Sistemas Porfidos

©2010 Society of Economic Geologists, Inc.
Economic Geology, v. 105, pp. 3–41
Porphyry Copper Systems*

RICHARD H. SILLITOE†
27 West Hill Park, Highgate Village, London N6 6ND, England
Abstract
Porphyry Cu systems host some of the most widely distributed mineralization types at convergent plate
boundaries, including porphyry deposits centered on intrusions; skarn, carbonate-replacement, and sediment-
hosted Au deposits in increasingly peripheral locations; and superjacent high- and intermediate-sulfidation epi-
thermal deposits. The systems commonly define linear belts, some many hundreds of kilometers long, as well as
occurring less commonly in apparent isolation. The systems are closely related to underlying composite plutons,
at paleodepths of 5 to 15 km, which represent the supply chambers for the magmas and fluids that formed the
vertically elongate (>3 km) stocks or dike swarms and associated mineralization. The plutons may erupt volcanic
rocks, but generally prior to initiation of the systems. Commonly, several discrete stocks are emplaced in and
above the pluton roof zones, resulting in either clusters or structurally controlled alignments of porphyry Cu
systems. The rheology and composition of the host rocks may strongly influence the size, grade, and type of
mineralization generated in porphyry Cu systems. Individual systems have life spans of ~100,000 to several mil-
lion years, whereas deposit clusters or alignments as well as entire belts may remain active for 10 m.y. or longer.
The alteration and mineralization in porphyry Cu systems, occupying many cubic kilometers of rock, are
zoned outward from the stocks or dike swarms, which typically comprise several generations of intermediate
to felsic porphyry intrusions. Porphyry Cu ± Au ± Mo deposits are centered on the intrusions, whereas car-
bonate wall rocks commonly host proximal Cu-Au skarns, less common distal Zn-Pb and/or Au skarns, and,
beyond the skarn front, carbonate-replacement Cu and/or Zn-Pb-Ag ± Au deposits, and/or sediment-hosted
(distal-disseminated) Au deposits. Peripheral mineralization is less conspicuous in noncarbonate wall rocks but
may include base metal- or Au-bearing veins and mantos. High-sulfidation epithermal deposits may occur in
lithocaps above porphyry Cu deposits, where massive sulfide lodes tend to develop in deeper feeder structures
and Au ± Ag-rich, disseminated deposits within the uppermost 500 m or so. Less commonly, intermediate-
sulfidation epithermal mineralization, chiefly veins, may develop on the peripheries of the lithocaps. The
alteration-mineralization in the porphyry Cu deposits is zoned upward from barren, early sodic-calcic through
potentially ore-grade potassic, chlorite-sericite, and sericitic, to advanced argillic, the last of these constituting
the lithocaps, which may attain >1 km in thickness if unaffected by significant erosion. Low sulfidation-state
chalcopyrite ± bornite assemblages are characteristic of potassic zones, whereas higher sulfidation-state sul-
fides are generated progressively upward in concert with temperature decline and the concomitant greater
degrees of hydrolytic alteration, culminating in pyrite ± enargite ± covellite in the shallow parts of the litho-
caps. The porphyry Cu mineralization occurs in a distinctive sequence of quartz-bearing veinlets as well as in
disseminated form in the altered rock between them. Magmatic-hydrothermal breccias may form during por-
phyry intrusion, with some of them containing high-grade mineralization because of their intrinsic permeabil-
ity. In contrast, most phreatomagmatic breccias, constituting maar-diatreme systems, are poorly mineralized at
both the porphyry Cu and lithocap levels, mainly because many of them formed late in the evolution of systems.
Porphyry Cu systems are initiated by injection of oxidized magma saturated with S- and metal-rich, aqueous
fluids from cupolas on the tops of the subjacent parental plutons. The sequence of alteration-mineralization
events charted above is principally a consequence of progressive rock and fluid cooling, from >700° to <250°C,
caused by solidification of the underlying parental plutons and downward propagation of the lithostatic-
hydrostatic transition. Once the plutonic magmas stagnate, the high-temperature, generally two-phase hyper-
saline liquid and vapor responsible for the potassic alteration and contained mineralization at depth and early
overlying advanced argillic alteration, respectively, gives way, at <350°C, to a single-phase, low- to moderate-
salinity liquid that causes the sericite-chlorite and sericitic alteration and associated mineralization. This same
liquid also causes mineralization of the peripheral parts of systems, including the overlying lithocaps. The pro-
gressive thermal decline of the systems combined with synmineral paleosurface degradation results in the char-
acteristic overprinting (telescoping) and partial to total reconstitution of older by younger alteration-mineral-
ization types. Meteoric water is not required for formation of this alteration-mineralization sequence although
its late ingress is commonplace.
Many features of porphyry Cu systems at all scales need to be taken into account during planning and exe-
cution of base and precious metal exploration programs in magmatic arc settings. At the regional and district
scales, the occurrence of many deposits in belts, within which clusters and alignments are prominent, is a pow-
erful exploration concept once one or more systems are known. At the deposit scale, particularly in the por-
phyry Cu environment, early-formed features commonly, but by no means always, give rise to the best ore-
bodies. Late-stage alteration overprints may cause partial depletion or complete removal of Cu and Au, but
metal concentration may also result. Recognition of single ore deposit types, whether economic or not, in por-
phyry Cu systems may be directly employed in combination with alteration and metal zoning concepts to
† E-mail,
[email protected]
*An Invited Paper
Submitted: April 15, 2009

0361-0128/10/3863/3-39 3 Accepted: November 18, 2009
Downloaded from http://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/segweb/economicgeology/article-pdf/105/1/3/3464429/3.pdf

by Rolando Carrascal Miranda
4 RICHARD H. SILLITOE
search for other related deposit types, although not all those permitted by the model are likely to be present in
most systems. Erosion level is a cogent control on the deposit types that may be preserved and, by the same
token, on those that may be anticipated at depth. The most distal deposit types at all levels of the systems tend
to be visually the most subtle, which may result in their being missed due to overshadowing by more promi-
nent alteration-mineralization.
Introduction intermediate-sulfidation epithermal Au ± Ag ± Cu orebodies

PORPHYRY Cu systems are defined as large volumes (10−>100 (<1 Mt−>1 Gt). Porphyry Cu systems were generated world-
km3) of hydrothermally altered rock centered on porphyry Cu wide since the Archean, although Meso-Cenozoic examples
are most abundantly preserved (e.g., Singer et al., 2008; Fig.
stocks that may also contain skarn, carbonate-replacement,
1), probably because younger arc terranes are normally the
sediment-hosted, and high- and intermediate-sulfidation epi-
least eroded (e.g., Seedorff et al., 2005; Kesler and Wilkinson,
thermal base and precious metal mineralization. Along with 2006; Wilkinson and Kesler, 2009).
calc-alkaline batholiths and volcanic chains, they are the hall- Porphyry Cu systems presently supply nearly three-quar-
marks of magmatic arcs constructed above active subduction ters of the world’s Cu, half the Mo, perhaps one-fifth of the
zones at convergent plate margins (Sillitoe, 1972; Richards, Au, most of the Re, and minor amounts of other metals (Ag,
2003), although a minority of such systems occupies postcol- Pd, Te, Se, Bi, Zn, and Pb). The systems also contain major
lisional and other tectonic settings that develop after subduc- resources of these metals as well as including the world’s
tion ceases (e.g., Richards, 2009). The deeper parts of por- largest known exploitable concentrations of Cu (203 Mt: Los
phyry Cu systems may contain porphyry Cu ± Mo ± Au Bronces-Río Blanco, central Chile; A.J. Wilson, writ. com-
deposits of various sizes (<10 million metric tons [Mt]-10 bil- mun., 2009) and Mo (2.5 Mt: El Teniente, central Chile;
lion metric tons [Gt]) as well as Cu, Au, and/or Zn skarns (<1 Camus, 2003), and the second largest of Au (129 Moz: Gras-
Mt−>1 Gt), whereas their shallower parts may host high- and berg, including contiguous skarn, Indonesia; J. MacPherson,
Galore Creek
Pebble Mt Polley
Recsk
Highland Valley dist. Almalyk Oyu Tolgoi
Rosia Poieni
Butte Kounrad
Island Copper Bingham Majdanpek

