Volatile phase separation in silicic magmas at Bajo de la Alumbrera Porphyry Cu-Au Deposit, NW Argentina

Resource Geology

Volumn 54, Issue 3, 2004, Pages 341-356

  Harris, Anthony C ^a   Kamenetsky, Vadim S ^a   White, Noel C ^a   Steele, David A ^a,b  

^a UNIVERSITY OF TASMANIA   (Australia)

^b UNIVERSITY OF TASMANIA   (Australia)

Author keywords

Comb quartz; Copper; Magma; Magmatic hydrothermal; Miarolitic cavities; Porphyry; Volatiles

Indexed keywords

COALESCENCE; FELDSPAR; FLUID INCLUSION; GRANITE; HYDROTHERMAL SYSTEM; MINERALIZATION; PORPHYRY; SEPARATION; SEPARATISM;

ARGENTINA; BAJO DE LA ALUMBRERA; CATAMARCA;

EID: 11844279036     PISSN: 13441698     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1111/j.1751-3928.2004.tb00210.x     Document Type: Article

References (77)

1. Ahmad, S. N. and Rose, A. W. (1980) Fluid inclusions in porphyry and skarn ore at Santa Rita, New Mexico. Econ. Geol., 75, 229-250.
2. Beane, R. E. and Titley, S. R. (1981) Porphyry copper deposits; Part II, Hydrothermal alteration and mineralization. Econ. Geol. 75th Ann. Vol., 235-269.
3. Bodnar, R. J. (1995) Fluid-inclusions evidence for a magmatic source of metals in porphyry copper deposits. in Thompson, J. F. H. (ed.) Magmas, Fluids and Ore Deposits. Mineral. Assoc. Canada Short Course Ser., 139-152.
4. Burnham, C. W. (1979) Magmas and hydrothermal fluids. in Barnes, H. L. (ed.) Geochemistry of Hydrothermal Ore Deposits. 2nd ed., 71-136, Wiley, New York.
5. Burnham, C. W. (1981) Physicochemical constraints on porphyry mineralization. Arizona Geol. Soc. Digest, 14, 71-77.
6. Burnham, C. W. and Ohmoto, H. (1980) Late-stage processes of felsic magmatism. Mining Geol. Spec. Issue, 8, 1-11.
7. Candela, P. A. (1989) Felsic magmas, volatiles, and metallogenesis. Rev. Econ. Geol., 4, 223-233.
8. Candela, P. A. (1991) Physics of aqueous phase evolution in plutonic environments. Amer. Mineral., 76, 1081-1091.
9. Candela, P. A. (1994) Combined chemical and physical model for plutonic devolatilisation: A non-Rayleigh fractionation algorithm. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta, 58, 2157-2167.
10. Candela, P. A. and Blevin, P. L. (1995) Do some miarolitic granites preserve evidence of magmatic volatile phase permeability? Econ. Geol., 90, 2310-2316.
11. Candela, P. A. and Holland, H. D. (1984) The partitioning of copper and molybdenum between silicate melts and aqueous fluids. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta, 48, 373-380.
12. Candela, P. A. and Piccoli, P. M. (1995) Model ore-metal partitioning from melts into vapor and vapor-brine mixtures. Mineral. Assoc. Canada Short Course Ser., 23, 101-127.
13. Carroll, M. R. and Rutherford, M. J. (1987) The stability of igneous anhydrite: Experimental results and implications for sulfur behaviour in the 1982 El Chichon trachyandesite and other evolved magmas. Jour. Petrol., 28, 781-801.
14. Carten, R. B., Geraghty, E. P., Walker, B. M. and Shannon, J. R. (1988) Cyclic development of igneous features and their relationship to high-temperature hydrothermal features in the Henderson porphyry molybdenum deposit, Colorado. Econ. Geol., 83, 266-296.
15. Cline, J. S. and Bodnar, R. J. (1994) Direct evolution of brine from a crystallizing silicic melt at the Questa, New Mexico, molybdenum deposit. Econ. Geol., 89, 1780-1802.
16. Coughlin, T. J., O'Sullivan, P. B., Kohn, B. P. and Holcombe, R. J. (1998) Apatite fission-track thermochronology of the Sierras Pampeanas, central western Argentina: Implications for the mechanism of plateau uplift in the Andes. Geology, 26, 999-1002.
17. de Urreiztieta, M., Gapais, D., Le, C. C., Cobbold, P. R. and Rossello, E. (1996) Cenozoic dextral transpression and basin development at the southern edge of the Puna Plateau, northwestern Argentina. Tectonophysics, 254, 17-39.
18. Dilles, J. H. (1987) Petrology of the Yerington batholith, Nevada: Evidence for evolution of porphyry copper ore fluids. Econ. Geol., 82, 1750-1789.
