EconomicGeology

Vol. 86, 1991, pp. 1238-1260

Gold-RichPorphyrySystemsin the MaricungaBelt, NorthernChile

TOM•_S VILA

MineraAngloAmericanChileLtda., AvenidaPedrode Valdivia295, Santiago,Chile

AND RICHARD H. SILLITOE

27 WestHill Park,HighgateVillage,LondonN6 6ND, England

Abstract

The Maricungabelt is a linearmetallogenic

unit definedby at least14 zonesof goldand/
or silver mineralization between latitudes 26 ø and 28 ø S in the Andean Cordillera of northern
Chile. After 10 yearsof exploration,three preciousmetal depositsare in production,two
more have provenresei'ves,and othersare being drilled. Total geologicreservesare 420
metric tonsof gold and about 14,000 metric tonsof silverdividedbetweenintrusion-hosted
porphyry-typedepositsandvolcanic-hosted epithermaldepositsof highsulfidation,acidsul-
fate type.
Preciousmetal mineralization is related to a belt of Miocene volcanic rocks, most of which
constitutea seriesof largecompound stratovolcanoes of calc-alkaline
composition.
The volcanic
rocksoverlie unconformablyand largely concealan igneousand sedimentarybasementof
Paleozoicand Mesozoicage. Volcanicrocksand containedalterationand mineralizationare
subdividedon the basisof K-Ar datinginto partly overlapping,westernearly Miocene (24-
20 Ma) andeasternmiddleMiocene(14-13 Ma) subbelts.High-anglereversefaultingoccurred
betweenthesetwo epochsin responseto regionalcompression inducedby subductionzone
flattening.A northwestalignmentis alsoprominentin the belt asreflectedby the strike of
severalcomponentsof the alterationand mineralizationzones.
Nine zonesof porphyry-typemineralizationhavebeen discoveredin the Maricungabelt,
wheretheyarepresentin bothwesternandeasternsubbelts. The porphyry-typemineralization
wasgeneratedbeneathandesitic-(dacitic) stratovolcanoes, whichwere dissectedmoreexten-
sivelyin the westernthan in the easternsubbelt.Volcanicrockswere intrudedby isolated,
composite porphyrystockswhicharedioriticin the easternsubbeltbut includequartzdioritic
phases in the westernsubbelt.Weaklyporphyriticmicrodiorite andassociated
intrusionbreccia
are prominentstockcomponents. Minor inter- to late mineralizationhydrothermalbreccias
are commonlypresent.
Gold-coppermineralizationis believed to havebeen introducedwith K silicatealteration,
whichis well preservedonly at the Amalia,Refugio,and CasaleHill (Aldebaran)prospects.
K silicatealterationis overprintedandcommonlyobliteratedby sericite-clay-chlorite assem-
blagesof intermediateargillic type. Much of the gold is presentin quartz stockworks.Iron
oxides,both early magnetiteandlate hematite,constitute5 to 10 vol percentof mineralized
zones.Sulfidesare dominatedcompletelyby pyrite but includeminorchalcopyriteandtrace
borniteandmolybdenite.Supergeneleachingof copperis developedto variousdegrees,but
enrichmentis developedonly incipiently.
Severalporphyry-typestockworks are overlainby pyrite- andalunite-richadvancedargillic
alteration,whichcarriesbarite, nativesulfur,enargite,andat La Pepa,high-grade,vein-type
goldmineralizationof highsulfidation,epithermaltype. The quartzstockworksandadvanced
argilliccapsare telescopedat Marte, Valy, SantaCecilia, andLa Pepabut are separatedby a
chloritizedzone transectedby a swarmof gold-poor,polymetallicveinswith quartz-alunite
selvagesat Aldebaran.
Marte andLobo are rich in gold(1.43 and 1.6 ppm) andpoorin copper(0.05 and0.12%)
andmolydenum(46 and -'• 10 ppm), andmaybe designatedasporphyrygolddeposits.How-
ever, goldcontentsare lower (0.6-1 ppm) andhypogenecoppercontentsprobablyhigherat
Refugioand CasaleHill. Zinc tendsto occurasa geochemicalhaloto the Au-Cu-Mominer-
alization,which is alwaysdeficientin silver(<0.1 ppm). Arsenicand mercuryare enriched
in the advancedargilliccaps,andalongwith lead, are alsoweaklyanomalous at Marte in the
underlying,shallow-levelquartz stockwork.
The depth of erosionof Maricungaporphyry-typesystemsisbelievedto decreasefrom the
K silicatezonesexposedat Refugioandin the CasaleHill sectorat Aldebaran,throughMarte,
Valy, SantaCecilia,andLa Pepawhereremnantsof advancedargilliccapsare present,to the
highest,mercury-richpart of the CathedralPeaksectorat Aldebaranand zoneshigher than

0361-0128/91/1267/1238-2353.00 1238
 Au PORPHYRY,MARICUNGA BELT, CHILE 1239

and west of Marte which compriseadvancedargillic alterationrich in native sulfur.Recon-

structionof the porphyrysystems suggests
that gold-bearingquartzstockworks were generated
600 to 1,000 m beneathpaleosurfaces.
Gold-richporphyrymineralizationin the Maricungabelt is closelycomparableto that in
the Philippinesbecauseof the association with dioritic to quartz dioritic porphyry stocks
intrudedinto andesitic-(dacitic)stratovolcanoes,
the widespreaddistributionof intermediate
argillic assemblagesaspartial or completeoverprintsto K silicatealteration,the abundance
of hypogeneiron oxideswith ore, and the commonpreservationof advancedargillic caps.
The Maricungaporphyry-typemineralizationstandsin contrastto the porphyrydepositselse-
wherein northernChile,whichareassociated withmorefelsicintrusions lackingcoevalvolcanic
rocks,containlarge volumesof sericitizedrocks,lack abundantore-relatediron oxides,are
molybdenumrich, goldpoor, and morethan ten timeslarger,and includemajor supergene
enrichmentblankets.However,both the gold-richMaricungabelt andthe molybdenum-rich
depositsin northernChile are underlainby thick continentalcrust,whereasthe Philippine
copper-goldprovinceis in an island-arcsetting.

Introduction eight parasiticcones.The Miocene volcanicchain is

TheMaricungabelt separatedfrom the zone of Quaternary volcanism
farther eastby the Altiplanoor Punablock,a 30- to
As ^ direct consequence of the discoveryand defi- 50-km-wide, subhorizontalplateau which narrows
nitionof the high-grade E1Indio gold-silver-copperprogressivelysouthwardand ends about latitude
(enargite-gold)depositfrom 1976 to 1978, intensive 27ø30' S in an areadissectedby steep-sidedcanyons.
explorationfor epithermalpreciousmetaldepositshas The western border of the Miocene volcanic chain
beenundertaken duringthe last10 yearsin the An- alsoisinciseddeeplyby valleyswhichdrainwestinto
dean Cordillera of central and northern Chile. The the Atacama desert.
Maricungabelt in northern Chile is one of the most The Maricunga belt hosts numerous alteration
importantprovincesdetectedto date and currently zonesmarkedby prominentcolor anomalies,at least
possessesan aggregategeologicreserveof 420 metric 14 of whichare associated with appreciableprecious
tons(13.5 millionoz) of goldandabout14,000 metric metalmineralization(Figs.2 and3). Gold-silvermin-
tons of silver.Other prospectsunder exploration eralizationin the northwesternpart of the belt (Es-
probablywill increasethistotalsubstantially. peranza, La Coipa) is mostcloselyrelated to dacite
The name"Maricungabelt" hasbeenemployed domecomplexes,whereasthat farther south,asex-
informallyby explorationists in the areafor the last emplifiedby Marte, Lobo, and Aldebaran,is domi-
fiveyearsor soto denotea geographically
restricted natedby gold-richporphyrydepositsandprospects
metallogenicunit. Usageis therefore equivalentto (>0.3 ppm Au) associated with erodedandesiticstra-
that of "El Indio belt" for the north-trending
metal- tovolcanoes.
At leasthalfof the knownporphyry-type
logenicunit centeredonthe E1Indio depositfarther systems arehostedby the Volc•tnCopiap6massif(Fig.
south(Fig. 1; SiddeleyandAraneda,1990). The Ma- 2). Gold-richporphyrydepositswere unknownpre-
ricungabelt is formalizedhere asa north-southelon- viouslyin the Andean Cordillera of Chile.
gate area, roughly200 X 50 km in extent,between
latitudes 26o00' and 28ø00' S and 4,000 to 6,000 m Explorationhistory
abovesealevel (Fig. 1). Morphologically, the Mari- Preliminarygeologicexplorationof the Andean
cungabeltcoversa north-northeast-trending
chainof Cordillera of northern Chile was commenced in late
at leastsixlargeMiocenecompoundvolcanoes along 1980 and 1981 by Minera Anglo American Chile
theWesternor DomeykoCordillera;the twolargest, Ltda. as operatorsfor an Anglo American-Cominco
Copiap6andJotabeche, areschematized
in Figure1. Resources joint venture,andat roughlythe sametime,
The volcanicchainanditsbasementareboundedby by othergroups,mostnotablyExploraciones y Min-
a systemof reverse faults, which causedthe devel- eralesSierraMorena (a Gold Fields'Mining Corpo-
opmentof a seriesof horstsandgrabens
(Figs.2 and rationsubsidiarysince1981). Explorationusedfixed-
3). The grabenscontrol a number of closedbasins, androtary-wingaircraftto searchfor coloranomalies
suchasthe Salarde MaricungaandLagunadel Negro andassociated silicifiedoutcropsof whichabout200
Francisco(Figs.2 and 3), which are sitesof saltlakes were identifiedby BT Exploraciones Ltda. on behalf
(salares)
in whichevaporitedeposits
are still being of Minera AngloComincoLtda. Explorationat that
precipitated.The Salarde Maricungalendsits name time wasorientedto defineareasprospectivefor E1
to the metallogenicbelt under discussion. Indio vein-typegold-silverdeposits.
The largestvolcaniccenter in the Miocene chain On the basisof the AngloAmerican-Cominco re-
is the Volc•tnCopiap6massif(6,052 m), which en- connaissance, the Maricungabelt stoodout ashaving
compasses an areaof 25 X 15 km andincludesat least high potential.More detailedgeologicwork wasac-
1240 T. VILA AND R. H. SILLITOE

I I
in 1986 of the Chimberossilverorebody.Chimberos
is a highlysilicified,structurallylocalizedhydrother-
Arequipa
__•• • • i.•__•ticaca
0 km 300" mal brecciacontaining4.3 million metric tonsaver-
aging340 g/metricton (9.9 oz/metricton) Ag in ox-
idized (silverhalide) ore.
• BOLIVIA By this time, a reasonableunderstandingof gold-
bearingsystemsin the Maricungabelt had been de-
veloped,with muchvaluableinformationbeing de-
rived from the Aldebaranprospect(Fig. 3) where a
1,000-m verticalprofile from subvolcanic to shallow
epithermallevelsis recognized.It wasnowclearthat
20ø - the mostimportantgold mineralizationin the south-
ern part of the belt is not of epithermalvein type but
Zu.
I Quebrada
fl•--. of low-gradeporphyrytype. A new metallogenicsub-

