Porphyry Copper Deposits

What is a Porphyry?

What is a Porphyry Copper Deposit?

 Porphyry (por’phy-ry)

An igneous rock of any composition that

contains conspicuous phenocrysts in a fine-
grained groundmass.
Porphyry
 Porphyry Copper Deposit

A large low- to medium-grade deposit,

of primarily of pyrite, chalcopyrite and
molybdenite with characteristic
concentric zoning of mineralization and
alteration around calc-alkaline
porphyritic intrusion (typically quartz
monzonite to granodiorite)
 Typical Grades and Size
• Copper grade is usually in the range of 0.5 to 1.0%.
But can be as high as 1.5 or as low as 0.3%. The
lower limit is defined by production costs.
• Zones of local supergene enrichment can contain as
much as 20% copper
• Typically 1 to 2 square kilometers in size, but some
deposits is in excess of 10 square kilometers.
Mineralization has been found to continue to depths
exceeding 1km.
• The total amount of ore may be in excess of 3
billion tons (Chuquicamata)
Deposit Tonnage and Grade
Bajo la Alumbrera (Argentina)
 Chuquicamata pit
approximately 2x4x0.8km
Bingham Pit
La Escondida Chile
 Importance of Porphyry CU Deposits

• Porphyries produce approximately 60% of

the worlds copper
• In addition in conjunction with porphyry
molybdenum deposits almost all of the
world’s molybdenum is produced from
porphyry deposits
• Porphyry deposits produce a significant
amount of the worlds silver and gold
World’s Leading Copper Producing
Mines
World Copper Production/Consumption
Associated Metals

• Molybdenum
• Gold
• Silver
• Rhenium
 Examples of Associated Metal
Production
• In addition to 320,000 tons copper, in the year 2000
Bingham also produced four million ounces of silver and
about 500,000 ounces of gold and 21 million pounds of
molybdenum
• The Grasberg porphyry mine in Indonesia has an annual
production of 1.5 billion pounds of copper and 2.5 million
ounces of gold
• Bajo la Alumbrera 2001 production was 674,000 oz of
gold and 423 million pounds of copper
Are Porphyry Cu Deposits the
Ideal Source for Copper?
Why not Sedimentary Base Metal
Deposits?
Why not Sedimentary Base Metal
Deposits? Part 2
Global Distribution of Porphyry Cu
Deposits
Distribution in Time
Generalized Geology of a Porphyry Cu
Deposit
Generalized Geology of a Porphyry Cu
Deposit
Proposed Geology of Porphyry Mo
Deposit
Geology of the San Manuel Kalamazoo
Deposit
Geology of the Chuquicamata Deposit
Geology of the Bajo la Alumbrera
 Alteration Zones - Lowell and Guilbert
from core of porphyry stock outward
•Potassic Alteration: Always present. Contains secondary k-
feldspar, biotite and/or chlorite, replacing feldspar and
plagioclase and mafics. May also contain serecite.
•(Ore Zone)
•Phyllic Zone: Often present. Characterized by vein quartz,
sericite, pyrite and lesser amounts of chlorite and illite replacing
k-feldspar and biotite.
•Argillic Zone: Sometimes present. Characterized by
montmorillonite and kaolinite replacing plagioclase and the
replacement of biotite by chlorite.
•Propylitic Zone: Always present and usually has the largest
areal extent. Chlorite, calcite and edpidote replacing mafic
minerals and to a lesser extent plagioclase.
Alteration and Ore Zoning
Supergene Enrichment
Supergene Enrichment
Fluid Inclusions
More Fluid Inclusions
 Fluid Inclusion Findings

• Fluid inclusion data suggests a two end-

member system with mixing
• Magmatic fluid inclusions have very high
salinities (30 to 60 wt % NaCl equivalent)
and very high homogenization temperatures
• Meteoric fluids have lower salinities (<15
wt % NaCl equivalent) and much lower
homogenization temperatures
Fluid Circulation Models
Hydrothermal Alteration
Mineral Stability
Stable Isotope Data
What do Stable Isotopes Suggest
• Hydrothermal alteration (and most likely
metal transport) is the result rock interaction
with both magmatic and meteoric water
• Early potassic alteration is most likely the
result of rock interaction with magmatic
water
• Later quartz-serecite alteration was caused
by meteoric water
Mineralization Environment
 Radiogenic Isotopes
• Most Porphyry Cu intrusives often have low 87Sr/86Sr ratios
on the order of 0.703 to 0705 - this is unlike tin and moly
porphyries that have much higher Sr ratios.
• Intrusive biotite is usually low in fluorine
• These as well factors as well as the geologic setting point
to mantle derived sources for the intrusives - unlike Tin
and Moly porphyries which seem to have a much larger
crustal component (s-type granites)
Tectonic Controls
Tectonic Control