Tintic
Yerington Reko Diq Lepanto & Guinaoang
Cananea Saindak (Mankayan dist.)
Copper Canyon
Santo Tomas II &
Chelopech Dizon Nugget Hill
Pueblo Viejo Sepon
Ray Globe- Boyongan-Bayugo
Miami Sar Cheshmeh
Mineral Park Morenci Tampakan
Mamut Grasberg-Ertsberg
Resolution Santa Rita
(Superior dist.) (Central dist.) Cerro de Pasco Ok Tedi
& Colquijirca Panguna
Cerro Colorado
Sierrita- Bau
Esperanza Yanacocha Choquelimpie Collahuasi dist.
Red Antamina Batu Hijau
Esperanza El Abra
Mountain Cabang Kiri
Bisbee Cotabambas Chuquicamata dist. Koloula
Escondida &
Toquepala & Chimborazo Frieda River dist.(Nena)
Gaby
Cuajone Wafi-Golpu
El Salvador
Los Pelambres Taca Taca Bajo
Los Bronces- Bajo de la Alumbrera (Farallón Negro dist.) & Agua Rica
Río Blanco Potrerillos Northparkes Cadia
Nevados del Famatina
El Teniente Marte &
Caspiche Pascua-Lama & Veladero
Andacollo
Principal metals Deposit type Age

Cu-Mo Porphyry Bau Miocene-Pleistocene
Cu-Mo-Au Porphyry + major skarn/ Gaby Eocene-Oligocene
Cu-Au carbonate replacement Ray Late Cretaceous-Paleocene
Ag-Pb-Zn-Cu High-sulfidation Bisbee Late Triassic-Early Cretaceous
No porphyry known epithermal ± porphyry OyuT olgoi Late Devonian-Carboniferous
Cadia Ordovician
FIG. 1. Worldwide locations of porphyry Cu systems cited as examples of features discussed in the text along with five ad-
ditional giant examples. The principal deposit type(s), contained metals, and age are also indicated. Data mainly from sources
cited in the text.
0361-0128/98/000/000-00 $6.00 4

PORPHYRY COPPER SYSTEMS 5
writ. commun., 2009). Typical hypogene porphyry Cu de-

72° PERU 68°
posits have average grades of 0.5 to 1.5 percent Cu, <0.01 to 18°
0.04 percent Mo, and 0.0× to 1.5 g/t Au, although a few “Au-
only” deposits have Au tenors of 0.9 to 1.5 g/t but little Cu ARICA
(<0.1 %). The Cu and, in places, Au contents of skarns are
typically higher still. In contrast, large high-sulfidation epi- BOLIVIA
thermal deposits average 1 to 3 g/t Au but have only minor or
no recoverable Cu, commonly as a result of supergene
removal.
This field-oriented article reviews the geology of porphyry
Collahuasi
Cu systems at regional, district, and deposit scales. The resul-
tant geologic model is then used as the basis for a brief syn-
thesis of porphyry Cu genesis and discussion of exploration
guidelines. The deposits and prospects used as examples El Abra Chuquicamata
throughout the text are located and further characterized in 22°
Figure 1. The economically important results of supergene
C
oxidation and enrichment in porphyry Cu systems have been
AL
A
addressed elsewhere (Sillitoe, 2005, and references therein).
M
A-
E
LT
Regional- and District-Scale Characteristics
O
RO
ANTOFAGASTA
Belts and provinces
Porphyry Cu systems show a marked tendency to occur in Escondida
linear, typically orogen-parallel belts, which range from a few AR
C
tens to hundreds and even thousands of kilometers long, as HI
B
exemplified by the Andes of western South America (Sillitoe AR
C
and Perelló, 2005; Fig. 2) and the Apuseni-Banat-Timok- A
Srednogorie belt of Romania, Serbia, and Bulgaria (Janković, 26°
1977; Popov et al., 2002). Deposit densities commonly attain
El Salvador Potrerillos
15 per 100,000 km2 of exposed permissive terrane (Singer et
al., 2005). Each belt corresponds to a magmatic arc of broadly
similar overall dimensions. One or more subparallel belts COPIAPÓ
constitute porphyry Cu or epithermal Au provinces, several of
which give rise to global-scale anomalies for Cu (e.g., north-
ern Chile-southern Peru, southwestern North America) or Au
(northern Peru; Sillitoe, 2008). Notwithstanding the ubiquity ARGENTINA
of porphyry Cu belts, major deposits may also occur in isola-
tion or at least as distant outliers of coherent belts and
provinces (e.g., Pebble in Alaska, Butte in Montana, and
Bingham in Utah; Sillitoe, 2008; Fig. 1). Pueblo Viejo in the LA SERENA
Dominican Republic (Fig. 1) is the best example of a major, 30°
isolated high-sulfidation epithermal Au deposit, albeit with no
currently known porphyry Cu counterpart.
Porphyry Cu belts developed during well-defined metallo- Lineament
genic epochs, which isotopic dating shows to have typical du-
rations of 10 to 20 m.y. Each porphyry Cu epoch is closely Fault
linked to a time-equivalent magmatic event. Again, the Andes
(Sillitoe and Perelló, 2005), southwestern North America (Ti- Porphyry Cu
tley, 1993; Barra et al., 2005), and Apuseni-Banat-Timok- deposit
Srednogorie belt (Zimmerman et al., 2008) provide prime ex-
amples. Individual porphyry Cu belts are commonly spatially 100km
SANTIAGO
separate rather than superimposed on one another, reflecting
arc migration as a result of steepening or shallowing of sub-
ducted slabs between the individual magmatic-metallogenic FIG. 2. A preeminent example of spatial and temporal coincidence be-
epochs (e.g., Sillitoe and Perelló, 2005). The processes of sub- tween a porphyry Cu belt and an intra-arc fault zone: the northern Chile part
duction erosion and terrane accretion at convergent margins of the central Andean middle Eocene to early Oligocene porphyry Cu belt
and Domeyko fault system (summarized from Sillitoe and Perelló, 2005).
may assist with land- or trenchward migration of the arcs and The apparent termination of the belt in northernmost Chile is a result of con-
contained porphyry Cu belts (e.g., von Huene and Scholl, cealment beneath Miocene volcanic rocks. Approximate positions of the
1991; Kay et al., 2005). Nevertheless, several temporally main arc-transverse lineaments in northern Chile are also shown (after Sal-
discrete porphyry Cu-bearing arcs may be superimposed on fity, 1985, in Richards et al., 2001).
0361-0128/98/000/000-00 $6.00 5