I•. / B_•nca
-"•'
-'.. •, N
Chuquicamata
n __" Z
provincehadbeendiscoveredin a regionknownbe-
fore 1980 only for its nativesulfurpotential.
With this new explorationapproach,deeper re-
verse-circulation anddiamonddrillingplusmoretun-
IAntofagasta
..?• • • nelingwere carriedout during 1986-1987 at Marte,
24ø- leading to delineationof 46 million metric tons av-
eraging1.43 g/metricton Au (Vila et al., 1991). The
orebodyenteredproductionin late 1989 asan open-
pit, heap leach operation.Encouragedby these re-
sults,a diamonddrilling campaignat the similarly
ElSalvador
= ElHueso: • •
Pare•losl,• •M•RI,(UNGA mineralizedLoboprospectnearby(Fig. 3) wascom-
pleted in 1988-1989. Geologicreservesare calcu-
/ • • --•BELT• latedas80 millionmetrictonsaveraging1.6 g/metric
tonAu. AngloAmerican'sinitialdrillingat the Refugio
prospectwascontinuedby the BemaGold Corpora-
tion, which announcedrecently 200 million metric
• z
tonsof 0.96 g/metricton Au in the Verde sector.
• (ElIndio La Coipa gold-silverand La Pepa gold prospects
(Fig. 3) were not exploredby the AngloAmerican-
Comincojoint venture. La Coipa, near the site of a
•
70•
I 6•0
Z long-abandonedvein silver mine, was discoveredin
1981 by Amaxde Chile (R. H. Sillitoeand]. Cabello,
Miocene to Recent volcanic rocks unpub.repts.)andwasexploredsubsequently by Ex-
Mioceneignimbrites
interbedded
withgravels ploracionesy MineralesSierraMorena(Rivera,1988;
Saltlake(Salar) 1-1 Porphyry
Cumine Oviedoet al., 1991).The deposit,comprising a total
Miocenevolcano ß Au-Ag-(Cu)mine of 90 millionmetrictons averaging 1.2 g/metric ton
Au and133 g/metrictonAg, cameon streamin 1989
with Cia. Minera Mantosde Oro (PlacerDome-TVX
I•G. 1. Locationof the Maricungabelt with respectto late
Cenozoic volcanism in northern Chile. Volcanic rocks taken from Gold)asoperators.La Pepawasdiscovered in 1983
Gardeweg et al. (1984). and exploredby Exploraciones y MineralesSierra
Morena,whichproved440,000metrictonsaveraging
23.7 g/metricton Au plus3.2 millionmetrictonsav-
eraging1.3 g/metrictonAu.Thehigh-grade zonehas
complishedfrom mid-1981 throughmid-1982with beenexploitedon a smallscale,currentlyby Minera
geologicmapping,rock-chipsampling,andgrid soil HorusLtda.(a BridgerMiningCo. subsidiary), which
geochemistry over the Esperanza(Ag-Au), Marte alsois engagedin further exploration.
(Au),Lobo(Au),Valy(Au),andEscondido (Au)pros-
pects. Explorationcontinuedduring late 1982 and GeologicSetting
1983 and includedundergroundexplorationat Es-
peranzaand Marte and shallow(80 m), reverse-cir- The regionalgeologicsettingof the Maricungabelt
culationdrillingat MarteandLobo.The exploration is definedby the progressively moredetailedstudies
effortwasfocused ontheEsperanza silver-gold pros- of Segerstrom(1968), Zentilli (1974), Mereado
pect during1984-1985, with diamonddrillingand (1982), and Davidsonand Mpodozis(1991); only a
underground development leadingto the definition summaryis includedhere.
 AuPORPHYRY,
MARICUNGA
BELT,CHILE 1241

The late Cenozoic Andes of northern and central blackshalewhich,in part, act ashostrocksfor the
Chile comprisetwo fundamentalsegments: the vol- La CoipaandEsperanza deposits(Fig. 3). Stratified
canicallyactiveCentralVolcaniczoneand,southof Jurassic and Cretaceous volcanicand sedimentary
about latitude 28 ø S, a nonvolcaniczone (Fig. 1). A rocksoverlie unconformably the Late Triassicse-
gradualdecreasein dip of the subducted Nazcaplate, quence.A complete cycleof marinetransgression and
from 30ø to 10ø, takesplaceaslatitude28ø S is ap- regression duringthe EarlyandMiddleJurassic, rep-
proached(BarazangiandIsacks,1976; BevisandIs- resentedby limestoneandcalcareous sandstone, gave
acks,1984), and the extremelyshallowangleis be- way transitionallyto a Late Jurassic to Early Creta-
lieved to causethe absenceof volcanism(Jordanet ceous lacustrine-continental environment character-
al., 1983). On the basisof trace element signatures izedby deposition of redsandstoneandconglomerate.
of volcanicrocks,Kayet al. (1988, in press)proposed The Cenozoic in the Andean Cordillera of northern
thatthe process of slabflatteningbeganabout18 Ma Chilewasdominatedby earlyMioceneto Pleistocene
andacceleratedbetween11 and7 Ma. The Maricunga volcanism,which was characterizedby two tempo-
preciousmetalbelt islocatedat the southwestern ex- rallyandspatiallyoverlapping groupsof rocks:com-
tremityof the CentralVolcaniczone(Fig. 1) andwas poundstratovolcanoes of andesiticto daciticcom-
generatedbothimmediatelybeforeandafterinitiation position, associated
locallywithstocks anddomes; and
of flattening(seebelow). rhyoliticto daciticignimbritesheets(e.g., Lahsen,
Neogenevolcanicsequencesaccumulatedover, 1982).Earlyto middleMiocenevolcanic rocksof an-
and largelyconceal,foldedand faultedigneousand desiticto daciticcomposition, especiallybreccias,
sedimentaryrocksof Paleozoicand Mesozoicages. tuffs,andlavas,aremostwidespread in the Maricunga
However, reverse faults of mid- to Late Cretaceous belt although
felsicignimbrites
wereeruptedlocally
and mid-Mioceneagesbound north-northeast-elon- duringcalderacollapse of mid-Miocene stratovolcan-
gated strips of pre-Andean(late Paleozoic-Early oes(e.g.,VolcftnCopiap6;Walkeret al., 1985).
Triassic)and Late Triassicto Cretaceousrocks,es- Volcaniclasticsedimentaryrocksof latest Oligo-
peciallyalongthe westernborder of the Maricunga ceneto earlyMioceneagearedistalfaciesof the
belt (Fig. 3). Reversefaults have documenteddis- desiticvolcanicsequencesincludedin the early Mio-
placementsof as much as 700 m (Bruce, 1988). Al- cenevolcanicunit shownin Figure 3 (C. Mpodozis,
though the reverse fault systemand the north to pers.commun.,1990) andcropout in the southeast-
north-northeast orientation of rock units in the Mar- ern part of the Maricungabelt wherethey abutthe
icungabelt (Figs. 2 and 3) parallel the overall struc- CasaleHill sectorof the Aldebaranprospect.
turalgrainof the AndeanCordillerain northernChile, Late Mioceneto Pleistocenecompoundvolcanoes,
a subordinate but distinctive northwest structural domecomplexes,
cones,andexplosion
craters,with
componentispresentin all the alterationzoneswhere products rangingfrombasalticandesite throughrhy-
it is reflected by the orientationsof faults, veins, olite,areexposed eastoftheMaricunga beltandcon-
stockworks,breccia dikes, and/or soil geochemical stitutethe highestpeaksin this part of the Andean
anomalies. Intersections of these two main structural Cordillera(e.g., Ojosdel Salado--6,887 m and Ne-
trendsappearto controlmanyof the alteration-min- vadoTres Cruces--6,330 m, Fig. 3; Gonzfdez-Ferrb, n
eralization loci. et al., 1985; Baker et al., 1987).
The oldestrockscroppingout in the Maricunga
belt are Devonian to Carboniferous(?)clasticsedi- Metallogenic Setting
mentarysequences intrudedby late Carboniferous to
Permiangranitoids,which constitutethe core of the Hydrothermalore depositsin Chile andArgentina
AndeanCordilleraat thislatitude.The youngestlate between latitudes26 ø and 28 ø S are dominatedby
Paleozoic granitoidsand comagmaticrhyolitic vol- iron, copper,gold,andsilverandare relatedto epi-
canicsequences are productsof crustalmeltingin a zonal, includingsubvolcanic, intrusionsand coeval
pre-Andean extensionalsetting (Kay et al., 1989). volcanics generatedduringeastwardsubduction. In-
Suchrhyolitesconstitutethe wall rocksat Amalia,are trusions, volcanics,andore deposits are productsof
cut in depthby auriferousveinsat La Pepa,andcrop a seriesof discretemagmatic-metallogenic epochs
out west of Refugio(Fig. 4). A crustalthicknessof duringthe Early Jurassic to late Mioceneinterval,
about50 km at this latitude (James,1971) suggests eachof whichgaveriseto an elongate,north-north-
that a pre-Devonian,andevenPrecambrian, basement east-trending, trench-parallelsubprovince. Fromthe
ispresent,althoughmuchof the crustalthickness and EarlyJurassic to the late Miocene,the locusof mag-
Andeanuplift isundoubtedlyattributableto the mid- matismmigratedsystematically eastward(Farrar et
to Late Cretaceousand mid-Miocenecompressional al., 1970) and was accompanied by a concomitant
eventsresponsiblefor the reversefaulting. changein the characterof the associated metallogeny
The bestexposedMesozoicrocksare represented (e.g., Zentilli, 1974).
by thick Late Triassiccontinentalsequencescom- Followingan interval of relative volcanicquies-
prisingandesiticlava,sandstone, conglomerate, and cencein the Oligocene(Coira et al., 1982), K-rich
1242 T. VILA AND R. H. SILLITOE

,270",ß

FIG. 2. Landsatfalse-colormultispectralscannerimage of the Maricungabelt, northern Chile,

suppliedby NASA. The image is keyed to the schematicgeologic,nap in Figure 3.

calc-alkalinevolcanism(Dostalet al., 1977) recru- Maricungabelt constitutes

the westernmostpart of
descedin the Miocene.Volcanicrocks,high-level this broad Miocene magmatic-metallogenic sub-
stocks,and copper, gold, and silver mineralization province,where the volumeof volcanicproductsis
definean exceptionallywide (ca. 250 km) subprov- greatest.
ince east of the early Tertiary magmaticarc. This On the basisof K-Ar dating,GonzS, lez-Ferr•n et
eastwardbreakoutof magmatism isattributableto the al. (1985; seealsoBakeret al., 1987) subdividedthe
subductionzone flatteningdescribedabove.In the Miocene volcanicrocksin the northern part of the
Plio-Pleistocene, however, the locus of volcanic ac- Maricungabelt (northernextremityof Figs.2 and3
tivity contractedagainto producea much narrower andbeyond)into western:La Coipa-Maricunga vol-
arc superimposed on part of the Miocenesubprovince canic chain of early to mid-Mioceneage (23-15.7
and locatedalongthe Chile-Argentinafrontier.The Ma), and eastern: Pastillitos volcanic chain of
 AuPORPHYRY,
MARICUNGA
BELT,
CHILE 1243

r_._.•-:ff•:•=•'---.-•z_'.'•!
+ •* 69•
•• vvvv• • • 1
(2•qE•ranza
•• vv•vv
'• v•-• - I• + • •
km i
30
I

•• •vvv •-• • I+ +
•=•
• •
•=• vv
VV •
• • •
• + +. +
• •-v vv • • •1 + +
• - v • '+ • •+ + +
•• .• vv , • + •r + +
••T vv•+ + •1 + +.+

•
•
vvvvvv
VVVVVV •
•+T+i' •
• I.
A/

_•7• •=••v
• VVV VVVVV
v v v v v/• -- I
• • vvvv

•+l•V•VVV•_ ¾+•J A . A"

+ •-••• • •VOLCAN COPIAPO•

' •--•--•••-%-•vvvvvvv• I• •
+ ••+• •vv•---/_-
+•'•••+ ••vv•v•4.L• .•
+ ••+ +.•vvvvvvvvF•' / • •-•
•=••=••••-• •• ;n • i•o"
s

•Eet•-• Vv _ [+• • ALLU•UM

&EVAPORITES
•• - • VVVVV
SantaCe d•a -•• + ß
t•l =_
• - v'•' •- •. v-vvv•vv•
v '••.• • ß
vo•ca•cs (ma,•¾•
v sozoc
•- • • • *• •a•Eozo•c-m•ass•c
•aSE•EN•
•=• •=•' v•• •. deba•6n+• •' •TION ZONE
•= •-- 13.5) •.
•-- • • +•+++• K-ArAGE(Ma),mainly
onalteration
E: + +•- • + + +z RE•RSEFAULT
(t• onup•rownside)
• + +++ •.J
•.+•• S•+• NORMAL
FAULT
-28' ++½••[• MINE
ORPROSPECT
c•R• I VOLCANIC
CENTER
FIG. 3. Schematicmapof the Maricungabelt, northernChile, to illustrateselectedgeologicfeatures
observablein Figure2. ExtractedfromDavidsonandMpodozis(1991) with alterationagesfromSillitoe
ßet al. (1991). LNF = Lagunadel Negro Franeiso,SM = Salarde Marieunga.

