The Altar porphyry Cu-(Au-Mo) deposit (Argentina): A complex magmatic-hydrothermal system with evidence of recharge processes
Altar (31° 29' S, 70° 28' W) is a large porphyry Cu-(Au-Mo) deposit with associated epithermal Au-(Ag- Cu) veins located in the Cordillera Principal of southwest San Juan province (Argentina). Altar is a complex magmatic-hydrothermal system formed from several magmatic and hydrothermal pul...
| Autores: | , , , , |
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| Tipo de recurso: | artículo |
| Estado: | Versión publicada |
| Fecha de publicación: | 2014 |
| País: | Argentina |
| Institución: | Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas |
| Repositorio: | CONICET Digital (CONICET) |
| Idioma: | inglés |
| OAI Identifier: | oai:ri.conicet.gov.ar:11336/77553 |
| Acceso en línea: | http://hdl.handle.net/11336/77553 |
| Access Level: | acceso abierto |
| Palabra clave: | Porphyry Copper La-Icpms U-Pb Ages Magmatic Recharge Argentina https://purl.org/becyt/ford/1.5 https://purl.org/becyt/ford/1 |
| Sumario: | Altar (31° 29' S, 70° 28' W) is a large porphyry Cu-(Au-Mo) deposit with associated epithermal Au-(Ag- Cu) veins located in the Cordillera Principal of southwest San Juan province (Argentina). Altar is a complex magmatic-hydrothermal system formed from several magmatic and hydrothermal pulses during the middlelate Miocene. New LA-ICPMS U-Pb ages in zircons from the Altar porphyries indicate four discrete events of intrusions over an extended magmatic life time of ca. 3 m.y. It comprises a premineralization porphyry (11.75 ± 0.24 Ma), three mineralized porphyries (11.62 ± 0.21 and 11.68 ± 0.27 Ma, 11.13 ± 0.26 Ma, 10.35 ± 0.32 Ma) related to hydrothermal breccias, two postmineralization intrusions, and a postmineralization breccia (8.9 ± 0.4 Ma). The three mineralized porphyries (porphyries 2, 3, and 4) were emplaced within ∼0.7 to 1.3 m.y. Amphibole phenocrysts from the porphyries crystallized from oxidized magmas (fO2 = NNO +1 to +2) at temperatures of 780° to 850°C and pressures between 0.9 and 1.8 kbars corresponding to depths of ∼4 to 7 km. Anorthite- and Fe-rich rims in the plagioclase phenocrysts suggest that the magmatic chambers were episodically recharged by a less evolved magma. The middle-late Miocene intrusions are interpreted to have been derived from a deeper and relatively large magmatic reservoir that supplied magmas to smaller chambers located in the upper crust. The focused magmatic output to shallow levels during a period of a few million years in the Altar area has been a main requirement in the formation of this large porphyry copper deposit. |
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