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Breccias - Descriptive Methodology Genetic Classes Overview of Breccia Types in MagmaticHydrothermal Systems Case Study: Kelian Implications for Ore Formation and Exploration
2.
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Brecciation
Rocks break when they fall, cool, grind, explode, corrode, etc. This means that breccias can form in many geological environments:
Sedimentary Volcanic Tectonic Magmatic Hydrothermal
Igneous-cemented breccia: trachyandesite clasts set in a quartz monzonite porphyry cement, cut by quartz-bornite veins with orthoclase alteration halos, E31 prospect, North Parkes, NSW
Genetic nomenclature should only be applied with caution after a breccia has been fully described
Push-up, fall-down, or break-apart breccia?
Breccia Description
Ideal combination:
5
Alteration
+4
Internal organisation
+3
Components A+B+C
+2
Grainsize
+1
Geometry
Minimum Combination: 4 + 3 + 2
1) Geometry
pipe, cone, dyke, vein, bed, irregular, tabular... Contact relationships: sharp, gradational, faulted, irregular, planar, concordant, discordant
+4
Internal organisation
+3
Components A+B+C
+2
Grainsize
+1
Geometry
2) Grainsize
microbreccia (< 2mm) or breccia (> 2mm)...
3) Components
A: clasts monomict or polymict Composition: lithic, vein, breccia, juvenile magmatic, accretionary lapilli, mineralised, altered Morphology: angular, subangular, subround, round, faceted, tabular, equant
+4
Internal organisation
+3
Components A+B+C
+2
Grainsize
+1
Geometry
3) Components (cont.)
B: matrix rock flour, crystal fragments, lithic fragments, vein fragments texture: banded, laminated, massive grainsize - mud, silt, sand, gravel, pebble, cobble C: cement texture: cockade, massive, drusy, etc. Ore & gangue mineralogy, & grainsize D: open space (vugs)
+4
Internal organisation
+3
Components A+B+C
+2
Grainsize
+1
Geometry
4) Internal Organisation
Clast abundance, clast, matrix or cementsupported Clast distribution: jigsaw-fit, rotated, chaotic Massive (non-graded) or graded Stratified or unstratified
5) Alteration
Clasts, matrix or cement Alteration paragenesis
Sericite-altered polymictic rock flour matrix breccia, Braden Pipe, El Teniente
Chlorite-hematite-carbonate-pyrite-altered, polymict pyroxene-phyric andesite and diorite-clast massive to stratified rock flour breccia and microbreccia
brecciated diorite
Breccia Genesis
More than one process can be involved in breccia formation
Hydrothermal Breccias
Volcanic Breccias
Magmatic-hydrothermal breccias
Stockwork veins
Magmatic Breccias
Igneous cement breccias
This overlap means that genetic Phreatic breccias terminology is generally applied inconsistently
Fault breccias
Tectonic Breccias
Magmatic-Hydrothermal Breccias
Chalcopyrite-cemented monzonite breccia, Mt Polley, British Columbia
Rio Blanco
71o W 0
70o W
Los Pelambres km
50
100 32o S
Pacific Ocean
Los Andes
33o S
Santiago
34o S
El Teniente
Sur Sur
La Union
Rio Blanco
Los Bronces
Biotite Breccia
Ore at Rio Blanco is hosted in biotite-cemented and biotitealtered rock flour matrix breccias (magmatic breccia)
Tourmaline Breccia
Ore at Sur-Sur, La Union and Los Bronces is hosted in tourmaline-cemented breccias
Tourm. bx Sur-Sur
Tourmaline breccia
Sur-Sur XC50
Diorite wallrock
Biotite breccia
Tm bx cut by RF bx, Rio Blanco
Breccia-Enhanced Permeability
~2 km paleodepth Farellones Fm
Drawdown of meteoric water?
