Relative age of Cordilleran base metal lode and replacement deposits, and high sulfidation Au-(Ag) epithermal mineralization in the Colquijirca mining district, central Peru

At Colquijirca, central Peru, a predominantly dacitic Miocene diatreme-dome complex of 12.4 to 12.7Ma (40Ar/39Ar biotite ages), is spatially related to two distinct mineralization types. Disseminated Au-(Ag) associated with advanced argillic alteration and local vuggy silica typical of high- sulfidation epithermal ores are hosted exclusively within the volcanic center at Marcapunta. A second economically more important mineralization type is characterized as "Cordilleran base metal lode and replacement deposits." These ores are hosted in Mesozoic and Cenozoic carbonate rocks surrounding the diatreme-dome complex and are zoned outward from pyrite-enargite-quartz-alunite to pyrite-chalcopyrite-dickite-kaolinite to pyrite-sphalerite-galena-kaolinite-siderite. Alunite samples related to the Au-(Ag) epithermal ores have been dated by the 40Ar/39Ar method at 11.3-11.6Ma and those from the Cordilleran base metal ores in the northern part of the district (Smelter and Colquijirca) at 10.6-10.8Ma. The significant time gap (~0.5 My) between the ages of the two mineralization types in the Colquijirca district indicates they were formed by different hydrothermal events within the same magmatic cycle. The estimated time interval between the younger mineralization event (base metal mineralization) at ~10.6Ma and the ages of ~12.5Ma obtained on biotites from unmineralized dacitic domes flanking the vicinity of the diatreme vent, suggest a minimum duration of the magmatic-hydrothermal cycle of around 2Ma. This study on the Colquijirca district offers for the first time precise absolute ages indicating that the Cordilleran base metal lode and replacement deposits were formed by a late hydrothermal event in an intrusive-related district, in this case post Au-(Ag) high-sulfidation epithermal mineralizatio

Cenozoic continental arc magmatism and associated mineralization in Ecuador

Most of the economic ore deposits of Ecuador are porphyry-Cu and epithermal style gold deposits associated with Tertiary continental arc magmatism. This study presents major and trace element geochemistry, as well as radiogenic isotope (Pb, Sr) signatures, of continental arc magmatic rocks of Ecuador of Eocene to Late Miocene (~50-9Ma, ELM) and Late Miocene to Recent (~8-0Ma, LMR) ages. The most primitive ELM and LMR rocks analyzed consistently display similar trace element and isotopic signatures suggesting a common origin, most likely an enriched MORB-type mantle. In contrast, major and trace element geochemistry, as well as radiogenic isotope systematics of the whole sets of ELM and LMR samples, indicate strikingly different evolutions between ELM and LMR rocks. The ELM rocks have consistently low Sr/Y, increasing Rb/Sr, and decreasing Eu/Gd with SiO2, suggesting an evolution through plagioclase-dominated fractional crystallization at shallow crustal levels (20km), and most likely at sub-crustal levels (>40-50km). The change in geochemical signatures of Tertiary magmatic rocks of Ecuador from the ELM- to the LMR-type coincides chronologically with the transition from a transpressional to a compressional regime that occurred at ~9Ma and has been attributed by other investigations to the onset of subduction of the aseismic Carnegie ridge. The major districts of porphyry-Cu and epithermal deposits of Ecuador (which have a small size, <<200Mt, when compared to their Central Andean counterparts) are spatially and temporally associated with ELM magmatic rocks. No significant porphyry-Cu and epithermal deposits (except the epithermal high-sulfidation mineralization of Quimsacocha) appear to be associated with Late Miocene-Recent (LMR, ~8-0Ma) magmatic rocks. The apparent "infertility” of LMR magmas seems to be at odds with the association of major porphyry-Cu/epithermal deposits of the Central Andes with magmatic rocks having adakite-type geochemical signatures similar to LMR rocks. The paucity of porphyry-Cu/epithermal deposits associated with LMR rocks might be only apparent and bound to exposure level, or real and bound (among other possibilities) to the lack of development of shallow crustal magmatic chambers since ~9Ma as a result of a prolonged compressional regime in the Ecuadorian crust. More work is needed to understand the actual metallogenic potential of LMR rocks in Ecuado

