Spatial distribution of porphyry copper deposits in Kerman Belt, Iran

Abstract

The Kerman Cenozoic Magmatic Arc (KCMA, or Kerman Belt) in the southeastern part of the Urumieh–Dokhtar Magmatic Belt (UDMB) is considered as the most prospective geological province for porphyry copper deposits in Iran. Distance-based point pattern analysis methods, fractal analysis and Fry analysis are applied to porphyry copper deposits in order to gain insights into the geological controls over mineralization in the belt and suggest strategies for future exploration targeting. The results confirmed a significant structural control of strike-slip faults over the spatial distribution of deposits at the regional scale as previous structural studies defined it. The emplacement of porphyries in the Kerman Belt is likely controlled by extensional fault duplexes. The analyses further confirmed that there are two distinctly different sectors of porphyry copper mineralization in the Kerman Belt, namely, Sarduieh–Dahaj sector in the northwest and Jebal-e-Barez sector in the southeast as previous geological studies had demonstrated it. It is found that intrusive rock units, which form the permissive tracts for porphyry copper deposits in the Kerman Belt, are clustered, while the copper deposits within the permissive tracts generally show random distribution. It is recommended that predictive prospectivity modeling can be used to target mineralized intrusive bodies in the Kerman Belt; however direct detection techniques should be used to identify mineral deposits within the intrusive bodies.