one another: five since ~45 Ma in the Chagai belt, Pakistan much wider (160 km) Texas lineament of southwestern North
(Perelló et al., 2008). America (Schmitt, 1966) being oft-quoted examples. These
transverse features, possibly reflecting underlying basement
Tectonic settings structures, may facilitate ascent of the relatively small magma
Porphyry Cu systems are generated mainly in magmatic arc volumes involved in porphyry Cu systems (e.g., Clark, 1993;
(including backarc) environments subjected to a spectrum of Richards, 2000).
regional-scale stress regimes, apparently ranging from mod-
erately extensional through oblique slip to contractional (Tos- Deposit clusters and alignments
dal and Richards, 2001). Strongly extensional settings, typi- At the district scale, porphyry Cu systems and their con-
fied by compositionally bimodal basalt-rhyolite magmatism, tained deposits tend to occur as clusters or alignments that
lack significant porphyry Cu systems (Sillitoe, 1999a; Tosdal may attain 5 to 30 km across or in length, respectively. Clus-
and Richards, 2001). The stress regime depends, among ters are broadly equidimensional groupings of deposits (e.g.,
other factors, on whether there is trench advance or rollback Globe-Miami district, Arizona; Fig. 3a), whereas alignments
and the degree of obliquity of the plate convergence vector are linear deposit arrays oriented either parallel or trans-
(Dewey, 1980). verse to the magmatic arcs and their coincident porphyry Cu
Nevertheless, there is a prominent empirical relationship belts. Arc-parallel alignments may occur along intra-arc
between broadly contractional settings, marked by crustal fault zones, as exemplified by the Chuquicamata district,
thickening, surface uplift, and rapid exhumation, and large, northern Chile (Fig. 3b) whereas cross-arc fault zones or lin-
high-grade hypogene porphyry Cu deposits, as exemplified by eaments control arc-transverse alignments, as in the Cadia,
the latest Cretaceous to Paleocene (Laramide) province of New South Wales (Fig. 3c) and Oyu Tolgoi, Mongolia dis-
southwestern North America, middle Eocene to early tricts (Fig. 3d).
Oligocene (Fig. 2) and late Miocene to Pliocene belts of the Irrespective of whether the porphyry Cu systems and con-
central Andes, mid-Miocene belt of Iran, and Pliocene belts tained deposits define clusters or alignments, their surface
in New Guinea and the Philippines (Fig. 1; Sillitoe, 1998; Hill distributions are taken to reflect the areal extents of either
et al., 2002; Perelló et al., 2003a; Cooke et al., 2005; Rohrlach underlying parental plutons or cupolas on their roofs. Within
and Loucks, 2005; Sillitoe and Perelló, 2005; Perelló, 2006). the clusters and alignments, the distance (100s−1,000s m) be-
Large, high-sulfidation epithermal Au deposits also form in tween individual deposits (e.g., Sillitoe and Gappe, 1984) and
similar contractional settings at the tops of tectonically thick- even their footprint shapes can vary greatly, as observed in the
ened crustal sections, albeit not together with giant porphyry Chuquicamata and Cadia districts (Fig. 3b, c).
Cu deposits (Sillitoe and Hedenquist 2003; Sillitoe, 2008). It Clusters or alignments of porphyry Cu systems can display
may be speculated that crustal compression aids development a spread of formational ages, which attain as much as 5 m.y.
of large mid- to upper-crustal magma chambers (Takada, in the Chuquicamata (Ballard et al., 2001; Rivera and Pardo,
1994) capable of efficient fractionation and magmatic fluid 2004; Campbell et al., 2006) and Yanacocha districts (Longo
generation and release, especially at times of rapid uplift and and Teal, 2005) but could be as much as ~18 m.y. in the Cadia
erosional unroofing (Sillitoe, 1998), events which may district (Wilson et al., 2007). This situation implies that the
presage initiation of stress relaxation (Tosdal and Richards, underlying parental plutons have protracted life spans, albeit
2001; Richards, 2003, 2005; Gow and Walshe, 2005). Changes intermittent in some cases, with porphyry Cu formation tak-
in crustal stress regime are considered by some as especially ing place above them at different places over time.
favorable times for porphyry Cu and high-sulfidation epi-
thermal Au deposit generation (e.g., Tosdal and Richards, Pluton-porphyry relationships
2001), with Bingham and Bajo de la Alumbrera, Argentina, Varied relationships are observed between porphyry Cu
for example, both apparently occupying such a tectonic niche systems and precursor plutons, which are typically multi-
(Presnell, 1997; Sasso and Clark, 1998; Halter et al., 2004; Sil- phase, equigranular intrusions, commonly of batholithic di-
litoe, 2008). mensions and dioritic to granitic compositions; they are not
Faults and fault intersections are invariably involved, to only spatially, but also temporally and probably genetically re-
greater or lesser degrees, in determining the formational sites lated to porphyry Cu and superjacent epithermal Au forma-
and geometries of porphyry Cu systems and their constituent tion (Fig. 4). The precursor plutons may act as hosts to a sin-
parts. Intra-arc fault systems, active before as well as during gle deposit, as at Mount Polley, British Columbia (Fraser et
magmatism and porphyry Cu generation, are particularly im- al., 1995); an alignment of coalesced deposits, as in the Los
portant localizers, as exemplified by the Domeyko fault sys- Bronces-Río Blanco district (Fig. 5a); or clusters of two or
tem during development of the preeminent middle Eocene more discrete deposits, as in the El Abra intrusive complex,
to early Oligocene belt of northern Chile (Sillitoe and Perelló, northern Chile (Fig. 5b) and Guichon Creek batholith, High-
2005, and references therein; Fig. 2). Some investigators em- land Valley district, British Columbia (Fig. 5c). The precursor
phasize the importance of intersections between continent- plutons and porphyry Cu stocks are typically separated by
scale transverse fault zones or lineaments and arc-parallel time gaps of 1 to 2 m.y. or less (e.g., Dilles and Wright, 1988;
structures for porphyry Cu formation, with the Archibarca Casselman et al., 1995; Mortensen et al., 1995; Dilles et al.,
and Calama-El Toro lineaments of northern Chile (Richards 1997; Deckart et al., 2005; Campbell et al., 2006). Many por-
et al., 2001; Fig. 2), the Lachlan Transverse Zone of New phyry Cu systems, particularly those that are only shallowly
South Wales (Glen and Walshe, 1999), comparable features exposed, lack known precursor plutons, probably because
in New Guinea (Corbett, 1994; Hill et al., 2002), and the they lie at inaccessible depths (Fig. 4).
0361-0128/98/000/000-00 $6.00 6

110° 45’
510.000
a b
West Fault
N
N
Diamond H Copper Cities RT
Pinto 7.540.000
Valley
Miami Miami
Inspiration
Castle East GLOBE
Dome MIAMI Chuquicamata
Blue Bird
Cactus- Oxhide
Carlotta
5km
33° 20
Mina Sur
Porphyry Cu deposit
Skarn magnetite-Cu-Au deposit
Exotic (supergene) Cu deposit MM

Postmineral fault Quetena
Genoveva
Trend of magmatic arc
7.520.000
Miranda
Toki
Town Opache 5km
CALAMA
c
686000 E
d 106.85°E
N
Cadia Ulan
Ridgeway Big
Cadia Khud
N (prospect)
Cadia
Quarry
Hugo Dummett
Little
Cadia Cadia
Hill Central
6296000 N 43°N
Cadia East -
Far East Southwest
& South
?
Heruga
1km
5km
FIG. 3. Examples of porphyry Cu clusters and alignments of various sizes and at different orientations with respect to the
axes of contemporaneous magmatic arcs. a. Globe-Miami district cluster, Arizona within the Late Cretaceous-early Tertiary
(Laramide) arc (after Creasey, 1980), with the spatial distribution partially the result of mid-Tertiary extensional tectonism
(Wilkins and Heidrick, 1995; Seedorff et al., 2008). b. Chuquicamata district, northern Chile aligned parallel to the middle
Eocene-early Oligocene arc axis (after Rivera and Pardo, 2004; S. Rivera, writ. commun., 2009), with the spatial distribution
possibly partly the result of postmineral sinistral strike-slip faulting (Brimhall et al., 2006). c. Cadia district, New South Wales,
Australia, aligned oblique to the Ordovician arc axis (after Holliday et al., 2002). d. Oyu Tolgoi district, Mongolia aligned
nearly perpendicular to the Late Devonian arc axis (after Khashgerel et al., 2008). Porphyry Cu and other deposit outlines
projected to surface where unexposed. Note scale difference between c and a, b, and d.
0361-0128/98/000/000-00 $6.00 7

