Economic Geology

Vol. 98, 2003, pp. 1497–1502

DISCUSSION

NEW FIELD EVIDENCE BEARING ON THE ORIGIN OF THE EL LACO MAGNETITE DEPOSIT,
NORTHERN CHILE—A DISCUSSION

FERNANDO HENRÍQUEZ,
Departamento de Ingeniería en Minas, Universidad de Santiago, Santiago, Chile

H. RICHARD NASLUND,†
Department of Geological Sciences, SUNY, Binghamton, NY 13902

JAN OLOV NYSTRÖM,

Swedish Museum of Natural History, SE-10405 Stockholm, Sweden

WALDO VIVALLO,
Servicio Nacional de Geología y Minería, Santiago, Chile

RAMÓN AGUIRRE,
Department of Geological Sciences, SUNY, Binghamton, NY 13902

F. MICHAEL DOBBS,
Departamento de Ingeniería en Minas, Universidad de Santiago, Santiago, Chile

AND HAROLDO LLEDÓ

Department of Geological Sciences, SUNY, Binghamton, NY 13902

Sir: The El Laco ores occur as massive, horizontal, tabular
bodies, as crosscutting dikes and/or vein networks, and as
stratified, fragmental material. A controversy exists as to their
origin. One group of investigators believes the orebodies
formed from iron oxide magma that intruded the local
volcanic sequence and in places erupted at the surface (see
Naslund et al., 2002). Another group believes the deposits
formed from hot, iron-rich fluids that completely replaced
older silicate rocks (see Rhodes and Oreskes, 1999, and
Rhodes, et al., 1999). Sillitoe and Burrows (2002) describe a
number of outcrop features at El Laco which they suggest
support a replacement origin. All of the features they
describe, however, are consistent with the magmatic
hypothesis, and many are inconsistent with a replacement
origin.
Blocks and fragments of andesite within magnetite ore at
Laco Sur range in size from centimeters to >5 m and
comprise roughly 5 vol percent of the orebody (Sillitoe and
Burrows, 2002). In places, subhorizontal trains of blocks
occur, and veins of magnetite cut some blocks. These
observations, however, do not uniquely support a replacement
origin for the ore. We interpret the magnetite orebody at
Laco Sur to be a near-vent facies volcanic deposit with a
mixture of viscous Fe oxide lavas, interbedded Fe oxide
pyroclastic material, and xenoliths, as would be expected in
† Corresponding author: e-mail, Naslund@Binghamton.edu
this facies. Andesite blocks in friable magnetite tend to lie
along particular horizons within the deposit as would be
expected for air-fall deposits. All of the blocks have razor-
sharp contacts with the enclosing magnetite. Many are
altered to pyroxene and other silicates, but the only magnetite
in these blocks is in the form of minor amounts of small,
crosscutting veins. Where blocks are enclosed within massive
ore, which we interpret to be iron oxide lavas, the magnetite
is very fine grained next to the contact with the blocks and has
the appearance of chilled margins (see Fig. 1a).
Sillitoe and Burrows (2002) report that pyroxene is
intergrown with magnetite in the margins of vertical open
chimneys and occurs in veins which cut and postdate the
massive orebodies. This is consistent with our own
observations that pyroxene in some samples crystallized
simultaneously with magnetite. Hydrosaline fluid inclusions
in pyroxene homogenize at 710° to 840°C (Sheets, 1997;
Broman et al., 1999), suggesting that the coexisting magnetite
crystallized at temperatures in excess of 700°C. The 710° to
840°C quoted by Sillitoe and Burrows (2002, p. 1107) for the
“early fluid” refers to these pyroxene crystallization
temperatures, and the 250° to 350°C quoted for “magnetite
deposition” refers to average fluid inclusion homogenization
temperatures in apatite which texturally appears to be formed
at a late stage (Broman et al., 1999). No independent
measurements of magnetite crystallization temperatures have
been reported.

