Ossandonetal2001

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Geology of the Chuquicamata Mine: A Progress Report
Article in Economic Geology · March 2001

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Economic Geology
Vol. 96, 2001, pp. 249–270
Geology of the Chuquicamata Mine: A Progress Report

GUILLERMO OSSANDÓN C.,
CODELCO-Chile, Gerencia Exploraciones, Santiago, Chile
ROBERTO FRÉRAUT C.,

CODELCO-Chile, Superintendencia Geología, Chuquicamata, Chile
LEWIS B. GUSTAFSON,†
5320 Cross Creek Lane, Reno, Nevada
DARRYL D. LINDSAY,
SRK Consultores, Santiago, Chile
AND MARCOS ZENTILLI

Department of Earth Sciences, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada B3H 3J5
Abstract
Chuquicamata, in northern Chile, is the world’s greatest copper orebody. It was controlled, from the initial
intrusions (probably at 36–33 Ma) through mineralization (last major hydrothermal event at 31 Ma) to post-
mineral brecciation and offset, by the West fault system. East porphyry, West porphyry, Banco porphyry, and
Fine Texture porphyry make up the Chuqui Porphyry Complex. East porphyry, the dominant host rock, has a
coarse, hypidiomorphic-granular texture. Intrusive contacts between most porphyries have not been found, but
early ductile deformation, subsequent pervasive cataclastic deformation, and faulting affects all of the rocks and
makes recognition of intrusive contacts very difficult.
Potassic alteration affects all porphyries, comprises partial K feldspar and albite replacement of plagioclase,
and more widespread biotite replacement of hornblende, with igneous texture largely preserved. It is accom-
panied by granular quartz and quartz-K feldspar veinlets, which contain only trace disseminated chalcopyrite
± bornite remains from this early stage. Fine-grained quartz-K feldspar alteration, with destruction of biotite
and apparently following albitization of plagioclase, accompanies strongest cataclastic deformation and de-
struction of igneous texture. A band of quartz-K feldspar alteration, up to 200 m wide and 1,500 m long, lies
along the southward extension of Banco porphyry dikes and is the locus of the bornite-digenite center of the
sulfide zoning pattern. This passes east through chalcopyrite-bornite to chalcopyrite-pyrite as sulfide abun-
dance fades out. Sulfides in quartz-K feldspar alteration are abundant only where there is intense crackle brec-
ciation. Propylitic alteration is superimposed on biotitic alteration at the eastern edge of the deposit, but there
is no pyritic fringe. Westward, this zoning is interrupted by the superposition of pyritic main-stage veins with
pervasive quartz-sericite. Veins of quartz-molybdenite, up to 5 m wide and cutting all porphyries, were em-
placed between the early and the main stages. These veins and early-stage quartz veins are commonly seg-
mented and sheared, with fine recrystallization of quartz that eliminates all original fluid inclusions. It is not
clear whether quartz-K feldspar alteration was formed later or earlier than quartz-molybdenite veins.
Main-stage veins were focused along a structural zone adjacent to the West fault. This stage is distinctly
younger than early-stage mineralization, although it occupies many of the same structures and may involve
massive remobilization of earlier mineralization. It may represent a more brittle and much shallower environ-
ment, which followed significant erosion of the upper parts of the early mineralization system. Main-stage veins
with quartz, pyrite, chalcopyrite, and bornite were formed during dextral shear of the West fault system. The
last mineralization of the main stage was enargite, digenite, covellite, pyrite, and minor coarse sphalerite, along
with sericite, and locally alunite but only local traces of pyrophyllite and dickite. Some northwest enargite veins
were apparently opened after the sense of shear on the West fault system changed to sinistral. Vein and vein-
let filling faults and fault-related shatter zones contain the overwhelming proportion of copper at Chuquica-
mata in all alteration zones and assemblages, including pyrite-free early-stage assemblages. Practically all of
these fractures have been opened and mineralized more than once.
A still poorly understood late stage formed digenite with relatively coarse grained covellite from deep in the
sericitic zone and flaring upward and outward under what became the supergene chalcocite enrichment blan-
ket. The presence of associated anhydrite, typical also of earlier stages but largely leached or hydrated to gyp-
sum by later supergene action, proves this is not supergene covellite, but it is otherwise very difficult to distin-
guish from supergene covellite. Rims of sphalerite on primary sulfides, almost invariably with inner rims of
coarse-grained covellite and/or digenite, occur below the chalcocite blanket from which Zn has been leached.
†
Corresponding author: e-mail, [email protected]
0361-0128/01/3133/249-22 $6.00 249

250 OSSANDÓN ET AL.
The sphalerite rims are interpreted by most as supergene, but the close association with apparently late hy-
drothermal covellite-digenite and their absence in all other porphyry copper deposits suggests they too may be
hydrothermal.
A partially preserved leached capping and oxide copper ore, replacing an upper chalcocite blanket, overlie a
high-grade supergene chalcocite body that extends up to 800 m in depth in the zone of fault brecciation and
pervasive main-stage sericitic alteration. Some leached copper moved laterally to form exotic copper oxides and
silicate in adjacent gravels. Continued movement on the West fault produced a wide zone of brecciation and
major displacements of mineralized rock. Net sinistral displacement of about 35 km is indicated by regional
mapping, but the details of how much of each stage of mineralization was displaced and how far on which splits
of the fault are not well understood. The uniqueness of Chuquicamata is due to its intimate and complex rela-
tionship with active regional faulting and to superposition of at least two distinct periods of mineralization.
Introduction In 1971, the mine was nationalized and management and

operation were taken over by the Corporación Nacional del
CHUQUICAMATA lies at about the 2,800-m elevation in the At- Cobre-Chile (CODELCO). Emphasis on production and
acama Desert of northern Chile, some 240 km northeast of major drilling campaigns followed, extending knowledge of
Antofagasta (22º 17.5' S, 68º 54.5' W). Outcropping high- the orebody to 1 km below the premine surface and further-
grade copper oxide was first worked in a small way by both ing exploration of the Pampa Norte deposit. This deposit was
the Incas and Spanish explorers (Miller and Singewald, 1919). discovered by Anaconda in the 1960s and was later developed
From 1879 to 1912, Chilean and English companies worked by CODELCO as the Radomiro Tomic mine. In the early
narrow but rich veins of brochantite overlying enargite and 1970s, J. Ambrus and his group generated the first compre-
chalcocite with pyrite and quartz. Their underground work- hensive geologic model for Chuqui, considering factors such
ings followed a N 10o E structural zone, extensions of the as multiple overprint events, definition of secondary enrich-
Panizo fissure in figure 1 of López (1939), which is today ment zones, definition of primary ores and relationships with
scarcely recognizable in the upper to middle benches in the alteration phases, and potential orebody offset; all of them
northeast portion of the pit. In 1915, Chile Exploration Co., considered in a genetic proposal for the orebody. Computer-
operating arm of the Guggenheim’s Chile Copper Co., initi- ization of most aspects of ore reserve calculation, grade con-
ated open-pit mining on disseminated oxide ore averaging trol, mine planning, etc. was accomplished. The evolving sta-
1.89 percent Cu. Production started at 10,000 short tons per tus of geologic knowledge was recorded by numerous
day from what was initially estimated at 96 million short tons undergraduate theses (“memoria”) and Ph.D. theses by Am-
of 2.41 percent Cu, but by year end 1916, proven and proba- brus (1979) and Soto (1979). Among the few published re-
ble ore reserves had increased to 700 million metric tons (Mt) ports are those of Alvarez et al. (1980) and Alvarez and Flo-
of 2.12 percent Cu (Chile Copper Co., 1917). Anaconda Cop- res (1985). By 1993 it was clear that revision of the geologic
per Mining Co. purchased the property from the Guggen- model used by the mine for mine planning and operating con-
heims in 1923 and subsequently managed 48 yr of continually trol was long overdue, and a major effort was initiated to up-
expanding operation. Early descriptions of the geology were date all aspects. Some 2,300 diamond drill holes were rel-
published by Taylor (1935), López (1939, 1942), and Perry ogged and/or reinterpreted, logging and pit mapping criteria
(1952). These publications summarize geologic mapping by were revised, the portions of the pit within the orebody were
Anaconda mine geologists and internal reports by W. Lind- remapped to completely revise the geologic models for struc-
gren (1917), R.H. Sales (1930), W. March (1939), and L.G. ture, mineralization, and alteration, and special studies were
Zeihen (1952). Jarrell (1944) described the oxide and en- undertaken to define the distribution of Mo, As, Zn, and met-
riched sulfide ores and interpreted supergene processes on allurgical parameters within the orebody. Mine staff was sup-
the basis of experimental chemistry. Production increased plemented by several experienced consultants to accomplish
and shifted from dominantly oxide to dominantly sulfide ores this huge task in just over 2 yr. Over the past few years,
in the 1950s as the pit deepened. Oxide production was ex- extensive 1:50,000 scale quadrangle mapping by geologists
tended by the accidental discovery in 1957 of the Exótica de- of Servicio Nacional de Geología y Minería (SERNA-
posit (now South mine) beneath the oxide tailings dump, and GEOMIN), sponsored by CODELCO, has greatly increased
its subsequent systematic exploration and development in the our understanding of the regionally important Domeyko fault
1960s. It is still the largest exotic copper deposit known. Ana- system (Tomlinson and Blanco, 1997).
conda built a major mining and metallurgical complex, in- The results of these combined efforts were the focus of a
cluding oxide plant, concentrator, smelter, refinery, and town day-long symposium sponsored by the Society of Economic
close to the mine, and a power plant at Tocopilla on the coast, Geologists at the Eighth Chilean Geological Congress in 1997
and Chuquicamata became the world’s largest copper pro- (vol. III, p. 1871–1965). They have been reported in the
ducer. Geologic documentation continued in the form of rou- various published and unpublished papers cited herein and
tine but detailed Anaconda-style 1:400 scale mapping by are summarized in this and accompanying papers. The
mine staff, supported periodically by the Anaconda geologic symposium covered many operational as well as geologic as-
laboratories at Butte and El Salvador. This work was reported pects of the Chuquicamata district, which comprises ore de-
only in unpublished internal reports, most notably by G. Wa- posits strung out over nearly 30 km, from MM (Mansa Mina)
terman (1951), R. Applegate (1960), J. Hunt (1962), B. on the south to Radomiro Tomic on the north (Fig.1). Along
Thompson (1964), and H. Langerfeldt (1964), and a Ph.D. with related exotic copper mineralization, both north and
thesis by Renzetti (1957). south of the Chuquicamata open pit, this cluster of deposits
0361-0128/98/000/000-00 $6.00 250

