EconomicGeolog!

t
Vol 78, 1985. pp $48-,352

ENARGITE-BEARING MASSIVE SULFIDE DEPOSITS HIGH IN PORPHYRY COPPER SYSTEMS

RICHARD H. SILLITOE

8 West Hill Park,HighgateVillage,LondonN6 6ND, England

Introduction Characteristics

Alterationassemblages comprisingseveralof alu- The enargite-bearing massive sulfidedepositscon-

nite, pyrophyllite,kaolinite, dickite, and diaspore sideredhere are lensliketo irregular bodiesin an-
were denominatedadvancedargillicby Hemley and desiticvolcanicrocks,althougha smallamountof the
Jones(1964). Such assemblages are normally asso- ore at Lepantoformedat the expenseof daciticpy-
ciated with chalcedonicor opalinesilicaand can in- roclastics (Gonzales,1956), interpretedby the writer
cludeadditionalmineralssuchaszunyite,topaz,and to fill an upward-flaringdiatreme.Depositsweregen-
dumortierite.Under the conditionsof hydrolyticbase eratedby partial to completereplacementof their
leachingrequiredfor advancedargillic alteration,a hostvolcanicrocksand are elongateparallelto either
highsulfursulfideassemblage, characterized by en- beddingor a regionalstructure.A combination of
argite, luzonite,and covellite,is stable(Meyer and localizing featuresiscommonly important: thegently
Hemley, 1967).Thesesulfidesare commonlyaccom- dippingcontactof a diatremeanda roughlyperpen-
paniedby up to 15 volumepercentpyrite and ap- dicular fault zone at Lepanto (cf. Gonzales,1956;
preciablequantitiesof native sulfur. Bryner,1969),steepbeddingand a high-anglefault
It is not recognizedthat advancedargillicaltera- at the Nena deposit,Frieda River (Asamiand Britten,
tion,includinga highsulfursulfideassemblage, may 1980), and beddingsubparallelwith faults at Bor
be expected above chalcopyrite-bearingK-silicate (Mili•i• and Grujici•, 1979). Intrusiverocksare un-
alterationin porphyry coppersystems(Meyer and known in the immediate vicinities of the orebodies.
Hemley, 1967),especiallywithin volcanicsuperstruc- Massivefine-grainedpyrite and subordinate mar-
turessituatedat a higherlevel than the mineralized casiteare the principal constituents of the bodies,
porphyry stocks(Sillitoe, 1975; Knight, 1977; Wal- which are composed of from $0 to 100 percentsul-
lace, 1979). Examplesof stockworkenargiteminer- fides.Enargite, luzonite,and/orcovellite aretypically
alizationin suchhigh-levelvolcanicsettingsabove coarsegrainedand commonlyreplacedearlier iron
provenporphyrycopperdeposits are knownfrom E1 sulfidesas veinletsand patches,or filled in remnant
Salvador, Chile (Gustarsonand Hunt, 1975), Red openspaces withinthem.Lateveinletsof fine-grained
Mountain, Arizona (Corn, 1975), and elsewhere. pyriteare alsofrequentlyobserved. Bladedenargite
Massivepyrite depositscarrying enargite and/or crystals, colloformto irregularlybandedpyrite, and
luzoniteare, however,alsopresentin the high-level partly filled openspaces are all characteristic.
Native
volcanicpartsof porphyrycoppersystems but are less sulfurmay be an importantaccompaniment to the
widely appreciated.In this note, the generalchar- iron sulfidesand constitutesa massivebody in its own
acteristicsof enargite-bearing
massive sulfidedeposits rightat Bor (Jankovi•et al., 1980).Goldis present
aresummarized, usingavailabledescriptions andthe asthe native metal, but at leastat Lepantoand Lah-
writer's own observations,for examplesat: Bor, Yu- 0ca, telluridesare alsopresent.Plantinoidsare recov-
goslavia; Recsk,Hungary;Lepanto,Philippines;and eredat Bor(Jankovi•et al., 1980)andarealsoknown
Frieda River, Papua New Guinea (Table 1). Partic- at Lah0ca. Additional minor metals include tin (at
ular attentionis focusedon their positionwith respect Lepanto;Bryner, 1969) and bismuth.
to related porphyry copperdeposits. Variable amounts of massive chalcedonic silica and
Volcanic-hosted massiveenargite-bearingdeposits subordinate crystalline(hypogene)alunite are the
representexplorationtargetsin their own right and principalgangueminerals,and they occurboth as
have been exploitedfor their copperand gold con- components of massiveore and in a halo aroundit.
tentsat Bor, Recsk,and Lepanto,whereasstockwork Silicification tendsto gradeoutwardto intermediate
enargitemineralizationseemsnormallyto be subore argillicalterationbeyondthe ore zones.Other min-
grade,exceptwheresubjected to well-developed su- eralsalsopresent,locallyasimportantconstituents of
pergeneenrichment,as at Monywa,Burma (R. H. ore, includechalcopyrite,bornite,chalcocite,tetra-
Sillitoe,unpub.rept., 1977).Massiveenargite-bearing hedrite-tennantite,molybdenite, kaolinite, dickite,
lodeshostedby nonvolcanicrockshave, of course, diaspore, pyrophyllite, sericite,anhydrite,andbarite.
also been exploitedfrom porphyry copper systems, X-raydiffraction studies by thewriterrevealedpyro-
as at Butte, Montana, and Morococha, Peru, but are phylliteanddiaspore at LepantoandNena,anddick-
not considered further here. ite at Bor. Where present,mineralssuchas chalco-