1497
1498 DISCUSSIONS

a b

c 4920 LQ LN d
4940 4960

SHA SHA

4780

e f

FIG. 1. Field relationships at El Laco. a. Sharp contact between a large xenolith block and massive magnetite ore in the
Laco Sur main quarry. The iron ore adjacent to the contact is very fine grained and nonvesicular with the appearance of a
chilled margin. Iron ore away from the contact is coarser grained and vesicular. Knife handle is 6 cm long. b. Sharp contacts
of magnetite dikes crosscutting altered andesite below the main Laco Sur quarry. The iron ore adjacent to the contact is very
fine grained and nonvesicular with the appearance of a chilled margin. Iron ore away from the contact is coarser grained and
vesicular. The area above the hammer handle which has the appearance of mottled iron ore is a dike margin that runs parallel
to the outcrop surface. This photograph is a close-up of the outcrop depicted in fig. 3d of Sillitoe and Burrows (2002).
Hammer handle is 40 cm long. c. Steam-heated alteration (SHA) >150 m below Laquito (LQ, front ridge in the upper right)
and Laco Norte (LN, back ridge in the upper right). Elevations are marked in meters above sea level. This exposure is the
same ridge slope that appears in fig. 5b of Sillitoe and Burrows (2002). d. Iron ore at Laco Sur with unfilled, vesicle-like,
open-pore spaces. e. The San Vicente Alto orebody. The overall morphology has the appearance of an aa lava flow. The lack
of any extraneous material on the rough upper surface suggests that it formed at the paleosurface and has never been buried.
f. Bedded, size-sorted, unconsolidated fragmental iron ore exposed along a road cut just below the Laco Sur main quarry.
The deposit appears to have formed at the paleosurface, perhaps by the eruption of a volatile-rich, Fe oxide magma. Green
and blue-green phosphates, which may have been deposited from hot gases, coat the surfaces of some fragments. This
photograph was taken approximately 50 m east of that in fig. 3d of Sillitoe and Burrows (2002).