mid-Miocene age (13.9-12.9 Ma). Comparable, sionalfeaturesof associatedvolcaniclandforms,per-

partly overlappingvolcanicchainswere confirmed mitdefinitionof twometallogenic epochs represented
throughout the Maricunga belt by Davidson and as two overlappingsubbeltsthroughoutthe Mari-
Mpodozis(1991). A third, late Mioceneevent (8.8- cungabelt; they coincidewell with the two volcanic
6.1 Ma) generatedthe WheelwrightVolcanicGroup chainsof Gonzftlez-Ferrftn et al. (1985).
(Gonzftlez-Ferr•tn et al., 1985; Baker et al., 1987), The westernmetallogenic subbelt,mostlydatedat
about 20 km eastof the northernpart of the Mari- 24 to 20 Ma but includinga 17.3-Ma ageat La Coipa
cungabelt. (Sillitoeet al., 1991), hasbeen definedmainlyalong
New geochronologic datafor nine preciousmetal the westernslopeof the DomeykoRangefor at least
depositsandprospects in the Maricungabelt (Sillitoe 120 km andovera widthof about25 km (Fig. 3). The
et al., 1991), in conjunctionwith structuralandero- subbeltishostin itsnorthernpartto epithermalsilver-
1244 T. VILA AND R. H. SILLITOE

• 'VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV•'
A A A ,/A '"' VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV
VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV

A GUANAC•
HIll VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV
•VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV
•VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV
VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV
'VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV
A A A ,vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv
VVVVVVVVVVVVVVV
A •'VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV
A A/•vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv
•VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV
• ¾vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv*
• :• AYvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv
A • •:• ''•VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV•
• • • •vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv
• • •A•vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv
,•.• .... m•b Immt •VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV•o •-
.,•b•Sa•k. q.'• VVVVVVVVVVVVVVV .... V
&Jm,la•an•aa VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV
m,]annnnn.'a
A A
.•anaaacn• A VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV
.mmmnaaaaaa.
A
.mmml•aana' A VVVVV•VVVVVVVVVV
VVVVV VVVVVVVVVV
'VVVVVVVVVVVVV
VVVVVVVVVV
A VVVVVVVVVVV
VVVVVVVVVV
VVVVVVVVV
A VVVVVVVV
VVVVVVV• •
VVVVVVV•
IVVVVVVVV•
A A A A •vvvvvvvvv•
tVVVVVVVVV•
'VVVVVVVVVV
A A A A A vvvvvvvvvv
A A
A
','li_
ll
A A
A VERDE
HILL'-

A
A A
A
A /•'AA
•A A A
A A
A
500 A A
, A A A
A
meters 69
ø191 A A A
QUATERNARY[
•-'] Alluvium [• Quartz stockwork
(intense
K-silicate
alterationdotted)
MIDDLE
MIOCENE•-•-•
Andesitic-dadtic
volcanics
C• >0.1
ppm
Au
insoil
EARLY
MIOCENE-
'• Dadte
porphyry
plug • Reverse
fault,
teeth
on
upthrown
side
• Andesitic
volcanics/
hydrothermally
brecciated
• Normal
fault,showing
downthrown
side
LATE
JURASSIC Non-marinesedimentary
rocks
E.
CRETACEOUS
:'•:•-I-andesitic
volcanics
•,.MDip
and
strike
ofbeds
PERMIAN-
L• Rhyolitic
EARLYTRIASSIC ignimbrite
FIG.4. Geologic sketch
of theRefugioporphyry system andenvirons,
Maricunga
belt,northern
Chile.Scalelimitations
precludedelimitation
of quartzdioriteporphyry
stocks
andapophysesin the
quartzstockworkareas.

golddeposits acidsulfatetypeas- VolefinCopiap6

ofhighsulfidation, massif
for 25 kin,whereit encom-
sociatedwith dacite dome complexesat Esperanza passes
well-documented
gold-rich
porphyry
deposits
andLa Coipa,whereasin its southern partthereis a at MarteandLoboandthegeologically simfiar
Valy
predominance of gold-richporphyry-type mineral- andEscondido prospects(Fig.3). Thesubbelt may
ization in subvolcanicstocks,with or without epi- extend50 km farthersouthto includethe Aldebaran
thermalveinsof high sulfidationtype, asat La Pepa, gold-rich
porphyry
deposit
andrelated
highsulfida-
min- tionepithermal
Refugio,andSantaCecfiia.The porphyry-type veins(Fig.3).Thepositions
ofPan-
eralization in this western subbelt is associatedwith tanillos,
partofthewestern
subbelt
based
onage,and
degraded volcanic centersandhasbeenaffected by Aldebaran demonstrate spatialoverlapbetweenthe
mid-Miocene (ca. 18 Ma) reversefaultingto reveal twometallogenicsubbelts.Gold-rich porphyry-type
relativelydeep,K silicate-alteredrocksin someup- mineralizationis associated with compoundstrato-
thrown blocks. volcanoes
that are relativelylittle eroded,suchas
The easternmetallogenic subbeltisdatedat 14 to VolefinCopiap6,Jotabeche, andCadillal(Figs.2
13Maandisrecognized along theeastern sideofthe and 3).
 Au PORPHYRY,
MARICUNCABELT,CHILE 1245

At some of these compoundvolcanoes,such as roxene-amphibole-bearing throughamphibole-bio-

Volcftn Copiap6, radiometric dating documentsa tite-bearingandesitesand dacitesto biotite dacite,
protractederuptive history (ca. 5 m.y.), with late- andareof mediumto highK calc-alkaline
composition
stageactivity (10-8.6 Ma; Walker et al., 1985) per- (Mulja, 1986; Bruce,1988). MiddleMiocenevolca-
sistingevenafter the mainlocusof volcanismhad mi- nicsare commonlyparts of recognizablestratovol-
gratedeastwardto the WheelwrightVolcanicGroup canoes,as at Marte, Lobo, and Aldebaran. Middle
(8.8-6.1 Ma; Gonzfdez-Ferrftn et al., 1985; Bakeret Miocenevolcanicrockspartlycoveredandhelpedto
al., 1987). The late Miocene Wheelwright Volcanic protectearlyMiocenealteration-mineralization
zones
Group and youngervolcanicrockseastof the Mari- which,judgingby theirproximityto middleMiocene
cungabelt alsohost extensivehydrothermalaltera- volcaniccenters(Figs.2 and3), were exhumedonly
tion, but no mineralizationof consequence other than relativelyrecently.
sulfuris reported to date.
Intrusive complexes
Porphyry-typeMineralization Subvolcanicporphyritic intrusive complexesare
Distribution recognizedlocallyin the Maricungabelt andappear
to be locatedprincipallyin the nucleiof erodedcom-
In the Maricungabelt, nine examplesof well-de- poundvolcanoes, exclusivelyin associationwith areas
velopedporphyry-typemineralizationcarryinggold of hydrothermalalteration.Somepetrographicdif-
andvariableamountsof copperhavebeenrecognized ferences are detected between intrusions in the west-
to date (Table 1): Marte, Lobo, Valy, Escondido,A1- ern andeasternsubbelts,althoughthe absenceof un-
debaran (Casale Hill sector), La Pepa, Refugio, alteredintrusiverocksprecludesmeaningfulwhole-
Amalia,andSantaCecilia.Weakly developedquartz rock analysis.
stockworking similarin styleto that constitutingthe Intrusions in the eastern subbelt are all dark-col-
porphyry-typemineralization,andanomalous in gold, oredporphyrystocksanddikesof predominantly di-
wasobservedwithinthe alterationzonesat Esperanza, oritic composition.The texturesof the least altered
La Coipa, and Pantanillos,but it is not well enough rocksarefine-to medium-grained porphyritic,locally
developedto be considered furtherhere.Asdescribed with flow featuresaroundlarge seriate phenocrysts
above, porphyry-typemineralizationis present in of zonedplagioclase. Marlcscomprise relictsofbiotite,
both the western--early Miocene--and eastern-- hornblende,and very subordinatepyroxene,all al-
middle Miocene--metallogenicsubbelts(Fig. 3; Ta- tered largelyto chlorite,sericite,and clay. Surface
ble 1). mappingandcoreloggingof the LoboandMarte sys-
tems reveal a strikinglysimilar intrusiveevolution,
Volcanic wall rocks with pre-, syn-,andlate mineralization phasesdistin-
guishable. The sequences beginwithrelativelycoarse-
The porphyrystocksin the Maricungabelt transect graineddioriteporphyryfollowedby at leastonefiner
mainlyvolcanicrocksat observedlevels(Table1). As grainedporphyryof similarcomposition, andfinally
establishedabove,the volcanicrocksare broadlyco- by fine-grainedand only weakly porphyriticmicro-
eval with spatiallyassociatedalteration-mineraliza- diorite displayingmiaroliticcavities.At leastthree
tion, of either early or middle Mioceneage (Fig. 3), microdioritephasesspanningthe mineralizationin-
except at Amalia where the wall-rocklavasare be- terval are recognizedin the Lobo deposit.Intrusive
lieved to be Early Triassic. contactsare generallyabruptandclearcut,although
Early Miocene volcanic rocks, which host por- microdioritestend to have brecciatedand partially
phyry-typemineralizationat La Pepa,Refugio,and assimilated earlierintrusions
alongtheir roofsat Marte
SantaCecilia in the western subbelt,attain thicknesses and Lobo to form intrusion brecciasconsistingof
of 500 m and comprisemainly pale-coloreddacitic dioriteporphyryxenolithsin a microdioritematrix.
to andesitictuffsandbreccias,includinglahars,with The stock at Santa Cecilia in the western subbelt
localintercalationsof poorlyweldedfelsicignimbrite appearsto comprisedioriteporphyryandmicrodior-
(asat SantaCecilia) and lacustrinesediments.These ite similar to those in the eastern subbelt. At Amalia
sequenceswere displacedappreciablyby the mid- andLa Pepa,however,porphyriesare quartzdioritic,
Miocene reverse faulting and commonlyowe their as are severalof the numerouspoorly definedpor-
preservationto tectonicallycontrolled depressions phyry phasesat Refugio (Table 1). Quartz diorite
(e.g.,Refugio;Fig. 4) withinwhichthey are underlain porphyriesare commonlydark green in color and,
unconformably by Paleozoic-Mesozoicbasement. becauseof their fine-grainedmatrices,might be
Middle Miocenevolcanicsequences in the eastern termeddaciteporphyries.Phenocryst populations
are
subbeltarethicker,up to 1,000 m, andcontainmajor dominatedby oligoclase-andesine accompanied by
proportionsof dark-coloredandesiticto daciticlavas only scarce(3-4 vol %) marlcs,whichcompriseclay-
and lesspyroclasticmaterial.Lavasrange from py- sericite-chlorite-altered
biotite, hornblende,andpy-
1246 T. VILA AND R. H. SILLITOE

Z Z Z Z Z

Z Z o Z

Z Z Z •

e.,
<
 Au PORPHYRY,
MARICUNGABELT,CHILE 1247

roxene. The rounded quartz eyes display over- termediateargillicalteration,tracesof sphalerite,and

