Abstract
2 ABsTrACT. At Domeyko, 40 km south of Vallenar in northern Chile (28°57'S-70°53'W), the Dos Amigos and Tricolor porphyry copper centers are located within a north-south-elongated hydrothermal alteration zone 6x1.5 km of surface dimensions. The centers are related to tonalite to granodiorite porphyry stocks displaying potassic alteration, which are surrounded by Lower Cretaceous andesitic volcanic rocks with sericitic, kaolinite-illite and propylitic alteration zones. The western boundary of the alteration zone is marked by the post-mineralization Cachiyuyo Batholith of granodioritic to dioritic composition. U-Pb zircon ages for the Dos Amigos porphyry are of 106.1±3.5 and 104.0±3.5 Ma; and 108.5±3.4 for the nearby Tricolor porphyry. The Cachiyuyo Batholith yielded U-Pb zircon ages of 99.6±1.8 and 99.1±1.9 Ma; and 40 Ar/ 39 Ar ages for biotite of 96.9±3.9 and 94.8±0.9 Ma. These dates indicate that batholith emplacement postdated the Dos Amigos and Tricolor porphyries, in agreement with geological relationships. Although copper mineralization is spatially and genetically related to the Lower Cretaceous (Albian) porphyry stocks, most of the dated hydrothermal micas from the Dos Amigos and Tricolor porphyries yielded 40 Ar/ 39 Ar ages between 97.1±2.5 and 96.0±1.4 Ma, which overlap within error with the cooling ages obtained for the neighboring batholith. 40 Ar/ 39 Ar dating of micas revealed significant disturbance of their K-Ar isotopic systematics that complicates accurate determination of the timing of hydrothermal activity at Domeyko. Nevertheless, the 40Ar/39Ar data establish a minimum Late Cretaceous age for this activity. A fission track age of 59.8±9.8 Ma of apatite from the Dos Amigos porphyry indicates cooling through the temperature range of the apatite partial annealing zone (~125-60°C) during the Paleocene; and an (U-Th)/He age of 44.7±3.7 Ma of apatite from the same porphyry sample shows cooling through the temperature range of the apatite He partial retention zone (~85-40°C) during the Eocene. These ages correspond to the exhumation of the porphyry, and the latter provides a maximum age for the supergene enrichment processes that formed the chalcocite blanket currently mined at Dos Amigos.
Highlights
The Domeyko alteration zone is located in the southern part of the Atacama Desert, 40 km south of Vallenar (28°57’S-70°53’W; Fig. 1)
Since 1996, the enrichment blanket at Dos Amigos has been the objective of open pit mining by Compañía Explotadora de Minas (CEMIN), with annual average extraction of 1 million ton of ore averaging 1 percent copper, which is processed by heap leaching and solvent extraction-electrowinning (SX/EW) methods
Two thermal events have occurred related to the emplacement of intrusive bodies; the Dos Amigos and Tricolor porphyry stocks of the Domeyko alteration zone crystallized during the Albian, and the neighboring, unaltered Cachiyuyo Batholith crystallized later, during the Cenomanian between 99.6±1.8 and 99.1±1.9 Ma, thereby confirming geological relationships
Summary
The Domeyko alteration zone is located in the southern part of the Atacama Desert, 40 km south of Vallenar (28°57’S-70°53’W; Fig. 1) It includes the Dos Amigos porphyry copper deposit, currently being exploited, and the Tricolor porphyry copper occurrence (Fig. 2). Six drill holes (totaling 683 m) were completed at Tricolor intercepting low-grade hypogene copper intervals between 0.13 to 0.32 percent It was followed by exploration during the years 1968 to 1971 by the governmental institution ‘Corporación Nacional de Fomento’ (CORFO) in the Dos Amigos area, including 43 diamond drill holes (totaling 5,361 m) and 4 percussion drill holes (236 m). Since 1996, the enrichment blanket at Dos Amigos has been the objective of open pit mining by Compañía Explotadora de Minas (CEMIN), with annual average extraction of 1 million ton of ore averaging 1 percent copper, which is processed by heap leaching and solvent extraction-electrowinning (SX/EW) methods
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