GEOLOGY OF THE CHUQUICAMATA MINE, N CHILE: PROGRESS REPORT 251
represents a concentration of recovered and mineable copper

of nearly 90 Mt (Ossandón and Zentilli, 1997).
ult Production and reserves
Fa
+ bi
ault
sa
+ Me
Ossandón and Zentilli (1997; Table 1) list total resources—
West F
+
historic and annual production for the Chuquicamata district
Radomiro +
Tomic as of 1997. Two thousand and thirty-five million metric tons
+
+ (2,035 Mt) of ore, averaging 1.54 percent Cu has been mined
from the Chuquicamata orebody, plus 120 Mt of 1.25 percent
Chuqui
+
Norte
Cu from the South mine. A resource of some 6,450 Mt at 0.55
percent Cu remains in the main orebody, plus 190 Mt of 1.12
Chuquicamata +
Mine
+
percent Cu remains in the South mine. If resources in the
+ MM project to the south and the Radomiro Tomic mine to
the north (Fig. 1) are included, the combined resource still to
Plant Plant Waste be mined plus past production is 11.4 billion tons of 0.76 per-
Dump
cent Cu, rivaled only by El Teniente and Andina-Disputada as
.
mp
mp d
Du che
the greatest copper mining district in the world. In 1997, the

Ca
a
Le
South Mine
(Exotica) combined production from the Chuquicamata and Exótica
orebodies was 644,000 t of fine copper.
MM
North
+ Geologic Setting
+
Chuquicamata is in the Precordillera of northern Chile,
+ Salar
which is parallel and west of the volcanoes that form the mod-
MM + ern continental arc of the Andean Cordillera. It is related to
Central
+ Tailings
Eocene-early Oligocene porphyritic intrusions that occur
MM +
within the middle to late Cenozoic Domeyko fault system.
South
+ The setting is similar to that of several Eocene and Oligocene
porphyry copper deposits in the belt stretching from at least
Potrerillos to Quebrada Blanca, but Chuquicamata is the
most closely related in space and time to this fault system.
r
Rive Pre-Oligocene rocks
ador Calama
Salv Loa River
San
r
In the Chuquicamata district, the oldest rocks occur in a

ive
aR
0 6 Km north-northeast–trending belt of Paleozoic metasedimentary

Lo
and metaplutonic rocks, which are exposed within the South

Chuquicamata District mine pit and within a kilometer east of the Chuquicamata pit
(Fig.1). These rocks include gneissic granite, metadiorite,
WEST BLOCK EAST BLOCK quartz diorite, and minor tonalite recrystallized in varying de-
grees to amphibolite (A. Tomlinson, writ. commun., 1999).
Miocene Pervasive chlorite-epidote-calcite alteration in the meta-
Exotic Copper dioritic rocks is so widespread that it was interpreted by Am-
Eocene - Oligocene Eocene - Oligocene brus (1979) as retrograde regional metamorphism rather than
Fortuna Granodiorite + + Chuqui Porphyry Complex propylitic alteration related to the orebodies. Dioritic rocks
intrude the Mesa Granite, a pink microcline granite with lo-
Los Picos Diorite + +
+ + + Elena Granodiorite cally developed weak to moderate gneissic fabric. This gran-
F a u l t
+ +
ite is also recognized in the Sierra Limón Verde, south of

Eocene Triassic Calama, where it is dated at late Carboniferous (Marinovic
Arca Formation Agua Dulce Formation and Lahsen, 1984). East Granodiorite intrudes the west edge
Andesitic volcanics
Dacites, rhyodacites of the metaplutonic complex and extends at least 9 km north-
W e s t
Lower Cretaceous East Granodiorite northeast from the southeast edge of the Chuqui pit along the
San Salvador Formation crest of the Chuquicamata Hills. It is medium to coarse
Sandstone Paleozoic equigranular texture, with plagioclase, microperthitic K
Middle Jurassic feldspar, quartz, biotite, and hornblende. U-Pb zircon dating
Mesa Granodiorite indicates a Middle Triassic age (A. Tomlinson, writ. commun.,
Caracoles Group
Limestones and sediments Igneous-Metamorphic 1999). Local alteration to albite-chlorite-magnetite and sericite-
Complex clay is ascribed to the influence of the Chuquicamata por-
phyries (Ambrus, 1979).
FIG. 1. The Chuquicamata district, showing major geologic units and lo- In the Sierra Limón Verde, these crystalline rocks are uncon-
cation of mines. Geology is modified from G. Chong and R. Pardo, unpub-
lished map (1997). The Chuquicamata mine is at 22o17.5' S, 68o54.5' W formably overlain by a volcanic and sedimentary sequence of
(UTM E510350, N7535600). Mesozoic age. At its base this sequence consists of continental
0361-0128/98/000/000-00 $6.00 251

TABLE 1. Geologic Resources and Production, Chuquicamata District (cutoff grade 0.2% Cu)
Resources1 Mined out
Deposit Million tons Cu (%) Million tons Cu Million tons Cu (%)
Chuquicamata 8485 0.79 67.03 2035 1.54

Chuqui oxides 506 1.56 506 1.56
North zone oxides 350 0.43
Enriched sulfides 2229 1.41 1529 2 1.53
Primary sulfides 5400 0.48
Exótica (South mine) Oxides 310 1.17 3.63 120 1.25
Radomiro Tomic 2330 0.59 13.75

Oxides 850 0.62
Enriched sulfides 180 0.93
Primary sulfides 1300 0.53
Proyecto MM 325 0.96 3.12

Oxides 25 1.11
Sulfides 300 0.95
Total 11450 0.76 87.02 2155 1.52

Oxides 2041 0.91 18.57 625 1.50
Enriched sulfides 2409 1.37 33.00 1529 2 1.53
Primary sulfides 7000 0.51 35.70
1 Includes historical production

2 Includes primary sulfides
Mine production
Year 1997
Million tons Grade Cu (%) Thousand tons Cu
Concentrator
Chuquicamata Sulfides 53 1.05 481
Hydrometallurgical 314
Exótica (South mine) Oxides 10 1.2 84
Chuquicamata Low-grade sulfide ore 15 0.36 13
Old leach tailings 67
Radomiro Tomic Oxides 150
Total fine copper 794
facies conglomerate, sandstone, and andesitic and dacitic Fortuna Complex to the west and the intensely mineralized
lava, breccia, and tuff of presumed Late Triassic age (Lira, Chuqui Porphyry Complex to the east. Rocks with textures
1989; Mpodozis et al., 1993). This is gradationally overlain by essentially identical to those of the Chuqui Porphyry Com-
a transgressive marine sequence of Jurassic shale, sandstone, plex extend northward at least 9 km through the Radomiro
and limestone. In the Chuquicamata Hills, equivalent Meso- Tomic mine (Cuadra et al., 1997; Cuadra and Rojas, 2001).
zoic rocks are frequently in fault contact with the basement
rocks or the contact is too poorly exposed to determine its na- Structure
ture (A. Tomlinson, writ. commun., 1999). Here andesitic vol- The fault separating the two halves of the Chuquicamata
canic rocks are the dominant Mesozoic lithology, but conti- pit is the West fault, the famous West Fissure of early litera-
nental sandstone units crop out on the north flank of the ture (Fig. 2). It is a major strand of the West fault system
Chuquicamata Hills. Marine limestone and calcareous shale (Tomlinson and Blanco, 1997), as the portion of the Domeyko
occur as fault slivers along the Mesabi fault from the north fault system north of Calama is now called. This is a regional
end of the hills to the east edge of the pit. In the pit, the sed- structural zone extending several hundred kilometers in
imentary units consist of calcareous, fine-grained sedimentary northern Chile. It is interpreted as a Cenozoic age, arc-paral-
rocks that are intruded and contact metamorphosed by East lel set of transcurrent and reverse faults. Having fascinated
porphyry of the Chuqui Porphyry Complex (Lindsay, 1998). explorationists for decades, it has recently been the focus of
several studies (e.g., Maksaev and Zentilli, 1988, 1999; Mak-
Eocene-Oligocene intrusions saev, 1990, Reutter et al., 1991; Lindsay et al., 1995; Tomlin-
The major postmineral West fault separates the porphyritic son and Blanco, 1997). Just north of the Chuqui pit, the zone
rocks in the Chuquicamata pit, with the dominantly barren is 5 km wide, from the Tetera fault on the west to the Mesabi
0361-0128/98/000/000-00 $6.00 252

E 3000
E 3500
E 4000
WEST OF WEST FAULT
Fortuna Intrusive Complex
N
SAN LORENZO PORPHYRIES
50
TETERA PORPHYRY APLITES
FIESTA GRANODIORITE N 5500

80 64
FAULTS
76
75
72
88 70 60 75
77
72 N 5000
66
60
87
65
78
70
82
60
d
60
pe
ap
78 80
tM
60
63
No
82 N 4500
ea
65
Ar
82
69
ed
app
ot M
aN
Are
ult
Area Not Mapped

a
N 4000
West F
ed
app
82 76
ot M
85
aN
75
Are
65 N 3600
ed
70
app
84
N 3500
ot M
60
60
aN
Are
74
70
80 85
80
80
80 70
65 75 EAST OF WEST FAULT

82
Chuqui Intrusive Complex
75
Americana Fault Zone
ed
75 gravels
app
ot M
80
70 Breccciated
85
aN
Qtz-Ser Rock
ed
80 75 87
Are
app
Banco Porphyry
ed
75
ot M
app
78 80
aN
ot M
83 West Porphyry
Are
65
aN
68
Mesabi Fault Zone
Are
75 East Porphyry
73
Fine Texture Porphyry
85
76
79 Elena Granodiorite
70 East Granodiorite
500 Meters
Limestones
Shales/Sandstones
E 2500
E 3000
E 3500
Faults
Faults veins
FIG. 2. Rock types and major structures exposed in the Chuquicamata open pit in 1998. See 500-m local coordinates for
scale. Note true north is 10o west of mine north in this and all other pit maps. Bottom bench is at 2,307-m elev, top bench is
at 2,944 m. Only those structures continuous over 3 benches (39 m) are shown. Faults in area not mapped are interpreted
from rock mechanics data only (Torres et al., 1997).
0361-0128/98/000/000-00 $6.00 253