Within-plate Volcanism in upper Triassic to lower Jurassic Pucara Group carbonates (Central Peru)

The Pucará Group platform carbonates (Upper Triassic - Lower Jurassic) were laid down in northern and central Peru in a NNW-SSE elongated basin (Fig. 1). They represent the first sediments of the Andean cycle, the beginning of which is marked by a Norian transgression (Mégard, 1978). The sedimentary evolution of the Pucará Group can be explained in terms of a large transgressive/regressive second order sequence which consists of predominantly shallow water carbonates including a maximum flooding period represented by ammonite-bearing bituminous calcareous shales. Detailed investigations in the southern part of the basin show that the Pucará Group thickens progressively from west to east in the form of a half-graben (Fig. 2). This can be explained by asymmetrical subsidence during sedimentation such being assisted by contemporaneous faulting along the eastern margin of the basin (permitting rapid subsidence) and a stable hinge zone to the west. Synsedi - mentary tectonics at the eastern edge led to the formation of discrete structural blocks with extreme variations in thickness and facies. It has been suggested that, during burial diagenesis, these faults served as channelways for the basinal brines responsible for MVT-mineralization (Fontboté et al., 1995, Spangenberg, 1995, and Moritz et al., 1996)

Re-Os and Pb-Pb geochronology of the Archean Salobo iron oxide copper-gold deposit, Carajás mineral province, northern Brazil

Rhenium-osmium ages were determined for two molybdenite samples and a Pb-Pb age was derived from bornite-chalcopyrite-magnetite at the Salobo iron oxide copper-gold deposit to determine the timing of mineralization and its relation to the nearby Old Salobo Granite. Rhenium-osmium dating of molybdenite spatially associated with copper sulfide minerals yields ages with weighted means of 2576±8 and 2562±8Ma. Removing the error multiplier introduced by the decay constant uncertainty, appropriate for comparing ages from the same isotopic system, these data convincingly argue for two temporally separated pulses of molybdenite deposition at 2576.1±1.4Ma (n=2) and 2561.7±3.1Ma (n=3). The 2576±8Ma age coincides with a previously published U-Pb age of 2573±2Ma for the Old Salobo Granite, suggesting that main stage ore formation may have been contemporaneous with granite magmatism. The slightly younger 2562Ma age most likely represents new molybdenite precipitation associated with the development or reactivation of local shear zones. Lead-lead stepwise leaching of copper sulfide minerals yields a less precise isochron age of 2579±71Ma, and supports an Archean age for the Salobo ores. This is the first documentation of an Archean iron oxide copper-gold deposit, and the Re-Os and Pb-Pb geochronology herein support 2580-2550Ma estimates for basement reactivation and regional granite magmatism associated with the development of brittle-ductile shear zone

New 40Ar/39Ar alunite ages from the Colquijirca district, Peru: evidence of a long period of magmatic SO2 degassing during formation of epithermal Au-Ag and Cordilleran polymetallic ores

We present 40Ar/39Ar data acquired by infra-red (CO2) laser step-heating of alunite crystals from the large Miocene Colquijirca district in central Peru. Combined with previously published data, our results show that a long (at least 1.3 My) and complex period of magmatic-hydrothermal activity associated with epithermal Au-(Ag) mineralization and base metal, Cordilleran ores took place at Colquijirca. The new data indicate that incursion of magmatic SO2-bearing vapor into the Colquijirca epithermal system began at least as early as ∼11.9Ma and lasted until ∼10.6Ma. Four alunite samples associated with high-sulfidation epithermal Au-(Ag) ore gave 40Ar/39Ar plateau ages between ∼11.9 and ∼11.1Ma (compared to the previously documented ∼11.6 to ∼11.3Ma). By combining individually these new ages with crosscutting relationships, the duration of the Au-(Ag) deposition period can be estimated to at least 0.4My. Three new 40Ar/39Ar plateau ages on alunite associated with the base-metal Cordilleran ores are consistent with previously obtained ages, all of them between 10.83 ± 0.06 and 10.56 ± 0.06Ma, suggesting that most of the sulfide-rich polymetallic deposits of Smelter and Colquijirca formed during this short period. The recognition of consecutive alunite-bearing and alunite-free mineral assemblages within both the Au-(Ag) and the base-metal Cordilleran ores may suggest that SO2-bearing magmatic vapor entered the epithermal environment as multiple discontinuous pulses, a number of which was not necessarily associated in time with ore fluids. It is likely that a period of SO2-bearing vapor degassing longer than 11.9 to 10.6Ma may be recognized with further more detailed wor

