No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

Northwestern Mexico is characterized by different metallogenic provinces that are included along the Basin and Range, the Sierra Madre Occidental, and the Baja California geological provinces. With the purpose of contribute to the current understanding of the mineralizing processes, the present study focused on two important copper metallogenic provinces: the Cananea Porphyry District in Sonora, and the Sediment-hosted Stratiform Copper- and Mn-deposits in Baja California Sur. The U-Pb zircon ages from the mineralizing porphyries from Cananea district suggest a continued magmatic activity period of ~6 Ma. Also suggests a period of ~20 Ma for the entire magmatic activity in the district. The Re-Os molybdenite ages demonstrate five well-constrained mineralization events in the district; the main mineralization is constrained over a short period of time (~4 Ma). The new molybdenite age from the Pilar deposit documents the oldest mineralizing pulse, suggesting possibly the initiation of the Laramide mineralization in northern Sonora. A detailed study of Mariquita porphyry Cu and Lucy Cu-Mo deposits in the Cananea district was performed. Four hydrothermal stages were defined in Mariquita, whereas a single hydrothermal pulse characterizes Lucy. Emplacement depths between 1-1.2 km, and temperatures between 430-380ºC characterized the mineralization from Mariquita, whereas deeper emplacement depths and higher mineralization temperatures characterized Lucy. The stable isotope systematic and fluid inclusion data determined that the mineralizing fluids in Mariquita deposit are essentially magmatic during the earlier hydrothermal stages, whereas the last stage is the mixing between magmatic and winter meteoric-waters. The mineralizing fluids from Lucy deposit are magmatic in origin. A comprehensive study was performed in the Cu-Co-Zn-Mn ineralization of the Boléo District, and Mn-oxide mineralization along the eastern coast Baja California Sur. The REE and trace element in the Mn-oxides demonstrated the exhalative nature of the mineralizing hydrothermal fluids, and exclude the hydrogenous nature. The stable isotope systematic in ore and gangue minerals, along with the Cu-isotope data helped to decipher the nature of mineralizing and non-mineralizing fluids. The application of Pb, Sr and Re-Os isotope systems was applied to constrain the nature of the fluids involved during the mineralization processes and that the metal sources.

Numerical values for parameters which characterize melting regimes and differentiation history have been determined for a suite of genetically-related calc-alkaline rocks. Isotopic ratios of Nd and Sr vary sympathetically, with the least differentiated and oldest rocks having ε(Nd) = -4.3 and ⁸⁷/Sr⁸⁶Srₒ = 0.7069 and the most differentiated and youngest characterized by ε(Nd) = -8.5 and ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁷/Srₒ = 0.7092. These observations imply that a process which might relate the various units is that of invasion of the crust by mantle-derived magmas and progressive assimilation. The most negative Nd values may well represent the isotopic signature of the crustal rocks which melted. Melting of a 1.8 Ga source region (an age characteristic of the basement in southeastern Arizona) which had a ¹⁴⁷Sm/¹⁴⁴Nd ratio of .13 would yield Laramide melts with and ε(Nd) of -8.5. This Sm/Nd ratio is characteristic of a somewhat mafic (lower?) crust, a character consistent with petrological and chemical evidence which suggest that the source was intermediate to mafic in composition and of amphibolite grade. Solution of the isotopic data yields a value of r (that instantaneous ratio of assimilated material to crystallizing magma) equal to 0.6 to 0.9. These values are reasonable considering heat budgets of crystallization and fusion in the lower crust. Solution of the set of equations for changes in concentration of the trace elements yields numeric values for the f, fraction of remaining melt for each unit in the series. The values are: andesite, f-0.63; granodiorite, f-0.42 to 0.32; and the final granite stocks and dikes, f-0.34. The modeling provides insight into the way an igneous suite intimately associated with copper mineralization has evolved. The porphyry ore bodies are related to long-lived and large magma systems. At the level of mineralization and observation, we sample only a small portion of the system. The importance of subduction to metallogenesis may be that it provides a heat source, in the form of mantle-derived magma, which allows extensive melting of hydrous crust. Thus, as is becoming evident from other studies as well, assimilation and crustal anatexis are major processes in generating granitoid rocks at convergent plate boundaries.