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 SCIENTIFIC COMMUNICATIONS 1349

TABLE1. Geologic
Characteristics
of Enargite-Bearing
Massive
SulfideDeposits

District, Age of Hydrothermal Fault Copper-bearing

country Deposit(s) Host-rocklithology mineralization brecciation trend minerals Data sources

Lepanto, Lepanto Andesiticvolcanics,Late Cenozoic Abundant NW Enargite,luzonite, Gonzales(1956),

Philippines dacitic (?Pliocene) tennantite Bryner (1969)
pyroclastics
Frieda River, Nena Andesitic 15-14 m.y. Present NW Enargite,luzonite Asami and Britten
Papua pyroclastics, (1980), Whalen et
New flows al. (1982)
Guinea

Bor, Bor, Andesiticflows Early Tertiary Present Enargite,covellite, Milifii• and Grujici6
Yugoslavia Brezanik, chalcocite, (1979), Jankovi6et
bornite, al. (1980)
chalcopyrite
Recsk, Lah6ca Andesitic Late Eocene Abundant NNE Enargite,luzonite, Baksa(1975), Baksa
Hungary pyroclastics tetrahedrite et al. (1980)

pyrite and tennantite tend to be late-stagereplace- At Recsk,deepdrillingdiscovered severalhundred

mentsof enargiteandluzonite(Imai, 1978).Stockwork million metric tonsof 0.77 percentCu ore within an
pyrite-enargite-luzonite mineralizationoccurscentral andesiteporphyrystock,plusa smallertonnageof 1.6
and percentCu orein marginalskarns(Baksaet al., 1980).
to and beneath massiveorebodiesat Bor (Mili?2i(2
Grujici6, 1979; Jankovi(•et al., 1980), and beneath The top of the deep mineralizationis some800 m
lensesof massiveore at the Lah6ca deposit (Baksa, below stockwork mineralization at the base of the
1975). At Bor, a downward increaseof chalcopyrite Lah6caenargite-luzonite-bearing massivesulfidede-
at the expenseof enargiteheraldsthe approachto the posit(Baksa,1975;Fig. la). Similarlyat Bor and in
porphyrycopperenvironment(sensustricto). the nearbyH area,severaldeep diamonddrill holes
Hydrothermalbrecciasare an integral and wide- have intersectedporphyry-typechalcopyrite-molyb-
spreadpart of the massiveenargite-bearingdeposits, denite mineralizationdowndipfrom the massivesul-
and hosta significantamountof ore. They are com- fide bodies,some 500 m beneath surface (Jankovi6
monly composedof angularwall-rockfragmentsce- et al., 1980; Fig. lb).
mented by pyrite and/or copper sulfosalts,but lo- In contrast,the Lepantoand Nena massivesulfide
cally, as at Bor, Lepanto,and Nena, they alsoincor- deposits are located13and 6 km, respectively, from
poratedfragmentsof earliermassivesulfides.Locally, observedporphyrycopper-typemineralization(Fig.
angular pyrite clastsare embedded in massiveen- lc), to whichthey are at leastpartiallyconnectedby
argite and luzonite. Many of the brecciasare intra- zonesof pyritic advanced argillic alteration. Two
mineral in age. major porphyry copper deposits--Horse-Ivaaland
Known enargite-bearingmassivepyrite deposits Koki Creek--and severalminor ones,aggregating760
contain an averageof i to 2 percent Cu and up to million metric tons of 0.47 percent Cu, are present
8.5 g/metric ton Au, and rangein sizefrom 2 million at Frieda River (Asami and Britten, 1980), and two
metric tonsat Lah6ca,through27 million metric tons prospects are underexplorationsouthof Lepanto.All
at Lepanto,to an aggregateof 90 million metric tons are associated with dioriteor tonaliteporphyrystocks,
for the nine or so closelyspacedbodieswhich con- partsof which have undergoneK-silicatealteration.
stitute the Bor deposit. However, the presenceof chalcopyrite-bearing,K-
silicate-alteredfragmentsof intrusiverock (D. G.
Position in PorphyryCopper Systems Malicdem, pers.commun., 1980) in the diatreme at
Theseenargite-bearing massive sulfidedeposits
oc- Lepantois interpretedasstrongevidencefor another
cur within zonesof advancedargillic alterationde- porphyrycopperdepositimmediatelybelowthe pres-
velopedin andesitic(and subordinatedacitic) vol- ently exploreddepth of about650 m (R. H. Sillitoe,
canic rocks.Porphyry copper depositsor prospects unpub. rept., 1980; Fig. lc). If this interpretationis
occureither beneathand/or alongsidethe advanced provedto be correct,then the Nena depositat Frieda
argilliczones(Fig. 1). In all casesthe porphyrycop- River not only occursat a higherlevel than the ad-
per-bearingstocksand at least part of the volcanic jacentporphyrycopperdeposits(Asamiand Britten,
hostrockscouldbe considered comagmatic, and at 1980), but may alsooverlie anotherconcealedpor-
Frieda River thisrelationshiphasbeendemonstrated phyry coppercenter.
by radiometricdating (Whalenet al., 1982). In the high partsof porphyrycoppersystems, ad-
850 SCIENTIFIC COMMUNICATIONS

