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1. Findadeposit
2. Assessitssize
(resource)
3. Measureitssize,
ExploringforHigh shapeandgrade
(reserve)
SulfidationDeposits
Lithocapsandotherenvironments
DavidRCooke,NoelCWhite
andZhaoshan Chang Cocañes lithocapandPerol porphyry
Maricunga belt,Chile CuͲAudeposit,Peru
Wheretolook Whattolookfor
• Volcanicbelt(arc,largeigneous • Hydrothermalalterationzoneson
province,riftorpostͲorogenic) geologicalmaps,satelliteimages
• Subaerial(HS,IS,LS)orsubmarine(HS) • Zonesofsubduedmagneticresponse
duetoalteration
• Tholeiitic(LS),calcͲalkaline(LS,IS,HS),or
alkalinecomposition(LS) • Vein/siliceousmaterial(floatin
creeks)
• Basementunderoriginalvolcanicbelts • Mineraloccurrences
• Proximal(HS)orintermediateͲdistal • Geochemicalanomalies(Au,Ag,As,Sb,
setting(LS,IS) Hg,Pb,Zn,Cu,Te,Se,Sn)
• Notdeeplyeroded;subsidence • Bewareofsteamheatedzones!
favourable
MassivequartzclastsinpyriteͲ
NativesulfurͲcementedbreccia,Yanacocha cementedbreccia,Yanacocha
Explorationtools Usinggeochemistry
Geochemical distribution in North American epithermal
Hotspringdeposits deposits
Bonanzadeposits
• Geology
• Alterationmineralogyandzoning(SWIR) Mercury
• Veindistribution,mineralogyandtextures Antimony
• Resistivityhighsduetoquartzveinsand
alteration Base metals Base metals
• Chargeabilityhighsduetopyrite
Enargite,ElIndio,Chile ClarkeandGovett 1991afterBergerandEimon 1983andSilberman andBerger1985
Metallicmercury(grey)insilicasinteratPuhi Puhi,NewZealand
Mercuryformedbydecompositionofpinkmetacinnabar byexposuretolight
Thepatternisconsistent
• Therelativedistribution isconsistent,not
absolutelevels
• Fromsurfacedowntherewillbesuccessive
peaksin
• Mercury Elementlevelscanbeplotted
• Antimony directly,orratiosofelements
• Arsenic againstotherelements(e.g.,
Pb+Zn)canbeplottedto
• Gold
emphasisevariationsandreduce
• Silver variabilityduetototalmetal
• Base metals content
RedͲorangeAsͲSbsulfidesintheChampagnePoll,Waiotapu,NewZealand
RedͲorangeAsͲSbsulfidesinsurfaceprecipitatesatOsorezan,Japan
GreystibniteneedlesinsilicasinteratPuhi Puhi,NewZealand
Hydrothermalalteration
RemovesCa,Sr,Mg,Na,K
AddsSi,Al,K,Rb,Ba
NOTE:Theseelementscanappeartohave
increasedbecauseothermajorelements
wereremoved
Totalisstill100%soremovalofoneisbalancedby
apparentincreaseinothers
NOTE:SericiticalterationdoesnotmoveAl–
theKisaddedorremovedtoconverttheAl
tosericite
forKͲrichrocksthatcaninvolveremoval
forKͲpoorrocksitinvolvesaddition
QuartzͲalunitealteredporphyritic
quartzlatite,Summitville,Colorado
UsingGeophysics MagneticSurveys
Untilrecentlygeophysicshasnot Magneticsurveysareveryvaluablefor
beenamajortoolinepithermal clarifying3Dgeology
exploration
Theymustbeusedcarefully withagood
Geophysicscanbeamajorhelpin
appreciationofverticalvariationsinmagnetic
exploration,butitmustbe
properties
appliedwithunderstandingof
thegeologyoftargets Porphyryalterationcanaddmagnetiteor be
magnetitedestructive
Epithermalalterationisalways magnetite
destructive
Yanacocha,Peru Patchytexture,Caspiche,Chile
BUT...