Limit of lithocap
Paleosurface
Multiphase
porphyry
Base of Cu stock
degraded
volcanic
edifice
Late-mineral
Porphyry
Intermineral stock
Early
Parental pluton
+
+ + Composite
precursor
pluton
+
+
+
5km v Comagmatic
v v
volcanic rocks
5km Subvolcanic
basement
FIG. 4. Spatial relationships between porphyry Cu stocks, underlying pluton, overlying comagmatic volcanic rocks, and
the lithocap. The precursor pluton is multiphase, whereas the parental pluton is shown as a single body in which the con-
centric dotted lines mark its progressive inward consolidation. The early, intermineral, and late-mineral phases of the por-
phyry Cu stocks, which span the interval during which the porphyry Cu deposits formed, originate from increasingly greater
depths in the progressively crystallizing parental chamber. The volcanic sequence is a stratovolcano (but could just as read-
ily be a dome complex; Fig. 6) and has been partly eroded prior to porphyry Cu formation. The lithocap affects the volcanic
pile as well as uppermost parts of the underlying rocks. Note that subvolcanic basement rocks host much of the porphyry Cu
deposit on the left, whereas that on the right is mainly enclosed by two phases of the precursor pluton. Inspired by Sillitoe
(1973), Dilles (1987), Tosdal and Richards (2001), Casselman et al. (1995), and Dilles and Proffett (1995).
The precursor plutons are considered as the mid- to upper- products, at least in the general vicinities of the deposits
crustal crystallization sites of mafic to felsic magmas that as- themselves. Nevertheless, at a few localities, including the
cended from deeper reservoirs before porphyry Cu systems shallowly formed Marte porphyry Au deposit, northern Chile
were developed (see Richards, 2003). Outcropping precursor (Vila et al., 1991), a comagmatic andesitic stratovolcano is still
plutons normally represent the shallower, earlier consolidated partially preserved, including parts of its unmodified lower
parts rather than the magma volumes from which the fluids depositional slopes (or planèze). Notwithstanding their lower
for porphyry Cu generation were derived (Fig. 4). These preservation potential, smaller volume volcanic centers—
parental magma chambers, also represented by similar flow-dome complexes and maar-diatreme systems (e.g.,
equigranular to weakly porphyritic plutons, are not exposed in Mankayan district, Philippines and Grasberg; Sillitoe and An-
porphyry Cu systems unless postmineralization extensional geles, 1985; MacDonald and Arnold, 1994; I. Kavalieris, pers.
tectonism caused profound tilting and dismemberment of the commun., 1999) —may still also be recognizable in the shal-
systems, as reconstructed in the Yerington district, Nevada low parts of porphyry Cu systems. Volcanic landforms are ob-
(Dilles, 1987; Dilles and Proffett, 1995) and elsewhere (See- viously even better preserved in the shallower high-sulfida-
dorff et al., 2008). tion epithermal environment above porphyry Cu deposits
(e.g., flow-dome complexes at Yanacocha; Turner, 1999;
Volcanic connections Longo and Teal, 2005; e.g., Fig. 6).
Porphyry Cu systems may be spatially associated with co- Catastrophically explosive volcanism, particularly ash-flow
magmatic, calc-alkaline or, less commonly, alkaline volcanic caldera formation, is normally incompatible with synchronous
rocks, typically of intermediate to felsic composition (Sillitoe, porphyry Cu and superjacent epithermal Au deposit forma-
1973; Fig. 4), which are generally erupted subaerially 0.5 to 3 tion, because magmatic volatiles are dissipated during the vo-
m.y. prior to stock intrusion and mineralization, as well docu- luminous pyroclastic eruptions rather than being retained and
mented in the Bingham (Waite et al., 1997), Farallón Negro, focused in a manner conducive to ore formation (Sillitoe,
Argentina (Sasso and Clark, 1998; Halter et al., 2004), Yer- 1980; Pasteris, 1996; Cloos, 2001; Richards, 2005). Neverthe-
ington (Dilles and Wright, 1988; Dilles and Proffett, 1995), less, calderas may influence the localization of later, geneti-
Tampakan, Philippines (Rohrlach and Loucks, 2005), and cally unrelated porphyry Cu systems (e.g., El Salvador, north-
Yanacocha (Longo and Teal, 2005) districts. However, the ern Chile; Cornejo et al., 1997).
erosion involved in the unroofing of porphyry Cu deposits There is a strong suggestion that comagmatic volcanism
also severely degrades volcanic landforms (e.g., Farallón may be inhibited in some major porphyry Cu belts as a result
Negro district) and, commonly, entirely removes the eruptive of their characteristic contractional tectonic settings, as in the
0361-0128/98/000/000-00 $6.00 8

a 675000E 680000E
c
N
Mainly mineralized
hydrothermal
N breccias
Krain
6335000N
South Seas
Bethlehem
Río 53° 30 Valley JA
Los Bronces Blanco
Lornex
Highmont
6330000N
Los Piches Los Sulfatos

Ag-Pb-Zn-
Cu veins 10km
5km
b Major fault
N
Late-mineral diatreme complex
Porphyry stock and
porphyry Cu deposit
El Abra
Late felsic phases
Precursor
Conchi Viejo Early, mainly pluton
dioritic phases
Host rocks
22° 00
5km 69° 15
FIG. 5. Examples of porphyry Cu deposits within and near precursor plutons. a. Los Bronces-Río Blanco breccia-domi-
nated deposit trending across the San Francisco batholith, central Chile (after Serrano et al., 1996; J.C. Toro, writ. commun.,
2007). b. El Abra and Conchi Viejo deposits in the El Abra intrusive complex, northern Chile (after Dilles et al., 1997).
c. Highland Valley deposit cluster in the Guichon Creek batholith, British Columbia (after Casselman et al., 1995). Note the
variable positions of the deposits with respect to the exposed plutons, but their confinement to late felsic phases. Scales are
different.
middle Eocene to early Oligocene belt of northern Chile, be- Wall-rock influences
cause of the tendency for subsurface magma accumulation in
the absence of widely developed extensional faulting Porphyry Cu systems are hosted by a variety of igneous,
(Mpodozis and Ramos, 1990). The same situation is also ap- sedimentary, and metamorphic rocks (e.g., Titley, 1993), giv-
parent in several giant high-sulfidation epithermal Au de- ing the initial impression of wall rocks playing a noninfluen-
posits generated in thickened crust during tectonic uplift, tial role. It is becoming increasingly clear, however, that cer-
such as Pascua-Lama and Veladero, northern Chile-Ar- tain lithologic units may enhance grade development in both
gentina, where the near absence of contemporaneous volcan- porphyry Cu and related deposit types.
ism is more certain (Bissig et al., 2001; Charchaflié et al., Massive carbonate sequences, particularly where marble is
2007) given the much shallower erosion level, including par- developed near intrusive contacts, and other poorly fractured,
tial paleosurface preservation (see below). fine-grained rocks have the capacity to act as relatively
0361-0128/98/000/000-00 $6.00 9

High-sulfidation epithermal
disseminated Au ± Ag ± Cu
Intermediate-
sulfidation
epithermal Au-Ag
High-sulfidation
lode Cu-Au ± Ag
Base of
lithocap Carbonate-replacement
Zn-Pb-Ag ± Au (or Cu)
Distal Au/Zn-Pb
skarn
Sediment-
Subepithermal hosted distal-
vein Zn-Cu-Pb- disseminated
Ag ± Au Au-As ± Sb ± Hg
Marble
front
Porphyry
Cu ± Au ± Mo Proximal
Cu-Au skarn
1km
1km
Late-mineral porphyry LITHOCAP Phreatic breccia