0361-0128/98/000/000-00 $6.00 1498

 DISCUSSIONS
Sillitoe and Burrows (2002) describe a number of breccias
at Laco Sur, but breccias are not a uniquely hydrothermal
feature. Various types and scales of breccias are common,
particularly near the margins of the deposit. Some of the
breccias are crosscut by apparent magnetite dikes with chilled
margins and vesicular dike interiors and appear to be
magmatic breccias (see Fig. 1b). Other breccias appear to be
hydrothermal, with fragmented, altered andesite host rock
cemented by magnetite and hematite. If the El Laco
orebodies crystallized from very gas rich Fe oxide magmas as
has been suggested (Park, 1961; Henríquez and Martin, 1978;
Nyström and Henríquez, 1994; Henríquez and Nyström,
1998), they would have released a large quantity of hot fluids,
saturated in magnetite. Hydrothermally cemented breccias
are common around volcanic centers, particularly at centers
that have erupted magmas very rich in volatiles.
Sillitoe and Burrows (2002) describe extensive hydro-
thermal alteration around El Laco and suggest that it was
produced by near-surface steam-heated fluids, in agreement
with previous investigators (Henríquez and Martin, 1978;
Nyström and Henríquez, 1994; Rhodes et al., 1999).
Alteration at El Laco is similar to that at other volcanic
centers in the region. Although an alteration halo surrounds
some of the orebodies, it is not restricted to the areas around
the bodies, and some orebodies (Laco Norte, Laco Sur, and
San Vicente Alto) are adjacent to unaltered rocks (see fig. 1 of
Sillitoe and Burrows, 2002, and figs. 6 and 10 of Rhodes et al.,
1999). Sillitoe and Burrows (2002, p. 1106) correctly identify
that the juxtaposition of alteration and iron ore requires that
the ore formed under “exceptionally shallow” conditions.
Some of the altered rocks that they attribute to near-surface
steam-heated alteration, however, are topographically lower
than and stratigraphically below the orebodies (Fig. 1c). This
relationship is particularly clear in geologic mapping of the
magnetite orebodies at Laco Norte, Laquito, San Vicente
Bajo, and Rodados Negros (Vivallo et al., 1991, 1994; Rhodes
et al., 1999).
The metasomatic replacement model proposed by Sillitoe
and Burrows (2002) is inconsistent with field observations
and with fluid inclusion data. Sillitoe and Burrows (2002)
recognized that formation of the El Laco orebodies from
high-temperature metasomatic fluids at or near the surface
would be impossible, and therefore, proposed that the
massive magnetite bodies were deposited at or below the
paleowater table at depths of 100 to 300 m beneath the
paleosurface. At the high temperatures (>700°C) indicated
by pyroxene fluid inclusion data, however, formation below
the paleowater table would require pressures exceeding the
critical point of water. Below the critical point pressure,
water at these temperatures would be converted entirely to
steam, and as pointed out by Sillitoe and Burrows (2002), in
shallow boiling environments metal deposition only takes
place below the water table, not in the overlying steam-
heated environment. An unconfined aquifer, as described in
the model (Sillitoe and Burrows, 2002), with pure water,
would require depths >2,000 m to exceed the critical
pressure. An NaCl brine solution would require even greater
depths, because the critical point pressure increases as the
NaCl content increases (Bischoff and Pitzer, 1989). Although
the San Vicente Bajo deposit was glaciated, no evidence for
0361-0128/98/000/000-00 $6.00 1499
1499
glaciation, mass wasting, sector collapse, or any other type of
rapid erosion around the upper orebodies at El Laco that
could have unroofed the deposits has been reported. Erosion
in this section of the Andes is unlikely to have removed 100 to
300 m of overburden in the last 2 m.y. In fact, cosmogenic
exposure ages of glacial scratches in the valley to the west side
of El Laco indicate that there has been less than 1 cm of
weathering on exposed andesite in the last 250,000 yr