Magmatic-dominated fluid evolution in the Jurassic Nambija gold skarn deposits (southeastern Ecuador)

The Jurassic (approximately 145Ma) Nambija oxidized gold skarns are hosted by the Triassic volcanosedimentary Piuntza unit in the sub-Andean zone of southeastern Ecuador. The skarns consist dominantly of granditic garnet (Ad20-98) with subordinate pyroxene (Di46-92Hd17-42Jo0-19) and epidote and are spatially associated with porphyritic quartz-diorite to granodiorite intrusions. Endoskarn is developed at the intrusion margins and grades inwards into a potassic alteration zone. Exoskarn has an outer K- and Na-enriched zone in the volcanosedimentary unit. Gold mineralization is associated with the weakly developed retrograde alteration of the exoskarn and occurs mainly in sulfide-poor vugs and milky quartz veins and veinlets in association with hematite. Fluid inclusion data for the main part of the prograde stage indicate the coexistence of high-temperature (500°C to >600°C), high-salinity (up to 65wt.% eq. NaCl), and moderate- to low-salinity aqueous-carbonic fluids interpreted to have been trapped at pressures around 100-120MPa, corresponding to about 4-km depth. Lower-temperature (510-300°C) and moderate- to low-salinity (23-2wt.% eq. NaCl) aqueous fluids are recorded in garnet and epidote of the end of the prograde stage. The microthermometric data (Th from 513°C to 318°C and salinity from 1.0 to 23wt.% eq. NaCl) and δ18O values between 6.2‰ and 11.5‰ for gold-bearing milky quartz from the retrograde stage suggest that the ore-forming fluid was dominantly magmatic. Pressures during the early retrograde stage were in the range of 50-100MPa, in line with the evidence for CO2 effervescence and probable local boiling. The dominance of magmatic low-saline to moderately saline oxidizing fluids during the retrograde stage is consistent with the depth of the skarn system, which could have delayed the ingression of external fluids until relatively low temperatures were reached. The resulting low water-to-rock ratios explain the weak retrograde alteration and the compositional variability of chlorite, essentially controlled by host rock compositions. Gold was precipitated at this stage as a result of cooling and pH increase related to CO2 effervescence, which both result in destabilization of gold-bearing chloride complexes. Significant ingression of external fluids took place after gold deposition only, as recorded by δ18O values of 0.4‰ to 6.2‰ for fluids depositing quartz (below 350°C) in sulfide-rich barren veins. Low-temperature (<300°C) meteoric fluids (δ18Owater between −10.0‰ and −2.0‰) are responsible for the precipitation of late comb quartz and calcite in cavities and veins and indicate mixing with cooler fluids of higher salinities (about 100°C and 25wt.% eq. NaCl). The latter are similar to low-temperature fluids (202-74.5°C) with δ18O values of −0.5‰ to 3.1‰ and salinities in the range of 21.1 to 17.3wt.% eq. CaCl2, trapped in calcite of late veins and interpreted as basinal brines. Nambija represents a deep equivalent of the oxidized gold skarn class, the presence of CO2 in the fluids being partly a consequence of the relatively deep setting at about 4-km depth. As in other Au-bearing skarn deposits, not only the prograde stage but also the gold-precipitating retrograde stage is dominated by fluids of magmatic origi

Osmium isotopic constraints on sulphide formation in the epithermal environment of magmatic-hydrothermal mineral deposits