growths. at Marte, enargite and tennantiteas well. At Alde-
A distinctivefeatureof severalintrusivecomplexes baran and Refugio,disseminatedgrainsand veinlets
throughoutthe Maricungabelt is the presenceof of magnetitewere introducedaspart of the K silicate
postmineralization daciteporphyryplugsexhibiting assemblage, but much of it underwentpartial marti-
flow bandingand only weak propylitic alteration. tization during overprintingby specularitc-bearing
Plugscut mineralizedintrusionsor their immediate quartzstockworks, apparentlywith K silicatestability
wall rocksat La Pepa, Refugio (Fig. 4), and Santa maintained.In intermediateargillic alteration,mar-
Cecilia in the western subbelt and at Aldebaran in titized magnetite and specularitcpredominateand
the eastern subbelt. only minor magnetiteremains.Iron oxidesrangein
volumebetween 5 and 10 vol percent and sulfides
Hydrothermal alteration and mineralization
from 1 to 5 percent. K silicatealterationzonestend
Goldmineralization of porphyrytype in the Mar- to be lower in total sulfidecontent (1-3 vol %) and
icungabelt accompanies twobroadtypesof alteration: to containmorecopper(pyrite/chalcopyrite = 3; 0.1-
K silicateand intermediateargillic,or mixturesbe- 0.3% Cu) than zoneswith intermediate argillic as-
tweenthem(Table1). Otheralterationtypesrecog- semblages.For example, copper contents average
nizedbeyondmaingoldzonesaremarginalpropylitic, only0.12 percentat Loboand0.05 percentat Marte.
spatiallyrestrictedsericitic (phyllic), and shallow- Little isknownof the mineralogic residenceof gold
leveladvanced argillic,thelastdescribed belowunder in the Maricungaporphyry-typemineralization,al-
the sectionon the epithermalenvironment. thoughnativegoldgrainsfrom5 to 50 #min maximum
K silicatealterationis best developedin stock- exposeddimensions havebeenobservedin quartzand
workedquartzdioriteporphyries atAmalia,Refugio, as inclusionsin pyrite and magnetite.However, the
and Casale Hill, where biotite as disseminations, closecorrelationbetweengoldgradesandstockwork
veinlets,andmaficpseudomorphs, andalkalifeldspar intensitysuggests that mostgoldis presentin quartz
in veinletsand as a matrixflooding,are developed veinlets.Averagegoldcontentsof stockworks accom-
pervasively.The alkalifeldsparis albiteat CasaleHill paniedby K silicate-dominated alterationat Refugio
(N.M. Lindsay,unpub.rept., 1989). Gypsumafter and CasaleHill approximate1.0 and 0.6 ppm, re-
anhydritealsooccursat deeperlevels(ca. 300 m) at spectively,but attain1.6 and 1.43 ppm,respectively,
CasaleHill where it escapedsupergenedissolution in intermediateargilliczonesat Lobo and Marte.
(seebelow). Stockworksare madeup of multiple generations
Intermediate argillic alteration is the term em- of multidirectionalquartz veinletswhich range in
ployed to describequartz-chlorite-sericite-clay as- width from I mm to 3 cm. Veinletsare composedof
semblagesthat accompanymostgold-bearingstock- translucent,white, gray,andblackvarietiesof quartz
workselsewherein the Maricungabelt (Table1);they which, especiallyat Marte, are interbandedwithin
are best studiedin diorite porphyriesat Marte and individualveinlets.Quartzstockworks at Marte,Lobo,
Lobo. Clay hasbeen subjectedto only limitedX-ray Valy, andRefugioare cut by one or more later gen-
diffractionanalysisand is therefore poorly known. erationsof white, opaquechalcedonyveinlets,which
However, muchof it in oxidizedrock is suspectedto carry pyrite but not iron oxides.These chalcedony
be kaolinitc of supergeneorigin. Smectite is also veinlets at Marte and Valy are most abundantim-
presentin sulfide-bearing rock (N. M. Lindsay,pers. mediatelybeneath the advancedargillic caps.All
commun.,1990) andisconsidered hypogene.Plagio- stockworks carrya preponderance of steeplydipping,
clasephenocrysts underwentconversionto clay,ser- northwest-trending veinlets,which occurcommonly
icite, and minor chlorite, marlcsto chlorite and sub- ascloselyspacedbundlestraceablefor severalmeters
ordinatesericiteand clay, and groundmass silicates alongstrike.The northwestalignmentof veinletsis
to clay-sericite-chloritemixtures.Gypsumis ubiqui- mostmarkedat Marte, Valy, andEscondido,where
tous,especiallyat Marte, ascrosscutting veinletsand stockworks follow the strike for 300 to 400 m but
impregnationsand is believed to result in part from rangein width from only 30 m at Valy to 150 m at
hydrationof anhydrite. Marte. In contrast,at Lobo a steep,annularbody of
BothK siliciteandintermediate argillicalteration multidirectionalstockworkingdominatedby north-
carry disseminated grainsof hypogenesulfidesand west-andnortheast-striking veinletscarriesthe gold
iron oxidesand are transectedby quartz veinlet mineralizationandsurroundsa low-grade(<0.1 ppm
stockworkswhich also contain the same sulfides and Au) core (Figs. 5 and 6). At Marte and Lobo, gold
iron oxides.Iron oxidescomprisemagnetiteandhe- gradesincreasesystematicallyinward from the pe-
matite,the latter presentin both specularform and ripheriesof the stockworksto attain 2 to 3 ppm in
as martitc after magnetite. Sulfidesare dominated their centers(Fig. 6); local higher grade (4-7 ppm
completelyby pyrite but alsoincludeminor chalco- Au) zonesare alsopresent.
pyrite, tracesof bornitc and molybdenite,and in in- Availableevidencesuggests that intermediatear-
1248 T. VILA AND R. H. SILLITOE

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv ..._ I
69 ø 02' --• 0 meters 500
WCERRO
VILLALOBOS•
W
VVVVVVVVVVVVVV
VVVVVVVVVVVVVVV
VVVVVVVVVVVVVVV
VVVVVVVVVVVVVVV
VVVVVVVVVVVVVV
VVVVVVVV
VVVVVVVV
VVVVVVV
VVVVVVV
VVVV

A
A

A A

A A
A A

A
A 27 ø

A A
A

Alluvium - colluvium

Hydrothermal
breccia{advanced
argillic
alteration}
Intrusion
breccia,
microdiorite
matrix ....
• Quartz
stockwork
Diorite
porphyries :...• Supergene
argillization
Villalobos
dacitelava •_ Fault,
inferred
inpart
Dacite
breccia
-t-tuff •- "• Line
ofsection
Andesire
lava •---=-',• Creeks

FIG.5. Surfacegeologyof theLoboporphyrydepositandenvirons,Maricungabelt, northernChile.

gillicalterationdevelopedat the expenseof preex- BothK silicateand intermediateargillicalteration

istingK silicateassemblages.Weaklydevelopedin- are transitionaloutwardto propyliticalterationchar-
termediateargillicalterationpartiallyoverprinted
K acterizedby chlorite, epidote, calcite, and several
silicatezonesat Refugioand CasaleHill, and volu- percentpyrite. Propylitizedrockson the lowermost
metricallyminor remnantsof hydrothermalbiotite northwesternperiphery of the SantaCecilia system
andalkalifeldsparwere observed
in handsamples are cut by narrowquartz-barite-chalcopyrite-galena
and thin sectionsof drill core from Santa Cecilia, veinscarryinggoldand silvervalues.
Marte, and Lobo.Thus,mostof the gold-bearing A small area of sericitic alteration with tourmaline
quartzveinlets,whichare sulfidepoor,aswell asthe andpyrite is exposedpoorlyon the northernperiph-
magnetiteare believedto havebeen introduceddur- ery of the K silicatezone at CasaleHill andmay be
ing K silicate-stable
events. considered transitional to that described below in the
 Au PORPHYRY,
MARICUNGABELT,CHILE 1249

vein zone farther west. Similar sericitization is also

4250-
presentat SantaCecilia,where it overprintedinter-
mediateargillic-altereddiorite porphyry.
Hydrothermalbreccias
Hydrothermalbrecciationis a commonbut volu-
metricallyunimportantfeatureof porphyrysystems
in the Maricungabelt. Brecciasare all intra- to late
mineralizationin age and commonlyappearto have
beenlocalizedby preexistingfaultsor fault intersec-
tions(e.g., Figs. 5 and 6).
,•) Late-mineralization
hydrothermal
breccia Intramineralizationbrecciasconstituterelatively
(• Intrusion
breccia,
microdiorite
matrix smallbodies,up to tensof meterslong,atMarte,Lobo,
• Diorite
porphyries Refugio,and CasaleHill, where they are character-
Fault zone
izedby tightlypackedfragments of stockworked por-
I•t?'Approx.
outer
limit
of
stockwork phyry cementedby smallvolumesof hydrothermal
HYDROTHERMAL 4250- minerals.Fragmentsunderwentrotationbut probably
not a great deal of displacement.Specularhematite,
:-.•.. ALTERATION whichpostdatedthat in quartzveinletstockworks, is
('.•'."':':
:t:
:. a prominentbrecciacement,especiallyat Refugioand
•.•...:'. •. o.
CasaleHill, whereasquartzandpyrite are alsoabun-
dant in brecciasat Marte andLobo. Oxidizedcopper
,.

mineralsafter chalcopyriteoccur between breccia

,•:ø fragments at RefugioandCasaleHill, andat thislatter
locality,a pulseof goldmineralizationclearlyaccom-
paniedintroductionof the hydrothermalcement.
::• Argillic
(supergene) Late mineralizationbrecciasare of two maintypes.
• Advanced argillic The first is recognizedat Marte and Lobo, where it
• Quartz-chlor'•e-sericite-clay
overprinting is relatedspatiallyandprobablytemporallyto micro-
K-silicate
dioritesandassociated intrusionbreccias.Fragments
A GOLD
DISTRIBUTION
"•4250 - in thesebrecciasare angularand polylithologic,ap-
pear to have undergonemore transportthan thosein
the intramineralization breccias, and are cemented
by rockflouraswell ashydrothermalminerals.Brec-
ciasof thistype at Marte are highlychloritized(Vila
et al., 1991). The secondtype of late mineralization
brecciais presentasfunnel-shaped bodiesup to 50
m across or as dikelike bodies from I to 10 m wide
ø and up to 100 m long. These breccias,well repre-
•(•n^u),•,i•• 4000- sentedat Lobo (Figs.5 and 6), Valy, andEscondido,
comprisepoorly definedfragmentsin a vuggy,rock
flour matrix,which in the linear, northwest-striking
A
SULFIDE
DISTRIBUTION bodiesalsodisplaysthe effectsof faulting (Fig. 6).
These breccias are silicified, alunitized, kaolinized,

• '14"'.;¾.
4250- pyritized, and carry smallamountsof native sulfur,
and at Lobo, hypogenecovellite,and are considered
as the telescopedrootsto the overlyingepithermal
environment(seebelow).
I- •'••,•' t •.'-'
Supergene alteration
r i
The principalsupergeneeffectsin the porphyry-
4•-
type stockworksof the Maricungabelt are the con-
• •idized-leached
zones
Sulfides,
mainlypyrite(1-3vol•/,)
'•,• asdiss•inaflons
&veinle• FIG. 6. Schematiccrosssections(alongA-A' in Fig. 5) showing
!ithology,hydrothermalalteration,gold distribution,and sulfide
0I • metersl(approf.
) fro distribution
at theLoboporphyrydeposit,Marieungabelt,north-
ern Chile.
1250 T. VILA AND R. H. SILLITOE

temporaneousleachingof sulfides,kaolinizationof vancedargillic alterationcontainingpreciousmetal

silicates(especiallyplagioclase),and hydrationto mineralizationof high sulfidation,acid sulfatetype
gypsumor removalof anhydrite.Leachingproduced (e.g., Bonham,1986; Heald et al., 1987) are clearly
mainlygoethitein K silicateassemblages butjarosite observablein the Maricungabelt (Table1). The most
in other,morepyriticalterationtypes,andprogressed completelyexposedexampleis at Aldebaran(Figs.7
rather irregularly.Leachedrock extendsto a depth and 8), but erosionalremnantsof advancedargillic
of about150 m at CasaleHill but to only20 to 50 m, zonesalsoarepresentascapsabovequartzstockworks
dependingon the topography,in the PanchoHill sec- at Marte, Valy, SantaCecilia, and La Pepa. That at
tor at Refugio(Fig. 4). At Lobo,sulfideoxidationand Marte was removed as part of the preproduction
kaolinizationattaina depth of 150 m beneaththe stripping.
northwest-trending, fault-controlled
valleybut arenot At Aldebaran,the K silicate-altereddiorite por-
as deepwithin the annulusof quartzstockworking phyry stockandits containedgold-bearingstockwork
(Fig. 6). Marte displaysa deepleachedzoneoverlain istransitionalwestwardandupwardthrougha system
by a horizon of sulfide-bearingrock as a result of of veinsborderedby advancedargillicalterationto a
theimpermeability of a remnantadvanced argilliccap caplikezoneof pervasiveadvancedargillicalteration.
(seebelow;Vila et al., 1991). The entire sequenceis exposedover distancesof 3.5
Oxidized copper minerals are absent from the km horizontallyand 1 km vertically (Figs.7 and 8).
leachedcappings,exceptfor minor malachitein K The vein zone cropsout over about I km2 and
silicate-altered
porphyries at RefugioandCasaleHill. compriseschloritized andesiticbreccia and tuff cut
However, incipient supergeneenrichmentaffected by a swarmof steep,west-northwest(N 500-80 øW)-
all systems,with localizedconcentrations of covellite strikingquartz veins,which are 2 to 10 m wide and
and/or chalcocite(sensulato) beneaththe leached up to 700 m long. The veins bifurcate, pinch, and
cappingsaccounting for copperassays ashighas0.5 swell, are discontinuous alongstrike, and are sigmoi-
to 0.6 percentat Lobo, Refugio,and CasaleHill but dal in plan; manyof them exhibit hydrothermalbrec-
substantiallylower(maximum 0.27%Cu) in the cop- ciation.Vein selvageschangefromsericite-tourmaline
per-poor Marte system. in proximityto the K silicatezone, at the easternex-
tremity of the zone, to quartz-alunitealongmuchof
Relationswith the EpithermalEnvironment its length. Sericite-tourmalinealterationthereforeis
Unambiguous transitionsbetweengold-bearing foundasvein selvages aswell aslocallyin association
porphyry-typestockworks andshallowerzonesof ad- with the porphyry-typequartzstockwork(seeabove).