(Hammerschmidt et al., 1999). If there had been any
extensive erosion, the closed basins surrounding El Laco
today would have filled up with sediment.
Open-pore spaces are a very common feature of the El
Laco ores, amounting to perhaps 20 vol percent of the ore
(Sillitoe and Burrows, 2002). Open spaces include angular,
diktytaxitic pores, rounded vesicle-like pores, and inter-
connected, smooth-walled, wormy pores similar in size and
form to vesicle pipes observed in some basaltic lava flows.
Although fine-grained crystals of magnetite, sanidine, quartz,
Fe- and REE phosphates, and apatite coat some pore spaces,
almost all of them are unfilled, and show no evidence of ever
having been filled (Fig. 1d). If the deposit formed at depth
below the water table, it would be expected that at least some
of the pore spaces would be filled with minerals that came out
of solution as the system cooled. In addition, none of the
silicate lavas or silicate pyroclastic deposits at El Laco have
textures similar to those observed in the ores, and
metasomatic replacement, as described by Sillitoe and
Burrows (2002) and Rhodes and Oreskes (1999), generally
destroys textures. It is therefore very unlikely that the
apparent volcanic textures in the El Laco ores (as described
by: Henríquez and Martin, 1978; Nyström and Henríquez,
1994; Henríquez and Nyström, 1998; Rhodes et al., 1999)
could be relict textures inherited from a volcanic protolith.
Sillitoe and Burrows (2002) suggest that the abundant open
vertical chimneys cutting the massive and fragmental iron
ores at Laco Sur formed from aqueous fluids rather than
escaping gases as proposed by previous workers (Henríquez
and Martin, 1978; Nyström and Henríquez, 1994; Rhodes et
al., 1999). Many of the pipes are lined by coarse octahedral
crystals of magnetite, and in some the magnetite is
intergrown with pyroxene (Sillitoe and Burrows, 2002). The
high pyroxene crystallization temperatures, however,
demonstrate that they could not form from aqueous liquids
unless they formed at great depth, where such open pipes
would be unlikely.
Sillitoe and Burrows (2002, p. 1108) state that magnetite
deposition from hydrothermal fluids at or immediately
beneath the paleosurface “could not have taken place.”
However, we see evidence that these deposits formed at the
surface, and therefore, consider the magmatic formation
model to be the most likely mechanism. In this model, the
Laco Sur, Laco Norte, and San Vicente Alto orebodies
erupted at the surface as lava flows with an aa-like
morphology. Fe oxide magmas would most likely have been
very viscous owing to sudden volatile loss on eruption, and
not “low-viscosity” as suggested by Sillitoe and Burrows
(2002). San Vicente Alto is situated high on the volcano and
has a very rough upper surface with meters of local relief
(Henríquez and Martin, 1978; Rhodes et al., 1999). No
extraneous material is found even in the deepest pits and
1500
cracks between large blocks, suggesting that the deposit
formed at the present surface and has never been buried (Fig.
1e).
A road cut below Laco Sur exposes unconsolidated
fragmental ore consisting of interbedded magnetite
fragments with the size range of ash, lapilli, and bombs
(Nyström and Henríquez, 1994; Henríquez and Nyström,
1998; Rhodes et al., 1999). Fragmental magnetite also occurs
in the Laco Sur open pit, where it is interbedded with massive
Fe oxide. Rare millimeter-thin layers of apatite needles,
randomly aligned within horizontal strata, suggest density
sorting during eruption of a mixed apatite-magnetite air-fall
ash. The size-sorted, unconsolidated, fragmental ore beds
suggest surface deposition (Fig. 1f).
At Laco Norte, massive Fe ore is overlain by an unaltered
andesite lava flow, which is in turn overlain by coarse
fragmental Fe oxide, followed by a second unaltered andesite
lava. A similar sequence of interbedded andesite, massive
magnetite, and fragmental ore is found in drill cores beneath