A 2mm B 2mm
C 2mm D 2mm
E 1mm F 1mm
G 1mm H 4.4cm
0361-0128/98/000/000-00 $6.00 254

fault on the East. Dilles et al. (1997) and Tomlinson and Early Cretaceous age: Pb-alpha dating of zircon indicates an
Blanco (1997) describe the evolution of the West fault system. age of 146 ± 15 Ma, and K-Ar dating in biotite indicates an
It has been active prior to intrusion of the Chuqui Porphyry age of 122 ± 3.8 Ma (Ambrus, 1979, table 7). All of these
Complex until after 16 Ma, changing sense of movement at rocks at the east edge of the pit are essentially barren of min-
least twice. It has had a critical control on the emplacement eralization and practically all recent geologic effort has been
of the host intrusions, formation of mineralized structures, concentrated in and immediately adjacent to the orebody,
and postmineral displacement of the orebodies. which extends roughly 800 to 1,200 m eastward from the
West fault.
Rock Types
Chuqui Porphyry Complex
Fortuna Intrusive Complex Practically the entire Chuquicamata orebody is hosted by
The pattern of mappable rock types exposed in the pit is the Chuqui Porphyry Complex, made up of East, Fine Tex-
shown in Figure 2. The Fortuna Intrusive Complex adjacent ture, West, and Banco porphyries (Fig. 2). Each of these con-
to the open pit contains only low-grade mineralization and tains, in their freshest state, plagioclase, quartz, K feldspar, bi-
has been structurally juxtaposed against the intensely miner- otite, and hornblende with accessory sphene and magnetite.
alized Chuqui Porphyry Complex by large-scale, postmineral Textures vary widely, and practically all exposures are affected
movement on the West fault—documented by Dilles et al. by some degree of hydrothermal alteration and pervasive cat-
(1997), Tomlinson and Blanco (1997), and previous workers. aclastic deformation. Despite years of detailed mapping and
Lithologic units shown within the Fortuna Intrusive Complex special studies to find intrusive contacts and define temporal
(Fig. 2) were mapped by Lindsay (1995, unpub. report) and relationships between intrusion and alteration-mineraliza-
Dilles and are described by Dilles et al. (1997). The volumet- tion, sharp intrusive contacts have only been seen between
rically dominant Fiesta Granodiorite phase of the Fortuna In- the East and Banco porphyries.
trusive Complex is intruded by small irregular bodies of San The largest and presumably the oldest intrusion is the East
Lorenzo granodioritic porphyry and minor Tetera aplite por- porphyry. It is hypidiomorphic-granular texture (Fig. 3A),
phyry. Fiesta Granodiorite is weakly mineralized with copper with euhedral plagioclase (avg >2 mm), biotite, hornblende,
oxides in the uppermost northwestern benches of the pit and (altered to biotite), and locally K feldspar in a matrix of
with sulfides only near contacts of the San Lorenzo por- quartz, K feldspar, and biotite. There is no euhedral quartz,
phyries. Mineralization in these porphyries and at contact but commonly elongated polycrystalline and strained quartz
zones comprises weak chalcopyrite-(bornite) dissemination blebs are prevalent and are probably deformed phenocrysts.
and veinlets, minor chalcopyrite-magnetite veinlets, and The West porphyry has similar phenocrysts, though slightly
molybdenite on fractures, associated with partial biotite re- finer grained (avg plagioclase <2 mm) and with quartz eyes
placement of hornblende. Rock west of the West fault is common, in an aplitic groundmass of much finer equigranu-
shipped to the waste dumps and is mapped only for slope sta- lar quartz, K feldspar, and biotite. In the north central portion
bility purposes. of the pit, euhedral K feldspar megacrysts (to 2 cm) occur in
both porphyries. Although considered by some as metaso-
Pre-Chuqui porphyry intrusions matic, Langerfeld (unpub. report, 1964) showed the common
On the eastern margin of the pit are exposed the Elena and occurrence of plagioclase inclusions oriented along growth
East Granodiorites, both intruding metasedimentary rocks zones and interpreted them as magmatic features. The abun-
that were originally shale and sandstone with minor lime- dance and coarseness of aplitic groundmass and matrix in
stone. Whereas the East Granodiorite is texturally distinctive these porphyries vary in an apparently gradational manner
and clearly older, Elena is mineralogicaly and texturally simi- near their poorly defined contact (Hunt, unpub. report, 1962),
lar to the East porphyry. Contacts are obscured, but radio- reminiscent of textural variation within the single intrusive
metric dating of the Elena Granodiorite indicates a Jurassic to unit L porphyry at El Salvador (Gustafson and Hunt, 1975),
FIG. 3. A. East porphyry, with coarse-grained interstitial quartz and K feldspar; potassic alteration with K feldspar vein-
lets in plagioclase, and biotite after hornblende (not shown); weak deformation with recrystallization of quartz (arrow). No
K feldspar megacrysts in this sample. OX1070, D2 bench, 3934N-3881E. B. West porphyry, with aplitic groundmass; potas-
sic alteration and disseminated bornite-chalcopyrite; foliated by weak noncataclastic deformation and recrystallization; early
granular quartz-K feldspar veinlet (top half) is perpendicular to foliation in porphyry; vein has K feldspar alteration halo, dis-
seminated molybdenite-chalcopyrite, and is recrystallized by shearing. J1C, J1 bench, 5080N-3500E. C. Sharp intrusive con-
tact East porphyry with Banco porphyry (right); Banco has relatively sparse plagioclase and biotite phenocrysts in character-
istic matrix of <1-mm plagioclase with finer granular quartz and K feldspar. OX1104, location unknown. D. Small dike of
porphyry with aplitic groundmass, phenocrysts of subhedral K feldspar (right center, stained yellow, with included plagio-
clase), biotite, and subhedral quartz phenocrysts (recrystallized, arrows); it intrudes much more deformed East porphyry,
possibly being much younger and may be related to dacite dikes at the MM deposit. D3619-684.2, 3799N, 3257E, 1,770-m
elevation. A.-D. Color copier print with crossed-polarized sheet. E. Quartz-K feldspar alteration; pervasive albitization of pla-
gioclase and strong cataclastic deformation of East porphyry, with lacing streaks of very fine grained quartz-K feldspar; high-
birefringent sericite; D2743-138.3 m. F. Quartz-K feldspar alteration with K feldspar veinlets (arrow) in K feldspar
megacryst, which is relatively resistant to cataclastic deformation; East porphyry. D2743-155.2 m. E.-F. Transmitted light,
crossed polars. G. Quartz-K feldspar alteration, foliated with extreme texture obliteration in East porphyry; K-feldspar
stained yellow; opaques are bornite-digenite. D3226-383.4 m. Plain transmitted light. H. Breccia and crackle filling bornite-
digenite-chalcopyrite in quartz-K feldspar altered East porphyry; most feldspar altered here to green sericite, but no pyrite.
D3758-261 m.
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leaving their identification as separate intrusions in doubt. its control on mineralization in the deposit have been de-
Locally both porphyries are weakly foliated, even where they scribed by Lindsay et al. (1995), Rojas and Lindsay (1997),
lack cataclastic deformation (Fig. 3B), indicating plastic de- and Lindsay (1998).
formation, possibly during intrusion and crystallization.
Banco porphyry is finer grained and more porphyritic than Early ductile deformation
East porphyry, which it intrudes (Fig. 3C). It differs from Emplacement of the Chuqui Porphyry Complex was ac-
West porphyry in having an abundance of small plagioclase companied by and probably facilitated by ductile deforma-
crystals in the aplitic groundmass. Its texture is also variable, tion. At the east edge of the pit, apophyses of East porphyry
including local K feldspar megacrysts. The Fine Texture por- locally truncate ductile deformation fabrics in the metasedi-
phyry in Figure 2 is distinctly finer grained than normal East mentary units and Elena Granodiorite, which show a dextral
porphyry but has a hypidiomorphic-granular texture. Con- sense of shear in the Mesabi fault zone. In turn, East por-
tacts with East porphyry may be abrupt but usually faulted. phyry contains mylonitic zones that show dextral shear (Lind-
These occurrences in the pit may correlate with Banco por- say et al., 1995). Most of these zones are parallel to the steeply
phyry intersected in drill holes below, and both rock types dipping Mesabi fault, but others in the upper northeastern
may be closely related. Most such dikes have been so over- sector of the pit are reverse faults, which display flat dips to
printed by quartz-sericite alteration that their identification is the northeast (Rojas and Lindsay, 1997; Lindsay, 1998). Por-
very difficult. As is the case for Banco porphyry, no definitive phyry texture is completely destroyed in these discrete my-
age relationships (i.e., truncated quartz veins) have been seen lonitic zones. Furthermore, there are large volumes of East
at the contacts with Fine Texture porphyry, and megascopi- and West porphyries with reduced biotite content but with
cally at least both porphyries seem to have been affected by texture largely preserved, where clear foliation and lineation
all of the same stages of alteration and mineralization as the are accompanied by pervasive cataclastic features visible in
East porphyry. thin section (see previous discussion and Fig. 3E-G). Perva-
Figure 3D shows a <8-cm-wide dike in East porphyry but sive cataclastic deformation probably spanned the extended
which lacks the pervasive cataclastic deformation of the host transition between ductile and brittle and continued through-
rock. The texture looks like West porphyry, but it occurs 1,800 out at least the early period of alteration and mineralization.
m south-southeast of West porphyry (3700 N, 3257 E, 1,770 It is probably responsible for obliteration of any intrusive con-
m elev). Because it is much less altered and deformed, it ap- tacts that may have existed between the East and West por-
pears to be much younger than other intrusions in the deposit phyries.
and is more probably related to Dacite porphyry dikes seen in
the MM deposit some 12 km to the south. No other such un- Veins
altered dikes have been recognized at Chuquicamata, but this A large proportion of the copper at Chuquicamata occurs in
may be the only evidence of intrusion contemporaneous with veins and veinlets filling faults and fault-related shatter zones.
the main-stage of alteration and mineralization. Practically all of these fractures in the main orebody have
been opened and mineralized more than once, with trunca-
Structural Controls tion and superposition of mineral assemblages, seriously com-
A critical control on events at Chuquicamata, from initial plicating the construction of an evolutionary sequence of
emplacement of the porphyries to metal distribution and structure and mineralization. There have been several vein
slope stability in the present-day pit, has been its dynamic set- sequences proposed (G. Waterman, unpub. report, 1951;
ting within the West fault system (Tomlinson and Blanco, Ambrus, 1979; Lindsay et al., 1995; Lindsay, 1998), which are
1997). The various vein systems were formed during an early generally in agreement. Early-stage veinlets of quartz and
period of dextral shear developed between the Mesabi fault quartz-K feldspar contain no or only very minor sulfide.
on the east and a western fault that has probably been dis- These veinlets are cut by more continuous quartz veins, to 5
placed by or evolved into the younger West fault. Subsequent cm wide, containing minor molybdenite and traces of chal-
reversal of movement to sinistral shear, focused here in a copyrite (Fig. 3B, top). Large banded quartz veins, known as
much narrower zone that now runs through the center of the blue veins, are typically 1 m or more in width, contain abun-
open pit, produced the postmineral offset on the West fault. dant molybdenite, and truncate the previous veins (Fig. 4A
The evolution of the shear system from ductile to brittle and and B). These veins are commonly surrounded by sericitic
FIG. 4. A. Quartz-molybdenite vein with coarse texture recrystallized in shear bands parallel walls; from the 30-cm-wide
blue vein. Chuqui Mo D; K1 bench, 4970N-3480E. Color copier print with crossed-polarized sheet. B. Same as A but with-
out polarized sheet; fine crystalline disseminated and coarse smear molybdenite in stylolites parallel walls; coarse opaques in
discordant fractures are digenite-bornite-pyrite. C. Quartz-molybdenite vein cut by main-stage barren pyrite veinlet (arrow),
in turn offset by veinlets of digenite-bornite-pyrite. D3539-736.5 m. D. Main-stage pyrite-quartz-enargite-chalcocite-spha-
lerite vein (black), 10 cm with ±1.5-m sericitic halo (gray) merged with halos of other smaller veins; in kaolin-sericite altered
East porphyry (white); D3848 ± 38 m. E. Veinlet of anhydrite with red amorphous hematite and minor coarse-grained cov-
ellite-digenite (opaque); D2743-282.8 m. Transmitted light, crossed polars. F. Sphalerite rim on chalcopyrite grain replaced
with coarse-grained covellite-(digenite); coarse-grained covellite and/or digenite form inner rims inside almost all sphalerite
rims. D2743-53.7 m. G. Segmented 2-m blue quartz-molybdenite vein (outlined, arrow, left) and rare late N 70o E fault
(arrow, right) cutting megabreccia zone; M3 bench, ±4500N-3800E. H. Segmented pyrite-enargite veins (arrows) in 50- to
100-m-wide fault breccia zone next to the West fault; no quartz vein clasts or continuous veins of any type in this zone; top
of photo is to left; M3 bench near G.
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A 5mm B 5mm
4.4cm 4.4cm
C D
1mm 0.5mm
E F
G H
0361-0128/98/000/000-00 $6.00 257