In the Basin and Range province of southwestern North America, Oligocene and Miocene normal faults are superimposed upon the Late Cretaceous-early Tertiary magmatic arc. This study examines tilted fault blocks containing dismembered pieces of porphyry systems, including pieces below and peripheral to ore bodies, that are exposed at the modern surface. Features in the magmatic-hydrothermal porphyry systems are used to place constraints on the style of extension in Arizona, and reconstructions of extension are used to examine the deep and peripheral portions of porphyry systems to provide a more complete understanding of porphyry systems as a whole. The Eagle Pass, Tea Cup, and Sheep Mountain porphyry systems of Arizona are examined in this study. In all the study areas, previous interpretations of the style of extension involved strongly listric normal faults. However, similar amounts of tilting observed in hanging wall and footwall rocks, as well as structure contour maps of fault planes, require that down dip curvature on faults was minimal (<1°/km. Instead, extension is shown here to have occurred as sets of nearly planar, "domino-style" normal faults were superimposed upon one another, including in the Pinaleño metamorphic core complex. Reconstructions of Tertiary extension reveal that sodic (-calcic) alteration is occurs 2-4 km peripheral to, and greisen alteration is found structurally below and overlapping with, potassic alteration. In addition, a preliminary reconstruction of extension across the Laramide magmatic arc reveals that the geometry, as revealed by known porphyry systems, is of similar scale to that of other magmatic arcs. These results help further the debate surrounding competing models of continental extension, and combine with previous work to provide a more complete understanding of the geometries of Arizona porphyry systems at the district and arc scale.

In the Canadian Cordillera, Mesozoic calcalkaline and alkaline intrusive igneous rocks that are prospective for hosting porphyry Cu-Au mineralization may be overlain by thick glacial overburden. Previous studies have shown that magnetite from ore deposits has a unique trace element signature that differs from magnetite in common igneous or metamorphic rocks. This study investigated if the composition of ore-related magnetite in till could provide a unique exploration tool to locate porphyry deposits in glaciated terrain. Bulk till samples were collected over an area of ~700 km2 surrounding the Mount Polley porphyry Cu-Au deposit, south-central British Columbia. Twenty elements were measured by LA-ICP-MS in ~50 detrital magnetite grains in each of 20 till samples. Previously proposed discrimination diagrams are proven to be of limited use in correctly identifying ore-related magnetite. Therefore, linear discriminant analysis (LDA) was performed on a compiled dataset of magnetite compositions from various porphyry deposits and intrusive igneous rocks in order to rigorously redefine the chemical signature of hydrothermal magnetite from porphyry systems. Application of the LDA models to magnetite in till found that the dispersal of hydrothermal grains from Mount Polley is coincident with the deposit and the interpreted ice-flow history. Anomalous concentrations of hydrothermal magnetite grains in till are detected up to 2.5 km west-southwest and 4 km northwest of the deposit, indicating that magnetite has a strong potential to be an effective indicator in mineral exploration for porphyry systems. / Graduate

No description available.

O sistema pórfiro Yarumalito, caracterizado por concentrar minério em veios controlados por estruturas e stockworks encontra-se localizado no distrito mineiro de Marmato, que é considerado um dos mais antigos distritos de ouro da Colômbia, com atividades de extração que remontam da época dos Incas. O sistema ígneo da região é relacionado ao magmatismo Miocênico da Formação Combia. Neste trabalho foram descritas as rochas subvulcânicas diretamente relacionadas às zonas mineralizadas do sistema pórfiro Yarumalito com o objetivo de, após caracterizar as intrusões, realizar datação através do método U-Pb em zircão. Amostras selecionadas de duas intrusões férteis, uma andesítica mais abundante na área e outra diorítica com características intrusivas na primeira e de ocorrência mais restrita, foram criteriosamente descritas e tiveram zircões separados e posteriormente analisados por SHRIMP na Universidade de São Paulo. Os resultados apontaram para um intervalo bastante restrito para as idades, com médias ponderadas das idades 206Pb/238U variando de 7 ± 0.15 Ma para o andesito pórfiro a 6.95 ± 0.16 Ma para o diorito pórfiro. Estes resultados sugerem um período restrito no tempo para a cristalização das intrusivas portadoras de mineralizações na área do projeto e posicionam o sistema Yarumalito para o final do magmatismo Combia. / The Yarumalito porphyry system, characterized to concentrate ore in structure related veins and stockworks is located in the mining district of Marmato, that is considered one of the oldest gold mining districts of Colombia, with exploration activities since the Inca Empire. The igneous system of the region is related to the miocenic magmatism of the Combia formation. In this paper, the subvolcanic rocks directly related with the mineralized zones of the Yarumalito porphyry were described in order to, after characterization, obtain UPb ages in zircon to the intrusions. Selected samples of the two fertile intrusions, one andesitic more abundant in the area and one dioritic more restricted, were carefully described and had their zircon grains separated and analyzed by SHRIMP in the University of São Paulo. The results points to a very restricted interval for the ages, with weighted average 206Pb/238U varying from 7 ± 0.15 Ma for the andesitic porphyry and 6.95 ± 0.16 Ma for the dioritic porphyry. These results suggest a brief period for the crystallization of the mineralized subvolcanic rocks in the area and constrain the Yarumalito system to the final stages of the Combia magmatism.

Graduation date: 2003 / Presentation date: 2002-06-03