Laco Norte (Henríquez and Martin, 1978). A fission track age
for apatite intergrown with magnetite ore (2.1 ± 0.1 Ma:
Maksaev et al., 1988) is similar to a K-Ar date for unaltered
andesite lava overlying Laco Norte (2.0 ± 0.3: Gardeweg and
Ramírez, 1985) indicating that the ores and andesite lavas are
contemporaneous and that the orebodies must have formed
at or near the surface.
In conclusion, all of the field and analytical data are
consistent with a magmatic origin for the El Laco orebodies,
and much of it is inconsistent with the formation of the main
bodies by metasomatic replacement. Although there has been
a great deal of hydrothermal activity at El Laco, the magnetite
orebodies appear to have been one of the sources of heat and
fluids that altered the surrounding host rock rather than the
product of fluids.
August 14, 2003
REFERENCES
Bischoff, J.L., and Pitzer, K.S., 1989, Liquid-vapor relations for the system
NaCl-H2O: Summary of the P-T-x surface from 300° to 500° C: American
Journal of Science, v. 289, p. 217–248.
0361-0128/98/000/000-00 $6.00
DISCUSSIONS
Broman, C., Nyström, J.O., Henríquez, F., and Elfman, M., 1999, Fluid
inclusions in magnetite-apatite ore from a cooling magmatic system at El
Laco, Chile: GFF, v. 121, p. 253–267.
Gardeweg, M., and Ramírez, C.F., 1985, Hoja Río Zapaleri, II Región de
Antofagasta: Carta Geológica de Chile No. 66, Servicio Nacional de
Geología y Minería, 89 p.
Hammerschmidt, K., Grosjean, M., Pedroni, A., and Friedrichsen, H., 1999,
Cosmogenic He and Ne dating of glacial striae, polished surfaces and
moraine boulders in the Chilean high cordillera (22°–28° S): Journal of
Conference Abstracts, v. 4, no. 1, EUG 10, symposium B01.
Henríquez, F., and Martin, R.F., 1978, Crystal-growth textures in magnetite
flows and feeder dykes, El Laco, Chile: Canadian Mineralogist, v. 16, p.
581–589.
Henríquez, F., and Nyström, J.O., 1998, Magnetite bombs at El Laco
volcano, Chile: GFF, v. 120, p. 269–271.
Maksaev, V., Gardeweg, M., Ramírez, C.F., and Zentilli, M., 1988, Aplicación
del método trazas de fisión a la datación de cuerpos de magnetita de El
Laco e Incahuasi en el Altiplano de la Región de Antofagasta: V Congreso
Geológico Chileno, Actas, v. 1, p. B1–B23.
Naslund, H.R., Henríquez, F., Nyström, J.O., Vivallo, W., and Dobbs, F.M.,
2002, Magmatic iron ores and associated mineralization: Examples from
the Chilean High Andes and Coastal Cordillera, in Porter, T.M., ed.,
Hydrothermal iron oxide copper-gold and related deposits: A global
perspective, v. 2: Adelaide, PGC Publishing, p. 207–226.
Nyström, J.O., and Henríquez, F., 1994, Magmatic features of iron ores of
the Kiruna type in Chile and Sweden: Ore textures and magnetite
geochemistry: ECONOMIC GEOLOGY, v. 89, p. 820–839.
Park, C.F. Jr., 1961, A magnetite “flow” in northern Chile: ECONOMIC
GEOLOGY, v. 56, p. 431–441.
Rhodes, A.L., and Oreskes, N., 1999, Oxygen isotope composition of
magnetite deposits at El Laco, Chile: Evidence of formation from
isotopically heavy fluids: Society of Economic Geologists, Special
Publication 7, p. 333–351.
Rhodes, A.L., Oreskes, N., and Sheets, S., 1999, Geology and rare earth
element geochemistry of magnetite deposits at El Laco, Chile: Society of
Economic Geologists, Special Publication 7, p. 299–332.
Sheets, S.A., 1997, Fluid inclusion study of the El Laco magnetite deposits,
Chile: Unpublished M.Sc. thesis, Hanover, New Hampshire, Dartmouth
College, 94 p.
Sillitoe, R.H., and Burrows, D.R., 2002, New field evidence bearing on the
origin of the El Laco magnetite deposit, northern Chile: ECONOMIC
GEOLOGY, v. 97, p. 1101–1109.
Vivallo, W., Henríquez, F., and Espinoza, S., 1991, Alteración hidrotermal en
el complejo volcánico El Laco, Norte de Chile: Congreso Geológico
Chileno, 6th, Viña del Mar, 1991, Actas, v. 1, p. 44–47.
——1994, Oxygen and sulfur isotopes in hydrothermally altered rocks and
gypsum deposits at El Laco mining district, northern Chile: Departamento
de Geología, Universidad de Chile, Comunicaciones: no. 45, p. 93–100.
1500
 DISCUSSIONS 1501