IPSurveys
Whatappliesinthedeeperporphyry
• IPisanimportanttoolinexploringfor environmentisDIFFERENT intheshallow
porphyrydeposits epithermalenvironment
• Many(notall)depositshavecentral ALLepithermalalterationismagnetite
disseminatedore,surroundedbyahaloof destructive
barrenpyrite– chargeabilityanomaly–MOST • lookinMAGNETICLOWS
USEFUL
Siliceousrocks(veins,vuggyquartz)are
• Somedepositshaveacentralzonewith typical
intensequartzveining– resistivityanomaly
• lookforRESISTIVITYHIGHS
Sulfidecontentanddistributionvariable
• CHARGEABILITYLESSUSEFUL
BrecciatedcovelliteͲpyriteveininaluniteͲaltered BladedcovelliteͲpyriteveinin
Granite,Zijin,China aluniteͲalteredgranite,Zijin,China
MartabehighsulfidationAudeposit,Indonesia Purnama highsulfidationAudeposit,Martabe,Indonesia
RTP magnetics
Gold in mag lows Hoschke 2011 Hoschke 2011
Purnama
• Goldhostedbyresistive
silicicͲalteredbodies
Resistivity
Goldie(2000)
TDEM1DRapidImage
YANACOCHA IPResistivityMap,CollahuasiDistrict,Chile
CORͲ14 SLTͲ1 CORͲ9 CORͲ16
Corimao Deposit
CORͲ17
logResistivity(ohmͲm)
Alteration
Massivequartz quartz– clay/clay 140m/2.48g/t
Granularquartz Freshrock
188m/1.58g/t
200m
quartzͲ alunite
81m/5.82g/t
FromGoldie(2000)
Yanacocha – AirborneMagnetics,ReducedtoPole
Radiometrics
UsuallydoneaslowͲcostadditionto
magneticsurveys
Valuevaries– becarefulhowyouinterpret
radiometricdata
Responsetoalterationdependsonhost
rockcomposition– bothpositiveand
negativeKanomaliesmaybesignificant
• Sericitised basalt– Kadded
• Sericitised rhyolite– Kremoved
RTPmagnetics:Epithermal
depositsnotapparentagainst FluoriteͲbearingbreccia,Baijiantan,HebeiProvince,China
Tealetal.(2010) backgroundintrusionsignatures
• Theirpresenceindicatespotential forhighͲ
sulfidationand/orporphyrydeposits
• AMIRAprojectsP765,P765AandP1060
developedtoolsforexploringlithocaps
• Geochemistry MOSTLY
FOCUSEDON
• Mineralogy/mineralchemistry } THESE
• Texturalcharacteristics
• Mappingiscritical
Vuggyquartzwithdickiteinfill,Lepanto,Philippines
•Cathedral Peak, Cerro Casale
Mankayanlithocap,Luzon,Philippines Mankayandistrict,Philippines
(Changetal.,2011)
200km
MankayanDistrict
7.69MtCu,37MozAu
BaguioDistrict
2.7MtCu,35MozAu
FigurecourtesyofPaddyWaters,AngloAmerican,Philippines
LateOligoceneto
midͲMiocene Pliocenevolcanism
Apaoan Slightlyyounger
volcaniclastics Balili 3.3Ͳ 1.8Ma,multipleeruptions
volcaniclastics
basement
Imbanguila pyroclastics
geology (3.3– 1.8Ma)
CretaceousͲ
Paleogene
Lepanto
metavolcanics
12Ͳ13MaBagon
intrusive
complex
Qtz diorite
1km porphyry 1km
Youngvolcanism
<1.2Ma
Bato
pyroclastics
(1.2Ma)
Bato dacite
porphyry
(1.2Ma)
1km 1 km
Lapangan tuff