alteration, but this is due to superposition of younger pyritic system (Dilles et al., 1997; Tomlinson and Blanco, 1997),
veins following the same structures. Veins and veinlets of the much of it concentrated on the 1- to 5-m-thick gouge of the
main-stage contain pyrite, chalcopyrite, bornite, and digenite, main strand of the West fault and the ±400-m-wide zone of
decreasing amounts of quartz and increasingly well developed braided shears with montmorillonitic gouge within the For-
sericitic alteration halos (Fig. 4D). Locally, the earliest of tuna Intrusive Complex (Lindsay, 1998). It is not clear when
these veins appear to contain pyrite without Cu sulfide (Fig. movement began on this structure, but clasts of supergene
4C; Lindsay et al., 1995). Relatively late main-stage veins con- chalcocite showing slickensides indicate movement younger
tain enargite ± pyrite and minor sphalerite. Later still, vein- than 19 to 15 Ma, the age of supergene alunite (Sillitoe and
lets and fractures are filled with relatively coarse grained cov- McKee, 1996). Within the brecciated quartz-sericite zone
ellite (to 1 mm) and digenite with and without pyrite. Lindsay there are multiple parallel discontinuities, some with discon-
et al. (1995) have drawn the analogy of this sequence with the tinuous gouge and some with no gouge, which probably are
evolutionary sequence of A, B, and D veins described at El faults that also have had important displacements associated
Salvador (Gustafson and Hunt, 1975). Whereas, in a gross with displacement on the West fault. Among these are the
sense of changing chemical environments the analogy has discontinuities at the western edge of the quartz-molybdenite
some validity, Chuquicamata has a much more complicated veins and the eastern edge of disseminated enargite with no
history and a modified nomenclature is required here. other veins (Fig. 5B; see below). The breccia zone itself, and
The gross pattern of fault veins (veins following faults and indeed most of the quartz-sericite zone, has experienced very
with subsequent faulting) compiled to a 1:2000 scale (Fig. 5A) intense, largely postmineral fault brecciation. Rotated clasts
has been presented and discussed by Lindsay et al. (1995), of quartz-molybdenite veins up to 2 m thick but less than 5 m
Rojas and Lindsay (1997), and Lindsay (1998). Only the most long are common (Fig. 4G), and even late pyrite-enargite
continuous veins, those traceable for three benches or more veins are fragmented (Fig. 4H) in what has been named
(i.e., >39 m), are shown in Figure 5A. Lack of continuity of “megabreccia” (breccia symbol, Fig. 2). Particularly in the
veins and faults is due to the abundance and complexity of western margin of this zone, within about 30 m of the central
crosscutting and offsetting faulting. Most faults have moved West fault gouge, almost no clasts larger than 5 cm are pre-
prior to, during, and after whatever mineralization is in them, sent. Very few faults and fewer veins cut this breccia, but rare
and most veins have more than one stage of superimposed minor faults offset even the West fault gouge.
mineralization. In general, early north-south to northeast-
striking fault veins show pre- to synmineral, dextral move-
ment, with superimposed sinistral reactivation, and contain Hypogene Alteration and Mineralization
all stages of mineralization. Northwest-striking structures are The gross patterns of alteration and sulfide mineralization
younger, show sinistral movement, and are largely barren, within the orebody, as exposed in the pit at the end of 1995,
except for minor enargite-sphalerite and covellite-digenite are shown in Figure 5A and B and in cross section in Figure
mineralization. Also shown in Figure 5A is the approximate 6A and B. Below are described details of these patterns and
outline of quartz stockwork. Although poorly defined by pre- their time and genetic relationships. Because of extensive su-
sent mapping, the outline encloses the more abundant (roughly perposition of pyrite as part of main-stage sulfide assem-
>1 vol %) small-scale quartz veins and veinlets. These include blages, pyrite is present everywhere on this scale even though
all quartz veins, both randomly oriented and in parallel sets, not listed in the key. The sulfide section (Fig. 6B), however, is
without regard to stage of mineralization or orientation. not directly comparable to the plan (Fig. 5B) as it is derived
from different data sets. The plan is the result of pit mapping
Faults and fault breccias of dominant sulfides compiled to a 1:2000 scale, while the
All of the structures on both sides of the West fault shown section is the pattern of sulfide-alteration ore types from the
in Figure 2 are faults with postmineral movement (i.e., fol- computerized ore reserve model. Although As is normally
lowing the last mineralization), although mineralization is carried in a separate model, the zone where enargite is the
present only very locally to the west. Those shown as fault dominant copper sulfide mineral has been added to Figure
veins are faults following veins, which themselves occupy ear- 6B. After 83 yr of pit operation, practically all of the leached
lier faults. Compared to Figure 5A, Figure 2 extends above capping and most oxide ore have been removed. Although su-
the top of relatively frequent mapping (H-1 bench) and has pergene chalcocite and covellite are still present in much of
been simplified to show only the largest structures. Only the the pit, primary sulfides comprise an increasing proportion of
north-south–trending set of West fault structures itself, por- remaining. Strong supergene enrichment remains primarily
tions of the Americana fault system, which is parallel to it at in the deep trough with intense sericitic alteration within the
the east edge of the brecciated quartz-sericite zone in the central and southern parts of the pit. As discussed below, the
south part of the pit, and most of the northwest-trending deep trough of chalcocite and covellite (Fig. 6B) is largely su-
faults do not follow previous veins. They show entirely post- pergene but there is also abundant hypogene chalcocite (in-
mineralization, sinistral displacements (Tomlinson and Blanco, cluding djurleite and digenite) and covellite at depth, and it
1997). In that some of the northwest structures contain enar- has not been possible to clearly define the base of supergene
gite-sphalerite ± pyrite veins, and also minor coarse-grained enrichment. As at El Salvador and many other porphyry cop-
covellite-digenite without pyrite, this structure set appears to per deposits, vein relationships lead to the definition of an
have been formed late during main-stage mineralization early stage defined by K feldspar stable alteration and early
(Lindsay et al., 1995; F. Ramírez, pers. commun., 1994). A 35 quartz veinlets, a transitional stage defined by quartz-molyb-
± 1-km net offset has been demonstrated for the West fault denite veining, and a main-stage defined by pyrite-bearing
0361-0128/98/000/000-00 $6.00 258

A B
N N
E 3000
E 3500
E 3000
E 3500
E 4000
E 4000
N 5500 N 5500
N 5000 N 5000
N 4500 N 4500
FAULT
T
N 4000 N 4000
FAUL
WEST
WEST
3600N 3600N
N 3500 N 3500
N 3000 N 3000
N 2500 N 2500
500 Meters 500 Meters
ALTERATION DOMINANT SULFIDE

SILICIFICATION CHLORITIC OXIDIZED CHALCOPYRITE-BORNITE
WEAK QUARTZ-SERICITE OXIDIZED OXIDE - Cu CHALCOPYRITE
QUARTZ- SERICITE FAULT VEIN CHALCOCITE LOW SULFIDE (Chalcopyrite)
SERICITE OVER POTASSIC FAULT CHALCOCITE-COVELLITE LOW SULFIDE

QUARTZ STOCKWORK ENARGITE
POTASSIC COVELLITE
FIG. 5. A. Dominant alteration type and major structures exposed in open pit as of 1995, in area of orebody; from 1:2000
mapping by Rojas and Lindsay (1997). Oxidized rock lies above the top of sulfide but is not necessarily leached. Megascopic
silicification is partly equivalent to quartz-K feldspar alteration. See text for discussion of approximate outline of quartz stock-
work. B. Dominant copper sulfide exposed in open pit as of 1995; pyrite is ubiquitous, mostly associated with main-stage
veins, which are most abundant in quartz-sericite and sericite over potassic alteration zones. Bottom bench is 2,437 m, top
mapped bench is 2,697 m (pit surface slightly above that in Fig. 2).
0361-0128/98/000/000-00 $6.00 259

A B
E3000 E3500 E4000 E3000 E3500 E4000
LEACHED
ORIGINAL TOPOGRAPHY PIT 5/1996
OXIDES
6
El 2700 5/9 El 2700
PIT
CHALCOCITE
CV CP
ZONE
FAULT
ICANA
AMER
CLAY
ALTERED BARREN
BO
El 2200 El 2200
{
Mesabi Fault Zone CP
COVELITE
ULT
WEST FA
LT
WEST FAU
CP > BO
CP
DG
SECTION 3600-N
: LEACHED
ALTERATION POTASSIC ALTERATION
: Cu Oxide Ore
: Quartz - Sericitic : CP>BO+DG+(CV)
QUARTZ-SERICITIC ALTERATION
: Sericitic over Potassic : BO+DG>CP+(CV)
: CC
: Potassic : CV-CC : CP>OTHERS
: Chloritic CHLORITIC ALTERATION