w WNW OPENPIT ESE

"• ....ß

01 I I , •i kin.

NW • SE

• Enorgite-Luzonite-beoring
mossive
sulfide
deposit .Porphyry
• (with copper
.minerolizotion
ctiolcopyrite) ::.• Cholcopyrite-beoring
deposit skorn
Fl(;. 1. Generalized spatialrelationships betweenenargite-bearingmassivesulfidedeposits
and por-
phyrycopper-type mineralization at: (a) Recsk,Hungary(after Baksa,1975,and mine plans);(b) Bor,
Yugoslavia (after Jankovi6et al., 1980);and (c) Lepanto,Philippines(from Gonzales,1956;D. G. Mal-
icdem,pers.commun.,1980;R. H. Sillitoe,unpub.data).Apparentsizeof Lepantoexaggerated because
the sectionis drawn alongthe axisof the orebody.

vancedargillic alterationis believedto commenceat copper systems.They appear to have developedin

approximately the sametime as,or shortlyafter,sub- zonesof advancedargillic alterationseveralhundred
jacentK-silicatealteration,althoughit normallyper- metersabovecopper-molybdenum-bearing feldspar-
sists
longer,asdemonstrated by localoverprinting
of stablealteration,and perhapswithin 1 km or even
K-silicate
byadvanced argillicassemblages.
Enargite- lessof the contemporaneoussurface, where native
bearingmassivesulfideemplacement takesplacewith sulfur depositionmight be expectedto have been
advancedargillicalteration.At Lepanto,however,a active (Sillitoe, 1978).
major phaseof enargitemineralizationlocallyre- Meyerand Hemley(1967)suggested that enargite
placedthe pyroclasticfill of the diatreme,whichsince mineralizationis mostlikely to take placein the basal
it containsK-silicate-alteredclasts,postdatesat least part of the ground-waterzone, where magmatic
early stagesof subjacent porphyrycopperemplace- fluids could be quenchedand oxidized without un-
ment. In contrast,at Frieda River, Asami and Britten dergoing major dilution. With these conditionsin
(1980) arguedfor emplacementof the Nena massive mind, Einaudi(1977, 1982) favoredenargitegener-
sulfidedepositbeforeporphyrycopperemplacement,ation in situationswhere small,relativelyhigh-level
althoughtheir evidence,includingresultsof radio- stocksare emplacedinto rockssaturatedwith ground
metric dating (Whalen et al., 1982), is inconclusive. water. It might be further suggested that massive
Discussion
enargite-bearingdeposits are localized in through-
going permeable channelways,particularly fault
Enargite-bearingmassivepyrite depositsare inte- zones,where part of a magmaticvapor plume con-
gralpartsof the uppervolcanicportionsof porphyry taining a high flux of SO2, H2S, HCI, and volatile
 SCIENTIFIC COMMUNICATIONS 351

metal species(seeHenley and McNabb, 1978;Eastoe, Acknowledgments

1982) first becomesentrained by convectivelycir-
culatingoxygenatedgroundwater. The resultingcor- Discussions
with S. Jankovi6and the geologicstaff
rosivefluidisapparentlycapableof effectingreplace- of the CopperMining, Smeltingand RefiningCom-
ment of volcanicrocksflankingthe conduitby mas- pany at Bor; C. Baksa,J. Fi31dessy, J. Kiss,and T.
sive sulfide,which contrastswith the stockworkmode Zelenka at Recsk; D. G. Malicdem and R. A. Con-
of enargitemineralizationin the upper partsof por- ceptionat Lepanto;and D. Henry and K. Otani at
phyry coppersystems lackingsuchstrongstructural Frieda River are gratefully acknowledged.Valuable
control(e.g.,El Salvador;Gustarsonand Hunt, 1975). commentson the manuscriptwere provided by J.
In suitablestructuralsituations,magmaticproducts F/51dessy,
R. W. Henley, D. M. Hudson,and U. Pe-
tersen.
mightalsobe bledoff laterallyfrom porphyrycopper
centers, a processwhich remains an alternative at
Frieda River. The sealingof channelways by sulfide October27, 1981;September13, 1982
and silica depositionwould causeincreasesin fluid
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