NEW FIELD EVIDENCE BEARING ON THE ORIGIN OF THE EL LACO MAGNETITE DEPOSIT,
NORTHERN CHILE—A REPLY

RICHARD H. SILLITOE †
27 West Hill Park, Highgate Village, London N6 6ND, England

AND DAVID R. BURROWS

Inco Technical Services Ltd., 2060 Flavelle Boulevard, Sheridan Park, Mississauga, Ontario L5K 1Z9, Canada

Sir: The long-anticipated discussion of our contribution a

(Sillitoe and Burrows, 2002) on the origin of the El Laco
magnetite deposit, northern Chile, by Henríquez et al. (2003)
reiterates their contention that genesis required a subaerial
iron oxide magma rather than simply shallow, subsurface
metasomatic replacement. While not wanting to repeat the
textural observations and interpretations made in Sillitoe and
Burrows (2002), we welcome the opportunity to further
highlight the principal evidence for a metasomatic-
replacement origin—in particular, that provided by the
volcanic material enclosed within the massive magnetite and
the widespread zone of related steam-heated alteration.
The most prominent fragments enclosed in massive
magnetite at Laco Sur (Fig. 1a and b) are tabular blocks, up
to 5 m or more in length, that lie roughly parallel to the
subhorizontal bedding attitude in adjacent andesitic volcanic
rocks. Locally, the blocks themselves display subhorizontal
stratification. These observations are clearly consistent with
interpretation of the subhorizontally layered magnetite body
as an in situ replacement of preexisting bedded volcanic
rocks. We cannot envision the blocks and associated smaller
fragments being trains of xenoliths or horizons of air-fall b
material interbedded with the magnetite, as proposed by
Henríquez et al. (2003). Nor can we imagine retention of
original bedding attitude within xenoliths during volcanic
eruption, irrespective of the viscosity invoked for the putative
iron oxide magma that entrained them. Furthermore, the
jigsaw brecciation of parts of some of the enclosed volcanic
blocks is a characteristic hydrothermal feature (Sillitoe and
Burrows, 2002), and not a texture to be expected in xenoliths
entrained by lava flows, whether volatile-rich or not.
We concur with Henríquez et al. (2003) that pyroxene
crystallized at high temperatures (~700º–800ºC) and that
magnetite crystallized between these temperatures and those
indicated by fluid inclusions in apatite (250º–350ºC). We are
unaware, however, of any high-temperature pyroxene
crystallizing in lava flows elsewhere as a result of gaseous
discharge following surface eruption. Indeed, it is difficult for
us to envision high-temperature, vertical vein formation
within a lava flow by a fluid that is supposed to have
accompanied the extruded magma. The alternative, pyroxene
and intergrown magnetite crystallizing from a melt at FIG. 1. Block of subhorizontally bedded andesitic tuff and tuff breccia
temperatures of ~700º to 800ºC, also seems highly unlikely. In within massive magnetite in the lowermost bench of the Laco Sur magnetite
body, El Laco, northern Chile. a. The altered volcanic block (pale colored) is
contrast, hydrothermal pyroxene-magnetite veins are broken up and partially replaced by roughly horizontal and vertical veins of
commonplace in several high-temperature hydrothermal magnetite (gray-black) leading to development of jigsawlike breccia. White
deposit types, including porphyry copper-gold (e.g., Perelló et patch is snow. b. Close up of a portion of the block (within the rectangle
al., 1995) and iron oxide-copper-gold deposits (e.g., Moody et shown in a) showing details if jigsaw-like breccia formed as magnetite-
precipitating fluid disaggregated and replaced the volcanic rock. Note highly
al., 2003). Furthermore, the extensive intrusion-hosted irregular shape of fragments and broadly subhorizontal attitude. Production
of these textures within a viscous magnetite melt (Henríquez et al., 2003) is
† Corresponding author: e-mail: aucu@compuserve.com difficult for us to envision. Laco Sur: UTM 19K 0653766 7362487.