: DG-CV
: CV+CP+DG+(CC)
: Quartz - K-Feldspar : EN>OTHERS
: CP>OTHERS
: Granodiorite SERICITIC OVER POTASSIC ALTERATION
: CC+(CV)+(CP)+(DG) : Low Sulfide (CP)
: Metasediments
: Fault : CV+CP+DG+(CC)
: Quartz Veins : CP>OTHERS
: Megabreccia : CP>BO+DG+(CV)
: Drill trace
FIG. 6. A. Dominant alteration type and major structure in 3600N section; computerized geologic model of May, 1996;
trace of diamond drill holes shown. Old data on alteration assemblages above the top of sulfide (blank area) have not been
carried forward in the model. B. Dominant copper sulfide alteration associations in 3600N section; modified geologic model
of September 1995; pyrite is ubiquitous, associated with main-stage veins but is absent in the bornite-bearing background
assemblages shown.
veins with sericitic halos. A more unusual and controversial and of all other subsequent stages of hypogene alteration and
late stage is defined by coarse-grained covellite-digenite vein- mineralization. Early quartz veinlets in the quartz-sericite
lets without pyrite and possibly hypogene sphalerite rims on zone indicate that potassic alteration originally extended into
other sulfides (Fréraut, et al., 1997). this zone as well. At the north end of the pit, potassic alter-
ation widens westward around the end of the sericitic zone,
Early-stage alteration and mineralization and a northward-widening wedge of chloritic alteration sepa-
The earliest events decipherable after consolidation of the rates it from the West fault beyond the edge of mapping in
porphyries are formation of potassic alteration and more local Figure 5A. In a few deep drill holes below the south part of
quartz and K feldspar-quartz veinlets. Secondary biotite oc- the pit, residual potassic alteration extends westward up to
curring as veinlets and replacing hornblende phenocrysts is the West fault. Figure 3B shows a quartz-K feldspar vein
characteristic of the potassic zone, whereas quartz veinlets clearly crosscutting weak foliation in West porphyry and
and secondary K feldspar, occurring as veinlets and replace- which shows variable granular texture apparently affected by
ment of plagioclase throughout the rock and as halos on the recrystallization and shearing parallel to the vein walls. The
early veins, are more restricted. Unfortunately, mapping has vein has both a K feldspar alteration halo and minor dissemi-
not been detailed enough to define the distribution of these nated molybdenite-chalcopyrite, compared to sparse dissem-
early-stage quartz veinlets. Anhydrite, variably hydrated to inated chalcopyrite-bornite in the K feldspar-biotite altered
gypsum and leached from much of the orebody by supergene porphyry. More typically, early-stage quartz and quartz-K
solutions, is a component of potassic alteration assemblages feldspar veins carry practically no sulfide. Although described
0361-0128/98/000/000-00 $6.00 260

above as probably magmatic features, K feldspar megacrysts segmented and intensely recrystallized. It is not entirely clear
can also be argued to be potassic alteration features. Their whether this deformation of the veins is related to quartz-K
distribution is independent of other textural variation in East, feldspar alteration, indicating that quartz-K feldspar alter-
West, and Banco porphyries and appears to be related to the ation is a separate and later stage of alteration from normal
pattern of Banco porphyry. The presence of replaced or re- potassic alteration. Alternatively, quartz-K feldspar could be
sorbed inclusions of plagioclase in some megacrysts also sup- simply an extreme and continuous development of potassic
ports this interpretation. All of the rocks within the Chuqui alteration.
Porphyry Complex are affected by potassic alteration and are The dominant background sulfide association in the potas-
cut by at least some early-stage veins. Plagioclase in potassic- sic zone is chalcopyrite-bornite without pyrite, although in
altered East porphyry is completely changed to albite, most of the zone bornite is subordinate to chalcopyrite (the
whereas in Banco porphyry residual magmatic plagioclase can chalcopyrite zone in Fig. 5B shows dominant sulfide only).
be found (A. Arnott, pers. commun., 2000). All of the por- The quartz-K feldspar zone corresponds generally with the
phyries have been subjected to pervasive cataclastic deforma- zone of bornite-digenite-chalcopyrite, the apparent center of
tion (see Fig. 3A-C, E-G). Quartz is prone to recrystallization early-stage sulfide zonation. However, coarse-grained covel-
to polycrystalline aggregates, and elongated polycrystalline lite commonly accompanies the digenite and most sulfides
quartz phenocrysts are seen in rock with scant megascopic ev- are in fractures and brecciated zones (Fig. 3H). The abun-
idence of deformation. Biotite phenocrysts are commonly dance of sulfide, and therefore Cu grade, is highly dependent
bent in rock with cataclastic fragmentation and kinking of pla- on brittle fracturing that appears to be superimposed, possi-
gioclase phenocrysts, but K feldspar crystals are broken only bly much later, on the cataclastic quartz-K feldspar environ-
in very strong cataclastically deformed rock. This deformation ment. Pyrite is absent outside of main-stage veins and sericitic
is pervasive with variable intensity throughout the entire ore- halos, but there is widespread local development of green
body but is most strongly developed in the quartz-K feldspar sericite in highest grade quartz-K feldspar zones, which con-
alteration zone and in smaller and apparently discontinuous tain abundant digenite and coarse-grained covellite. The
mylonite zones. abundance of high-grade zones within the quartz-K feldspar
Quartz-K feldspar alteration is interpreted as a distinct al- zone diminishes downward, and laterally quartz-K feldspar
teration type. It occurs in a band of hard white to gray rock without superimposed fractures contains only sparse chal-
with obliterated texture, trending N 20o E across the potassic copyrite-bornite mineralization.
zone, from about 3000 to 4700 N (silicification, Fig. 5A). In Propylitic assemblages with chlorite and epidote and spec-
cross section this band occurs as a steeply west-dipping zone ular hematite veinlets are clearly superimposed on the east-
up to 200 m wide. Quartz-K feldspar differs from normal ern edge of the potassic alteration zone, where there was only
potassic alteration in that biotite is completely replaced by K alteration of hornblende to biotite but no quartz veining or
feldspar and quartz, the texture is further obliterated by per- destruction of magnetite. Anhydrite and minor K feldspar
vasive cataclastic deformation and streaking with fine-granu- and biotite occur occasionally in specularite veinlets that
lar quartz-K feldspar (Fig. 3E, F, and G), and added silica oc- cut biotite-magnetite-chalcopyrite veinlets and are cut by
curs as a fine granular replacement with K feldspar rather chalcopyrite-pyrite veinlets. Pervasive deformation declines
than as quartz veinlets. Within the zone, quartz-K feldspar al- markedly in this zone. Propylitic alteration clearly predates al-
teration is irregularly developed in streaky bands with resid- teration halos around main-stage veins, but an absence of
ual potassic alteration containing more or less unmodified quartz-molybdenite veins in this outer zone precludes deter-
rock texture and biotite. Only East porphyry occurs in the mination of its timing relative to this veining. By analogy with
quartz-K feldspar zone, but this appears to be the southward other porphyry copper deposits (e.g., Gustafson and Hunt,
extension of the cluster of discontinuous Banco porphyry 1975), chloritic alteration along with the low-intensity chal-
dikes (Fig. 5A vs. Fig. 2). Any residual plagioclase in the rock copyrite-pyrite mineralization of the outer zone is considered
is albite. Cataclastic deformation of fine twinning in this sec- part of the early stage. Eastward within the chloritic (= propy-
ondary albite (Fig. 3E) indicates that albitization preceded litic) alteration zone (Fig. 5A) the abundance of sulfide de-
quartz-K feldspar alteration. K feldspar megacrysts are not creases to less than 0.5 vol percent (low sulfide, Fig. 5B), but
replaced by this albitization, which may be related to earlier pyrite is still subordinate and there is no pyritic halo similar to
potassic alteration, but are locally veined by K feldspar (Fig. many other deposits.
3F). Most early quartz veins and even many quartz-molyb-
denite veins throughout the broad zone of weaker pervasive Quartz-molybdenite stage
alteration are thoroughly recrystallized to a fine-granular Molybdenite is conspicuous at Chuquicamata, almost all of
equilibrium texture, with 120o intersections of grain bound- it carried by quartz veins as disseminated crystals and as
aries and loss of most fluid inclusions. In most of the quartz- “smears” in cracks. A phase of generally <1-cm veins with rel-
K feldspar band there are no quartz veins, so the timing of atively little molybdenite cuts early-stage quartz and quartz-K
this deformation relative to vein evolution is uncertain. feldspar veins. K feldspar is usually not present in molybden-
A second, less well defined zone of silicification and lacking ite-bearing veins, but Figure 3B shows a vein apparently tran-
original biotite trends north-northeast between 3500 and sitional in characteristics and perhaps also in time. Large
3600E at the north end of the pit (J. P. Hunt, unpub. report, (blue) quartz veins with abundant molybdenite cut these
1962). This zone has much less intense cataclastic deforma- older veins (Waterman, unpub. report, 1951; Lindsay et al.,
tion and texture obliteration than the main quartz-K feldspar 1995). The later large veins are typically 0.5 to 1 m or more in
zone, but within it at least some quartz-molybdenite veins are width and are commonly banded. Figure 4A and B illustrate
0361-0128/98/000/000-00 $6.00 261