Cathedral Peak,

VeinZone
• Casale Hill'
.•.,

FIG. 7. The Aldebaranporphyrysystem,Maricungabelt, northernChile, viewed from the north.

The CasaleHill sectorwith its diorite porphyrystockand quartzveinlet stockworkis at the eastern
extremity(left, trenchesvisible)of the alterationzone,the vein zoneis in the middle,andthe advanced
argi!!iczoneunderlyingCathedralPeakis at the westernextremity(right).
 Au PORPHYRY,MARICUNGABELT, CHILE 1251

A CATHEDRAL
PEAK
J
meters a.s.I.
ADVANCED
ARGILLIC
ALTERATION
I Hg,As,[Au) -• VEINZONE
$000 . ,,, A CASALEHILL

A • • 'i i•"•A ,•'.•l•. _.•,•_

!•Pb, Zn,Ag,Sb,tAuJ I K SILICATE
ALTERATION
.txX!•XxXx• •1•,,• QUARTZ - SPECULARITE
STOCKWORK
4500 :•--•... •
f X
xX xX X X

w•••vvv NEVADO
RIVER
4000 ....• \ •vvvvvvv•
Hypotheticalstock
-•i----------•--•--•-•••-
-•••_...••.
_•..•_.•_...•.. •,• . ••
V V V •;•/•
w • E

MIDDLEMIOCENE EARLYMIOCENE Predominant soil

Post-mineralizafion
dacite
porphyry• Andesitc
tuff I I geochemical
signature
Diorite
porphyry • Conglomerate
lens l Chalcedonic vein
Andesitc
breccia • Andesite
lava Quartz stockwork
0 500 1000
meters • Red
sandstone,
breccia
and
I , • conglomerate // Normal fault

FIG. 8. Schematic crosssectionthroughthe Aldebaranporphyrysystem,northernChile,fromK

silicate-altered
stockworkat CerroCasaleto the epithermalenvironment
at CathedralPeak.The chal-
cedonic veinsstrikeparallelto thesection
linesoaremarkedin generalized
formonly.

Centralveinsuturescarry3 to 5 vol percentdissem- west-northwest-striking, barite-bearingchalcedonic

inatedandveinletpyriteaccompanied locallyby en- quartzveinscarryingup to 120 ppmAg and<1 ppm
argite, luzonite, and tennantite-tetrahedrite. Silver Au aredevelopedirregularly.Muchof the veinchal-
contentsrangefrom 30 to 600 ppm,but goldvalues cedonyis the porous,residualvariety.Nativesulfur
are <1 ppm. Vein quartz is chalcedonicand of re- is widespread andconstitutes asmuchas10 volper-
placementorigin.Its textureis generallydenseand centof the rockat the highestelevations(>5,000 m).
massive but locallyporousandslaggy:the residual Anomalously high arsenicsoilgeochemistry (seebe-
productof hypogene leachingunderlow pH condi- low) and surficialoccurrencesof scoroditesuggest
tions(vuggysilicaof Stoffregen,1987). The chalce- the presenceof enargitein the veinsbeforeoxidation.
donyis accompanied by bariteandminornativesul- At Marte and Valy, caplikezonesof pyritic chal-
fur.Thequartzveinsareaccompanied, andprobably cedonicquartz-alunite-kaolinite-(diaspore) alteration
cut,by a subordinate setof narrow(0.1-0.5 m), mas- carryingbarite, nativesulfur,and at Marte, tracesof
sivesulfideveinsdominated by well-crystallized py- disseminatedenargite directly overlie the quartz
rite alongwith chalcopyrite (1-3 vol %), sphalerite, stockworks but do not containappreciableprecious
andgalena(up to 20 vol % combined).Silvervalues metalvalues(Vila et al., 1991). Similarchalcedony-
rangefrom30 to 200 ppm,butagaingoldis<1 ppm. rich,advanced argillicremnants constitute
thehighest
Veinsin the easternpart of the zone are flanked groundin the vicinitiesof porphyrystockworks at
by intensekaolinizationwhich coincideswith thick SantaCeciliaandLa Pepa,where they are both un-
surfaceaccumulations of gypcrete.Suchlargecon- derlainandborderedby chalcedonic veinscarrying
centrationsofgypsum mayhaveformedbysupergenelocalconcentrations of enargiteandgold.The N 20 ø
acidattackofchloritized wallrocksand/orsupergeneW-strikingveinsof porous,residualchalcedony-(bar-
hydrationof vein anhydrite.Jarosite,chalcanthite, itc-nativesulfur)at La Pepacarryhighgoldvalues,
scorodite,andwavelliteare presentassurficialoxi- locally50 to 100 ppm. At SantaCecilia, advanced
dationproducts. argillic alteration affected two subhorizontalsheets
The CathedralPeak sector,at the westernend of of unweldedfelsicignimbritewhichare cutby chal-
theAldebaran alteration
zone(Figs.7 and8), consistscedonic veins.
of a roughlytabular,500-m-thick
massof pervasive Advancedargillicalterationthat characterized late
advancedargillic (chalcedonicquartz-crystallinemineralization breccias
at LoboandValy(seeabove),
alunite-kaolinite-pyrite)alteration, within which aswell asthat presentaroundvery minorbarite-and
1252 T. VILA AND R. H. SILLITOE
nativesulfur-bearingveinsat Refugio,is similarto
thatin the remnantcapsat Marte,Valy, SantaCecilia,
Aldebaran,and La Pepa and may be interpreted as
the deeperpartsof oncemoreextensive zonesof ad-
vancedargillicalteration.
GeochemicalRelationships
Multielementlithogeochemical dataobtainedfrom
representative drill coresare availableonlyfor Marte
andLoboorebodies,whereasmultielementrockchip
andgrid soilgeochemistry were conductedoverand
aroundall zonesof porphyry-typestockworks. Se-
lected aspectsof this vastdata baseare summarized
here, with particularemphasison the verticallyex-
tensiveAldebaransystem.
Lithogeochemical datafor Marte(Vilaet al., 1991)
and Lobo showthat they constitutegold-onlyore-
bodiesandpossess low copperandmolybdenumcon-
tents (Table 1). Copper averages0.05 and 0.12 per-
cent and molybdenum46 and 7 to 10 ppm, respec-
tively. On this basis,Marte andLobo are designated
asporphyrygolddeposits(Vila et al., 1991). Copper
contents listed in Table 1 for the Santa Cecilia, Re-
fugio,andCasaleHill stockworks are of the sameor-
der but, with the exceptionof that for SantaCecilia,
are averagesfor mainlyoxidizedrock.Thereforehy-
pogenecoppercontentsare certainlyhigher at Re-
fugioand CasaleHill. All other metalsin the Marte
andLoboorebodiesare eitheronlyweaklyanomalous
or approachaveragecrustalabundances. Silver and
antimonyare both •1 ppm. However,three elements
(Pb, As, Hg) are notablyhigher in Marte ore (185
ppm, 125 ppm, 170 ppb) than in Lobo ore (48 ppm,
46 ppm, 20 ppb).
Soilgeochemicaldata availableover all Maricunga
porphyry-typestockworks mirror the lithogeochem-
ical results from Marte and Lobo. There is also a close
correspondence betweensoil and rock chip values,
asshownby goldresultsat Lobo (Fig. 9). The K sil-
icatezoneat Aldebaran,for example,is characterized
by broadlycoincidentgold(•0.1 ppm),copper(• 100
ppm),andmolybdenum(•9 ppm)anomalies(Fig. 10;
Table 2). Gold (up to 10.4 ppm) and molybdenum
(up to 647 ppm) describea subcircularpatterncoin-
cidentwith the quartzstockwork,althoughthe latter
anomalyis lesswidespreadthanthe former(Fig. 10).
In contrast,the copper anomaly,accompaniedby
subordinatezincvalues,ismoreclearlyorientedwest-
northwest thereby reflecting the main structural
alignmentof the entire Aldebaransystem(Fig. 10).
Similar soil geochemicalsignaturesoutline the Re-
fugio, Marte, Lobo, and Valy stockworks, although
molybdenumanomaliesat the lastthree are more ex-
tensiveareallythan thoseof gold and copper.Zinc
generallyconstitutesa well-definedhalo aroundAu-
Cu-Mo anomalies, asat Marte (Vila et al., 1991), Lobo
(Fig.9), Valy,Escondido,andCasaleHill (Fig. 10),
although atRefugio
it isrestricted
areallyanddefines
severalsmall podlike zoneswithin the Au-Cu-Mo
anomaly.Arsenicalsoadoptsa peripheralpositionat
Lobo (Fig. 9).
At Aldebaran, the Casale Hill copper anomaly
overlaps westward with anextensive(2.3 X 0.4 kin)
polymetallic anomaly definedbysilver(•3 ppm),lead
(•200 ppm), zinc (•300 ppm), and antimony(•6
ppm), whichreflectsthe sulfidesuite(seeabove)
presentin the vein zone(Fig. 10; Table 2). Intense
Ag-Pb-Zn-Sb soilanomaliesgenerated
bypolymetallic
veinsystems havenotbeenencountered in association
with any otherporphyrysystems in the Maricunga
belt, with the possible
exceptionofEscondido, where
silver-leadsoil anomaliesmay be relatedto a single
siliceousvein superimposed on the linear,gold-and
copper-bearing
stockwork.However,Ag-Pb-Zn-Sb
anomalies
alsocharacterizeperipheralportionsof the
lowerignimbritesheetat SantaCecilia(seeabove).
Theveinzonepolymetallic anomalygradesupward
and westward into a zone dominatedby mercury
(•400 ppb)andarsenic(•100 ppm),whichcoincides
with advancedargillicalterationof CathedralPeak
(Fig. 10; Table 2). Arsenicgivesway to mercuryat
thehighestelevations (ca.5,000m)wherenativesul-
fur is mostwidespreadin outcrop.Other Maricunga
porphyrysystems lacksuchhighHg-Asanomalies,
although theadvanced argilliccapsatMarteandValy
are alsocharacterized by elevatedmercuryand ar-
senicvalues:up to 280 ppb and 300 ppm, respec-
tively,at Marte(Vilaet al., 1991).Latemineralization
hydrothermal brecciaatEscondido isalsooutlinedby
Hg-Assoilanomalies. The capsat MarteandValyare
characterizedby relativelyhigh bismuth(up to 44
ppm)andthallium(up to 23 ppm),but bismuthdis-
tributionisveryerraticat CathedralPeakandfailsto
define a coherentanomaly.Only copperand gold
constituteappreciableanomaliesover the advanced
argilliccapat SantaCecilia.No dataare availableto
usfor the advancedargilliccap at La Pepa.
A Model for MaricungaPorphyry Systems
The geologicsettings,structuralcontrols,host
rocks, intrusive sequences,and alteration-mineral-
izationtypesof the Maricungaporphyrysystems are
so similar,irrespectiveof whether they are early or
middleMiocenein age,thatobservations fromall nine
depositsandprospects maybe integratedto produce
a well-constrainedoccurrencemodel (Fig. 11).
Within the porphyryenvironment(Fig. 11), inter-
pretationsof geologicrelationships,
hydrothermalal-
teration patterns, lithogeochemistry,and volcanic
geomorphologysuggestthat the observedintrusive
complexes were erodedto differentdegrees.The api-
cesof compositestocksare exposedbeneatherosional
 Au PORPHYRY,
MARICUNGABELT,CHILE 1253

SOIL GEOCHEMISTRY '

