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la serena octubre 2015 d a e n 19

Oligocene to Miocene volcanic and hydrothermal history

and revised early to middle Miocene Ag-Au mineralization
ages of the La Coipa district, Maricunga belt.
(1,2) (2) (1) (1) (1)
Sergio Gamonal* , Thomas Bissig , Darby Fletcher , George Schroer , Devin den Boer , and Richard
(1)
Jemielita
(1) Kinross Gold. (2) University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada

*Contact email: [email protected]

Abstract. The La Coipa district contains the most

important high-sulfidation epithermal Ag-Au deposit in the 2 Methodology
Maricunga metallogenic belt, better known for gold-rich
porphyry systems. La Coipa comprises a cluster of high- to
intermediate-sulfidation epithermal silver-gold deposits that The centerpiece of this study is a new 1:20,000 scale
formed between 19 and 14 Ma. This age range for the district geological map and documentation of the
timing of mineralization differs significantly from previously Oligocene to Miocene volcanic stratigraphy (Figure 1).
published ages that range between 24 and 20 Ma. Based Surface and drill-hole samples were collected for U-Pb and
40 39 40
upon new U-Pb and Ar/ Ar ages, volcanic and Ar/39Ar geochronology.
hypabsyssal Tertiary rocks that host the Ag-Au deposits at
La Coipa have been divided into the late Oligocene-early U-Pb ages on zircon include Chemical Abrasion Isotope
Miocene La Coipa Group and the middle Miocene Dilution Thermal Ionization Mass Spectrometry (CA-ID-
Codocedo Group. These groups are separated by a
TIMS) and Laser Ablation Inductively Coupled Mass
regional unconformity which can be correlated across the
Maricunga, El Indio, and Los Pelambres-El Teniente Spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) methods, whereas 40Ar/39Ar
metallogenetic belts. Permian to Eocene rocks constitute analyses were performed on biotite and alunite.
the basement of the Oligocene-Miocene units. Geochronology was done at the Pacific Centre for Isotopic
and Geochemical Research (PCIGR) at the University of
Keywords: La Coipa, Maricunga belt, alunite British Columbia.

3 Local Geology
1 Introduction
The Tertiary volcanic and hypabyssal rocks were deposited
La Coipa is part of the Oligocene-Miocene Maricunga and emplaced within a ca. 15x10 km basin bounded by two
metallogenic belt (Vila and Sillitoe, 1991; Mpodozis et al., regional faults: the NW-oriented Indagua strike-slip and
1995), which is characterized mostly by gold-rich thrust fault and the Portezuelo-Codocedo thrust fault. The
porphyry systems (i.e., Cerro Casale, Caspiche, Lobo- basement within the basin is constituted by a Permian
Marte) and in its northern part by high-sulfidation granodiorite dated at 266.01±0.17 Ma, and by a
epithermal systems (i.e., La Coipa, Esperanza, La Pepa). sedimentary sequence of conglomerates, black-shales and
La Coipa (Lat 26°49’, Long 69°14’) with a historic quartz-rich sandstones of the Estratos El Mono unit. The
production of ca. 5 Moz Au and 30 Moz Ag between 1991 Tertiary basin is surrounded by Mesozoic marine and
and 2012, is one of the most important mining districts of terrestrial sedimentary rocks (Asientos, Montandón, and
the belt. Pedernales Formations) and volcanic and
volcanosedimentary rocks of the Upper Cretaceous
Despite a long history of mining at La Coipa no significant Estratos de Cerro Los Carneros.
recent research on the district geology has been carried out
and technical information goes mostly back to the work by Tertiary units are represented by two major groups:
Oviedo et al. (1991). The present study provides an update Paleocene-Eocene units and Oligocene-Miocene units. The
of the volcanic stratigraphy and hydrothermal evolution of Paleocene-Eocene rocks consist of andesitic to rhyodacitic
the district. New 40Ar/39Ar alunite ages differ significantly hypabyssal stocks and dikes, dacitic ignimbrites and
from previously published K/Ar data (Oviedo et al., 1991; volcanosedimentary and sedimentary deposits. One
Sillitoe et al., 1991) and suggest that most mineralization ignimbrite at the Pompeya Sur prospect has been dated at
was emplaced in the early to middle Miocene and not in 37.2±1.2 Ma by 40Ar/39Ar on biotite. At the Purén deposit,
the late Oligocene as previously suggested. this dacitic ignimbrite is overlain by a 1.5x1.0 km basin
containing shales, breccias, and evaporates, and has been
assigned to the Eocene Estratos de Huidobro unit described
by Clavero et al., (2012) in the Cordillera Claudio Gay.

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The Oligocene-Miocene rocks have been divided into the youngest ages were obtained from a quartz+alunite vein in
upper Oligocene-lower Miocene La Coipa Group and the the Coipa Norte deposit (13.76±0.27 Ma) and from the
middle Miocene Codocedo Group, which are separated by Torito prospect (12.3±3.4 Ma).
an unconformable contact.

