The Mt. Milligan deposit is a tilted (~45°) Cu-Au alkalic porphyry located 155 km northwest of Prince George, B.C., Canada. It is the youngest of the BC alkalic porphyry deposits, all of which formed between 210 to 180 Ma in an extensive belt of K-enriched rocks related to the accretion of the Quesnellia-Stikinia superterrane to ancestral North America. Mt. Milligan has a measured and indicated resource of 205.9 million tonnes at 0.60 g/t Au and 0.25% Cu containing 3.7 million oz. gold, and 1.12 billion lb. copper. Shoshonitic volcanic and volcaniclastic andesites host mineralization. These have been intruded by a composite monzonitic stock (MBX stock), and associated sill (Rainbow Dike). Early disseminated chalcopyrite-magnetite and accessory quartz veins are associated with K-feldspar alteration in the MBX stock. A halo of biotite alteration with less extensive magnetite replaces host rocks within a ~150 m zone surrounding the stock, while K-feldpsar alteration extends along the Rainbow Dike and permeable epiclastic horizons. Peripheral albite-actinolite-epidote assemblages surround the K-silicate zone. Albite-actinolite occurs at depth, and epidote dominates laterally. Copper and Au grade are maximal where the albite-actinolite assemblage overprints biotite alteration. Gold grade is moderate in association with epidote, whereas Cu is depleted. The post-mineral Rainbow Fault separates the core Cu-rich zone from a downthrown Au-rich zone. A similar zonation of metals occurs in the hanging-wall (66 zone), where a Cu-bearing, potassically-altered trachytic horizon transitions to a funnel-shaped zone of pyrite-dolomite-sericite-chlorite alteration with elevated gold. Sulfide S-isotope compositions range from -4.79 δ34S in the central Cu-Au orebody to near-zero values at the system periphery, typical of alkalic porphyries. Sulfur isotope contours reflect the magmatic-hydrothermal fluid evolution, and indicate late-stage ingress of peripheral fluids into the Cu-Au zone. Carbonate C- and O-isotope compositions corroborate the magmatic fluid path from the Cu-Au rich zone to Au-rich zone with decreasing depth. Strontium isotopic compositions of peripheral alteration minerals indicate a laterally increasing meteoric fluid component. Changes in major- and trace element composition of epidote and pyrite across the deposit are also systematic. These provide additional vectors to ore, and confirm the kinematics of the Rainbow Fault. / Science, Faculty of / Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences, Department of / Graduate

The Lone Star porphyry copper deposit in the Safford District of southeastern Arizona was discovered in the late 1800's but never mined on a large scale. In addition to typical copper oxide species such as chrysocolla, the upper part of the deposit has zones of mineralization in which the chemical assays of core samples have higher amounts of copper than can be visually assigned to the observed copper-bearing minerals. The goal of this study is to identify the Cu-bearing minerals, which is crucial because the efficiency of the extraction processes is strongly dependent upon the mineralogy. Samples from seven cores with a range of copper contents and observed copper minerals were collected for analysis. Elemental compositions have been determined by X-ray fluorescence spectrometry and show a large variability in copper content (ranging from 360 ppm to 4.7 wt. %). Mineral assemblages were determined by optical microscopy, energy dispersive spectroscopy on the scanning electron microscope, and X-ray diffraction analysis and show varying concentrations of possible Cu-hosting minerals such as chlorite, biotite, iron oxides/hydroxides, and clay. Copper element maps were created for selected samples using an electron microprobe and areas of elevated copper concentration were more closely mapped with quantitative analyses taken of many points. This identified some common copper minerals that were simply too small to be seen in hand sample. However, several other minerals also contain high concentrations of Cu including chlorite and biotite (up to 19.3 wt. % CuO), iron oxides/hydroxides (up to 5.2 wt. % CuO), and clay (up to 7.3 wt. % CuO). While it has been determined that there is copper substitution into the structure of these minerals, transmission electron microscope analysis shows some of the copper in the chlorite and biotite is in native Cu blebs between the phyllosilicate sheets. The iron oxides and hydroxides are nanometer-sized particles with large surface areas for adsorption of copper. This presents a multi-phase system of copper minerals that cannot be seen during normal core logging. The presence of ore-grade concentrations of copper in the oxidized zone is likely due to insufficient acid production, as Lone Star is a sulfur-poor deposit, and the neutralizing effect of the andesite that hosts the deposit.