textures found in a blue vein from the northeast part of the pit upper zone, K feldspar is more resistant than plagioclase and
where there has been relatively little overprinting by subse- biotite to alteration to sericite but is commonly altered to su-
quent events. Some of the banding is due to shear pergene kaolinite. Only to the east and north of the quartz-
recrystallization, parallel to the walls, of originally coarse- sericite zone can earlier assemblages be seen between main-
grained quartz (up to 1.5 cm) tending to be elongate perpen- stage veins, but even here there is a more or less pervasive
dicular to the walls. Some of the banding is due to concentra- overprinting of main-stage assemblages in largely discontinu-
tion of residual coarse-grained molybdenite on stylolites. ous fine-scale shatter veinlets and dissemination. Only where
Main-stage veins, characterized by pyritic assemblages and veins or veinlets of a single substage have escaped reopening
sericitic alteration, clearly cut quartz-molybdenite veins. Re- but are crosscut by later substages can unambiguous defini-
opening of earlier formed veins and overprinting of younger tion of main-stage vein evolution be constructed. Only a pre-
sulfide and alteration halo assemblages are ubiquitous, to the liminary description can be given here. Lindsay (1998) pro-
point that it is a very rare vein which represents only a single vides a discussion of the various vein sets mapped in the pit.
stage of mineralization. This is why most quartz-molybdenite Principal vein assemblages are pyrite-chalcopyrite-bornite,
veins appear to have sericitic halos, but the rare occurrences pyrite-bornite-digenite ± enargite, and pyrite-digenite-covel-
demonstrate that at least the smaller veins and probably the lite ± enargite. Quartz is abundant in the earlier formed
blue veins were not formed with sericitic halos. main-stage veins, but it is commonly difficult to be sure the
There is a strong correlation between the abundance of quartz is not inherited from an earlier quartz-molybdenite
quartz veins and Mo grade. Figures 7B and 8B illustrate the dis- vein with only minor molybdenite. Pyrite is the only sulfide in
tribution of Mo exposed in the pit and on the 3600N section some veinlets (Fig. 4C) and is very abundant (pyrite >3.5% by
(see also Quinteros and Fréraut, 1997). Very high values, 0.07 to vol based on Fe assays) in the high enargite part of the quartz-
0.25 percent Mo, are concentrated in the quartz-sericite alter- sericite zone. Enargite-pyrite in veins is dominant within
ation zone, widening northward and splaying off to the north- much of the quartz-sericite zone and also as disseminated sul-
east between about 4100 and 5000N. Particularly in the western fides along a narrow brecciated band next to the West fault.
portions of the orebody, quartz-molybdenite veins have been se- The outline in Figure 6B of enargite greater than other cop-
verely dislocated by faulting and brecciation (Fig. 4G). The pat- per minerals is derived by calculation of As vs. Cu assays. The
tern is asymmetrical, with an abrupt western edge of moderate sequence of assemblages appears to be pyrite-chalcopyrite-
Mo values (>0.01%) and quartz veins, and a more gradational bornite → pyrite-bornite-digenite → pyrite-digenite-covellite,
decline of quartz veins and Mo values to the east. In several sec- from early to late and upward in the deposit. Enargite ap-
tions, this western edge is as much as 100 m east of the mapped pears to join the assemblage relatively late but was abundant
West fault, representing a subtle fault. An upward and eastward in veins mined in the uppermost elevations in the northeast
spread of moderate Mo values (more evident in sections other part of the orebody, which were apparently related to the
than 3600N) seems to represent the distribution of “smear early-formed northeast-trending fault system (F. Ramírez and
moly” in wall rock more than an increase in quartz veins. Here, W. Chavez, unpub. report, 1997; Lindsay, 1998). These veins
as in other porphyry deposits, this smear moly appears to have are almost unrecognizable in the present pit and have appar-
been remobilized by subsequent hydrothermal activity as well ently zoned downward into pyrite to the point that there is
as locally by simple mechanical movement. practically no As left. Chalcocite, digenite, and covellite,
along with pyrite and enargite, are the dominant sulfides in
Main stage the western part of the orebody (Figs. 5B and 6B). Digenite
Pyritic veins and quartz-sericite alteration of the main stage is largely hypogene. Chalcocite is clearly supergene at higher
of mineralization obliterate almost all traces of earlier assem- elevations, commonly sooty, occurring as thick rims on pyrite
blages in the western side of the orebody adjacent to the West and other sulfides and extending to greatest depth where the
fault (Figs. 6 and 7). Copper emplaced during the main stage, alteration is least reactive. Fine-grained covellite increases
plus supergene enrichment of largely main-stage assem- relative to chalcocite downward within the flat west-dipping
blages, accounts for most of the metal production to date and enrichment blanket and extends an undefined distance down
a large proportion of future reserves, although this proportion the western trough of chalcocite. It rims chalcopyrite and
is impossible to quantify. Sulfide veins of this stage are de- other primary sulfides and is of supergene origin. At depth,
fined by sericitic alteration halos and assemblages of pyrite however, relatively coarse grained covellite, typically 0.5 to 2
with varying proportions of quartz, Cu-Fe sulfides, enargite, mm and occurring with digenite and locally anhydrite show-
tennantite, and sphalerite (Fig. 4C and D). These veins in- ing no hydration to gypsum, is clearly hypogene (e.g., Lewis,
variably cut quartz-molybdenite veins but locally contain 1996). Also, chalcocite may be intergrown with coarse-grained
minor smear molybdenite. In practically all respects they are covellite or bornite and may lack rimming textures suggestive
analogous to main-stage veins at Butte (Meyer et al., 1968), of supergene origin. It is very difficult to distinguish supergene
Rosario-Poderoso veins at Collahuasi (Hunt, 1985), and “D” from hypogene chalcocite and covellite even with the aid of a
veins at El Salvador (Gustafson and Hunt, 1975). The quartz- microscope. Because of this the lower limit of supergene en-
sericite zone represents merging of sericitic halos of this stage richment is not shown in Figure 6B. One measure of the in-
of mineralization, and only in the weak quartz-sericite areas tensity of enrichment is the degree of replacement of enargite,
(Fig. 5A) can original rock texture be discerned. Upward and the mineral after pyrite most resistant to replacement. The up-
eastward, the zones of quartz-sericite and sericitic over potas- ward fingering out of enargite greater than other Cu minerals
sic alteration encroach on the potassic zone, accompanying in Figure 6B is due to this replacement but shows abundant
pyrite with chalcocite and covellite (Fig. 6A). Within this residual enargite in much of the chalcocite trough.
0361-0128/98/000/000-00 $6.00 262

A B
E 3000
E 3500
E 3000
E 3500
E 4000
E 4000
N 5500 N 5500
N N
Distribution Distribution
of Copper of Molybdenum
N 5000 N 5000
below bench H1 below bench H1
July 1999 July 1995
N 4500 N 4500
N 4000 N 4000
N 3500 N 3500
N 3000 N 3000
% Cu
% Mo
> 1.5 %
> 0.1
1.0 - 1.49 %
N 2500 N 2500 0.025 - 0.099
0.2 - 0.99 %
0.0 - 0.024
< 0.19 %
C D
E 3000
E 3500
E 3000
E 3500
E 4000
E 4000
N 5500 N 5500
N N
Distribution Distribution
of Arsenic of Zinc
N 5000 below bench H1 N 5000 below bench H1
July 1995 July 1995
N 4500 N 4500
N 4000 N 4000
N 3500 N 3500
N 3000 N 3000
% As % Zn
> 0.10 > 0.12 %
N 2500 0.025 - 0.099 N 2500 0.04 - 0.119 %
0.0 - 0.024 0.00 - 0.039 %
FIG. 7. A-D. Distribution of copper, molybdenum, arsenic, and zinc in the open pit below bench H1 (2,697-m elev), from
blast hole assays. A. Data from July 1999. B, C, and D. Data from 1955 (same surface as Fig. 5A and B).
0361-0128/98/000/000-00 $6.00 263

A B E3000 E3500 E4000

E3000 E3500 E4000
PIT 1996
PIT 1999
LT
2700 2700
BI FAU
FAULT
FAULT
MESA
WEST
WEST
% Mo
2200 % Cu 2200 >0.07
>1.50 0.01-0.07
0.50-1.49 <0.01
0.20-0.49
<0.20
J.L. FUENZALIDA (1999) ROBERT O FRERAUTC. (1996)
C E3000 E3500 E4000

D E3000 E3500 E4000
PIT 1995
95
19
2700 PIT 2700
WEST FAULT
FAULT
WEST
2200 % As
2200 % Zn
ENARGITE DOMINANT
As >0.100% 0.080-0.200%
0.020-0.080%
ENARGITE < OTHER SULFIDES
As 0.030%-0.100% <0.020%
As <0.030%
Base of sphalerite
rims
IRENE ARACENA P. (1995)

FERNANDO RAMIREZ C. (1995)
D. Lindsey (2000)
FIG. 8. A-D. Distribution of copper, molybdenum, arsenic, and zinc in 3600N section, from diamond drill hole and blast
holes.
Although sericite-quartz is the alteration typically associ- Sphalerite (with 0–5 wt % Fe; M. Zentilli and M. Graves,
ated with main-stage veins, alunite also occurs locally with unpub. report, 1993) is common in many veins with enargite,
pyrite-enargite mineralization. The alunite has widely varying including veinlets which contain little or no pyrite but may
texture, including coarse-grained, high-birefringent flakes contain covellite-digenite. These latter veinlets occupy late-
and coarse-grained pseudocubes with occasionally intergrown formed northwest structures. Minor tennantite occurs with
phosphate minerals typical of hydrothermal origin (Stoffgren pyrite-chalcopyrite in veins and veinlets within the potassic
and Alpers, 1987). There is a gradation in grain size of alunite zone and contains up to 8 wt percent Zn (M. Zentilli and M.
down to very fine grained salt and pepper alunite, which oc- Graves, unpub. report, 1993).
curs commonly with kaolinitic clays and supergene chalcocite. The only fluid inclusion study to date is reported in the un-
As in the case of covellite, it is commonly difficult to distin- dergraduate thesis of M. Vega (1991), who found fluids rang-
guish hypogene from supergene alunite at Chuquicamata. ing from 250o to 350oC and 2 to 20 percent NaCl equiv in
One would expect to find pyrophyllite and/or dickite occur- quartz from a variety of quartz-molybdenite and main-stage
ring with alunite in high-sulfidation assemblages of pyrite, veins. Whereas these are plausible main-stage fluids, it is un-
enargite, covellite, and digenite. Only traces of pyrophyllite likely that they represent fluids that formed the now strongly
and dickite have been detected locally, even though hundreds recrystallized quartz-molybdenite veins.
of sericite samples have been X-rayed. However, too little
work has been done to be sure that locally more typical ad- Late stage
vanced argillic alteration has not been developed, particularly Covellite in the main-stage veins is relatively coarse grained
at higher elevations. (to 2 mm), contains 0 to 4 wt percent Fe (M. Zentilli, unpub.
0361-0128/98/000/000-00 $6.00 264

