Skarn CuAu orebodies of the Gunung Bijih (Ertsberg) district, Irian Jaya, Indonesia

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The major CuAu skarn deposits of the Gunung Bijih (Ertsberg) district in central Irian Jaya are products of hydrothermal systems that developed in association with Pliocene magma emplacement in an active continental margin. The CuAu skarn orebodies occur within a Cretaceous to Tertiary sedimentary sequence that was deformed as the northern Australian continental margin entered a north-dipping subduction zone at ∼ 12 Ma. The intermediate-composition intrusions consist of fine-grained porphyritic stocks, dikes, and sills that have K-Ar ages ranging from 2.7 to 4.4 Ma. Most intrusions are slightly potassic, but these data could be affected by alteration. The skarn orebodies in the Ertsberg district are hosted in deformed lower Tertiary New Guinea Group carbonate strata along the periphery of the Pliocene Ertsberg intrusion. Major skarn orebodies include the Ertsberg (GB), the Ertsberg East (GBT) complex, including the GBT, the Intermediate Ore Zone (IOZ) and the Deep Ore Zone (DOZ), and the Dom. Chalcopyrite is the dominant ore mineral in the GB and Dom orebodies, whereas bornite dominates in the GBT complex. Native Au occurs within bornite and chalcopyrite in GB and GBT ores. The district calc-silicate alteration assemblages are characterized by high-temperature skarn minerals, including forsterite, monticellite, and minor melilite. Diopsidic clinopyroxene is common, particularly in GBT. Anhydrite and phlogopite are abundant in the GBT complex, and the anhydrite:calcite ratio increases with depth from GBT to DOZ where anhydrite is ubiquitous and calcite rare. At least three types of garnets have been identified at the Dom and show a progressive increase in ferric iron content. Garnet decreases with depth in the GBT complex. Talc, serpentine, tremolite-actinolite, and chlorite are common retrograde minerals. Copper sulfide mineralization is texturally associated with early retrograde alteration. Differences among the skarn orebodies are related in part to variable protolith composition that affected skarn development within different stratigraphic positions. Distinctive fossil replacement textures preserved within skarn indicate that the Oligocene-Miocene Ainod Formation is the most likely protolith for the GB and Dom orebodies. The GBT and upper IOZ orebodies probably are hosted by the Eocene Faumai Formation. The DOZ and lower IOZ orebodies, dominated by magnesian skarn alteration, appear to be developed in a dolomitic unit within the lower New Guinea Limestone Group, which probably is equivalent to the Paleocene Waripi Formation.