Evolution of Calc-Alkaline Volcanism and Associated Hydrothermal Gold Deposits at Yanacocha, Peru**
©2010 Society of Economic Geologists, Inc. Economic Geology, v. 105, pp. 1191–1241 Evolution of Calc-Alkaline Volcanism and Associated Hydrothermal Gold Deposits at Yanacocha, Peru** ANTHONY A. LONGO,†,1,* JOHN H. DILLES,2 ANITA L. GRUNDER,2 AND ROBERT DUNCAN3 1Department of Geosciences, Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon 97370 and Minera Yanacocha and Newmont Mining Corporation, Cajamarca, Peru 2Department of Geosciences, Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon 97370 3College of Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences, Oregon State University Corvallis, Oregon 97370 Abstract Clusters of high-sulfidation epithermal deposits containing more than 50 Moz of gold are hosted by ad- vanced argillic-altered Miocene volcanic rocks in the Yanacocha district, northern Peru (lat. 6°59'30" S, long. 78°30'45" W). We describe the nature of the volcanism and its relation to the gold ores on the basis of new dis- trict-scale geologic mapping, 69 40Ar/39Ar ages on igneous rocks and hydrothermal alunite, and petrologic and geochemical investigations. Volcanic rocks of the Calipuy Group are the oldest Cenozoic rocks at Yanacocha, and include the Huambo Cancha andesite, andesitic lahars of Tual and Chaupiloma (19.5–15.9 Ma), and the dacitic Cerro Fraile pyro- clastics (15.5–15.1 Ma). The younger Yanacocha Volcanics (14.5–8.4 Ma) form a cogenetic series of lavas and pyroclastic rocks with a cumulative volume of ~88 km3 that represents eruption from a moderate-size volcanic center. Early pyroxene>hornblende-bearing lavas of the Atazaico Andesite (14.5–13.3 Ma) erupted from small stratovolcanoes progressively younger from southwest to northeast. Dacitic dikes followed that are spatially as- sociated with gold deposits at Quilish and Cerro Negro (~7 Moz Au) and stage 1 alunite (13.6–12.6 Ma).
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