report, 1996; Lewis, 1996), extends to more than 600 m below quartz-sericite with increasing kaolinitic clay and residual K
the present pit bottom, and locally occurs with anhydrite. It is feldspar to the east and at depth. Copper oxide ore contains
clearly of hypogene origin, although at upper elevations it is residuals of chalcocite and was overlain by leached capping.
commonly difficult to distinguish from supergene covellite. Its Figure 6B shows that the oxides were an eastward and up-
abundance is shown by the extent of covellite-dominant as- ward extension of the chalcocite zone, indicating it was a su-
semblages shown in Figures 5B and 6B. A substantial but pergene chalcocite enrichment blanket oxidized in situ. More
poorly documented proportion of this covellite is intimately obvious in other sections to the north (Taylor, 1935), this is
associated with digenite, occuring in cracks and veinlets with- the upper of two chalcocite blankets with a leached horizon in
out quartz, pyrite, or other sulfides. It appears to constitute a between. A lower enrichment zone is less well developed in
distinct late stage. Many of these late veinlets contain red lower grade protore and more reactive alteration assemblages
hematite and locally also anhydrite (Fig. 4E; Quinteros, 1997). and contains decreasing chalcocite and/or covellite propor-
The eastward flare of covellite shown in Figure 6B may be tions downward. However, in the central zone of intense
more due to this primary covellite than to covellite formed as brecciation, which contains nonreactive quartz-sericite alter-
the lower zone of incipient supergene enrichment. Covellite ation and very pyritic veins, the two enrichment blankets
extends downward in the high bornite zone and with digenite merge as both copper leaching and chalcocite enrichment
represents a significant proportion of copper in the orebody. reach maximum depths.
Because earlier formed pyrite is so widespread, it is very dif- This is the largest supergene enriched orebody in the world
ficult to see where covellite-digenite-pyrite of the main-stage and clearly a large thickness of leached capping above the prem-
terminates, and where that of the late stage without pyrite be- ine surface was required to produce the copper. Little remains
gins; indeed they probably constitute a continuous evolution. either as written description or core from the leached capping
A striking feature which largely coincides with the east- removed by mining. In the north, the leached rock both above
ward-flaring covellite zone is a zone of moderate to high Zn and below copper oxide is largely goethite with earthy jarosite,
values (0.02 to >0.08 wt % Zn; Figs. 7D and 8D), largely due what one would expect from oxidation of moderately pyritic pro-
to rims of sphalerite on chalcopyrite and other copper sulfides tore (Anderson, 1982). Within the copper oxide horizon, there
(Fig. 4F; Aracena et al., 1997). Another zone of moderate to are more Fe-rich, steep structural zones within which copper has
high Zn values extends to depth along with high As (Fig. 8D been leached. The limonite here is hematitic, as one would ex-
and C) and correlates with the presence of coarse-grained pect from oxidation of chalcocite-enriched pyritic vein zones,
sphalerite in the enargite veins. Low Zn values below the Zn and again consistent with the interpretation of two stages of oxi-
zone in the east are contained in traces of sphalerite and Zn- dation and sulfide enrichment related to a changing water table.
bearing tennantite within pyrite-bearing veinlets. There is a Anhydrite, variably hydrated to gypsum, is a component of
sharp top of Zn values at the base of the west-dipping chal- each of the hypogene alteration assemblages and completely
cocite enrichment blanket and extending around the deep saturates all porosity in rocks in which it occurs. It had to be
trough of chalcocite. Sphalerite rims are continuous in a band leached by supergene solutions before any supergene leach-
roughly 100 to 200 m wide below this top of Zn and extending or enrichment of sulfide could occur. Only in some deep-
ing from the anomalous Zn zone in potassic and chloritic al- est drill holes, more than 800 m below the premining surface,
teration in the east (Fig. 8D) across the quartz-sericite zone continuous intervals of this sulfate zone rock, similar to rock
in the west. This distribution and their textures are suggestive in the sulfate zone of many porphyry copper deposits, are en-
of their being formed as a lower zone to the supergene chal- countered (Hunt, 1969; Gustafson and Hunt, 1975). As deep
cocite blanket (Aracena et al., 1997). However, Figure 4F also as 1,200 m below the premine surface, anhydrite has been hy-
illustrates the occurrence of inner rims of coarse-grained drated and leached from most fault zones, and what was once
covellite and/or digenite with the sphalerite rims. This photo- a continuous sulfate zone has been reduced to isolated resid-
graph shows the coarse grain size of the covellite but does not uals of gypsum and rarer anhydrite diminishing upward be-
illustrate as well the near continuous inner rim of digenite- tween structural zones.
covellite under sphalerite, which is ubiquitous and so abun- Very important quantities of copper were leached from the
dant that it strongly suggests the sphalerite rims are coeval oxidized capping and probably from the chalcocite blanket
with the late-stage covellite-digenite veining without pyrite. and moved laterally. Originally over 300 Mt of exotic copper
We have yet to find sphalerite rims occurring within anhy- ore was deposited in gravels south of the pit to constitute the
drite-saturated rock, which would confirm their hydrother- Exótica orebody (Fig. 1; Table 1). This orebody contained flat
mal origin. Iron content of rim sphalerite is 0 to 1.2 wt per- high-grade veins of chrysocolla and copper pitch, within vari-
cent, highest where rims are on chalcopyrite. ably altered gravels cemented by chrysocolla, with minor ata-
camite, copper wad, and pitch (J. P. Hunt, unpub. reports,
Supergene Mineralization and Alteration 1963 and 1965; Newberg, 1967; Mortimer et al., 1977;
The rich oxide copper orebody described by Taylor (1935) Munchmeyer, 1996). Exotic copper in gravels extends from
and Jarrell (1944) has been largely mined out, but substantial the upper south benches of the Chuqui pit, through the
resources of lower grade material remain in the north end of South mine to at least 7 km south, and there are important oc-
the pit and beyond (North zone, Fig. 1; Cuadra et al., 1997; currences north as well (Fam and Rojas, 1997)
Ossandón and Zentilli, 1997). Oxide ores contain a large vari-
ety of minerals but primarily antlerite, brochantite, atacamite, Geochronology
chrysocolla, and copper pitch. Wall-rock alteration mineral- There have been many published attempts at dating events
ogy of the oxide ores is not well documented but was mostly at Chuquicamata by Maksaev and Zentilli (1988), Maksaev et
0361-0128/98/000/000-00 $6.00 265

al. (1988), Sillitoe (1988), Boric et al. (1990), Maksaev (1990), quartz-K feldspar alteration fits in and whether some of the
Zentilli et al. (1995), Sillitoe and McKee (1996), and Reynolds pyrite- and sericite-forming hydrothermal veins were related
et al. (1998). And there are numerous dates that have not yet to the cooling of the porphyries and distinctly older than the
been presented for publication, particularly by M. Zentilli at main stage. The dating program is still in progress and will be
Dalhousie University with L. Heaman at the University of Al- reported in more detail in subsequent publications.
berta, J. Ballard and coworkers at the Research School of
Earth Sciences of Australian National University, and by J. Discussion
Ruiz and coworkers at the University of Arizona. The dating
of significant events at Chuquicamata has proven to be an ex- Evolution of mineralization
traordinarily difficult problem, and it is impossible to attempt Premain stages: There is a clear succession of intrusion of
a detailed analysis here of the many conflicting dates. Defin- East porphyry → Banco porphyry, followed by potassic alter-
itive conclusions may only be reached after full presentation ation (biotite formed and texture largely preserved), and
of the data, but we cannot avoid trying to make some sense of early-stage quartz-K feldspar veining, followed by quartz-K
results to date. The following ages, done with the latest tech- feldspar alteration (biotite and texture destroyed) with ex-
nology, appear to us to be the most reasonable. treme cataclastic deformation. Where West porphyry and
An age of 31.1 ± 0.2 Ma is consistently indicated by fine-grained porphyry fit in is not clear, but they too are cut
40
Ar/39Ar dating of sericite formed during the main stage of by early-stage quartz veins and potassic alteration. The lack of
mineralization. Discerning events prior to this time, through observed intrusive contacts with truncated early-stage quartz
the intense mechanical deformation and thermal overprint of veins and potassic alteration features prevents our interpret-
this stage, have been much more difficult. Biotite and ing with any confidence the potassic alteration as contempo-
feldspar in the potassic alteration zones relatively distant from raneous with one or more of the porphyries, as is typical of
major sericitic veins and at higher elevations yield 40Ar/39Ar most other deposits. Before or at the onset of quartz-K
ages of 35 to 34 Ma, whereas closer to zones of sericite alter- feldspar alteration, and linked to the cataclastic deformation,
ation and from deep below the pit they yield ages of 31 to 32 there was local albitization, which may or may not be related
Ma (Reynolds et al., 1998). Joaquin Ruiz (writ. commun., to potassic alteration. Also not yet clear is the timing of
1998) has obtained an age of molybdenite of 34.9 ± 0.17 Ma, quartz-K feldspar development relative to formation of
collected from a typical blue quartz vein using the Re-Os quartz-molybdenite veins.
technique. Larry Heaman and Marcos Zentilli have obtained One of the major questions here is how much mineraliza-
several U-Pb single grain and multigrain ages in zircon from tion was emplaced during early stages of alteration. Early-
East porphyry. These suggest zircon crystallization at 35 to 36 stage quartz veins typically contain little more than trace sul-
Ma and the presence of inherited grains with 37 to 38 Ma fide, outside of clearly younger fractures. The quartz is,
ages. Julian Ballard (writ. commun., 2000) has applied eximer however, almost everywhere thoroughly recrystallized by
laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry younger events, which liberated any fluids trapped in early
(ELA-ICP-MS) dating of zircon from the intrusive units; pre- fluid inclusions and could have remobilized any original sul-
liminary ages are 34.8 ± 0.3 Ma for East porphyry, 33.3 ± 0.3 fide. Even though the quartz-K feldspar zone is the locus of
Ma for West porphyry, and 33.4 ± 0.4 Ma for Banco porphyry. the bornite-digenite center of the premain hydrothermal
Apatite fission track dating and track length modeling for the stage sulfide zoning pattern, most of the sulfide fills brittle
region indicate that probably 4 to 5 km of rock were eroded fractures, which are clearly younger than the quartz-K
during the exhumation of the Chuquicamata block between feldspar alteration itself. In quartz-K feldspar rock lacking
50 and 30 Ma (Maksaev, 1990; Maksaev and Zentilli, 1999), a such fractures, disseminated sulfide, which is most likely to
time period that immediately precedes and overlaps the em- have been fixed with the alteration, is sparse. Also, this cen-
placement and mineralization of the Chuqui Porphyry Com- tral sulfide assemblage commonly includes coarse-grained
plex. Fission track dates in apatite within the deposit yield covellite with digenite, an association that characterizes the
ages of 30 Ma (Maksaev, 1990), indicating fast cooling of the late-stage assemblage here but is not reported in deep central
system to ca. 100oC soon after the main stage of mineraliza- zones of other porphyry copper deposits. Nonetheless, the
tion. K-Ar dating of alunite by Sillitoe and McKee (1996) es- gradational decrease of Cu-Fe in the background sulfides
timates the age of supergene enrichment and alteration at 15 eastward (and westward prior to the main stage), with pyrite
to 19 Ma. appearing outside of sericitic veins and halos only after bor-
At present, based on the dating and consistency with geo- nite disappears, and the disseminated to veinlet textures are
logic reasoning, we can conclude that East porphyry is prob- typical of standard porphyry copper zoning. A complex his-
ably significantly older than West and Banco porphyries, and tory of introduction and remobilization of copper during the
that all were emplaced before 33 Ma. Potassic alteration and early stage is suggested. To help resolve this dilemma, it may
subsequent quartz-molybdenite veining was probably closely be possible to date K feldspar and/or green sericite in quartz-
associated with the emplacement and cooling of West, Fine K feldspar alteration with Ar-Ar techniques or possibly the
Texture, and/or Banco porphyries. Main-stage hydrothermal bornite-digenite itself with Re-Os isotopes.
activity followed at least 2 m.y. later as a separate event, but Main stage: The complexity of superimposed vein stages,
intrusion related to this event has not been identified. To elu- complicated further by strong supergene effects, make it very
cidate just how long it took to emplace the intrusive rocks, and difficult to decipher the individual evolutionary events and
to evolve early and transitional stages of mineralization will evaluate how much of the copper was actually introduced in
require more work. Also, it remains to be determined where each. Particularly, how much of the copper was introduced in
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the early stage but remobilized in the main stage is an open spring activity above, we would have a mechanism for forma-
question. Brimhall (1979, 1980) and Brimhall and Ghiorso tion of all of the features we observe (L. Gustafson, unpub.
(1983) have documented and thermodynamically modeled report, 1994). These features include the gradational textures
the hypogene leaching of early deep mineralization at Butte, of not only covellite but also alunite, from coarse birefringent
Montana. This could have been accomplished and overlying crystals typical of epithermal alteration to fine salt and pepper
main-stage veins formed by heated meteoric ground water, texture typical of supergene alteration. The dying stages of
driven by intrusive dikes that also provided magmatic sulfur the hydrothermal system could have been very oxidizing, re-
and arsenic. This phenomenon has clearly been operative at sulting in copper and zinc mobilized downward to be fixed as
El Salvador, where early-stage chalcopyrite-bornite has been sulfide by reaction with the last emanations of reduced sulfur
leached from deep pyritic D vein halos and reprecipitated from below. Such an environment is speculated to have
higher up in pyrite-bornite assemblages (Gustafson and existed at El Salvador (Gustafson and Hunt, 1975; Gustafson
Hunt, 1975). Barren pyrite roots are typical of the Butte et al., 2001) and evidence similar to that at El Salvador has
veins, and barren pyrite is the first sulfide formed in been seen but not thoroughly followed up at Chuquicamata
Brimhall’s (1980) models. The pervasive deformation and re- (Gustafson, unpub. report, 1993). Coarse-grained jarosite (in
crystallization of early quartz veins at Chuquicamata, along D1925), clearly derived instead of the expected hematitic
with the low sulfide content of these veins and most potassic- limonite (Anderson, 1982) by oxidation of enriched chal-
altered rock (ignoring main-stage assemblages in later struc- cocite-pyrite, contains minute fluid inclusions with vapor
tures), suggests that much of the early-formed mineralization bubbles. More work is needed.
may have been remobilized. This copper could have been re- Depth and timing: The coarse texture of the dominant
precipitated in main-stage veins. This would have required a East porphyry host rock and ductile deformation of early
magmatic source of heat and sulfur vapor. No intrusion of this alteration minerals and veins, as well as stylolites in quartz-
age has been recognized, unless it is represented by the dike molybdenite veins, suggest deep emplacement. The finer
shown in Figure 3D. grained porphyries are also strongly deformed. However,
The apparent paucity of pyrophyllite and dickite with the given the dynamic structural environment, and the fact that
high-sulfidation assemblages of the last phases of this stage is heat and rate of strain as well as pressure control the duc-
unusual and suggests temperatures were too low to alter the tile-brittle transition in rocks, it is impossible to estimate
previously formed sericite. depth of formation of these events. Early mineralization and
Late stage: The upward and eastward flaring of coarse- alteration was most likely related to one or more of the
grained covellite was formed probably during both main and smaller porphyry units that probably intrude East porphyry.
late stages, although distinction between the main and late Later main-stage hydrothermal veins in brittle fractures
stages is uncertain. The pattern correlates with increased and with high-sulfidation assemblages more typical of epi-
sericitic overprinting of potassic alteration (Fig. 6A and B) thermal environments look like much shallower features
and represents an upward zonation, which is here less struc- strongly telescoped on the earlier features. Zentilli et al.
turally focused than in the quartz-sericite zone. It is also (1995) noted that the fission track study of Maksaev (1990)
where coarse covellite-digenite without pyrite is abundant indicated that the Cordillera Domeyko underwent cooling
and where the sphalerite rims are most abundant and thick- due to rapid uplift and at least 4 to 5 km of erosion preced-
est. The sharp top of Zn values against the base of the super- ing 36 to 40 Ma but has been little eroded since 30 Ma, and
gene chalcocite blanket, the pattern of sphalerite rims in a that their Ar-Ar dating of East porphyry indicated intrusion
parallel zone adjacent and below the chalcocite blanket, and as early as 35 Ma. This led them to the conclusion of at least
their microscopic textures all argue for a supergene enrich- two discrete hydrothermal pulses and erosion of the top of
ment origin of the sphalerite rims (Aracena et al., 1997). the early mineralized system before the onset of the second
However, their ubiquitous association with inner rims of pulse. This is still an attractive hypothesis, but we recognize
coarse-grained covellite-digenite suggests formation in the that it is based on too few facts. Much firmer geochronology
late stage. Anhydrite in the late coarse-grained covellite vein- of the intrusive units and alteration stages, supported by de-
lets confirms their formation above the temperature stability tailed observation of temporal relationships at intrusive con-
limit of gypsum, at least 55oC (Holland and Malinin, 1979), tacts and crosscutting veins, is required to confirm or mod-
but the association with apparently amorphous hematite (Fig. ify the hypothesis.
4E) argues against a much higher temperature. Furthermore, The questions of how much of the orebody was displaced
supergene sphalerite has never been reported in porphyry by the West fault, and where it has gone, have intrigued ex-
copper deposits, indicating that very unusual conditions plorationists for more than 50 yr and are argued still. The
would have prevailed here if this sphalerite were supergene. north-northeast elongate pattern of early potassic alteration
Normally Zn is so soluble in supergene solutions that it is does appear at depth to be truncated over more than 2 km,
completely lost from oxidizing orebodies unless precipitated suggesting that much of the early-stage mineralization was
as carbonates or sulfates. Here, however, an extraordinarily lost by faulting, possibly displaced initially to the north. The
high sulfur activity was present to produce covellite. Lacking much younger patterns of As and Zn (Figs. 7D and 8C) ap-
observation of sphalerite rims within anhydrite saturated pear to be closing as they approach the West fault and they,
rock, we cannot confidently link these with the late-stage cov- too, have formed at least partly under the influence of this
ellite. However, if there had been a gradational waning of structure. This suggests there has been much less displace-
main-stage hydrothermal activity, with sulfur emanations con- ment of later main-stage mineralization and supergene en-
tinuing beyond the cutoff of copper and oxidizing, acid hot richment than of early stages.
0361-0128/98/000/000-00 $6.00 267