In the magmatic-hydrothermal environment, fluids with similar metal concentrations and sources may yield contrasting mineral assemblages in successive stages of sulphide mineralization. These differences are linked to the physico-chemical conditions of the mineralizing fluids (e.g., T, pH, fS2, fO2) acquired during their interaction with country rocks and/or by mixing with groundwater. Here, we integrate petrography and osmium (Os) isotope (187Os/188Os) sulphide geochemistry, and discuss novel constraints on magmatic fluid-rock interaction and magmatic fluid-groundwater mixing that are deemed to govern sulphide deposition in magmatic-hydrothermal systems. We studied pyrite (FeS2) and enargite (Cu3AsS4) from the porphyry-related polymetallic Cerro de Pasco (14.54–14.41 Ma) and Colquijirca (10.83–10.56 Ma) epithermal deposits in the Central Andes, Peru. Sulphide mineralization is genetically associated with Miocene magmatism and includes breccia and replacement bodies of carbonate country rocks, and veins cutting the magmatic and sedimentary country rocks. At both deposits, pyrite is followed by enargite in the paragenesis. Pyrite has a radiogenic initial 187Os/188Os isotopic composition (187Os/188Osi-pyrite or Osi-pyrite = 0.80 to 1.45). Enargite (I) enclosing pyrite or filling in cracks in pyrite also has a radiogenic initial 187Os/188Os isotopic composition (Osi-enargite I = 0.56 to 1.24). Conversely, enargite (II) that formed on irregular surfaces on earlier pyrite has an unradiogenic 187Os/188Os isotopic composition (Osi-enargite II = 0.13 to 0.17). Our data show that the paragenetic evolution from pyrite to enargite records a sharp change in the osmium isotope composition within these sulphides. Pyrite and enargite (I) record radiogenic initial 187Os/188Os isotopic compositions, indicating interaction of magmatic hydrothermal fluids with the sedimentary country rocks. However, the unradiogenic initial 187Os/188Os isotopic composition of enargite (II) suggests that magmatic fluids with a mantle-like 187Os/188Os signature ascended from parental magmatic chambers to the epithermal environment without incorporation of crustal Os via fluid-rock interaction or mixing with groundwater. This difference may be due to the country rocks being altered during previous stages, with the radiogenic crustal Os signature being flushed by earlier magmatic pulses. Our findings imply that ore metals (i.e., Cu, Au) are magma-derived, whereas the Os isotopic composition of pyrite and some enargite in epithermal deposits may capture the signature of the interaction of magmatic fluids with country rock lithologies (e.g., the Eifelian black shale in the study area) and/or groundwater. Thus, the isotopic composition of the siderophile and chalcophile trace element Os in sulphides may act as a tracer of metal source, and degree of wall-rock interaction

In memoriam: G. Christian Amstutz (November 27, 1922)

Professor Dr. Dr. h.c. mult G. Christian Amstutz, a key personality in the history of the Society for Geology Applied to Mineral Deposits (SGA), died on June 23, 2005 in his home in Sigriswill, Switzerland, at the age of 82. He had received numerous distinctions including several Doctor and Professor honoris causa awards. Christian Amstutz was a person with very broad interests , which extended beyond Metallogeny and Earth Sciences. These included Philosophy, Psychology, History, Literature, and Music. His external interests had a significant influence on his scientific outlook. One of his favorite topics, probably an outcome of the courses by G.C. Jung he attended in ZUrich, was to trace the "relationships between the general cultural trends and the evolution of thoughts in ore genesis". He liked to point out that consciously or subconsciously preconceived hypotheses had a strong influence on sc ientif ic theories and he considered the inte rpretations of some ore deposits as epigenetic as the result of cultural thought patterns. He claimed that scientists should critically take into account and filter the "thought archetypes" inherent in any cul ture, and try to construct clean working hypotheses which should be congruent with a combination of geometric (particularly cross-cutting relationships) and geochemical observations of ore and host rock at several observational scales, a statement with which most metallogenists would agree. G. Christian Amstutz's preoccupation with connections between the cultural and philosophical heritage of a scientist and the potential for interpretive bias did not prevent him to have exceptionally strong convictions on the genesis of ore deposits and rocks, convictions that now we may believe were not always congruent with the observational bas is. We would like to end this obituary with the quotation he used in the opening article of the first volume of Mineralium Deposita, a quote that best summarizes the main message he delivered to his numerous students: "For the purpose of research is not to imagine that one possesses the theory which alone is right, but, doubting all theories, to approach gradually nearer to truth. (C.G.Jung, l959, Basic Writings, Modern Library, p. 379)