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Namosi

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Porphyry copper deposit in Central Division, Fiji

Names and other identifiers

GMRAP ID 560
Alternate names Waisoi
Tract name Outer Melanesian Arc II - Melanesia Area (009pCu7210)
Group name Namosi
Included sites Wainabama, Waidina, Waivaka
Site status deposit

Geographic location

Country Fiji
State or province Central Division
Geographic location 178.165, -18.002
Geologic map unit 178.165, -18.002
Nearby data
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Geologic information

Deposit type Porphyry copper
Age (Ma) 5.6Ma
Age determination method unknown
Age range 5.9–5.3 Ma
Age reference Imai and others (2007)
Minerals biotite, bornite, carbonate, chalcocite, chalcopyrite, chlorite, chrysocolla, copper, covellite, cuprite, epidote, galena, gold, magnetite, malachite, molybdenite, muscovite/sericite, neotocite, pyrite, sericite, sphalerite
Associated rocks andesite dike, breccia, feldspar porphyry, quartz feldspar porphyry, quartz diorite porphyry, gabbro, granodiorite, monzonite, quartz diorite, trachyte, volcaniclastic rocks, andesite, andesite agglomerate, basaltic andesite, conglomerate, dacite, dacite pyroclastics, limestone, quartz diorite, quartz porphyry, tonalite, tuff, tuffaceous sandstone, tuffaceous siltstone
Tectonic setting island arc
Stratigraphic age Miocene–Pliocene

Commodity and development information

Development status Prospect
Major commodities Cu
Minor commodities Au, Mo
Tonnage (Mt) 1,792Mt
Cu grade (%) 0.37%
Mo grade (%) 0.014%
Au grade (g/t) 0.12g/t
Contained copper 6,630,000t
Gold-Moly ratio 8.6

Reference information

Comments Singer and others (2008) reported 968 Mt at 0.435%Cu, 0.014% Mo, and 0.14g/t Au. Detailed exploration for porphyry Cu began in 1968; 0.3% Cu cutoff. Location 31 from 1:250,000-scale map (Fiji Mineral Resources Department, 1978a). On Viti Levu. Permitting (2012).
Study area name Southeast Asia and Melanesia
References Andrew (1995); Colley and Flint (1995); Colley and Greenbaum (1980); Ellis and others (1997); Imai and others (2007); Legge (1998); Leggo (1977); Lum and Calicutt (1989); Spry and others (2007); Newcrest Mining Ltd. (2010); Singer and others (2008); Fiji Mineral Resources Department (1978a)
Site reference Hammarstrom and others (2013)
Andrew, R.L., 1995, Porphyry copper-gold deposits of the southwest Pacific: Mining Engineering, v. 47, no. 1, p. 33–38.
Colley, H., and Flint, D.J., 1995, Metallic mineral deposits of Fiji: Ministry of Lands, Mineral Resources, Energy of Fiji, Mineral Resources Department Memoir 4, 197 p.
Colley, Howard, and Greenbaum, David, 1980, The mineral deposits and metallogenesis of the Fiji platform: Economic Geology, v. 75, p. 807–829. (Also available at http://dx.doi.org/10.2113/gsecongeo.75.6.807.)
Ellis, P.G., Cemmel, J.B., Crawford, A.J., and Cooke, D.R., 1997, The geology and mineralization of the Waisoi porphyry copper deposits, Namosi, Fiji [abs.]: Geological Society of Australia, National Conference of the Specialist Group in Economic Geology, 3d, Abstracts, no. 14, p. 29.
Fiji Mineral Resource Department, 1978a, Metallogenic map of Viti Levu: Fiji Mineral Resources Department, MRD552, scale 1:250,000. [GIS compiled from this map is available as Geology and Mineral Occurrences of Vanua Levu, Fiji from Orr and Associates, at http://www.orrbodies.com/resources/item/orr0014].Imai, Akira; Ohbuchi, Yukiko; Tanaka, Takayuki; Morita, Seiya; and Yasunaga, Kentaro, 2007, Characteristics of porphyry Cu mineralization at Waisoi (Namosi district), Viti Levu, Fiji: Resource Geology, v. 57, p. 374–385. (Also availabale at http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1751-3928.2007.00031.x.)Legge, P.J., 1998, Australia and South Pacific, in Exploration review: Society of Economic Geologists SEG Newsletter, no. 33, p. 46–49. (Also available at http://www.segweb.org/pdf/publications/newsletters/1998/SEG-Newsletter-33-1998-April.pdf.)Leggo, M.D., 1977, Contrasting geochemical expressions of copper mineralization at Namosi, Fiji: Journal of Geochemical Exploration, v. 8, p. 431–456. (Also available at http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0375-6742(77)90066-8.)
Lum, J.A., and Calicutt, W.W., 1989, Opportunities for U.S. industry in gold developments of Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and Fiji: Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S. Trade and Development Program, Minerals Policy Program East West Center, 391 p.
Newcrest Mining Ltd., 2010, 2010 Resources and reserves statement: Newcrest Mining Limited Market Release, accessed January 10, 2011, at http://www.newcrest.com.au/upload/687_8x16x201091425AM.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/.Spry, P.G., Forsythe, N.L., Scherbarth, N.L., and Pals, D.W., 2007, Precious metal telluride occurrences in Fiji [abs.]: Geological Society of America, Abstracts with Programs, v. 39, no. 6, p. 198. (Also available at https://gsa.confex.com/gsa/2007AM/finalprogram/abstract_127559.htm.)