~5 km paleodepth
2 - 5 km paleodepth
Diatremes
Diatremes are downward-tapering, cone-shaped breccia
bodies (paleovolcanic vents)
phreatomagmatic and phreatic explosions filled by volcaniclastic debris and collapsed wall rocks subsurface conduits beneath maars
100 m
Maars
Maars are 100 m to greater than 3000 m diameter,
monogenetic volcanic craters
surrounded by low aspect ratio tuff rings wet pyroclastic base surge, fallout and re-sedimented volcaniclastic deposits
25 m
No direct link to mineralisation - this model fails to account for common association of diatremes and magmatic-hydrothermal ore deposits
> 0.5% Cu
< 0.5% Cu
> 0.5% Cu
Teniente Host Sequence Sewell Diorite (8.9-7 Ma) Grey porphyry (5.7 Ma) Dacite pipes (5.5 Ma) Dacite dyke (5.3 Ma) Marginal Breccia (4.7 Ma) Braden Breccia (4.7 Ma) Late dacite dykes (4.7 Ma) Hble-phyric dykes (3.8 Ma)
Bedded rock flour matrix polymict breccia facies, Braden Breccia Pipe, El Teniente
Fault Breccias
2 cm Fault breccia with clasts of quartz-chalcopyrite veins in a rock flour matrix, and with chalcopyrite smeared along the breccia margin, Ridgeway Au-Cu porphyry, NSW
Phreatic Breccias
Phreatic Breccias
Gases accumulate beneath a silica seal during upflow of boiling waters
P increase can rupture the hydrothermal seal, triggering a steam explosion & phreatic brecciation
Phreatic Breccias
Depressurisation can affect a significant vertical column of rock (hundreds of metres) and can trigger ore deposition as H2S partitions to the vapour phase
Instantaneous P decrease changes the depth of first boiling (Hedenquist & Henley, 1985)
Hydrothermal eruption crater, Pocket Basin, Yellowstone. Fragments of lake sediments were deposited in a low aspect ratio ejecta apron after draining of glaciallydammed lake 20-25,000 years ago
Phreatomagmatic explosion
magma - water interaction at the explosion site explosion driven by flashing of water to steam magmatic gas contribution is minor juvenile magmatic component
Eruption of Waimungu Geyser, New Zealand, 1904 (Sillitoe, 1985)
The Kelian Breccia Complex: host to a giant epithermal Au-Ag deposit, East Kalimantan, Indonesia
Singapore
KELIAN
Jakarta
Regional geology
Located in uplifted block of Cretaceous volcaniclastic rocks Surrounded by terrestrial and shallow marine sedimentary rocks of the Tertiary Kutai Basin
Indo Muyup Muro Busang
Masupia Ria
Kelian
Mirah
Largest epithermal Au deposit in a NEtrending belt of Miocene low sulfidation epithermal gold deposits
Kelian Au deposit
Alluvial Au discovered by indigenous Dayaks in 1950s Bedrock Au discovered by Rio Tinto in 1975 Main exploration 1986 to 1989 outlined 75 Mt @ 1.8 g/t Au Mining commenced in 1991 Total resource: 92 Mt @ 2.61 g/t Au Total contained Au ~240 Tonnes (~8 Moz) Carbonate, base-metal-rich, low sulfidation epithermal Au-Ag deposit
Kelian geology
U. Cretaceous felsic volcaniclastic basement faulted against Tertiary sediments Andesite and rhyolite intrusions ~ 22 19 Ma Emplacement controlled by NE- and NW-striking faults Phreatomagmatic and phreatic breccia formation Mineralisation and alteration Pliocene unconformity Pit outline Plio-Pleistocene mafic volcanism
Kelian Volcanics
Upper Cretaceous volcanic siltstone, sandstone & breccia
volcaniclastic sst/slt
60 m
Pumice and crystal-rich subaqueous mass flow deposits (possible subaerial source)
1 cm
30 m
QFP intrusion
Eocene to Oligocene carbonaceous mudstone and sandstone Terrestrial and shallow submarine depositional environment
Carbonaceous sediments
