Iron oxide copper gold ore deposits

"IOCG" redirects here. For other uses, see IOCG (disambiguation).

Iron oxide copper gold ore deposits (IOCG) are important and highly valuable
concentrations

of copper, gold and uranium ores hosted

within iron

oxide dominant gangueassemblages which share a common genetic origin.

These ore bodies range from around 10 million tonnes of contained ore, to 4,000 million
tonnes or more, and have a grade of between 0.2% to 5% copper, with gold contents
ranging from 0.1 to 3+ grams per tonne (parts per million). These ore bodies tend to
express as cone-like, blanket-like breccia sheets within granitic margins, or as long ribbonlike breccia or massive iron oxide deposits within faults or shears.
The tremendous size, relatively simple metallurgy and relatively high grade of IOCG
deposits can produce extremely profitable mines.
Iron oxide copper-gold deposits are also often associated with other valuable trace
elements such as uranium, bismuth and rare earth metals, although these accessories are
typically subordinate to copper and gold in economic terms.
Some

examples

include

the Olympic

Dam,

South

Australia and La

Candelaria,

Chile deposits.

1Classification
o

1.1Similar deposit styles

2Genesis

3Mineralogy and alteration

4Exploration

5Examples

6See also

7References

8External links and further reading

Classification
Iron oxide copper gold (IOCG) deposits are considered to be metasomatic expressions of
large crustal-scale alteration events driven by intrusive activity. The deposit type was first

recognised, though not named as IOCG, by discovery and study of the supergiant Olympic
Dam copper-gold-uranium deposit, and South American examples.
IOCG deposits are classified as separate to other large intrusive related copper deposits
such as porphyry copper deposits and other porphyry metal deposits primarily by their
substantial accumulations of iron oxide minerals, association with felsic-intermediate type
intrusives (Na-Ca rich granitoids), and lack of the complex zonation in alteration mineral
assemblies commonly associated with porphyry deposits.
The relatively simple copper-gold +/- uranium ore assemblage is also distinct from the wide
spectrum of Cu-Au-Ag-Mo-W-Bi porphyry deposits, and there is often no metal zonation
within recognised examples of IOCG deposits. IOCG deposits tend to also accumulate
within faults as epigenetic mineralisation distal to the source intrusion, whereas porphyries
are much more proximal to intrusive bodies.

Similar deposit styles

IOCG deposits are still relatively loosely defined and as such, some large and small
deposits of various types may or may not fit within this deposit classification. IOCG deposits
may have skarn-like affinities (e.g.; Wilcherry Hill, Cairn Hill), although they are not strictly
skarns in that they are not metasomatites in the strictest sense.
IOCG deposits can express a wide variety of deposit morphologies and alteration types
dependent on their host stratigraphy, the tectonic processes operating at the time (e.g.,
some provinces show a preference for development within shears and structural zones),
and so on.
IOCG deposits have been recognised within epithermal regimes (caldera and maar styles)
through to brittle-ductile regimes deeper within the crust (e.g.; Prominent Hill, someMount
Isa examples, Brazilian examples). What is common in IOCGs is their genesis within
magmatic-driven crustal-scale hydrothermal systems.

Genesis
Iron oxide copper gold deposits typically form within 'provinces' where several deposits of
similar style, timing and similar genesis form within similar geologic settings. The genesis
and provenance of IOCG deposits, their alteration assemblages and gangue mineralogy
may vary between provinces, but all are related to;

Major regional thermal event broadly coeval with IOCG formation, represented by
low to medium grade metamorphism, and/or mafic intrusions, and/or I- or A-type
granitoids

Host stratigraphy is relatively Fe-enriched (BIF, ironstones), but have relatively little
reduced carbon (e.g.; coal, etc.).