PORPHYRY Intermineral magmatic-hydrothermal breccia Dacite porphyry plug-dome
STOCK
Intermineral porphyry Lacustrine sediment
MAAR-
Early porphyry DIATREME Late phreatomagmatic breccia
COMPLEX
PRECURSOR Equigranular intrusive rock Early phreatomagmatic breccia
PLUTON
Late-mineral porphyry
Dacite dome
V V V
V V
Felsic tuff unit
HOST V V
Andesitic volcanic unit
ROCKS V V V
Subvolcanic basement / carbonate horizon
FIG. 6. Anatomy of a telescoped porphyry Cu system showing spatial interrelationships of a centrally located porphyry Cu
± Au ± Mo deposit in a multiphase porphyry stock and its immediate host rocks; peripheral proximal and distal skarn, car-
bonate-replacement (chimney-manto), and sediment-hosted (distal-disseminated) deposits in a carbonate unit and subep-
ithermal veins in noncarbonate rocks; and overlying high- and intermediate-sulfidation epithermal deposits in and alongside
the lithocap environment. The legend explains the temporal sequence of rock types, with the porphyry stock predating maar-
diatreme emplacement, which in turn overlaps lithocap development and phreatic brecciation. Only uncommonly do indi-
vidual systems contain several of the deposit types illustrated, as discussed in the text (see Table 3). Notwithstanding the as-
sertion that cartoons of this sort (including Fig. 10) add little to the understanding of porphyry Cu genesis (Seedorff and
Einaudi, 2004), they embody the relationships observed in the field and, hence, aid the explorationist. Modified from Silli-
toe (1995b, 1999b, 2000).
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impermeable seals around and/or above porphyry Cu de- are hosted by the porphyry intrusions (Camus, 1975, 2003;
posits, resulting in high-grade ore formation (e.g., Grasberg; Ambrus, 1977). The distal parts of porphyry Cu systems, be-
Sillitoe, 1997). Elsewhere, small-volume porphyry intrusions yond the porphyry Cu deposits, either lack porphyry intru-
and the associated magmatic fluids fail to effectively pene- sions or contain only relatively minor dikes (e.g., Virgin dike
trate low-permeability rock packages, leading to the appar- in the skarn-dominated Copper Canyon district, Nevada, and
ently uncommon development of blind, high-grade deposits, Yerington district skarn Cu occurrences; Wotruba et al., 1988;
as at Hugo Dummett in the Oyu Tolgoi district (Kirwin et al., Dilles and Proffett, 1995).
2003, 2005) and Ridgeway in the Cadia district (Wilson et al., The porphyry Cu-related intrusions comprise multiple
2003). High-sulfidation epithermal deposits may be similarly phases (Kirkham, 1971; Gustafson, 1978), which were em-
blind, beneath a thick limestone sequence in the case of placed immediately before (early porphyries), during (inter-
Pueblo Viejo (Sillitoe et al., 2006). mineral porphyries), near the end of (late mineral por-
Ferrous Fe-rich lithologic units also appear to favor high- phyries), and after (postmineral porphyries) the alteration
grade porphyry Cu mineralization (e.g., Ray and Mineral and mineralization events (Fig. 6). For example, seven phases
Park, Arizona; Phillips et al., 1974; Wilkinson et al., 1982), are mapped at Bajo de la Alumbrera (Proffett, 2003), five at
presumably because of their capacity to effectively precipitate Yerington (Proffett, 2009), and four at Bingham (Redmond et
Cu transported in oxidized magmatic fluids (see below). It is al., 2001). The immediately premineral, early porphyries and
unlikely coincidental that at least half the ore at three of the their contiguous host rocks contain the highest grade miner-
highest grade hypogene porphyry Cu deposits is hosted by alization in most deposits although, exceptionally, the earliest
such rocks: a gabbro-diabase-basalt complex at El Teniente phase can be poorly mineralized (e.g., Grasberg; MacDonald
(Skewes et al., 2002), a Proterozoic diabase sill complex at and Arnold, 1994). Intermineral porphyries are typically less
Resolution, Arizona (Ballantyne et al., 2003), and a tholeiitic well mineralized as they become progressively younger, and
basalt sequence in the Oyu Tolgoi district (Kirwin et al., late- and postmineral phases are barren. The earlier porphyry
2005). bodies are not destroyed when intruded by later phases but
Mineralization elsewhere in porphyry Cu systems may be merely split apart, causing overall inflation of the rock pack-
even more profoundly influenced by rock type. Proximal and age as would occur during ordinary dike emplacement. Sev-
distal skarn, carbonate-replacement, and sediment-hosted eral criteria, in addition to metal contents and ratios
mineralization types are obviously dependent on the presence (Cu/Au/Mo) and intensity of veining, alteration, and mineral-
of reactive carbonate rocks, particularly thinly bedded, silty ization, are used to distinguish the relative ages of porphyry
units. Large-tonnage, high-sulfidation epithermal deposits intrusions: younger phases truncate veinlets in, are chilled
are favored by permeable rock packages, commonly pyroclas- against, and contain xenoliths of older phases (Fig. 7; Sillitoe,
tic or epiclastic in origin (e.g., Yanacocha; Longo and Teal, 2000). Commonly, the xenoliths are largely assimilated by the
2005), although disparate lithologic units can also prove re- younger phases, leaving only the contained quartz veinlets,
ceptive where extensively fractured (e.g., granitoid at Pascua- chemically more refractory than the host porphyry, as “float-
Lama; Chouinard et al., 2005). ing” pieces (Fig. 7). Wall-rock xenoliths in the marginal parts
of some porphyry intrusions may be sufficiently abundant to
Deposit-Scale Characteristics constitute intrusion breccias. The upper contacts of a few
porphyry Cu intrusions are characterized by unidirectional
Porphyry stocks and dikes solidification textures (USTs): alternating, crenulate layers of
Porphyry Cu deposits are centered on porphyry intrusions quartz and aplite and/or aplite porphyry produced as a result
that range from vertical, pluglike stocks (Fig. 6), circular to of pressure fluctuations at the transition from magmatic to
elongate in plan, through dike arrays to small, irregular bod- hydrothermal conditions (e.g., Kirkham and Sinclair, 1988;
ies. The stocks and dikes commonly have diameters and Garwin, 2002; Lickfold et al., 2003; Cannell et al., 2005; Kir-
lengths, respectively, of ≤1 km. However, much larger por- win, 2005). However, USTs are not consistently developed
phyry intrusions act as hosts in places, such as the elongate, and, hence, do not provide a reliable means of subdividing
14-km-long stock at Chuquicamata-Radomiro Tomic (e.g., porphyry Cu intrusion phases.
Ossandón et al., 2001; Fig. 3b) and the 4-km-long, <50-m- The porphyry intrusions in porphyry Cu deposits are exclu-
wide dike at Hugo Dummett (Khashgerel et al., 2008; Fig. sively of I-type and magnetite-series affiliation (Ishihara, 1981),
3d). Mining and deep drilling in a few large porphyry Cu de- and typically metaluminous and medium K calc-alkaline, but
posits show that mineralized intrusions have vertical extents may also fall into the high K calc-alkaline (shoshonitic) or al-
of >2 km (e.g., Chuquicamata and Escondida, northern kaline fields (see Seedorff et al., 2005, for further details).
Chile, and Grasberg) and, based on evidence from the steeply They span a range of compositions from calc-alkaline diorite
tilted systems, perhaps ≥4 km (Dilles, 1987; Seedorff et al., and quartz diorite through granodiorite to quartz monzonite
2008; Fig. 6). The size of the stocks does not appear to bear (monzogranite), and alkaline diorite through monzonite to,
any obvious relationship to the size of the associated porphyry uncommonly, syenite (e.g., Galore Creek, British Columbia;
Cu deposits and their Cu contents (cf. Seedorff et al., 2005). Enns et al., 1995). Mo-rich porphyry Cu deposits are nor-
For example, the 12.5-Gt resource at Chuquicamata- mally tied to the more felsic intrusions, whereas Au-rich por-
Radomiro Tomic is confined to the 14-km-long stock referred phyry Cu deposits tend to be related to the more mafic end
to above (Ossandón et al., 2001; Camus, 2003), whereas per- members, although intrusions as felsic as quartz monzonite
haps only roughly 20 percent of the similarly sized El Te- may also host Au-rich examples (e.g., Mamut, East Malaysia;
niente deposit and <10 percent of the 1.5-Gt El Abra deposit Kósaka and Wakita, 1978). However, Cu-poor porphyry Au
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the component phases (e.g., Ballard et al., 2001; Maksaev et

