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The Chuquicamata Intrusive Complex: Its Relation to the Fortuna Intrusive Complex, and the Role of the Banco Porphyry in the Potassic Alteration Zone

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The Chuquicamata Intrusive Complex: Its Relation to the Fortuna Intrusive Complex, and the Role of the Banco Porphyry in the Potassic Alteration Zone U N I V E R S I D A D D E C O N C E P C I Ó N DEPARTAMENTO DE CIENCIAS DE LA TIERRA 10° CONGRESO GEOLÓGICO CHILENO 2003 THE CHUQUICAMATA INTRUSIVE COMPLEX: ITS RELATION TO THE FORTUNA INTRUSIVE COMPLEX, AND THE ROLE OF THE BANCO PORPHYRY IN THE POTASSIC ALTERATION ZONE ARNOTT, A. M. and ZENTILLI, M. Department of Earth Sciences, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, B3H 3J5, Canada ([email protected]; [email protected]) INTRODUCCION The geology of Chuquicamata, Chile, recently reviewed by Ossandón et al. (2001) is relatively well understood. However, there are some major questions that remain controversial, a few of which are addressed in this extended abstract, reflecting some of the results of a doctoral thesis recently completed by Arnott (2003), the latest of a series of student theses supervised by M. Zentilli at Dalhousie University (e.g. Maksaev, 1990; Lewis, 1996; Lindsay et al., 1996; Pemberton, 1997; Lindsay, 1998). The Chuquicamata Intrusive Complex (CIC), developed during the Eocene-Oligocene (e.g. Zentilli et al., 1994; 1995; Reynolds et al. 1998; Mathur et al., 2000; Ballard et al., 2001) is composed of the heavily mineralized and hydrothermally altered Este, Oeste and Banco porphyries, and truncated by the West Fault. Juxtaposed across the West Fault lies the unaltered and unmineralized Fortuna Intrusive Complex (FIC) (Figure 1). The initial objective of this study was to unravel the evolution of hydrothermal alteration and its relation to the intrusion of the various igneous phases. At the same time it was intended to answer some fundamental questions with practical implications, such as: 1) Is the FIC genetically related to the CIC or an extraneous body? 2) Does the potassic alteration zone reflect an overprint by an intrusion younger than the Este Porphyry (i.e. the Banco Porphyry, or is it a late magmatic sub-phase of Este Porphyry crystallization? and 3) Was the Banco Porphyry intruded before, during or after the potassic alteration- mineralization event? For this purpose a large sample set was studied using optical microscopy, electron probe microanalysis, lithochemistry and stable isotopes, and the study was developed in parallel to a geochronological study using high precision 40Ar/39Ar dating. THE FORTUNA INTRUSIVE COMPLEX Because of its exposure in the Chuquicamata open pit, the FIC was once suggested to be the elevated deep root of the CIC (e.g. Sillitoe, 1973), and many authors have treated the FIC as part of the CIC when discussing alteration or petrology (e.g. Ambrus, 1979; Soto, 1979; Parada et al., 1987). Although structural and other geological evidence are quite compelling for the FIC being Todas las contribuciones fueron proporcionados directamente por los autores y su contenido es de su exclusiva responsabilidad. an extraneous block with respect to the CIC (e.g. Ambrus, 1979; Maksaev, 1990; Lindsay et al., 1995; Tomlinson and Blanco, 1997; Dilles et al., 1997; Lindsay, 1998; Maksaev and Zentilli 1999), some controversy regarding the possible relationships between the CIC and the FIC continues in the literature (e.g. McInnes et al., 1999; 2001; Tomlinson et al., 2001). However, petrographically and geochemically, the FIC is too felsic to be the source of the Este Porphyry magmas (Arnott, 2003, and Figures 2 and 5). High precision 40Ar/39Ar dating of hornblende, biotite and K-feldspar indicates the FIC is ca. 37.6 - 35.5 Ma old (Reynolds et al. 1998; Arnott, 2003), indicating it crystallized and cooled to below ca. 100oC prior to the emplacement of the CIC (34-33 Ma). The earlier crystallization of the FIC through 40Ar/39Ar blocking temperatures eliminates the possibility that the FIC was the source of alteration and mineralization fluids for the CIC, which was intruded later (Figure 3). POTASSIC ALTERATION AND THE BANCO PORPHYRY In the open pit of Chuquicamata the potassic alteration zone affects mainly the Este Porphyry (Figure 4). In some porphyry copper deposits the potassic alteration affects the country rocks as well as the porphyry intrusions themselves (e.g. Lowell and Guilbert, 1970; McMillan, W.J., and Panteleyev, A., 1988), hence at Chuquicamata it is a recurring question whether the potassic alteration is the result of late magmatic crystallization of the Este Porphyry magma (e.g. alteración tardimagmática, Ambrus 1979; Soto, 1979), or the overprinting of the Este Porphyry by a younger intrusion, perhaps the Banco Porphyry (e.g. Ballard et al., 2001). The fresh Este Porphyry is characterized by andesine-oligoclase (Figure 2), K-feldspar, biotite, amphibole, quartz and titanite. The potassic alteration zone is characterized by an assemblage of albite, K-feldspar, biotite, quartz and rutile (Arnott, 2003). Whole-rock geochemistry indicates that the immobile elements (e.g. SiO2, TiO2, Al2O3) have not been mobilized during potassic alteration (Arnott, 2003). However, CaO is depleted in the potassic alteration zone (Arnott, 2003) relative to the fresh Este Porphyry as is observed in the absence