500
1000
Volcaniclastic rocks
2000 m
Andesitic intrusions
Late Miocene plagioclase-hornblende-phyric porphryies
volcaniclastic sst/slt
60 m
1 cm
500
1000
1500
2000 m
500
phreatic breccias
1000
surge deposits
1500
2000 m
volcaniclastic sst/slt
diatreme breccia 20 m
Phreatomagmatic eruptions produced base surge deposits and co-surge fallout Early hydrothermal system was disrupted catastrophically Triggered hybrid and large-scale phreatic brecciation
1 cm
60 m
Subsurface and eruptive facies of a maar-diatreme complex Juvenile magmatic clasts are preserved Polyphase breccias
0.5 cm
1 cm
fragmentation
Block subsidence
0
disaggregation
1000
1500
2000 m
500
1000
1500
2000 m
Rhyolitic intrusions
brecciated mudstone QFP intrusion 10 m
brecciated mudstone
QFP intrusion
Late Miocene rhyolitic intrusions emplaced into active hydrothermal system Quartz feldspar porphyries
QFP intrusion
alteration
500
& disseminations
1000
Hydrothermal Brecciation
1500
2000 m
Hydrothermal breccias
Stage 1 and 2 Pyrite cement Stage 3A Base-metal sulfide cement Stage 3C Carbonate cement Stage 4 Sulfosalt rhodochrosite cement
2 cm
2 cm
2 cm
1 cm
2 cm
Early phreatic breccias: (Explosive brecciation, transport and milling, abundant matrix)
Main stage to late-stage hydraulic breccias: (Non-explosive in-situ brecciation, minor transport and milling, abundant cement)
Veins
1 cm Stage 2A: Pyrite - quartz 2 cm 1 cm Stage 3C Carbonate infill Stages 1 and 2 Pyrite cement Stage 3A Base-metal sulfide infill Stage 4 Sulfosalt rhodochrosite infill
500
1000
1500
2000 m
Catastrophic disruption of and irreversible changes to chemical and physical conditions in the existing hydrothermal system
Armoured Lapilli
Yanacocha
Mineralisation both pre- and post-diatreme
Cripple Creek
Kelian
El Teniente
Early intrusion insufficient fluids for explosion Intrusion into hydrothermal system
Epithermal systems
3. Rebirth: Flow path created to connect the porphyry and epithermal environments Large scale hydrothermal explosions and brecciation Phreatomagmatic explosions through active system trigger syn and post diatreme hybrid phreatic explosions
Mineralisation in wallrocks
Conclusions
Careful documentation of breccia facies and their interrelationships is essential prior to attempting genetic interpretations Brecciation can occur in response to a combination of phenomena, making genetic pigeonholing difficult Fluid flow will be affected profoundly by a major brecciation event Changes to the fluid flow regime will be dependent on the nature of the breccia and the wallrocks
Thayer Lindsley, described as the greatest mine finder of all time, was born in Yokohama, Japan He took a civil engineering degree at Harvard, and moved to Canada in 1924 with a $30,000 stake from an iron mine in Oregon. In 1928, Lindsley and a group of associates founded Ventures Ltd., as a holding company for various properties. Falconbridge Nickel Mines Limited was incorporated as a Ventures subsidiary in the same year. Thayer Lindsley also founded Frobisher, and either found or was involved in the development of Sherritt Gordon, Giant Yellowknife, Canadian Malartic, United Keno Hill, Lake Dufault and Opemiska Copper, Connemara in Southern Rhodesia and Whim Creek in Australia.
"To be a successful mine finder, one must have determination, knowledge, tenacity, a rugged constitution to withstand the rigors of outdoor life, and enjoy overcoming obstacles of every description. Also, a little dash of imagination and enthusiasm is helpful."