•A'-•>• 0.2pp• / ',.•..' '. ' ' ' - .
-•"•'.'•Cu
• 100ppm //.' '/' •'•./'"")'.[ i ' •-..'
':'_-...•.'
Zn>•100ppm /' \ ' ' ' '','"-
ß-x, As>•100ppm J' I'
. ßCu.;.-". )-
d. '._:?•./',),'.-'•'_..
-/' ' '
-' L,. '. ' ß
ROCK
CHIP
GEOCHEMISTRY'
''••".'•'/>'-•{ ß' ' '
J•)Au
>•0.5ppm
,/ '
inquartzstockwork ' •""'"'•".•.'"
t I \ x
I I
/
,/

/-.-.,\
/ \
..-.... / )
! \ /

i i

I
• 27ø14

• / • /
I / .•. /
• / / I

o
I .I 200
i • • • / /
mete• •
FIG. 9. Selectedsoilandrockchip geochemical
dataover the Loboporphyrydeposit,Maricunga
belt, northern Chile.

remnants of the originalvolcanicroofsat Marte(Vila obliteratedby overprintedintermediateargillic as-

et al., 1991),Valy,SantaCecilia,andLaPepa,where semblages (Fig. 11), andadvancedargillicalteration
the relictvolcanics underwentadvanced argillical- is absentexceptfor the very minor late veinsat Re-
teration.Volcanicroofswere removedby deeper fugio. At Amalia, even coevalvolcanicrocksare ab-
erosionat Lobo and Escondido,where advancedar- sent.

gillicalteration
ispresentonlyasanoverprintin veins The interpreted deeper level of erosionat Lobo
andpipesof hydrothermal breccia.Deeperlevelsof than at Marte gainsadditionalsupportfrom the po-
stocks areinferredto be exposedatAmalia,Refugio, sition and size of the late mineralization microdiorite
and Casale Hill, where K silicate alteration was not and associated intrusive breccia which are found as
1254 T. VILA AND R. H. SILLITOE

/• :•;•. C• As>•100ppm
•• ß ..•"•
• •
......
•-•....:..•:/'•'•:•.• ?• C•_•
'•
rI
• ___JSb>•6ppm

• • I t rx CASALE
HILL

0 meters 1000
l I '1
--27* 48'
I

•1 Ag>•3ppm
•Pb •200ppm
•.... '• Zn>•300ppm
,•,•,.ii;•.,!•: /i•;;
--'::.•::---,:::::::.;;::•.
'-,•::::,l,l•;.,
iii•iii{•ii:•i!!iiiiii•i•ii!:.•ii?Ji!ii•iiiiiiiii
.....II lip,: •CASALE HILL
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: dl 4430m
...... :................... •i!!!•i{{•,;i'.i. ':;:.

--27 ø 4•'

690
I 18' "3/",,

•CATHEDRAL
PEAK

:•
':'
5080m
"::.. Au>•O.
• .•7
lppm
• Cu>•100ppm
'll Mo>•9ppm
69 ø 18'
I

FIG. 10. Soilgeochemistry

overthe Cerro Casale,the vein zone,andCathedralPeaksectorsof the
Aldebaranporphyrysystem,Maricungabelt, northernChile. A geologicsectionalongA-A'ispresented
as Figure 8.

smallapophyses onlyat depthat Marte but cropout zoneandthe stockworkapproacheachother.In con-

as sizablebodiesat Lobo (Fig. 5); the higher lead, trast,at Marte, Valy, SantaCecilia,andLa Pepa,the
arsenic,and mercury contentsin gold ore at Marte advancedargillic zones abut directly the tops of
than at Lobo; and applyingthe Lowell and Guilbert the porphyry-typestockworks,thereby giving the
(1970) model,the presenceof a well-developed min- impressionthat the porphyry-typeand epithermal
eralizedannulussurrounding a barrencoreat Lobo. environmentsare telescoped.$illitoe (1989) sug-
A transitionzone(Fig. 11), characterizedby poly-gestedthat suchtelescoping of epithermaloverpor-
metallicveinswith advancedargillicselvages, iswell phyry-typemineralization isdueto activeerosionand
representedonlyin the vein zoneat Aldebaran,which loweringof baselevelsduringthe lifespans of hydro-
lies higherthanthe porphyrystockworkanddeeper thermal systems.
than the main advancedargillic zone. Tourmaline- Epithermalpreciousmetalconcentrations of high
bearingsericiticalterationis presentwhere the vein sulfidation,acid sulfatetype are presentin steep,
 Au PORPHYRY, MARICUNGA BELT, CHILE 1255

TABLE 2. Soil GeochemicalRelationships,AldebaranProspect

Principal element parameters

Associated elements Maximum

Elevation Principal Anomalous Threshold value Anomalous
Sector (m abovesealevel) element Major Erratic samples
• (ppm) (ppm) area(km)

Cathedral
Peak 5,080-4,700 Hg Au,Sb,Zn,Ag 125 (4.2%) 0.3 61 1.2 X 0.9
5,000-4,600 As Ag 473 (16%) 100 6,000 1.5 X 0.7
Vein zone 4,700-4,125 Ag Pb, Zn, Au, Hg, As 314 (11%) 3 176 2.3 X 0.4
Cu, Sb
CasaleHill 4,450-4,050 Au Cu, Mo Ag, Pb, (Sb) 330 (11.2%) 0.1 10.4 1.6 X 1.0

• From 2,941 samples

Analysesby Geolab, Santiago,Chile, usingatomicabsorption

structurallycontrolledbodiescontainingporous,re- rizonsat SantaCeciliaareinterpretedaspalcoaquifers

sidual chalcedonicquartz of replacementorigin, andwere transformedin part to massivechalcedony.
which commonlydisplayshydrothermalbrecciation. Evidenceprovidedby reconstructionof volcanic
The chalcedonic veins cut and underlie the advanced landforms on the southeastern side of the Pastillitos
argilliccapsbut, asa resultof erosion,mayalsooccur stratovolcano,combinedwith interpretationof pre-
at lower elevationsimmediatelybeyond them. The liminaryfluidinclusiondatacollectedfromthe veinlet
veins,in commonwith extraveinadvancedargillical- stockwork,suggeststhat the porphyry gold deposit
teration, carry barite, native sulfur, and enargite. at Marte was generated600 to 700 m beneath the
However, the presenceof structurallycontrolled palcosurface(Vila et al., 1991). At Aldebaran,the au-
chalcedonicveins doesnot ensurethe presenceof riferousstockworkwasgeneratedabout600 to 700
goldand/orsilverore, asemphasized by comparing m beneaththe advancedargillicenvironmentwhich
CathedralPeakat Aldebaranwith La Pepa. is representedat the summitof CathedralPeakif the
The shallowestparts of advancedargillic zones, advancedargilliczoneis projectedhorizontallyeast-
within 200 m or so of the palcosurface,are charac- ward to coverthe CasaleHill sector(Fig. 8). Given
terizedby friableassemblages (Fig.11) in whichopal, the enrichmentin nativesulfurandmercury,no more
cristobalite, and native sulfur are abundant. Such ma- than300 m, andperhapsappreciablyless,is likely to
terial dominates the Soledad(Fig. 3) andotherhigh- have been lost to erosion from Cathedral Peak.
level prospects in the Maricungabelt and cropsout Therefore, porphyry-hostedauriferousstockworks
as erosional remnants west of, and 100 to 200 m were generatedin the Maricungabelt only 600 to
higherthan,the advanced argilliccapat Marte (Vila 1,000 m beneaththe early or middle Miocene vol-
et al., 1991). Mercury may be concentratedin these canicpalcosurface(Fig. 11).
near-surfaceadvancedargillic zones,but baseand
preciousmetals are absent.These shallow advanced Comparisonsand Contrastswith Other
argillic zonesare the productsof acid leachingin- Porphyry Deposits
ducedby aqueoussolutionsresultingfrom conden- On the basisof the descriptionpresentedabove,
sationof HaS-bearingsteamboiled off as ascending the Maricungaporphyrysystemsare closelysimilar
fluidsapproachedthe palcosurfaceand from disso- to gold-richporphyrycoppersystems elsewhere,es-
lution of the condensatein cool groundwater. The peciallythosein the Philippinesandthat at Bajo de
nativesulfur-and mercury-richzonein the vicinity La Alumbrera(andnearbyprospects)in the Faral16n
of the CathedralPeaksummitis interpretedto have Negrodistrictof northwestern Argentina,250 kmeast
immediately underlain a now-erodedacid-leached of the Maricungabelt (Fig. 1). However,the Mari-
zone.
cungasystems possess a numberof very markeddif-
Permeablepyroclasticor epiclastichorizonsat ferenceswith respectto the major porphyrycopper
variousdepthsin the advancedargillicenvironment depositsin northernChile (Fig. 1). This concluding
underwenttransformation to massivechalcedony
and/ sectionhighlightssomeof the comparisons andcon-
or opal, which commonlywere brecciatedhydro- trasts,with specialreferenceto porphyrydepositsin
thermally(Fig.11). Suchhorizons,commonly dubbed the Philippinesandthe centralAndes(Table 3).
"silicacaps"wherethey cropout at the presentsur-
or pa- Crustalsetting
face,areinterpretedasshallowpalcoaquifers
lcowatertables.Thosethat representpalcowaterta- The gold-richporphyrydepositsin the Maricunga
bles are commonlyopaline,devoid of metals,and belt andthe Faral16nNegro district,alongwith por-
overlainby acid-leachedzones.The ignimbriteho- phyrycopper-molybdenum depositselsewherein the
1256 T. VILA AND R. H. SILLITOE

meters RELATIVEEROSION LEVEL

Crater / summit caldera on stratavolcano
Other
Native sulfur concentrations Aldebaran Maricunga
SystemPorphyry
Systems

..
SOLEDAD
.:.:-:-:-:-5-?

";."."•
'*'*"*"*" ...... • LAPEPA
';'o'-'-"-
ß . , . . o. . . --.?.-.--o .

.........
• ' ' ß ' ..... :'-'; ::'. . '.. ' Z • • CECILIAMARTE,VALY
• Original
Ksilicate
f;on,
.' ' '

.. ..........
. I :o
•
....
.•
T
......
ß. . ß . . .
.ß . ..[•.-....
. ß ß .•3•'b'o
ß ' . '. ' ß '. •t•.*.•';•'?,*;
.%* .0o.• '
5•. ' ' .' ' ' :1 I
I i eoo,oo
REFU•O
• ' ' ' ß ' ß' - '
• * * * * * x ß• •x • :::::::::::::::::::::::::::
O •, : •A•[ ..............

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
....... ++. ....• +"
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: / • I ALTERATION
..................
+" • Acid-I•ched

•te• 1• Chalcedony
• • QuaHz•lunite
• Multiple
dio•te/qua•dio•te
•hy• stock Se•citic
LITHOLOGY

[[• Postmineralization
dacite
•'1-•Latemineralization
porphyry
hydrothermal
breccia
• Volcaniclasfic
sediments
Tuff/ignimb•te
A•esite-dacite
qua•
volcani•
wi•
{ Propylitic
stoc•ork Inte•ediate
K argillic
silicate
.:• Latemineralization
microdiorite • Subvolcanic
'•sement'

FIG. l 1. Reconstructed sectionthrougha typicalporphyrysystemin the Maricungabelt, northern

Chile, to showthe transitionfromgoid-(copper)-bearingstockworksto advancedargiilicalterationand
highsu!fidationepithermalmineralizationat shallowlevels.In mostdeposits(SantaCecilia,La Pepa,
Marte, Valy),the stockwork andadvanced argiiliczonesare telescoped,andthe polymetallic veinsof
the transition zone at Aidebaran are absent.

central Andes, were all emplaced at a continental 1975), exceptperhapsinsofaras upper crustallith-
margin characterizedby thick (40-50 km) crust, ologiesmayinfluencethe redoxstateof parentmag-
whereasthe Philippinedepositsall occurin anassem- mas(e.g., Sillitoe,1990).
blage of island arcsbuilt directly on oceaniclitho-
sphere.Clearly, the enrichmentof porphyrycopper Volcanicsetting
depositsin either goldor molybdenum cannotbe at- The gold-richporphyrydeposits in the Maricunga
tributed to the characterof the upper crust (of. Sil- belt, the Faral16nNegrodistrict(Sillitoe,1973), and
litoe, 1979; Perell6 and Cabello, 1989), contraryto the Philippines(SillitoeandGappe,1984) were gen-
viewsexpressed by someinvestigators (e.g.,Hollister, eratedwithincomposite stratovolcanoes of andesitic-
 AuPORPHYRY,
MARICUNGA
BELT,CHILE 1257