0361-0128/98/000/000-00 $6.00 1501

1502 DISCUSSIONS
magnetite veins at Fierro Acarí, southern Peru, which are
closely similar to the steep, tabular magnetite bodies at El
Laco (e.g., Rhodes et al., 1999), are transitional downward to
pyroxene-dominated veins (e.g., Injoque, 2002), a relation-
ship that effectively precludes consideration of the massive
magnetite as a melt product.
The ubiquitous cavities present in the Laco Sur massive
magnetite body are lined with terminated magnetite crystals
and other subordinate minerals and are believed to reflect
crystallization from hydrothermal fluid trapped in open space
rather than vesicles in magma. We see no obviously vesicular
features on examination of figure 1d in Henríquez et al. (2003).
Creation of closely similar vugs and open spaces during
metasomatic replacement is commonplace in a variety of ore
deposit types, including skarns, carbonate-replacement Zn-Pb,
and sea-floor black smokers, in addition to the epithermal veins
emphasized previously (Sillitoe and Burrows, 2002). The
presence of hydrothermal fluid does not necessarily result in
complete filling of the cavities by mineral deposition upon
cooling, contrary to the claim of Henríquez et al. (2003).
The steam-heated alteration zone at El Laco is, by
definition, the product of acidic fluid developed above the
paleowater table, which typically falls during the lifespans of
many shallow paleohydrothermal systems causing
overprinting of ore by acid-leached assemblages (e.g., Sillitoe,
1993). The currently observed alteration at El Laco is
interpreted as an erosional remnant of a more extensive zone
that, by analogy with geothermal and epithermal systems,
formerly blanketed the entire district (Sillitoe and Burrows,
2002). In this context, the occurrence of steam-heated
alteration beneath some of the magnetite bodies and its
absence alongside others is readily explicable in terms of
paleowater table lowering and subsequent differential
erosion, and is not problematic as appears to be inferred by
Henríquez et al. (2003).
Henríquez et al. (2003) insist that part of the El Laco
deposit formed at the paleosurface, a model that would
require that not just the magnetite bodies but even the steam-
heated zone are essentially the same as they were 2 m.y. ago,
when the magnetite and associated volcanic rocks were
generated (Gardeweg and Ramírez, 1985; Maksaev et al.,
1988). This interpretation seems to us improbable given the
soft, friable character of rocks subjected to steam-heated
alteration, which can be disaggregated manually and hence
readily eroded. Henríquez et al. (2003, p. 1499–1500) claim
that there has been no erosion since magnetite formation
because “no extraneous material is found even in the deepest
pits and cracks between large blocks” of magnetite, an
observation that we feel is better explained by the resistant
nature of massive magnetite relative to surrounding and
former overlying altered lithologies rather than by surface
deposition (as lava) coupled with a total absence of erosion.
An analogy may be drawn with clean, massively silicified rock
outcrops and associated boulder accumulations in epithermal
or other environments, which exist because they are hard and
resist erosion but do not necessarily indicate formational
depth or origin. Indeed, the loose blocks of magnetite above
the massive magnetite bodies at El Laco appear to be recent
rubble and talus due to weathering rather than constituents of
0361-0128/98/000/000-00 $6.00 1502
completely preserved aa-like flows as suggested by
Henríquez et al. (2003) and illustrated by their figure 1e.
Postvolcanic erosion at El Laco is confirmed by incision of
steep-sided valleys, such as that separating the Laco Sur and
Laco Norte magnetite bodies. An average 100-m minimum
denudation depth since magnetite formation, as inferred by
Sillitoe and Burrows (2002), would seem eminently
reasonable when it is recalled that the steam-heated
alteration is soft and precipitation at this latitude was
adequate to sustain small ice caps above present elevations of
~5,000 m asl (below the upper limit of El Laco magnetite) on
Plio-Pleistocene volcanic edifices (Clapperton, 1983).
Furthermore, pluvial periods are documented in this region
of the central Andes even during the last 40,000 yr (e.g.,
Argollo and Mourguiart, 2000). The closed basins
surrounding the El Laco district underwent recent
sedimentation, and the fact that they are not filled
(Henríquez et al., 2003), however that is judged, is no reason
to deny postmineralization erosion.
While we accept that El Laco is an unusual iron deposit
displaying a number of enigmatic features, we believe that, on
balance, the geologic evidence favors a conventional
metasomatic-replacement model operative at shallow
epithermal depths over the concept of generation, intrusion,
and eruption at high elevations of a putative magnetite
magma.
REFERENCES
Argollo, J., and Mourguiart, P., 2000, Late Quaternary climate history of the
Bolivian Altiplano: Quaternary International, v. 72, p. 37–51.
Clapperton, C.M., 1983, The glaciation of the Andes: Quaternary Science
Reviews, v. 2, p. 83–155.
Gardeweg, W., and Ramírez, C.F., 1985, Hoja Río Zapaleri, Región de
Antofagasta: Santiago, Servicio Nacional de Geología y Minería, Carta
Geológica de Chile no. 66, 89 p.
Henríquez, F., Naslund, H.R., Nyström, J.O., Vivallo, W., Aguirre, R., Dobbs,
F.M., and Lledó, H., 2003, New field evidence bearing on the origin of the
El Laco magnetite deposit, northern Chile—a discussion: ECONOMIC
GEOLOGY, v. 98, p. 1497–1500.
Injoque E., J., 2002, Fe oxide-Cu-Au deposits in Peru: An integrated view, in
Porter, T.M., ed., Hydrothermal iron oxide copper-gold & related deposits:
A global perspective, v. 2: Adelaide, PGC Publishing, p. 97–113.
Maksaev, V., Gardeweg, M., Ramírez, C.F., and Zentilli, M., 1988, Aplicación
del método trazas de fisión (fission track) a la datación de cuerpos de
magnetita de El Laco e Incahuasi en el Altiplano de la Región de
Antofagasta: Congreso Geológico Chileno, 5th, Antofagasta, 1988, Actas, v.
1, p. B1–B23.
Moody, T.C., Hawkes, N., Ramos, D., Loader, S., Panez, R., Abbott, C.,
Carbonell, J., and Sillitoe, R.H., 2003, The Marcona iron oxide-copper
deposits, Peru: Congreso Internacional de Prospectores y Exploradores,
3rd, Lima, 2003, Conferencias, Instituto de Ingenieros de Minas del Perú,
Lima, CD-ROM, 2 p.
Perelló, J.A., Fleming, J.A., O’Kane, J.P., Burt, P.D., Clarke, G.A., Himes,
M.D., and Reeves, A.T., 1995, Porphyry copper-gold-molybdenum
deposits in the Island Copper cluster, northern Vancouver Island, British
Columbia: Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum
Special Volume 46, p. 214–238.
Rhodes, A.L., Oreskes, N., and Sheets, S., 1999, Geology and rare earth
element geochemistry of magnetite deposits at El Laco, Chile: Society of
Economic Geologists Special Publication No. 7, p. 299–332.
Sillitoe, R.H., 1993, Epithermal models: Genetic types, geometrical controls
and shallow features: Geological Association of Canada Special Paper 40, p.
403–417.
Sillitoe, R.H., and Burrows, D.R., 2002, New field evidence bearing on the
origin of the El Laco magnetite deposit, northern Chile: ECONOMIC
GEOLOGY, v. 97, p. 1101–1109.