Comparison to other deposits has been learned about this phenomenal ore deposit, but
Chuquicamata clearly belongs to the broad class of por- there is a great deal we do not understand and much more to
phyry copper deposits. It is part of a chain of classic Cu-Mo be done. The greatest challenges for geology at Chuquica-
porphyry systems, formed during the Eocene-Oligocene, and mata are to point the way to discovery of all the higher grade
which exhibit the typical range of porphyry copper character- oxide and sulfide ore still lying hidden in the district to sustain
istics. These are intimate space-time relationships with por- ongoing production and to define accurately the distribution,
phyritic intrusions, an evolution of zoned alteration-mineral- grade, rock mechanical and metallurgical characteristics of
ization features, linked to structural evolution from ductile to ore so as to optimize planning, mining, and metallurgical op-
brittle environments attending cooling of the host porphyries. erations. The geologic documentation required for opera-
But Chuquicamata is unique not only in its size and dynami- tional support, aided by a few critical academic studies, has
cism of its structural setting but also in several other features. produced the present level of understanding, and in one way
It is more similar to Butte, Montana, than to most other por- or another, all of this knowledge aids those involved in the
phyry copper deposits, and indeed it is this similarity that at- practical challenges just cited. It is a never-ending task and we
tracted Reno Sales and Anaconda to the property initially. still have a long way to go.
The Rosario orebody at Collahuasi, with its late pyrite-enar-
Acknowledgments
gite and bornite-tennantite veins, can also be compared to
both Butte and Chuquicamata. This comparison was an im- Although the authors assume full responsibility for the in-
portant argument behind the initial discovery drilling cam- terpretations and conclusions presented here, we gratefully
paign at Rosario (Hunt, 1985). acknowledge the critical contributions of many others. Hun-
The presence of at least two hydrothermal events separated dreds of man years of geologic effort, during both Anaconda’s
by a few million years is unusual but certainly not unique. and CODELCO’s tenure, have accumulated over the 84 yr of
Butte appears to have two distinctly separate mineralizing open-pit operation, and only a few of these people have been
events, with main-stage veining superimposed on and above acknowledged by direct reference. The more recent contri-
premain-stage mineralization, possibly 4 m.y. later (Meyer et butions to the knowledge of Chuquicamata during the past 5
al., 1968), but this too has proven to be a very challenging dat- yr derives in large part from the major effort initiated under
ing problem (Martin et al., 1999; Snee et al., 1999). El Sal- the leadership of Guillermo Ossandón and continued under
vador, Chile, has had two distinct periods of igneous activity, Roberto Fréraut, as Superintendents of Geology at Chuquica-
producing multiple and partially superimposed centers of mata. Major contributions during this period were made by
mineralization separated by apparently 3 m.y. (Gustafson et the mine staff, particularly Irene Aracena, José Luis Fuenza-
al., 2001). Potrerillos (Marsh et al., 1997) is an example of a lida, Darryl Lindsay, Victoriano Moyano, Fernando Ramírez,
porphyry copper district with more widely spaced but largely and José Rojas; by consultants William Chavez, Jr., Enrique
nonoverlapping centers of intrusion and mineralization. Grez, Heinz Gröpper, Lewis Gustafson, Anthony Mayne-
Hydrothermal breccias, present in greater or lesser abun- Nichols, Manuel Reyes, Sergio Vicencio, and Marcos Zentilli;
dance in most other porphyry deposits, are practically absent and by Pedro Carrasco, Guillermo Müller, and Enrique Tidy
at Chuquicamata (the extensive brecciation in the quartz- of CODELCO Central. Regional geologic mapping by SER-
sericite zone is mechanical brecciation related to the West NAGEOMIN was initiated at the request of Francisco
fault). A contributing factor to this lack of brecciation may be Camus, Manager of Exploration for CODELCO. Gustafson
the pervasive shattering of the rock at all stages of develop- drafted the present report. Very helpful reviews of the manu-
ment of the orebody, which probably would have prevented script were provided by John Hunt, Marco Einaudi, Andrew
buildup of excessive fluid pressure required for hydrothermal Tomlinson, William Chavez, Jr., and John Dilles, but they bear
brecciation. This dynamic structural environment is also no responsibility for any errors and misconceptions which
partly responsible for the abundance of veinlets and crackle- may remain. Important financial and moral support and per-
filling relative to more disseminated mineralization. mission to publish were provided by the management of
Chuquicamata shares with several other large deposits in CODELCO in Chuquicamata and Santiago. CODELCO and
the south-central Andean belt a tectonic setting and history Economic Geology underwrote the cost of color illustrations.
conducive to formation of large porphyry coppers. Chuquica- REFERENCES
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Geology of the Chuquicamata Mine: A Progress Report

Article in Economic Geology · March 2001

L. B. Gustafson Darryl Lindsay

The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file.

Geology of the Chuquicamata Mine: A Progress Report

ROBERTO FRÉRAUT C.,

AND MARCOS ZENTILLI

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Introduction In 1971, the mine was nationalized and management and

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represents a concentration of recovered and mineable copper

the greatest copper mining district in the world. In 1997, the

In the Chuquicamata district, the oldest rocks occur in a

0 6 Km north-northeast–trending belt of Paleozoic metasedimentary

and metaplutonic rocks, which are exposed within the South

ite is also recognized in the Sierra Limón Verde, south of

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Resources1 Mined out

Deposit Million tons Cu (%) Million tons Cu Million tons Cu (%)

Chuquicamata 8485 0.79 67.03 2035 1.54

Exótica (South mine) Oxides 310 1.17 3.63 120 1.25

Radomiro Tomic 2330 0.59 13.75

Proyecto MM 325 0.96 3.12

Total 11450 0.76 87.02 2155 1.52

1 Includes historical production

Million tons Grade Cu (%) Thousand tons Cu

Total fine copper 794

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FIESTA GRANODIORITE N 5500

Area Not Mapped

65 75 EAST OF WEST FAULT

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500 Meters 500 Meters

ALTERATION DOMINANT SULFIDE

SERICITE OVER POTASSIC FAULT CHALCOCITE-COVELLITE LOW SULFIDE

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: Chloritic CHLORITIC ALTERATION

: Quartz Veins : CP>OTHERS

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A B E3000 E3500 E4000

J.L. FUENZALIDA (1999) ROBERT O FRERAUTC. (1996)

C E3000 E3500 E4000

IRENE ARACENA P. (1995)

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