Mines and Geosciences Bureau report, available at http://www.mgb.gov.ph/revitalization_files/revitalization_23projectsprofile.pdf.
Sillitoe, R.H., and Gappe, I.M., Jr., 1984, Philippine porphyry copper deposits—Geologic setting and characteristics: Committee for Co-ordination of Joint Prospecting for Mineral Resources in Asian Offshore Areas (CCOP), CCOP Technical Publication 14, 89 p.
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/.
Walther, H.W., Förster, H., Harre, W., Kreuzer, H., Lenz, H., Müller, P., and Raschka, H., 1981, Early Cretaceous porphyry copper mineralization on Cebu Island, Philippines, dated with K–Ar and Rb–Sr methods: Geologische Jahrbuch, Reihe D, no. 48, p.21–35.