TABLE3. Comparison
of PorphyryDepositsin NorthernChile andthe Philippines

An-rich porphyrydeposits,
Maricungabelt, An-richporphyrydeposits, PorphyryCu-Mo
northernChile Philippines deposits,northernChile

Crustal setting Continental Oceanic Continental

Volcanic setting Andesitic stratovolcanoes Andesitic stratovolcanoes Uncertain, but coeval
volcanics deficient
Intrusive complexes Compositestocks Composite stocks Compositestocks
Intrusive composition Diorite-(quartzdiorite) Diorite-quartz diorite Tonalite-granodiorite-
monzogranite
K silicate alteration Ore-related, minor alkali Ore-related, minor alkali Ore-related, abundant
feldspar feldspar K feldspar
Sericitic alteration Very restricted Very restricted Widespread,commonly
beyondore
Intermediate argillic Widespreadoverprintto Widespreadoverprintto Not reported
alteration ore zones ore zones

Quartz stockworking Abundant in ore zones Abundant in ore zones Abundant in ore zones
HypogeneFe oxides Abundant in ore zones Abundant in ore zones Present (but minor) in
some ore zones

Advancedargillic alteration Commonlypreservedabove Commonlypreservedabove Locallypreservedabove

ore zones ore zones ore zones

Hypogene metal content An, Au-Cu Au-Cu, Cu-Au, Cu-Au-Mo Cu-Mo, Cu-Mo-(Au)
Deposit size Small: ca. 50-100 million Medium size: ca. 50-250 Large: 500 million
metric tons million metric tones metric tons
Supergeneenrichment Absent Absent Well developed

(dacitic) composition.As documentedin the Mari- lated to more felsicand potassiccalc-alkalinestocks,

cungabelt, depositgenerationwas at only shallow suchasthe granodiorite-monzogranite porphyriesat
depths,on the order of 1 km (cf. Cox and Singer, Chuquicamata(Alvarezand Aracena,1985) and the
1988). granodioriteporphyriesat E1Salvador(Gustafsonand
In contrast,it hasbeen emphasizedrecentlythat Hunt, 1975), than the gold-bearingdiorite or quartz
manylate Eoceneto earlyOligoceneporphyrycop- dioriteporphyriesof the Maricungabelt andthePhil-
per-molybdenumdepositsin northernChile (e.g., ippines(Sillitoeand Gappe, 1984).
Chuquicamata, Escondida,E1Salvador;Fig. l) were An additional similarity between gold-rich por-
generatedduringanintervalof relativevolcanicqui- phyry depositsin the Maricungabelt and the Phil-
escence(see above),which coincidedwith oblique ippinesis the commonoccurrenceof postminerali-
subductionand transcurrentfaultingat the Chilean zationdaciteporphyryplugs,whichare inferredto
margin (Coira et al., 1989.; Mpodozisand Ramos, have attained the paleosurfacesas domes(Fig. 11).
1990; DavidsonandMpodozis,1991). Stockswhich However,the plugsin the Philippinedepositsare re-
hostthis porphyrycopper-molybdenum mineraliza- lated geneticallyto diatremes(Sillitoe and Gappe,
tion were emplacedinto much older rock unitsbut 1984), the absenceof whichin the Maricungabelt is
may havebeen overlainby smallcentral-ventvolca- attributedto aridity and the consequentdeficiency
noesor flow-domecomplexes.However,gold-poor of the meteoricwater necessaryto induce phreato-
porphyrycopper-molybdenum depositsof late Mio- magmatic activity.
cene age in central Chile (e.g., R•o Blanco-Los Ore-related alteration and mineralization
Bronces,E1 Teniente)were generatedwithin tem-
porally related andesiticvolcanicsequences--the Most hypogeneporphyry copper ores, whether
productsof coalescedstratovolcanoes. they are enrichedin molybdenum,gold,or bothmet-
als, were introduced with K silicatealteration, which
Intrusive complexes gradesoutward to propylitization.However, there
In common with mineralized stocks in the Mari-
tendsto be more alkali feldsparin the K silicateas-
cungabelt, gold-richporphyrycopperstocksin the semblages of porphyrycopper-molybdenum deposits
Philippines(Sillitoeand Gappe,1984) and molyb- in northern Chile (e.g., Gustafsonand Hunt, 1975;
denum-rich porphyrycopperstocks in northernChile, Hunt et al., 1983; Alvarez and Flores, 1985) than in
asexemplifiedby that at E1Salvador(Gustafson and thosepresentin the Maricungabelt or the Philippines
Hunt, 1975),havemultiplephases,the latestof which (Sillitoe and Gappe, 1984). Pyrite-rich sericitic
tend to postdatemuch of the mineralization.How- (phyllic) alterationis developedwidely in the por-
ever,porphyrycopper-molybdenum depositsarere- phyry copper-molybdenumdepositsof northern
1258 T. VILA AND R. H. SILLITOE

Chile, asat Chuquicamata(AlvarezandFlores,1984) date,with Marte andLoboclassified asporphyrygold

and E1 Salvador(Gustafsonand Hunt, 1975) but is depositsbecause of theirlowCu/AuandMo/Auratios.
very minorandpatchyin gold-richporphyrydeposits The high goldcontentsof the Maricungaporphyry
of the Maricungabelt and the Philippines(Sillitoe systems standin markedcontrast to themolybdenum-
and Gappe, 1984). Sericitic alterationis, however, richandgenerallygold-poornatureof porphyrycop-
presentasa halo to the K silicatezone at Bajo de La per depositselsewherein Chile (Fig. 12), whereav-
Alumbrera(Sillitoe, 1979). eragegoldgradesattaina maximumof 0.27 ppm as
Sericite-clay-chlorite(intermediate argillic) as- at Potrerillosbut mayexceedthisvaluein restricted
semblages are widespreadasoverprintsto K silicate partsof individualdeposits.
alteratio• in the ore zonesof porphyry depositsin The total metalcontentsof the giant,multibillion-
the Maricungabelt and the Philippines(Sillitoeand tonporphyrycopper-molybdenum deposits
in north-
Gappe, 1984) but havenot been emphasizedin de- ern Chile, like Chuquicamataand Escondida,also
scriptionsof porphyrycopper-molybdenum deposits contraststronglywith the generallysmallsize (say,
in northern Chile. 50-250 million metric tons) of most gold-richpor-
Quartzstockworks carrymuchof the copper,mo- phyrydeposits, includingthosein the Maricungabelt
lybdenum,and/or goldin all porphyrydeposits,but and the Philippines(cf. Cox and Singer,1988). The
the gold-richonesin the Maricungabelt, the Faral16n large averagesize of Chileanporphyrycopper-mo-
Negro district (Sillitoe, 1979), and the Philippines lybdenumdepositsis reflectedin the multiplicityof
(Sillitoeand Gappe, 1984) are muchricher (up to 10 alteration-mineralization eventsandthe muchgreater
vol %) in hypogeneiron oxidesthanare the porphyry intensityof alteration-mineralizationcompared to that
copper-molybdenum depositsof northernChile (cf. seenin the Maricungasystems.
Sillitoe,1979; CoxandSinger,1988; Perell6andCa-
Supergeneenrichment
bello, 1989).
The Maricungasystems lackthe majormulticyclic
High-level advancedargillic alteration- enrichmentblanketsthat characterizemanyporphyry
mineralization
copper-molybdenum depositsof northernChile,such
Gold-richporphyrydeposits like asQuebradaBianca(Hunt et al., 1983), Chuquica-
in the Philippines,
Dizon andGuinaoang(SillitoeandGappe,1984), and mata (Flores, 1985), Escondida(Ojeda, 1986), and
the Maricungabelt were generatedbeneathextensive E1Salvador(Gustafson and Hunt, 1975). Supergene
tabularzonesof volcanic-hosted advancedargillical- copperenrichmentin thesedepositswaslater than
teration up to severalhundredmetersthick, which the late Eoceneto early Oligocene,whenthey were
commonlyare partly preservedeven when the min- emplaced,but precededthe onsetof arid conditions
eralized stocks have been unroofed. Some of these duringthe mid-Miocene(Sillitoeet al., 1968; Mor-
advancedargilliczonesin the Philippines,in common timer, 1973; Alpers and Brimhall, 1988).
with thosein the Maricungabelt, carry epithermal The mainreasonfor the presenceof onlyincipient
enargite-goldmineralizationof high sulfidation,acid supergeneenrichmentin the Maricungasystemsis
sulfatetype (e.g., Lepanto;Concepcionand Cinco, the timingof their emplacement: depositsin the early
1989). Structurallylocalizedadvancedargillicover- Miocenewesternsubbeltwere emplacedduringthe
printsto porphyry-type stockworks atbothGuinaoang concludingstagesof the enrichmentcycleand de-
(SillitoeandAngeles,1985) andLoboare character- positsin the middle Miocene eastern subbelt after
ized locallyby the high sulfidationpyrite-covellite enrichmenthad ceased.However, high sulfidation
assemblage. gold-silverore at La Coipain the earlyMiocenesub-
However, high-level advancedargillic zonesare belt (Fig. 3) is entirelyoxidized(Oviedoet al., 1991)
not restrictedto gold-richsystems.One of the best and supergenesilver enrichmentlocallymay have
preservedzonesof this type wasdescribedby Gus- precededoxidation.
tafsonand Hunt (1975) from abovethe El Salvador
Acknowledgments
porphyrycopper-molybdenum deposit,andtheroots
of advanced argilliczonesarepresentelsewhere(e.g., Much of the data that we have attemptedto sum-
Escondida;Ojeda, 1986). The high sulfidationgold marize and interpret in this report were collected
depositat E1 Hueso is locatedalongsidebut higher duringa ten-yearperiodaspart of a teameffortby
than the Potrerillosporphyrycopper-molybdenum- MineraAngloAmericanChileLtda. Gratitudeis due
(gold)deposit(Fig. 1) andmaybe interpretedaspart RobertA. Lyall, ConsultingGeologist,whosedirec-
of the advancedargillic zone that overlay the por- tion was instrumental in the definition of the Mari-
phyrystockprior to mid-Miocenetectonicdisruption. cungabelt;EnriqueViteri,Exploration Manager,who
organized and guided the explorationprograms;
Hypogenemetal contents Mario S•chez, David Pacci,JorgeBetzhold,Juan
As shownin Figure 12, porphyrydepositsin the CarlosToro, CristiSnSpriShnle,Mario Arrieta, Jos•
Maricungabelt are the mostgoldrich discoveredto Rodriguez,AnaRojas,MarioOrrego,Ren• Albornoz,
 Au PORPHYRY,MARICUNGABELT, CHILE 1259

Cu
ctedAu-richporphyry
depositß
Au-richporphyry
deposit,
x.•7
Maricungabelt/•
Porphyry
Cu-Modeposit,
O
Northern Chile

.2#

/Cu-Mo/
Cu-Au-M
•i•l.••
x 10
Cu•-
A•
•G. 12. Copper-gold-molybdenum
14

Au x10000
triangul• graphfor gold-richporphyrydepositsin the M•icunga
belt of northernChile andelsewhere,andporphyrycopper-molybdenum depositsof northernChile.
All coppergradesusedare hypogene.Multiplicationfactors•e thoseemployedby Kesler(1973) and
subsequentinvestigators. The fieldsoccupiedby porphyryCu-Mo, Cu-Au-Mo, and Cu-Au • defined
by Cox and Singer(1988) •e alsodepicted.Data sources:Au-rich porphyrydeposits,Sillitoe (lg90);
Maricungabelt, thisstudy;porphyryCu-Mo deposits,Hunt et al. (1983) andCODELCO-Chile (unpub.
data). Deposits:I = Panguna,PapuaNew Guinea, 2 = Ok Tedi, PapuaNew Guinea, 3 = Mamut,
Malaysia,4 = Dizon, Philippines,5 = SantoTomasII, Philippines,6 = GaloreCreek,BritishColumbia,
7 = Morrison,BritishColumbia,8 • Bell Copper,BritishColumbia,9 = MountPolley,BritishColumbia,
10 = •ish Lake, BritishColumbia,11 = Afton, BritishColumbia,12 = Bingham,Utah, 13 = Bajo de
La Alumbrera,Argentina,14 = Matte, 15 • Lobo, 16 = QuebradaBlanca,17 = Chuquicamata,
18 = E1 Salvador, 19 = Potrerillos.

andAdolfoHeresmann,whocarriedout diversegeo- hip6genaen el yacimientode Chuquicamata, Chile:Cong.Geol.