A-veinlet al., 2004; Padilla-Garza et al., 2004; Jones et al., 2007; Perelló
et al., 2007; Harris et al., 2008). Furthermore, there seems to
Veinlet Chilled be no obvious relationship between the size of porphyry Cu
truncation contact deposits and the duration of the intrusive activity, the latter
seemingly being the main parameter defining the total hy-
let
B-vein drothermal life spans of porphyry Cu systems. Detailed
geochronology of the high-sulfidation parts of some porphyry
D- Cu systems also suggests extended life spans, 1 to >1.5 m.y. at
ve
inle Cerro de Pasco and Colquijirca, central Peru (Bendezú et al.,
t
2008; Baumgartner et al., 2009). However, these life spans
Refractory
quartz veinlet are orders of magnitude longer than the theoretically mod-
xenoliths eled times required for consolidation of individual porphyry
intrusions (<40,000 yr; Cathles, 1977; Cathles et al., 1997),
porphyry Cu ore formation (<100,000 yr; McInnes et al.,
Flow-aligned 2005), or major potassic alteration events (<2,000 yr; Shino-
plagioclase hara and Hedenquist, 1997; Cathles and Shannon, 2007).
5cm phenocrysts
Diatremes
Late-mineral porphyry - Propylitic alteration Diatremes, upward-flared volcanic vents generated mainly
Late intermineral porphyry by phreatomagmatic eruptive activity, are widespread in por-
Early intermineral porphyry Potassic ± phyry Cu systems (Sillitoe, 1985), including their shallow, epi-
chlorite-sericite thermal parts (e.g., Yanacocha; Turner, 1999; Fig. 6). The di-
Early porphyry alteration
V V Wall rock atremes, commonly ≥1 km in near-surface diameter and up
to at least 2 km in vertical extent (e.g., >1.8 km preserved at
FIG. 7. Schematic crosscutting relationships between early (immediately the Braden diatreme, El Teniente; Howell and Molloy, 1960;
premineral), intermineral, and late-mineral porphyry phases in porphyry Cu Camus, 2003), can be manifested at the paleosurface by maar
stocks and their wall rocks. Veinlet truncation, quartz veinlet xenoliths, volcanoes: ephemerally lake-filled craters encircled by tuff
chilled contacts, and flow-aligned phenocrysts as well as textural, grade, and rings (Fig. 6). Diatreme breccias have a distinctive texture, in
metal-ratio variations may denote the porphyry contacts, albeit generally not
all present at the same contact. Early A, B, and late D veinlets are explained
which widely separated, typically centimeter-sized clasts are
in the text and Figure 13. Note that early A veinlets are more abundant in the dominated by rock-flour matrix containing an andesitic to
early porphyry, less abundant in the early intermineral porphyry, and absent dacitic tuffaceous component (Table 1), the latter commonly
from the two later porphyry phases. The late-mineral porphyry lacks veinlets difficult to recognize where alteration is intense. The poorly
and displays only propylitic alteration. Modified from Sillitoe (2000). lithified, friable nature and clay-rich matrix of many diatreme
breccias give rise to recessive topography and little, if any,
deposits appear to occur exclusively in association with calc- surface exposure. A positive topographic expression results
alkaline diorite and quartz diorite porphyries (e.g., Vila and only where barren, late- to postmineral porphyry plugs in-
Sillitoe, 1991). The porphyry intrusions contain variable trude the diatreme breccias (e.g., Dizon and Guinaoang,
amounts of phenocrysts, typically including hornblende Philippines and Batu Hijau; Sillitoe and Gappe, 1984; Sillitoe
and/or biotite, and fine-grained, commonly aplitic ground- and Angeles, 1985; Garwin, 2002; Fig. 6).
mass, resulting in open to crowded textures. The distinctive Many diatremes are late-stage additions to porphyry Cu
aplitic groundmass texture is ascribed to pressure quenching systems, in which they commonly postdate and either cut or
during rapid ascent and consequent volatile loss (Burnham, occur alongside porphyry Cu mineralization at depth (Howell
1967). The porphyry phases in some individual deposits may and Molloy, 1960; Sillitoe and Gappe, 1984; Perelló et al.,
have clear compositional differences (e.g., Bajo de la Alum- 1998; Garwin, 2002) but overlap with high-sulfidation events
brera; Proffett, 2003) and/or characteristic igneous textures at shallower epithermal levels (e.g., Dizon; Fig. 6). The dia-
(e.g., El Salvador; Gustafson and Hunt, 1975); however, par- tremes, particularly their contact zones, may localize part of
ticularly in many porphyry Au and Cu-Au deposits, the dif- the high-sulfidation Au mineralization (e.g., Wafi-Golpu,
ferent phases are commonly only subtly different or nearly Papua New Guinea; Fig. 6). In a minority of cases, however,
identical. Furthermore, textural obliteration is commonplace diatremes (e.g., Grasberg, Galore Creek, and Boyongan-
in the highly altered, early porphyry phases, thereby render- Bayugo, Philippines; MacDonald and Arnold, 1994; Enns et
ing them difficult to distinguish from volcanic wall rocks in al., 1995; Braxton et al., 2008) or tuff-filled depressions pre-
some deposits (e.g., Galore Creek and Hugo Dummett). sumably fed by one or more subjacent diatremes (e.g., Reso-
Isotopic dating, using the U-Pb zircon method, suggests that lution) are early features that act as receptive wall rocks to the
the multiphase porphyry intrusions in porphyry Cu systems main alteration and mineralization.
can be assembled in as little as 80,000 years (Batu Hijau, In-
donesia; Garwin, 2002), but the process commonly takes much Magmatic-hydrothermal and phreatic breccias
longer. Emplacement of the porphyry stocks in many central The most common hydrothermal breccias in the deeper
Andean deposits took from 2 to 5 m.y., implying that appre- parts of porphyry Cu systems are of magmatic-hydrothermal
ciable time (0.5−1.5 m.y.) elapsed between emplacement of type, the products of release of overpressured magmatic
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TABLE 1. Features of Principal Hydrothermal Breccia Types in Porphyry Cu Systems
0361-0128/98/000/000-00 $6.00
Position
in system Relative Clast/matrix Alteration Main Cu-bearing Economic
Type (abundance) Form timing Clast features Matrix/cement proportions types (Table 2) mineral(s) potential
Magmatic Within porphyry Irregular, pipe- Typically Commonly Quartz-magnetite- Clast or matrix Potassic ± Chalcopyrite, May constitute
hydrothermal Cu deposits, like bodies intermineral monomict, biotite-sulfides/ supported chlorite-sericite uncommonly ore, commonly
locally around (10s−100s m angular to quartz-muscovite- ± sericitic; bornite high grade
them (ubiquitous) in diam) subrounded tourmaline- uncommonly
sulfides ± rock advanced argillic
flour ± igneous
rock (i.e., igneous
breccia)
Phreatic Within and Dikes, Late Polymict, Muddy rock flour Matrix Sericitic, Generally none Barren unless rich
(porphyry around porphyry uncommonly rounded to supported advanced in pre-existing

Cu level) Cu deposits sills and subrounded argillic, or none mineralization
(relatively irregular (e.g., Bisbee;
13
common) bodies Bryant, 1987)
Phreatic Within lithocaps; Irregular Typically Commonly Chalcedony, Clast or matrix Advanced Enargite, May constitute
(epithermal level) local surface bodies intermineral silicified, quartz, alunite, supported argillic luzonite high-sulfidation
manifestations as (10s−100s m relative to angular to barite, sulfides, Cu/Au/Ag ore
PORPHYRY COPPER SYSTEMS
eruption breccia in diam) lithocap subrounded native S

(relatively development
common)
Phreatomagmatic Diatremes span Kilometer- Commonly Polymict, Rock flour with Matrix None or ad- Locally enargite Commonly
porphyry Cu and scale, late, but early centimeter-sized, juvenile tuff or dominated; vanced argillic, barren, but may
epithermal envi- downward- examples rounded, and magma blob accretionary but early host porphyry
ronments; surface narrowing known polished; component; early lapilli in matrix- examples with Cu or high-
manifestations as conduits juvenile examples cut by dominated any alteration sulfidation ore
maar volcanoes (magma blob, porphyry Cu layers type depending types
(present in ~20% pumice) clasts mineralization on exposure
of systems) locally level
13
fluids (Sillitoe, 1985). Many porphyry Cu deposits contain