(0.19Ma) NWendoflithocap:qtzͲalunitecliffsatunconformity,withkaolinitehalo
Mineralisation
LepantoHS:>0.9Mt
X Cu&102tAu
Cu,Mo,As,etc.:
<50ppbAu • Lowabundances
X • Noobvioustrends Victoriaveins,11Mt
@7.3g/tAu+AgͲCuͲ
orzonation Guinaoang,500Mt@
PbͲZn
patterns 0.4%Cu,0.4g/tAu
Teresaveins,0.8Mt
X @5.74g/tAu
Nayaksurfaceveins,
artisanal+0.3Mt@
1km 1km Mohong Hill
3g/tAu
porphyry+HS:100
Mtresource
alunite~1.4Ma • Upwardflareofleachingduetocooling
alunite~1.4Ma
• Hydraulicgradientcausesoffsetoflithocap fromcausativeintrusion
• Asymmetricalterationzonationlikelytherule ratherthanexception
200C
biotite~1.4Ma
Geneticrelationship betweenporphyryandlithocap
establishedbyArribasetal.(1995),Mancano and
QuartzͲalunite
Campbell(1995),Hedenquistetal.(1998)– dating;
fluidinclusionstudy;isotopegeochemistry LongsectionalongLepantofault
Dickite± kaolinite
Hedenquistetal.,1998;HedenquistandTaran,2010
TargetingconcealedporphyryandHSoredeposits: Aluniteabsorptionpeakat~1480nmshifts
Whatinformationcanwegetfrom tohigherpositionclosertointrusivecentre
anapparentlybarrenlithocap?
Changetal.,2011
Alunite~1480nmpeakposition Alunitecompositions
(microprobedata) Ca
Ͳ RelatedtoNacontent
Huangite,
5.1wt%Ca
HigherNa/(Na+K)ratio
indicateshigherformation
temperature(Stoffregen
andCygan,1990)
Wavelengthpositionofthealuniteabsorptionfeatureata1480nm
Changetal.,2011 Changetal.,2011
Alunitecompositions
TraceElementsinAlunite (LAͲICPMSdata) Sr
Alunitesupergroup:
>40mineralspecies
Jambor,1999
K,Na,Ag,Tl,NH4,H3O,Ca,Ba,
Pb,Sr,Zn,Cu,Th,Bi,REE
S6+,As5+,P5+
DG3(TO4)2(OH,H2O)6
Note:mostaluniteformedpriortothe
As3+,Fe3+,V,
mineralisationstageindepositswithore
Ga,Cu
Changetal.,2011
Pb
Sr
Changetal.,2011 Changetal.,2011
Onlyplottingsampleswith alunitemineralfilterapplied
Cu<0.1%,Au<0.1ppm Sr/Pb (wholerockdata)
Wholerockgeochemistry
– whyfilterthedata?
Changetal.,2011
Mineralizationoccurs
atalaterstage…
Mineralization
La/Pb increases;Hg,Ag,Ag/Au,Te,As/Zndecrease
4kmlonglithocap
Decrease:
• Alunite:Pb,Ag/Au
• WholeͲrock(aluniteͲbearingonly):Pb,Ag,Ag/Au,Hg
Increase:
• SWIR:alunite1480nmpeakposition
• Alunite:La,La/Pb,Sr,Sr/Pb
• WholeͲrock(aluniteͲbearingonly):
La/Pb,Sr/Pb
Lithocapandoredeposits
– Schematiccrosssection
Whentestingprospects… REMEMBER
Useallavailabledatasets youhaveto
Useobservationsandinterpretationsto
determinepositioninthesystem THINK!
Drilltointersectat>250° paleotemperature
Drillmore;drilldeeper Alwaysask:
• WhatdoIsee?
• Whatisittellingme?
Thechallengeisgreat; • HowcanIexplainall
Isee?
soisthereward! Thereisnomagic
FluoriteͲbearingbreccia,Baijiantan,HebeiProvince,China
shortcuttosuccess!