La Coipa Groups consists of crystal and lapilli tuffs, and 5 Discussion

quartz-eye rich dacitic domes. The dacitic domes have
been dated by U-Pb at 23.8±0.04 Ma (Mina Vieja domes)
and at 21.98±0.06 Ma (Purén domes). Lapilli tuffs were The new ages of mineralization obtained at La Coipa
dated between 21.1 and 21.3 Ma (Pompeya pyroclastics). indicate a fertile period of hydrothermal activity in the
early to middle Miocene. Previous studies indicated that
The Codocedo Group is composed of volcaniclastic lapilli mineralizing events were restricted to the 24-20 Ma and
and ash tuffs, ignimbrites, and dacitic domes characterized 14-13 Ma periods (Vila and Sillitoe, 1991; Sillitoe et al.,
by minimal quartz phenocrysts. Ages for this group range 1991). Thus, episodic hydrothermal activity and
from 18.79±0.08 Ma to 15.84±0.06, the latter making the mineralization in the Maricunga belt ranges from about 25
termination of magmatism in the district. Ma to 13 Ma overall and locally may be as old as ̴31Ma.

Several breccia units are temporally associated to the La Contractional tectonics coincided with the most fertile
Coipa and Codocedo Groups, and have been interpreted as period of mineralization, and can be interpreted on the
phreatomagmatic, hydrothermal, and phreatic breccias. basis of the unconformity between the La Coipa and
Mineralization is in most cases spatially associated to these Codocedo Groups. This discontinuity can be correlated
breccias. with equivalent late Oligocene to early Miocene
unconformities observed throughout the Maricunga, El
Indio, and Los Pelambres-El Teniente belts. Several
4 Alteration and Mineralization authors (Bissig et al., 2002; Kurtz et al., 1997; Kay and
Mpodozis, 2002; Jara and Charrier, 2014) indicate a
Except for the Purén deposit, the La Coipa district is change from extensional to contractional conditions
characterized by high-sulfidation systems where vuggy between 21 and 16 Ma, producing the inversion of the late
quartz and advanced argillic alteration present a concentric Oligocene-early Miocene volcanosedimentary basins. A
zonation grading from vuggy quartz, quartz+alunite, contractional tectonic regime coinciding with
alunite+pyrophyllite+dickite, kaolinite, and illite+smectite. mineralization has been postulated for virtually all other
High grade Ag and Au is associated to the vuggy quartz large Andean high-sulfidation epithermal systems (Bissig
and quartz+alunite zones. Ore mineralogy is dominated by et al., 2015). This contrasts the previous 25-20 Ma range
pyrite+enargite+covellite. The Purén deposit is classified assumed for mineralization at La Coipa which would have
as an intermediate-sulfidation deposit characterized by coincided with a more extensional tectonic regime in the
polymetallic Au-Ag-Pb-Zn mineralization, silicification, Pampean flat-slab region.
and argillic kaolinite+illite alteration. Carbonates such as
rhodochrosite are common gangue minerals. Ore
mineralogy is dominated by pyrite+sphalerite. Acknowledgements

4.1 Alunite ages This study is part of M.Sc. thesis carried out by the first
author at the Mineral Deposit Research Unit (MDRU) of
the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.
40
Ar/39Ar plateau ages (n=9) of alunites from the La Coipa This project was funded by Kinross Gold as part of a
district reveal multiple alteration and mineralization events program of postgraduate studies for exploration geologists.
that range between 30.4 and 12.3 Ma, with a major episode
bracketed between 19 and 14 Ma. The oldest age of
30.42±0.88 Ma was obtained at the Pompeya Sur prospect. References
The main concentration of ages is represented by a steam-
heated alunite age of 18.01±0.57 Ma (Purén mine), a Bissig, T.; Clark, A.H.; Lee, J.K.W.; Hodgson, C.J. 2002. Miocene
17.7±2.2 Ma age for the Ladera Farellón deposit, a landscape evolution in the Chilean flat-slab transect: uplift history
17.47±0.32 Ma age obtained for a quartz+alunite vein in and geomorphologic controls on epithermal processes in the El Indio-
Pascua Au (-Ag, Cu) belt. Economic Geology 97: 971-996.
the Can Can deposit, a 16.44±0.27 Ma age for a
pyrite+enargite+alunite vein from the Pompeya prospect, a Bissig, T.; Clark, A.H.; Rainbow, A.; Montgomery, A. 2015.
15.04±0.81 Ma age obtained for the Maritza prospect, and Physiographic and tectonic settings of high-sulfidation epithermal
a 14.64±0.7 Ma age obtained for a pervasive coarse- gold-silver deposits of the Andes and their controls on mineralizing
grained alunite from the Brecha Norte deposit. The processes. Ore Geology Reviews 65: 327-364.

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 AT 2 geología económica y recursos naturales

Clavero, J.; Mpodozis, C.; Gardeweg, M.; Valenzuela, M. 2012.

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.

Figure 1. (A) District scale geological map of the La Coipa district. (B) Stratigraphic column of the La Coipa district.

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