Quartz-pyrophyllite
minor volumes (5−10%) of magmatic-hydrothermal breccia
alteration: quartz-pyrite-
(Fig. 6); however, even major deposits can be either breccia enargite cement
free, as at Chuquicamata (Ossandón et al., 2001), or breccia
dominated, as exemplified by >5 Gt of ore-grade breccia at Wall Sericitic alteration:
Los Bronces-Río Blanco (Warnaars et al., 1985; Serrano et al., rocks quartz-tourmaline-
pyrite cement
1996; Fig. 5a). Magmatic-hydrothermal breccias display a
variety of textures (Table 1), which are mainly dependent on Sericitic alteration:
clast form and composition, clast/matrix ratio, matrix/cement quartz-tourmaline-
constitution, and alteration type. They are distinguished from chalcopyrite cement
the phreatomagmatic diatreme breccias by several features
(Table 1), particularly the absence of tuffaceous material. The Remanent
breccia clasts may be set in rock-flour matrix, hydrothermal magnetite
cement, fine-grained igneous material, or some combination
of the three. Igneous matrices tend to be more common at Early
depth near the magmatic source, where the term igneous porphyry
Potassic
breccia is appropriately applied (e.g., Hunt et al., 1983; Fig. 8). alteration:
Magmatic-hydrothermal breccias, generally occupying biotite-magnetite-
chalcopyrite cement
steep, pipelike to irregular bodies, are commonly intermin-
eral in timing as a result of being generated in close associa-
tion with intermineral porphyry phases (Figs. 6, 8). Hence,
Igneous breccia
many of the breccias overprint preexisting alteration-mineral-
ization patterns and veinlet types (e.g., Red Mountain, Ari-
zona; Quinlan, 1981), which are incorporated as clasts. Early
breccias may display potassic alteration and have biotite, mag- Intermineral
netite, and chalcopyrite cements, whereas later ones are com- porphyry
monly sericitized and contain prominent quartz, tourmaline,
specularite, chalcopyrite, and/or pyrite as cementing miner- 200m
als. Sericitized breccia may change downward to potassic-al-
Pegmatoidal
tered breccia (e.g., Los Bronces-Río Blanco; Vargas et al., patches 200m
1999; Frikken et al., 2005; Fig. 8). The metal contents of
some magmatic-hydrothermal breccias may be higher than FIG. 8. Schematic depiction of a large magmatic-hydrothermal breccia
those of surrounding porphyry Cu stockwork mineralization, body genetically linked to the apex of an intermineral porphyry intrusion.
reflecting their high intrinsic permeability. In contrast to dia- The alteration-mineralization is zoned from advanced argillic (with pyrite-
tremes, magmatic-hydrothermal breccias are normally blind enargite) at the top through sericitic (with shallow pyrite and deep chalcopy-
rite) to potassic (with magnetite-chalcopyrite ± bornite) at the bottom, where
and do not penetrate the overlying epithermal environment, the breccia texture may be almost imperceptible and pegmatoidal pods are
whereas downward they gradually fade away as a result of in- commonplace. Injection of fine-grained, igneous matrix defines the igneous
creased clast/matrix ± cement ratios, in places accompanied breccia near the base of the body. The entire breccia body originally under-
by pods of coarse-grained, pegmatoidal, potassic minerals went potassic alteration prior to partial overprinting by sericitic and, subse-
quently, advanced argillic assemblages, as documented by localized occur-
representing former sites of vapor accumulation (e.g., Los rence of remanent magnetite and muscovite after coarse-grained biotite in
Pelambres, central Chile; Perelló et al., 2007; Fig. 8; see the cement to the sericitized breccia.
below).
Several types of phreatic (meteoric-hydrothermal) breccia
are widely observed in porphyry Cu systems; they may be because of texture obliteration caused by intense advanced
simply subdivided into pebble dikes and, uncommonly, larger argillic alteration (e.g., Pascua-Lama).
bodies resulting from flashing of relatively cool ground water Phreatic breccias, as exemplified by pebble dikes, normally
on approach to magma, typically late-mineral porphyry dikes; contain polymictic clast populations set in muddy, rock-flour
and steep, tabular to irregular bodies triggered by vapor-pres- matrices (Table 1). Vertical clast transport may be apprecia-
sure buildup beneath impermeable layers, commonly result- ble (e.g., >1 km at Tintic; Morris and Lovering, 1979). The
ing from self sealing by silicification (Sillitoe, 1985; Table 1). breccias are typically late-stage features and, hence, unal-
Hence, pebble dikes display downward transitions to por- tered and barren. In contrast, clast transport in the phreatic
phyry intrusions (e.g., Tintic, Utah and Toquepala, southern breccias produced by fluid confinement in the high-sulfida-
Peru; Farmin, 1934; Zweng and Clark, 1995), whereas the tion environment is more restricted, with many of the clasts
breccias triggered by fluid confinement do not normally form being locally derived from the seals themselves and, hence,
in close proximity to intrusive bodies. The pebble dikes and commonly composed of silicified rock (Table 1). Although
related breccias are chiefly restricted to porphyry Cu de- rock flour may occur between the clasts, quartz, chalcedony,
posits, including their marginal parts, whereas brecciation in- alunite, barite, pyrite, and enargite are also widely observed
duced by the fluid confinement typifies the overlying high- as cementing minerals. These phreatic breccias host ore in
sulfidation epithermal environment (Fig. 6). There, distinction many high-sulfidation Au ± Ag ± Cu deposits (e.g., Choque-
from phreatomagmatic diatreme breccias may be difficult limpie, northern Chile; Gröpper et al., 1991). In contrast to
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the magmatic-hydrothermal breccias and pebble dikes at the rock-hosted ore types are replacements of receptive beds,
porphyry Cu level, these phreatic breccias in the high-sulfi- commonly beneath relatively impermeable rock units (e.g.,
dation environment may attain the paleosurface, where hy- Titley, 1996) and, hence, tend to be strata bound, although
drothermal eruptions result in subaerial breccia accumulation high- and low-angle fault control is also widely emphasized
as aprons around the eruptive vents (e.g., Hedenquist and (e.g., proximal skarns at Ok Tedi, Papua New Guinea, and
Henley, 1985; Fig. 6). Antamina, central Peru; Rush and Seegers, 1990; Love et al.,
2004).
Orebody types and geometries Distal ore formation in porphyry Cu systems is less com-
The deeper, central cores of porphyry Cu systems are oc- mon in igneous or siliciclastic wall rocks, within propylitic
cupied by porphyry Cu deposits, in which ore-zone geome- halos, where fault- and fracture-controlled, subepithermal
tries depend mainly on the overall form of the host stock or Zn-Pb-Cu-Ag ± Au veins of currently limited economic im-
dike complex, the depositional sites of the Cu-bearing sul- portance tend to be developed (e.g., Mineral Park; Eidel et
fides, and the positions of any late, low- and subore-grade al., 1968 and Los Bronces-Río Blanco; Figs. 5a, 6). Neverthe-
porphyry intrusions and diatremes. The forms of many por- less, larger tonnage orebodies may occur where permeable
phyry Cu deposits mimic those of their host intrusions; thus, wall rocks exist, as exemplified by the stacked, Au-bearing
cylindrical stocks typically host cylindrical orebodies (Fig. 6), mantos in amygdaloidal and brecciated andesitic flow tops at
whereas laterally extensive dikes give rise to orebodies with Andacollo, Chile (Reyes, 1991).
similar narrow, elongate shapes (e.g., Hugo Dummett; In the lithocap environment—typically located above, are-
Khashgerel et al., 2008). Many porphyry Cu deposits are ally more extensive than, and commonly overprinting por-
formed as vertically extensive bodies, which become progres- phyry Cu deposits (Fig. 6; see below)—high-sulfidation epi-
sively lower grade both outward and downward, whereas oth- thermal Au, Ag, and/or Cu deposits are characteristic;
ers have a bell- or cap-like form because little Cu was precip- nevertheless, the preserved parts of many lithocaps are es-
itated internally at depth (e.g., Resolution; Ballantyne et al., sentially barren. The deeper level high-sulfidation deposits,
2003). The tops of the orebodies tend to be relatively abrupt the Cordilleran base metal lodes of Einaudi (1982), tend to be
and controlled by the apices of quartz veinlet stockworks (see characterized by massive sulfides, commonly rich in the Cu-
below). The shape of any porphyry Cu orebody may undergo bearing sulfosalts (enargite, luzonite, and/or famatinite). They
significant modification as a result of emplacement of late- to commonly occur as tabular veins overprinting porphyry Cu
postmineral rock volumes (e.g., Fig. 5a), as exemplified by the deposits, like those at Butte (Meyer et al., 1968), Escondida
low-grade cores caused by internal emplacement of late- (Ojeda, 1986), Chuquicamata (Ossandón et al., 2001), and
mineral porphyry phases (e.g., Santo Tomas II, Philippines; Collahuasi, northern Chile (Masterman et al., 2005; Fig. 6).
Sillitoe and Gappe, 1984) and, much less commonly, late- Alternatively, for up to several kilometers beyond porphyry
stage diatremes (e.g., El Teniente; Howell and Molloy, 1960; Cu deposits, they comprise structurally controlled replace-
Camus, 2003). A few deposits, instead of dying out either ments and hydrothermal breccias, either in volcanic rocks as
gradually (e.g., El Salvador; Gustafson and Quiroga, 1995) or at Lepanto in the Mankayan district (Garcia, 1991; Heden-
fairly abruptly (e.g., H14-H15 at Reko Diq, Pakistan) at quist et al., 1998), Nena in the Frieda River district, Papua
depth, have knife-sharp bases as a result of truncation by late- New Guinea (Espi, 1999), and Chelopech, Bulgaria (Cham-
mineral intrusions (e.g., Santo Tomas II; Sillitoe and Gappe, befort and Moritz, 2006) or, where lithocaps impinge on car-
1984). Coalescence of closely spaced porphyry Cu deposits bonate rocks, as deposits like Smelter in the Marcapunta sec-
enhances size potential (e.g., H14-H15 at Reko Diq; Perelló tor at Colquijirca (Vidal and Ligarda, 2004; Bendezú and
et al., 2008) Fontboté, 2009). In contrast, much larger tonnage, dissemi-
Development of wall rock-hosted orebodies alongside por- nated Au ± Ag orebodies are more typical of the shallower
phyry Cu deposits is most common where receptive carbon- (<500 m) parts of lithocaps (Sillitoe, 1999b), as exemplified
ate rocks are present (Fig. 6). Deposit types include proximal by Yanacocha (Harvey et al., 1999) and Pascua-Lama
Cu ± Au and, less commonly, distal Au and/or Zn-Pb skarns (Chouinard et al., 2005), although much deeper development
(e.g., Meinert, 2000; Meinert et al., 2005); more distal, car- of disseminated Cu-Au deposits is also relatively common
bonate-replacement (chimney-manto), massive sulfide bodies (e.g., Tampakan; Rohrlach et al., 1999).
dominated by either Cu (e.g., Superior district, Arizona and Intermediate-sulfidation epithermal precious metal de-
Sepon district, Laos [Fig. 9c]; Paul and Knight, 1995; Loader, posits, containing Zn-Pb-Ag ± Cu ± Au as well as Mn-bear-
1999) or, more commonly, Zn, Pb, Ag ± Au (e.g., Recsk, Hun- ing carbonates, rhodonite, and quartz, occur alongside litho-
gary; Kisvarsanyi, 1988) beyond the skarn front (Fig. 6); and, caps but typically spatially separate from the high-sulfidation
uncommonly, sediment-hosted (distal-disseminated; Cox and orebodies, as observed in the case of the Victoria and Teresa
Singer, 1990) Au concentrations on the fringes of the systems vein systems at Lepanto (Claveria, 2001; Hedenquist et al.,
(e.g., Barneys Canyon and Melco, Bingham district; Babcock 2001) and in the Collahuasi district (Masterman et al., 2005;
et al., 1995; Gunter and Austin, 1997; Cunningham et al., Fig. 6). Locally, however, the intermediate-sulfidation and
2004; Fig. 9a). Continuity between some of these carbonate both Cordilleran lode and shallow, disseminated high-sulfi-
rock-hosted deposits is possible; for example, transitions from dation mineralization types display transitional mineralogic
proximal Cu-Au to distal Au skarn in the Copper Canyon dis- relationships, as exemplified by the so-called Main Stage
trict (Cary et al., 2000) and distal Zn-Pb-Cu-Ag skarn to car- veins at Butte (Meyer et al., 1968) and the disseminated A
bonate-replacement Zn-Pb-Ag at Groundhog, Central dis- and Link Au zones at Wafi-Golpu (Leach, 1999; Ryan and
trict, New Mexico (Meinert, 1987). All these carbonate Vigar, 1999). The intermediate-sulfidation epithermal veins
0361-0128/98/000/000-00 $6.00 15