Regional-scale alteration systems, operating over tens or hundreds of kilometres,

involving admixture of at least two fluids

Large-scale crustal structures which allow extensive hydrothermal circulation of

mineralising fluids

IOCG deposits typically occur at the margins of large igneous bodies which intrude into
sedimentary strata. As such, IOCG deposits form pipe-like, mantle-like or extensive
breccia-vein sheets within the host stratigraphy. Morphology is often not an important
criterion of the ore body itself, and is determined by the host stratigraphy and structures.
IOCG deposits are usually associated with distal zones of particular large-scale igneous
events, for instance a particular Suite or Supersuite of granites, intermediate mafic
intrusives of a particular age. Often the mineralising intrusive event becomes a diagnostic
association for expressions of IOCG mineralisation within a given province.
IOCG

mineralisation

may

accumulate

within

metasomatised

wall

rocks,

within

brecciated maar or caldera structures, faults or shears, or the aureole of an intrusive event
(possibly as a skarn) and is typically accompanied by a substantial enrichment in iron oxide
minerals (hematite, magnetite). IOCG deposits tend to accumulate within iron-rich rocks
such as banded iron formations, iron schists, etcetera, although iron enrichment of
siliciclastic rocks by metasomatism is also recognised within some areas.
Although not exclusively Proterozoic, within Australia and South America a majority of
IOCG deposits are recognised to be within Neoproterozoic to Mesoproterozoic basement.
Worldwide, ages of recognised IOCG deposits range from 1.8Ga to 15 Ma, however the
majority are within the 1.6Ga to 850Ma range.

Mineralogy and alteration

Chalcopyrite-rich ore specimen from Olympic Dam

Chalcopyrite in hematised breccia from Prominent Hill

Ore

minerals

in

IOCG

deposits

are

typically

copper-iron

sulfide chalcopyrite and gangue pyrite, forming 10-15% of the rock mass.
Supergene profiles can be developed above weathered examples of IOCG deposits, as
exemplified by the Sossego deposit, Para State,Brazil, where typical oxidised copper
minerals

are

present,

e.g.; malachite, cuprite, native

copper and

minor

amounts

of digenite andchalcocite.
Alteration is a mixture of sodic-calcic (albite-epidote) to potassic (K-feldspar) in style, and
may vary from province to province based on host rocks and mineralising processes.
Typically for large-scale hydrothermal systems, fluid types within IOCG systems show a
mixed providence of magmatic, metamorphic and often meteoric waters. Deposits may be
vertically zoned from deeper albite-magnetite assemblages trending toward silica-Kfeldspar-sericite in the upper portions of the deposits.
Gangue minerals are typically some form of iron oxide mineral, classically hematite, but
also magnetite within some other examples such as Ernest Henry and some Argentinian
examples.

This

is

typically

associated

with

gangue

sulfides

of

pyrite,

with

subordinate pyrrhotiteand other base metal sulfides.

Silicate

gangue

minerals

include actinolite, pyroxene, tourmaline, epidote and chlorite,

with apatite, allanite and other phosphate mineralscommon in some IOCG provinces (e.g.;
North American examples), with carbonate-barite assemblages also reported. Where
present, rare earth metals tend to associate with phosphate minerals.
When iron oxide species trend towards magnetite or crystalline massive hematite, IOCG
deposits may be economic based on their iron oxide contents alone. Several examples of
IOCG deposits (Wilcherry Hill, Cairn Hill, Kiruna) are iron ore deposits.

Exploration
Within the Olympic Domain of the Gawler Craton, exploration for Olympic Dam style IOCG
deposits has relied on four main criteria for targeting exploratory drill holes;

A substantial gravity anomaly, taken to be representative of accumulation of iron

oxide minerals within the crust, which is seen as being associated with classic Olympic
Dam style IOCG mineralisation. Gravity data is often interpreted via a 3D inversion to

resolve the density contrast and sub-surface position of a dense body of rock. More
qualitatively, the 'edges' of a gravity body are considered more prospective as this
theoretically represents the mineralised margins of an intrusive body.

High magnetism within the crust, again taken to be representative of accumulation

of substantial iron oxide minerals within proximity to the targeted IOCG mineralising
events

Proximity to apparent crustal-scale linear features in geophysical data, which are

taken to represent the fundamental crustal architectural faults up which mineralising
intrusions and fluids would by preference travel

Presence of the prospective Hiltaba Granite Suite, which is dated to 1570Ma coeval
with Olympic Dam and the other known IOCG examples within the province

This exploration model is applicable to the most basic of exploration criteria for identifying
prospective areas likely to form IOCG deposits. In better exposed terranes, prospecting for
alteration assemblages and skarns, in concert with geochemical exploration is also likely to
yield success.