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<p> The Killarney Igneous Complex, composed of an intrusive granite and a hypabyssal or extrusive porphyry was implaced near and at the surface in the general locality of Killarney, Ontario. The crystallization age of the intrusive portion of the complex is approximately 1740 million years. These rocks have experienced deformation by forces which in some instances produced complicated shearing motions. Mesoscopic samples show a foliation and a lineation supporting a history of deformation. The foliation is clearly the more visible fabric and is interpreted as a plane of flattening.</p> <p> Kinematic indicators, specifically asymmetric pressure shadow wings, are present within the rocks; however the patterns are too complicated to interpret by a simple sense of shear. The geometry of these kinematic indicators does suggest an active plane of foliation.</p> / Thesis / Bachelor of Science (BSc)

White Island, New Zealand, is an active andesitic volcano that is located near the southern end of the Tonga-Kermadec Volcanic Arc at the convergent plate boundary where the Pacific Plate is being subducted beneath the Indian-Australian Plate. The plate tectonic setting, volcanic features and the petrology of White Island are thought to be characteristic of the environment associated with formation of porphyry copper deposits. White Island has only been active for about 10 Ka and, as such, is thought to be an ideal location to study early magmatic processes associated with formation of porphyry copper deposits. In this study, the geochemistry of the silicate melt at White Island has been characterized through detailed studies of silicate melt inclusions, phenocrysts, and matrix glass contained in recent ejecta (1977-1991). Most melt inclusions contained only glass, however, daughter minerals present in multiphase melt inclusions in the 1991 sample indicate a different P-T history compared to the other samples. Samples studied are vesicular porphyritic andesitic dacites containing phenocrysts of plagioclase, orthopyroxene, and clinopyroxene. A glassy matrix containing crystallites surrounds the phenocrysts. Both mineral and silicate melt inclusions occur in all three phenocryst phases. Inclusions of plagioclase occur in pyroxenes and inclusions of orthopyroxene and clinopyroxene occur in plagioclase. Compositions of minerals are independent of mode of occurrence - that is, plagioclase (and orthopyroxene and clinopyroxene) compositions are the same regardless of whether they occur as phenocrysts or as inclusions in another mineral. Moreover, compositions of mineral inclusions and phenocrysts show no systematic variation within individual samples or in samples representing different eruptive events, indicating that the magma chamber is chemically homogenous over the time-space scale being sampled. Various major, trace element and volatile compositional features of economic and non-economic (or barren) porphyry copper systems were compared to the White Island data. The Al2O3/(Na2O+K2O+CaO) ratio observed in economic porphyry copper deposits is always greater than or equal to 1.3, and glass in one phase melt inclusions, as well as glass in unhomogenized (1991) inclusions from White Island equal or exceed this value. The glass in the unhomogenized 1991 melt inclusions is corundum normative, with Si/(Si+Ca+Mg+Fet)>0.91, and K/(K+Ca+Mg+Fet)>0.36, all of which are characteristic of productive systems. Melt inclusions from White Island also show a positive Eu anomaly similar to that found in productive porphyry deposits, whereas non-productive systems show a negative Eu anomaly. Copper concentrations (170-230 ppm) in melt inclusions from White Island are sufficiently high to generate an economic porphyry copper deposit based on theoretical models. High Cl/H2O ratios (0.15) in melt inclusions furthermore indicate that copper will be efficiently partitioned from the melt into the magmatic aqueous phase. The inferred pressure in the magma chamber at depth (1 kbar) is ideal for extracting copper from the melt, and mineral phases (pyrrhotite, biotite or amphibole) which could scavenge copper before it could be partitioned into the magmatic vapor phase are absent. Concentrations of S in the melt are also low, which would prevent pyrrhotite from crystallizing. The tectonic setting and geochemical characteristics of the magma body at White Island are similar to features observed in economic porphyry systems elsewhere. These data suggest that development of economic porphyry copper mineralization at White Island is likely. / Master of Science

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Potassium metasomatism is a widespread alteration type in porphyry copper deposits and is often spatially associated with hypogene sulfide ore formation. At Ajo, potassic alteration composes the dominant alteration type and is spatially, and to some extent, temporally, associated with chalcopyrite and bornite mineralization. Physiochemical conditions prevailing during potassic alteration thus describe a significant portion of the hydrothermal ore-forming process. Studies of fractures, fluid inclusions in quartz, and structural and compositional characteristics of K-feldspar, all in the potassic alteration zone at Ajo, indicate that: fracturing was strongest during potassic alteration and sulfide deposition, pressure were at approximately 650 bars, temperatures started a a minimum of 580°C, continued through 470°C, log aK+/aH+ changed from 2.6 at 580°C to 3.2 at 470°C, log aNa/aH+ changed from 2.7 at 580°C to 3.8 at 470°C, and the ratio aK+/aNa+ radically decreased from 0.8 to 0.3 in this temperature range.

This report examines Porphyry’s De antro nympharum and its eclectic mixture of philosophy, allegory, and mysticism in the form of a Homeric commentary. The paper situates Porphyry’s commentary in the broader tradition of Homeric interpretation with special attention to Stoic exegesis and Platonic views on poetry and myth. It also contextualizes Porphyry’s philosophy in terms of the mystery cults, particularly Mithraism, that had grown very popular by Porphyry’s time. The paper argues that Porphyry devised a practice of reading intended to promote a level of philosophical contemplation beyond the level of rational discourse, in keeping with the Neoplatonic philosophy of his teacher, Plotinus, and that this practice is especially evident in the De antro nympharum. / text

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