19. Eastoe, C. J. (1978) A fluid inclusion study of the Panguna porphyry copper deposit, Bougainville, Papua New Guinea. Econ. Geol., 73, 721-748.
20. Frezzotti, M. L. (1992) Magmatic immiscibility and fluid phase evolution in the Mount Genis granite (southeastern Sardinia, Italy). Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta, 56, 21-33.
21. Guilbert, J. M. (1995) Geology, alteration, mineralization and genesis of the Bajo de la Alumbrera porphyry copper-gold deposit, Catamarca province, Argentina. Arizona Geol. Soc. Digest, 20, 646-656.
22. Gustafson, L. B. and Hunt, J. P. (1975) The porphyry copper deposit at El Salvador, Chile. Econ. Geol., 70, 857-912.
23. Harris, A. C. (2002) The Genesis of a Porphyry Cu-Au Deposit, Farallón Negro Volcanic Complex, NW Argentina. Ph.D. Thesis, The University of Queensland, 281p.
24. Harris, A. C., Kamenetsky, V. S. and White, N.C. (2003a) Immiscible magmatic volatiles in the Bajo de la Alumbrera Cu-Au porphyries: Melt and fluid inclusions record in quartz eyes. in Mineral Exploration and Sustainable Development. The 7th Biennial Meeting, 24-28 August, 2003. Society for Geology Applied to Mineral Deposits. 275-278.
25. Harris, A. C., Kamenetsky, V. S., White, N. C., van Achterbergh, E. and Ryan, C. G. (2003b) Silicate-melt inclusions in quartz veins: Linking magmas and porphyry Cu deposits. Science, 302, 2109-2111.
26. Harris, A. C., Allen, C. A., Bryan, S. E., Campbell, I. H., Holcombe, R. J. and Palin, M. J. (2004) Measuring the longevity of regional volcanism hosting the Bajo de la Alumbrera Cu-Au deposit: Implications for the genesis of porphyry ore deposits. Mineral. Deposita, 39, 46-67.
27. Haynes, F. M. and Titley, S. R. (1980) The evolution of fracture-related permeability within the Ruby Star Granodiorite, Sierrita porphyry copper deposit, Pima County, Arizona. Econ. Geol., 75, 673-683.
28. Heithersay, P. S. and Walshe, J. L. (1995) Endeavour 26 North: A porphyry copper-gold deposit in the Late Ordovician shoshonitic Goonumbla Volcanic Complex, New South Wales, Australia. Econ. Geol., 90, 1506-1532.
29. Hedenquist, J. W. and Lowenstern, J. B. (1994) The role of magmas in the formation of hydrothermal ore deposits. Nature, 370, 519-527.
30. Hedenquist, J. W., Arribas, A. and Reynolds, T. J. (1998) Evolution of an intrusion-centered hydrothermal system: Far Southeast Lepanto porphyry and epithermal Cu-Au deposits, Philippines. Econ. Geol., 93, 374-404.
31. Hezarkhani, A. and Willims-Jones, A. E. (1998) Controls of alteration and mineralization in the Sungun porphyry copper deposit, Iran: Evidence from fluid inclusions and stable isotopes. Econ. Geol., 93, 651-670.
32. Jahns, R. H. and Burnham, C. W. (1969) Experimental studies of pegmatite genesis; 1, A model for the derivation and crystallization of granitic pegmatites. Econ. Geol., 64, 843-864.
33. Johnson, M. C., Anderson, A. T. Jr. and Rutherford, M. J. (1994) Pre-eruptive volatile contents of magmas. in Heaney, P. J., Prewitt, C. T. and Gibbs, G. V. (eds.) Volatiles in Magmas. Rev. Mineral., 30, 281-330.
34. Jordan, T. E. and Allmendinger, R. W. (1986) The Sierras Pampeanas of Argentina: A modern analogue of Rocky Mountain foreland deformation. Amer. Jour. Sci., 286, 737-764.
35. Jordan, T. E, Isacks, B. L., Allmendinger, R. W., Brewer, J. A., Ramos, V. A. and Ando, C. J. (1983) Andean tectonics related to geometry of subducted Nazca Plate. Geol. Soc. Amer. Bull., 94, 341-361
36. Kamenetsky, V. S. and Naumov, V. B. (2002) Melt immiscibility in granite: A "missing link" in magmatic-hydrothermal transition. Goldschmidt Conf. Abstr., Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta, 66 (Supplement 1), A379.
37. Kamenetsky, V. S., Wolfe, R. C., Eggins, S. M., Mernagh, T. P. and Bastrakov, E. (1999) Volatile exsolution at the Dinkidi Cu-Au porphyry deposit, Philippines: A melt-inclusions record of the initial ore-forming process. Geology, 30, 691-694.
