ANGLOGOLD SOUTH AMERICA

Av. La Floresta 497, Of, 104 San Borja, Lima, Peru

Tel.: 51-1-372-1010; Fax: 51-1-372-1373
E-mail: tcoughlin@anglogold.com.pe

INTERNAL TECHNICAL NOTE

SUB-THRUST STRUCTURE IN MINERAL EXPLORATION
Tim Coughlin

Dear all,

This is just a quick document for discussion and something that was motivated initially
by the “LFC-best picks” program (see also HEADS UP: PERU TARGET GENERATION
memo attached to this email).

It is intriguing that some of Peru’s largest porphyry-epithermal style mineral deposits are
hosted in the Marañon thin-skinned fold and thrust belt. Consider:

Yanacocha
Antamina
Alto Chicama

Consider also other thrust belt hosted deposits around the world such as Grasberg-
Hertzberg, Porgera, Ok Tedi and Chinkhuashi.

Thin-skinned thrust belts are generally detached on subhorizontal shear zones in the
first 10km of the crust. Thrusts that sole into the basal decollement are generally
consistently verging and dip at initial (non-rotated) angles of less that 30º. Folds in a
thrust belt are entirely fault-related, generally subhorizontal and develop due to kink-
band migration. The geometry of a typical thrust-belt is depicted in Fig. 1. (A simple way
to depict thrust-belt development is to consider the rippling effect that results from
pushing a heavy rug across a polished wooden floor).

Why then should a supra-crustal tectonic element such as a fold and thrust belt be so
apparently important in the localization of shallow-level mineralizing systems? Obviously
the basal decollement lies well above any magma source region and if the thrust-belt
was active during mineralization it is difficult to image how magma-fluid pathways could
be maintained.
 Figure 1. Simple depiction of thin-skinned thrust-belt geometry from Appalachian Valley and
Ridge region in the US.

Probably the most important point to consider is timing, in the case of Peru, thrust belt
development predates the emplacement of mineralization by some 20Ma (Marañon
developed during the Middle Eocene, mineralization emplaced in the Upper Miocene).
During the period between thrusting and mineralization, the thrust belt was the site of at
least two superposed arc-magmatic events. Furthermore, evidence suggests that since
it’s development the Marañon thrust-belt has been translated and refolded by
subsequent deformation events that have involved the underlying basement rocks. That
is, those rocks that lie beneath the basal decollement as depicted in Fig. 1.

This, I think is important (see Powerpoint from ProExplo conference).

According to Chris Heinrich, one of the contributing factors to significant gold

accumulation is considered to be the cooling of low-medium salinity fluids at elevated
pressures (allowing homogenous vapor to aqueous fluid contraction). For this process to
be efficient, some period prior to failure during-which the magma chamber is effectively
confined is required. Confining or constricting a magma chamber in a dynamic
environment typical of convergent margin-settings and where faulting, fracturing and
thus magma and volatile pathways are constantly being formed is considered to be
difficult. For this reason some researchers consider it necessary to effectively “stew” the
magma under tectonically quiescent conditions and under lithostatic lodes at some
considerable depth.

It is clear from our field observations however that porphyry and epithermal mineralizing
systems in the Andes are emplaced under dynamic conditions characterized by active
faulting and high fluid pressures. Furthermore, dating of mineralization and co-spatial
deformation suggests that several ore-emplacement episodes can take place along
active faults and fault-controlled fractures during one contractional deformation event.
This suggests that a continuous contractional process during which deep source
magmas are affected by tectonic loads prior to and during failure is a distinct possibility.

I believe that there are certain lithostatic-scale structural configurations (e.g. LFC’s),
which under contraction may serve to develop local mid-lower crustal regions of
relatively high differential stress. If a magma chamber is located within the vicinity of
these crustal regions it will be effectively confined under high (possibly supra-lithostatic)
pressures, prior to forceful squeezing upwards (constriction) and ultimately rock-yield
and emplacement in a variety of supracrustal structural settings.
The presence of one or perhaps more (staircase trajectories) subhorizontal
discontinuities in thrust-belt environments may serve to bolster the process of magma
confinement and thus homogenous vapor to aqueous fluid contraction during active
tectonics. In this scenario, confinement below a subhorizontal discontinuity could
presumably take place during the arc-magmatic episode and during any subsequent
event of thick-skinned contraction involving rocks below the basal decollement.

Presumably it is the latter and/or the related build-up of extremely elevated fluid-
pressures in the chamber that leads ulitimately to yield of the overlying thrust pile and
emplacement of mineralized bodies.

Here’s what I think is the important bit! In any case, sub-thrust entrapment of a
magma chamber and or uplift of the underlying basement should produce a low-
amplitude topographic anomaly beneath the thrust pile that may bear little
relationship to thrust and stratigraphic trends.

This is exemplified in Fig.2

Figure 2 Simple cartoon depicting basement involved uplift, and trapping of magma at the
basal detachment of an earlier thin-skinned fold and thrust belt. In this case the thrust-related
folds and general strike of stratigraphy can be at some angle to the ridge topography formed
by the “sub-thrust” basement uplift and/or the faults controlling emplacement of magma.
Following are three important examples of the proposed sub-thrust model

1. Yanacocha (geology polylines and mapped faults over 90m DEM)

In the above example the thrust-related topography and geology outlines are clear in the
NE of the image and trend NW-SE. The geology across the Yanacocha area is
dominated by volcanics that unconformably overlie the thrust geometry. Ridge
topography in the volcanic rocks mimics the NW to N curvature evident in the overall
lower amplitude topographic feature. This may be due to sub-thrust basement uplift. NE-
valleys evident in the SW of the image may represent footwall tension fractures.
 2. Alto Chicama (geology polylines and mapped faults over 90m DEM)

At Alto Chicama it appears again as though the broad low amplitude topographic feature
cross-cuts the thrust-related folds and bedding trends. Note that elevation changes
along strike of the folds and contacts but there is no corresponding change in strike or
apparent plunge. Interestingly the north-south orientation reflected in the topography
parallels and appears to underly the outcrop alignment of Calipuy volcanics located to
the immediate east of the prospect area (magma related?).
 3. Sayapullo (geology polylines and mapped faults over 90m DEM)

This is probably one of the most striking examples with thrust-related folds and bedding
contacts cross-cutting a very obvious N-S oriented low amplitude topographic feature. In
this case the volcanic rocks covered by the red claim in the west of the area may
represent a post-thrusting but pre thick-skinned accumulation as depicted in Fig. 1. NE
oriented valleys are also clearly evident in this image and may represent mineralized
tension fractures centered on the apex of curvature.

Closing comments
Basement involved sub-thrust plays and particularly those located along curved faults or
at LFC’s may represent one of the most efficient ways of confining magma under high
pressures and during active tectonics.

We should use the new Shuttle Radar DEM to refine and define target areas along
the extent of the Marañon FTB. In particular I recall some similar relationships
near known gold occurrences to the east of Antamina and the Cordillera Blanca.

Tim Coughlin