of Ca-bearing minerals in the potassic alteration zone. The enrichment of K2O and Na2O in the potassic alteration zone reflects the replacement of andesine-oligoclase by albite (Figure 6) and hornblende and titanite by biotite and rutile, respectively (Arnott, 2003). Similar textures and 40Ar/39Ar ages suggest that the potassic alteration zone did not result from an overprinting by a separate intrusion, but the potassic assemblage represents a more hydrous development phase of the fresh Este Porphyry. Stable isotope analyses suggest the potassic alteration zone was in equilibrium with magmatic fluids at ca. 535°C, 60°C lower than the magmatic assemblages of the locally fresh Este Porphyry (outside the pit). The lack of Ca- bearing silicate minerals in the potassic zone resulted from high halogen-contents that preferentially partition Ca into the melt and fluid phase (Arnott, 2003). The Banco Porphyry (Figure 7) is characterized by porphyritic plagioclase in an aphanitic groundmass. It has an assemblage of oligoclase, K-feldspar, quartz, biotite and rutile. The Banco Porphyry has preserved igneous intermediate plagioclase (oligoclase), in contrast with potassically altered Este Porphyry, which contains only albite (Figure 6). 40Ar/39Ar ages indicate the Banco Porphyry is >0.5Ma younger than the Este Porphyry (Reynolds et al. 1998; Arnott 2003). Therefore, the Banco Porphyry was intruded into a cooled and potassically altered Este Porphyry, indicating that it was not affected by potassic alteration-mineralization. Therefore, the Banco Porphyry could not be the source of the potassic alteration/mineralization, as has been suggested by other workers. All rock types in the CIC have been overprinted by the Quartz-sericite (Qser) alteration zone that formed at ca. 31 Ma. The Qser is characterized by an assemblage of muscovite, quartz, rutile and pyrite ± anhydrite. CONCLUSIONS 1) The Fortuna Intrusive Complex is not cogenetic with the Este Porphyry of the Chuquicamata Intrusive Complex. 2) The potassic alteration zone of the Este Porphyry is not a superimposed effect on the Este Porphyry by some extraneous magma, such as the Banco Porphyry, but represents a more evolved hydrous stage in the evolution of the Este Porphyry. 3) The Banco Porphyry intruded after the cooling and potassic alteration of the Este Porphyry. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS We thank CODELCO colleagues G.Ossandón, F.Camus, R. Fréraut, J.Rojas, I.Aracena, and others. We thank M.C. Graves, President, Cuesta Research Limited (CRL). Funding was through contracts of CRL with CODELCO, and NSERC grants to M.Zentilli. P.H.Reynolds provided extensive support with the argon geochronology. The early part of this work would not have been possible without the extensive field work and advice of D. D. Lindsay. REFERENCES Ambrus, J., 1979, Emplazamiento y mineralizacion de porfidos cupriferos de Chile, Unpublished PhD., Universidad de Salamanca, Spain, 313p. Arnott, A.M., 2003, Evolution of the hydrothermal alteration at the Chuquicamata porphyry copper system, northern Chile. Unpublished Ph.D. Thesis, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Canada, 450p. Ballard, J.R., 2001, A comparative study between the geochemistry of ore-bearing and barren calc-alkaline intrusions, Unpublished Ph.D. thesis, Australian National University, Australia, 255p. Ballard, J.R., Palin, J.M., Williams, I.S., Campbell, I.H,, and Faunes, A., 2001, Two ages of porphyry intrusion resolved for the super-giant Chuquicamata copper deposit of northern Chile by ELA-ICP-MS and SHRIMP, Geology, v. 29, p. 383- 386. Dilles, J., Tomlinson, A.J., Martin, M.W., and Blanco, N., 1997, El Abra and Fortuna Complexes: A porphyry copper batholith sinistrally displaced by the Falla Oeste [ext. abs.]: Congreso Geológico Chileno, 8th, Antofagasta, 1997, Actas, v. 3, p. 1883-1887. Lewis, M., 1996, Characterisation of hypogene covellite assemblages at the Chuquicamata porphyry copper deposit, Chile, section 4500N, Unpublished M.Sc. Thesis, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Canada, 223p. Lindsay, D.D., M. Zentilli and J. Rojas (1995). Evolution of an active ductile to brittle shear system controlling mineralization at the Chuquicamata porphyry copper deposit, Chile. International Geology Review, v. 37, p. 945- 958. Lindsay, D.D., 1998, Structural control and anisotropy of mineralization within the Chuquicamata porphyry copper deposit, northern Chile: Unpublished Ph.D. Thesis, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Canada, 381p. Lowell, J.D., and Guilbert, J.M., 1970, Lateral and vertical alteration-mineralization zoning in porphyry ore deposits, Economic Geology, v. 65, p. 373-408. Maksaev, V., 1990, Metallogeny, geological evolution, and thermochronology of the Chilean Andes between latitudes 21Ε and 26Ε south, and the origin of major porphyry copper deposits, Unpublished Ph.D. Thesis, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Canada, 554p. Maksaev, V., and Zentilli, M., 1999, Fission track thermochronology of the Domeyko Cordillera, northern Chile: Implications for Andean tectonics and porphyry copper metallogenesis, Exploration Mining Geology, v. 8, p. 65- 89. Mathur, R., Ruiz, J., and Munizaga, F., 2000, Relationship between copper tonnage of Chilean base-metal porphyry deposits and Os isotope ratios, Geology, v.
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