38. Kamenetsky, V. S., De Vivo, B., Naumov, V. B., Kamenetsky, M. B., Mernagh, T. P., Van Achterbergh, E., Ryan C. G. and Davidson, P. (2003) Magmatic inclusions in the search for natural silicate-salt melt immiscibility: Methodology and example. in De Vivo, B. and Bodnar, R. J. (eds.) Melt Inclusions in Volcanic Systems: Methods, Applications and Problems. Develop. Volcanol., 5, 65-82.
39. Kirkham, R. V. and Sinclair, W. D. (1988) Comb quartz layers in felsic intrusions and their relationship to porphyry deposits. in Taylor, R. P. and Strong, D. F. (eds.) Recent Advances in the Geology of Granite-related Mineral Deposits. Canad. Inst. Mining Metal. Spec. Vol., 39, 50-71, Montreal, Canada.
40. Kirwin, D. J. and Seltmann, R. (2002) Unidirectional solidification textures associated with intrusion-related gold deposits. in 11th Quadrennial IAGOD Symp. and GEO-CONGRESS 2002, 22-26 July, 2002, 31.
41. 2O solutions. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta, 53, 3-8.
42. Lickfold, V., Wilson, A., Harris, A. C. and Cooke, D. R. (2003) The alkalic Au-Cu porphyry deposits of NSW, Australia: Evidence for coexisting melt and hydrothermal fluids in comb quartz layers. in Mineral Exploration and Sustainable Development. The 7th Biennial Meeting, 24-28 August, 2003. Society for Geology Applied to Mineral Deposits. 315-318.
43. Lowell, J. D. and Guilbert, J. M. (1970) Lateral and vertical alteration-mineralization zoning in porphyry ore deposits. Econ. Geol., 65, 373-408.
44. Lowenstern, J. B. (1994) Chlorine, fluid immiscibility, and degassing in peralkaline magmas from Pantelleria, Italy. Amer. Mineral., 79, 353-369.
45. Lowenstern, J. B. and Sinclair, W. D. (1996) Exsolved magmatic fluid and its role in the formation of comb-layered quartz at the Cretaceous Logtung W-Mo deposit, Yukon Territory, Canada. Trans. Royal Soc. Edinburgh: Earth Sci., 87, 291-303.
46. Lowenstern, J. B., Mahood, G. A., Rivers, M. L. and Sutton, S. R. (1991) Evidence for extreme partitioning of copper into a magmatic vapor phase. Science, 252, 1405-1408.
47. 39Ar Method. 2nd edn., Oxford University Press, New York, 269p.
48. Metrich, N. and Rutherford, M. J. (1992) Experimental study of chlorine behavior in hydrous silicic melts. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta, 56, 607-616.
49. Müller, D. and Forrestal, P. (1998) The shoshonite porphyry Cu-Au association at Bajo de la Alumbrera, Catamarca Province, Argentina. Contrib. Mineral. Petrol., 64, 47-64.
50. Nakada, S. (1991) Magmatic processes in titanite-bearing dacites, Central Andes of Chile and Bolivia. Amer. Mineral., 76, 548-560.
51. Pasteris, J. D. (1996) Mount Pinatubo volcano and "negative" porphyry copper deposits. Geology, 24, 1075-1078.
52. Penniston-Dorland, S. C. (2001) Illumination of vein quartz textures in a porphyry copper ore deposit using scanned cathodoluminescence; Grasberg igneous complex, Irian Jaya, Indonesia. Amer. Mineral., 86, 652-666.
53. Proffett, J. M. (1995) Geology of the Bajo de la Alumbrera porphyry Cu-Au deposit, Catamarca Province, Argentina. Unpubl. Internal Rept., Minera Alumbrera Ltd., 85p.
54. Proffett, J. M. (1997) Geology of the Bajo de la Alumbrera porphyry Cu-Au deposit, Catamarca Province, Argentina. Unpubl. Internal Rept., Minera Alumbrera Ltd., 169 p.
55. Proffett, J. M. (2003) Geology of the Bajo de la Alumbrera porphyry copper-gold deposit, Argentina. Econ. Geol., 98, 1535-1574.
56. Ramos, V. A., Reynolds, J. H., Jordan, T. E. and Tabbutt, K. D. (1988) Time constraints for the uplift of the Sierras de Toro Negro, Umango, and Espinal, western Sierras Pampeanas, Argentina. Geol. Soc. Amer. Abstr. with Programs, 20, 61.
57. Reyf, F. R. and Bazheyev, Y. D. (1977) Magmatic chloride solutions and tungsten mineralization. Geochem. Intern., 14, 45-51.
58. Reynolds, J. H., Tabbutt, K. T., Johnson, N. M. and Jordan, T. E. (1987) Non-systematic uplift of the northwestern Sierras Pampeanas, Catamarca Province, Argentina: Interpretation of magnetic polarity stratigraphy data. Geol. Soc. Amer. Abstr. with Programs, 19, 817.