Chileno, 4th, Antofagasta,1985, Actas, v. 3, p. 78-100.
logicand geochemical studiesthroughoutthe Mari- Baker,P. E., Gonz51ez-FerrSn, O., andRex,D.C., 1987, Geology
cungabelt; NicholasM. LindsayandWolfgangHae- andgeochemistryof the Ojosdel Saladovolcanicregion,Chile:
derle for petrographicsupport;andMaria Antonieta Geol. Soc. London Jour., v. 144, p. 85-96.
Maeztu for typing services.CarlosG6mez kindly Barazangi,M., and Isacks,B. L., 1976, Spatialdistributionof
conducteda geologictour of the La Pepaproperty earthquakesand subductionof the Nazcaplate beneathSouth
on behalf of Minera Horus Ltda., and Constantin America: Geology, v. 4, p. 686-692.
Bevis,M. G., and Isacks,B. L., 1984, Hypocentraltrend surface
MpodozisandJohnDavidsonsharedtheir geologic analysis:
Probingthe geometryof Benioffzones:Jour.Geophys.
knowledgeof the Maricungabelt. Publicationwas Research, v. 89, p. 6153-6170.
encouraged
by RobertA. Lyall andauthorizedby Mi- Bonham,H. F., Jr., 1986, Modelsfor volcanic-hostedepithermal
nera Anglo AmericanChile Ltda. and ComincoRe- preciousmetal deposits;a review: Internat. Volcanol.Cong.,
Symposium5, Hamilton, New Zealand, 1986, Proc., p. 13-17.
sourcesLtd. Minera Anglo American Chile Ltda.
Bruce,M., 1988, Geolog•ade la Alta Cordillerade Copiap• al
kindly coveredthe extra costsnecessary
for color suroestede la Lagunadel Negro Francisco:Unpub.Tesisde
printingof Figures2 and 7. Grado,Santiago,.
Univ.Chile,143 p.
Coira, B., Davidson,J., Mpodozis,C., and Ramos,V., 1982, Tec-
REFERENCES
tonic and magmaticevolutionof the Andesof northernArgen-
tina and Chile: Earth-Sci.Rev., v. 18, p. 303-352.
Alpers, C. N., and Brimhall, G. H, 1988, Middle Miocene climatic
changein the AtacamaDesert, northern Chile: Evidence from Concepcion, R. A., andCinco,J. C., Jr., 1989, Geologyof Lepanto
supergenemineralizationat La Escondida:Geol. Soc.America Far Southeastgold-rich porphyry copper deposit, Mankayan,
Bull., v. 100., p. 1640-1656. Benguet,Philippineslabs.I: Internat. Geol. Cong.,28th, Wash-
AlvarezC., O., andAracenaP., I., 1985,Algunasconsideraciones ington,D.C., 1989, Abstracts,v. 1, p. 319-320.
de la petrologlay alteraci6ndel complejoplut6nicode Chu- Cox, D. P., and Singer,D. A., 1988, Distributionof gold in por-
quicamata, Chile:Cong.Geol.Chileno,4th, Antofagasta, 1985, phyry copperdeposits:U.S. Geol. SurveyOpen-File Rept. 88-
Actas, v. 4, p. 1-30. 46, 8 p.
AlvarezC., O., andFloresV., R., 1985,Alteraci6ny mineralizaci6n Davidson,J., and Mpodozis,C., 1991, Regionalgeologicsetting
1260 T. VILA AND R. H. SILLITOE
ofepithermalgolddeposits,Chile: ECON.GEOL.,v. 86, p. 1174-
1186.
Dostal, J., Zentilli, M., Caelles, J. C., and Clark, A. H., 1977,
Geochemistryand origin of volcanicrocksof the Andes(26 ø-
28 ø S): Contr. MineralogyPetrology,v. 63, p. 113-128.
Farrar, E., Clark, A. H., Haynes,S. J., Quirt, G. S., Conn, H., and
Zentilli, M., 1970, K-Ar evidence for the post-Paleozoicmi-
gration of granitic intrusionfoci in the Andesof northern Chile:
Earth Planet. Sci. Letters, v. 10, p. 60-66.
Flores V., R., 1985, Control del enriquecimientosup•rgeno en
el yacimientoChuquicamata,Chile: Cong. Geol. Chileno, 4th,
Antofagasta,1985, Actas,v. 2, p. 228-249.
Gardeweg,M., Ishihara,S., Matsuhisa,Y., Shibata,K., and Ter-
ashima,S., 1984, Geochemicalstudiesof upper Cenozoic ig-
neousrocks from the Altiplano of Antofagasta,Chile: Japan
Geol. SurveyBull., v. 35, p. 547-563.
Gonz51ez-FerrSn,O., Baker, P. E., andRex, D.C., 1985, Tectonic-
volcanicdiscontinuityat latitude 27 ø south,AndeanRange,as-
sociatedwith Nazca plate subduction:Tectonophysics,v. 112,
p. 423-441.
Gustafson,L. B., and Hunt, J.P., 1975, The porphyry copper
depositat El Salvador,Chile: ECON.GEOL.,v. 70, p. 857-912.
Heald, P., Foley, N. K., and Hayba, D. O., 1987, Comparative
anatomyof volcanic-hostedepithermal deposits:Acid-sulfate
and adularia-sericitetypes: ]•CON. GEOL.,v. 82, p. 1-26.
Hollister, V. F., 1975, An appraisalof the nature and sourceof
porphyry copper deposits:Minerals Sci. Eng., v. 7, p. 225-
233.
Hunt, J.P., Bratt, J. A., and MarquardtL., J. C., 1983, Quebrada
Bianca,Chile: An enriched porphyry copper deposit:Mining
Eng., v. 35, p. 636-644.
James,D. E., 1971, Andean crustaland upper mantle structure:
Jour. Geophys.Research,v. 76, p. 3246-3271.
Jordan,T. E., Isacks,B. L., Allmendinger, R. W., Brewer, J. A.,
Ramos,V. A., and Ando, C. J., 1983, Andeantectonicsrelated
to geometryof subductedNazcaplate:Geol.Soc.AmericaBull.,
v. 94, p. 341-361.
Kay, S. M., Maksaev,V., Moscoso,R., Mpodozis,C., Nasi,C., and
Gordillo,C. E., 1988, Tertiary Andeanmagmatismin Chile and
Argentinabetween 28 ø S and 33 ø S: Correlationof magmatic
chemistrywith a changingBenioffzone:SouthAmericanEarth
Sci. Jour., v. 1., p. 21-38.
Kay, S. M., Ramos,V. A., Mpodozis,C., and Sruoga,P., 1989,
Late Paleozoicto Jurassicsilicicmagmatismat the Gondwana
margin:Analogyto the middle Proterozoicin North America?:
Geology, v. 17, p. 324-328.
Kay, S. M., Mpodozis, C., Ramos, V. A., and Munizaga, F., in
press,Magmasourcevariationsfor mid to late Tertiary volcanic
rockserupted over a shallowingsubductionzone and through
a thickeningcrustin the main AndeanCordillera (28-33 ø S):
Geol. Soc. America Spec. Paper 265.
Kesler, S. E., 1973, Copper, molybdenun•and gold abundances
in porphyry copper deposits:ECON.GEOL.,v. 68, p. 106-112.
Lahsen, A., 1982, Upper Cenozoic volcanismand tectonismin
the Andes of northern Chile: Earth~Sci.Rev., v. 18, p. 258-
302.
Lowell, J. D., and Gullbert, J. M., 1970, Lateral and vertical al-
teration-mineralizationzoningin porphyry ore deposits:ECON.
GEOL., v. 65, p. 373-408. canismin the central Chilean Andes(260-28 ø S): Univ. Chile,
MercadoW., M., 1982, Geologlade la Hoja Lagunadel Negro Dept. Geologla,Comunicaciones,
Francisco,Regi6nde Atacama:Santiago, ServicioNac.Geologla Zentilli, M., 1974, Geologicalevolution and metallogenicrela-
Minerla, Carta Geol. Chile, no. 56, 73 p. tionshipsin the Andesof northernChile between 26 ø and 29 ø
Mortimer,C., 1973, The Cenozoichistoryof the southernAtacama south:Unpub. Ph.D. thesis,Kingston,Ontario, Queen's Univ.,
Desert, Chile: Geol. Soc. London Jour., v. 129, p. 505-526.
Mpodozis, C., and Ramos,V. A., 1990, The Andesof Chile and
Argentina:Earth Sci.Ser., Circum-PacificCouncilEnergyMin-
eral Resources,v. 11, p. 59-90.
Mulja, T., 1986, Hydrothermalalteration,golddistributionand
geochronology of epithermalgoldmineralization
in theCopiap6
volcaniccomplex,Chile: Unpub.B.Sc.thesis,DalhousieUniv.,
145 p.
Ojeda F., J. M., 1986, Escondidaporphyrycopperdeposit,II
Regi6n, Chile: Explorationdrilling and current geologicalin-
terpretation,in Mining Latin America,Conference,Santiago,
1986, Papers:London,Inst. Mining Metallurgy, p. 299-318.
Oviedo, L., F6ster, N., Tschischow,N., Ribba, L., Zuccone, A.,
Grez, E., and Aguilar, A., 1991, General geologyof La Coipa
precious metal deposit, Atacama, Chile: ECON. GEOL., v. 86,
p. 1287-1300.
Perell•, J., andCabello,J., 1989, P6rfidoscuprlferosrico en oro;
una revisi6n:Rev. Geol. Chile, v. 16, p. 73-92.
Rivera C., S., 1988, Exploraci6n del dep6sito de plata-oro "La
Coipa",Regi6nde Atacama:Cong.Geol. Chileno,5th, Santiago,
1988, Actas, v. 1, p. B135-B149.
Segerstrom,K., 1968, Geologfade las Hojas Copiap6y Ojos del
Salado,Provincia de Atacama:Santiago,Chile, Inst. Inv. Geol.
Bol. 24, 58 p.
Siddeley, G., and Araneda, R., 1990, Gold-silveroccurrencesof
the El Indio belt, Chile: Earth Sci. Ser., Circum-Pacific Council
Energy Mineral Resources,v. 11, p. 273-284.
Sillitoe, R. H., 1973, The tops and bottomsof porphyry copper
deposits:ECON.GEOL.,v. 68, p. 799-815.
-- 1979, Somethoughtson gold-richporphyrycopperdeposits:
Mineralium Deposita, v. 14, p. 161-174.
-- 1989, Golddepositsin westernPacificislandarcs:The mag-
matic connection: ECON. GEOL. MON. 6, p. 274-291.
-- 1990, Gold-rich porphyry copper depositsof the circum-
Pacific region--an updated overview: PacificRim Cong. 90,
Gold Coast, Queensland,1990, Proc., v. 2, p. 119-126.
Sillitoe, R. H., and Angeles,C. A., Jr., 1985, Geologicalcharac-
teristicsand evolutionof a gold-richporphyry copperdeposit
at Guinaoang,Luzon, Philippines,in AsianMining '85: London,
Inst. Mining Metallurgy, p. 15-26.
Sillitoe,R. H., Mortimer, C., and Clark, A. H., 1968, A chronology
of landformevolutionandsupergenemineralalteration,south-
ern AtacamaDesert, Chile: Inst. Mining MetallurgyTrans.,sec.
B, v. 77, p. B166-B169.
Sillitoe,R. H., Mortimer, C., and Clark, A. H., 1968, A chronology
of landformevolutionandsupergenemineralalteration,south-
ern AtacamaDesert, Chile: Inst. Mining Metallurgy Trans., sec.
B, v. 77, p. B166-B169.
Sillitoe, R. H., McKee, E. H., and Vila, T., 1991, Reconnaissance
K-Ar geochronology of the Maricungagold-silverbelt, northern
Chile: ECON.GEOL.,v. 86, p. 1261-1270.
Stoffregen,R., 1987, Genesisof acid-sulfatealteration and Auo
Cu-Ag mineralization at Summitville, Colorado:ECON.GEOL.,
v. 82, p. 1575--1591.
Vila, T., Sillitoe, R. H., Betzhold, J., and Viteri, E., 1991, The
porphyrygolddepositat Marte, northernChile: ECON.GEOL.,
v. 86, p. 1271-1286.
Walker, J. A., Fuss,D. M., andZentilli, M., 1985, Neogenevol-
no. 35, p. 253-255.
446 p.