59. Roedder, E. (1992) Fluid inclusion evidence for immiscibility in magmatic differentiation. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta, 56, 5-20.
60. Roedder, E. and Coombs, D. S. (1967) Immiscibility in granitic melts, indicated by fluid inclusions in ejected granitic blocks from Ascension Island. Jour. Petrol., 8, 417-449.
61. Sasso, A. M. and Clark, A. H. (1998) The Farallón Negro group, northwest Argentina: magmatic, hydrothermal and tectonic evolution and implications for Cu-Au metallogeny in the Andean back-arc. Soc. Econ. Geol. Newsletter, 34, 1, 8-18.
62. Sheppard, S. M. F. and Gustafson, L. B. (1976) Oxygen and hydrogen isotopes in the porphyry copper deposit at El Salvador, Chile. Econ. Geol., 71, 1549-1559.
63. Shinohara, H. (1994) Exsolution of immiscible vapor and liquid phases from a crystallizing silicate melt: Implications for chlorine and metal transport. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta, 58, 5215-5221.
64. Shinohara, H. and Hedenquist, J. W. (1997) Constraints on magma degassing beneath the Far Southeast porphyry Cu-Au deposit, Philippines. Jour. Petrol., 38, 1741-1752.
65. Shinohara, H. and Kazahaya, K. (1995) Degassing processes related to magma-chamber crystallization. Mineral. Assoc. Canada Short Course Ser., 23, 47-70.
66. Shinohara, H., Kazahaya, K. and Lowenstern, J. B. (1995) Volatile transport in a convecting magma column; implications for porphyry Mo mineralization. Geology, 23, 1091-1094.
67. Stults, A. (1985) Geology of the Bajo de la Alumbrera Porphyry Copper and Gold Prospect, Catamarca Province, Argentina: M.Sc. Thesis, University of Arizona, 75 p.
68. Strecker, M. R., Cerveny, P., Bloom, A. L. and Malizia, D. (1989) Late Cenozoic tectonism and landscape development in the foreland of the Andes; northern Sierras Pampeanas (26 degrees-28 degrees S), Argentina. Tectonics, 8, 517-534.
69. Strecker, M. R., Bloom, A. L. and Malizia, D. (1990) Neotectonic activity in the northern Sierras Pampeanas, Argentina. Colloques et Seminaires - Institut de Recherche Scientifique pour le Developpement en Cooperation, Paris, 99-102.
70. Tabbutt, K., Naeser, C. W., Jordan, T. E. and Cerveny, P. F. (1987) Edades nuevas por metodo de trazas de fision de todas Mio-Pliocene en las Sierras Pampeanas y la Precordillera de Argentina. Actas del Congreso Geologico Argentino, 4, 222-224.
71. Ulrich, T. and Heinrich, C. A. (2002) Geology and alteration geochemistry of the porphyry Cu-Au deposit at Bajo de la Alumbrera, Argentina. Econ. Geol., 96, 1719-1742.
72. Ulrich, T., Günthur, D. and Heinrich, C. A. (2002) The evolution of a porphyry Cu-Au deposit, based on LA-ICP-MS analysis of fluid inclusions: Bajo de la Alumbrera, Argentina. Econ. Geol., 96, 1743-1774.
73. Webster, J. D. (1992) Water solubility and chlorine partitioning in Cl-rich granite systems: Effects of melt composition at 2 kbar and 800°C. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta, 56, 679-687.
74. Webster, J. D. (1997) Chloride solubility in felsic melts and the role of chloride in magmatic degassing. Jour. Petrol., 38, 1793-1807.
75. Williams, T. J., Candela, P. A. and Piccoli, P. M. (1995) The partitioning of copper between silicate melts and two-phase aqueous fluids; an experimental investigation at 1 kbar, 800 degrees C and 0.5 kbar, 850 degrees C. Contrib. Mineral. Petrol., 121, 388-399.
76. Wilson, J. W., Kesler, S. E., Cloke, P. L. and Kelly, W. C. (1980) Fluid inclusion geochemistry of the Granisle and Bell porphyry copper deposits, British Columbia. Econ. Geol., 75, 45-61.
77. Yang, K. and Bodnar, R. J. (1994) Magmatic-hydrothermal evolution in the "bottoms" of porphyry copper systems: Evidence from silicate melt and aqueous fluid inclusions in granitoid intrusions in the Gyeongsang Basin, South Korea. Intern. Geol. Rev., 36, 608-628.