a b
Limit
of data
Au-Ag N
Barneys
Canyon 30000N
N
Pb-Zn
Melco
Au-As
Cu
Sa
Cu-Mo
Pb-Zn
cra
Tertiary
volcanic
me
Pyrite-Cu rocks
+ Covered
nto
alluvium area
Fa
Cu-Mo
ul t
orebody Cu
Pb-Zn
Pb-Zn
10000S
3km Au-Ag
5km
Outer limits of:
Cu-Mo Pb-Zn
Cu Au
Pyrite
c Discovery Khanong
Au deposit Cu deposit
Au-As-Sb Padan quartz
veinlet stockwork
Cu Mo-Cu
N Cu-Mo
Nam Kok Au deposit
Cu-Mo Nalou Au deposit
Au-As-Sb
Thengkham quartz
veinlet stockwork
mit of jaspe roid

Oute r li 5km
FIG. 9. Examples of well-developed metal zoning centered on porphyry Cu deposits. a. Bingham, Utah, where the por-
phyry Cu-Au-Mo deposit is followed successively outward by Cu-Au skarn, carbonate-replacement Zn-Pb-Ag-Au, and distal
sediment-hosted Au deposits, the latter formerly exploited at Barneys Canyon and Melco (after Babcock et al., 1995). b. Min-
eral Park, Arizona, where the northwest-striking vein system centered on the porphyry Cu-Mo deposit is zoned outward from
Cu through Pb-Zn to Au-Ag (after Lang and Eastoe, 1988). c. Sepon, Laos, where two subeconomic porphyry Mo-Cu cen-
ters marked by quartz veinlet stockworks are zoned outward through carbonate-replacement Cu to sediment-hosted Au de-
posits without any intervening Zn-Pb-Ag zone (summarized from R.H. Sillitoe, unpub. report, 1999). Note the large radii (up
to 8 km) of some systems. Scales are different.
0361-0128/98/000/000-00 $6.00 16

are the shallow-level (<1 km paleodepth) counterparts of the chlorite-sericite, sericitic, and advanced argillic (cf. Meyer
Zn-Pb-Cu-Ag ± Au veins located alongside porphyry Cu de- and Hemley, 1967; Table 2; Figs. 10, 11). Chloritic and propy-
posits, but no direct connection between the two types is ev- litic alteration develop distally at shallow and deeper levels,
ident (Fig. 6). The massive, high-sulfidation pyrite-enargite respectively (Fig. 10). Equating chlorite-sericite alteration—
replacements in carbonate rocks are also locally transitional the abbreviated name used by Hedenquist et al. (1998) for
outward through high- to intermediate-sulfidation Zn-Pb-Ag the sericite-clay-chlorite (SCC) of Sillitoe and Gappe (1984)
ore, a continuum observed in the Tintic and Colquijirca dis- —with Meyer and Hemley’s (1967) low-temperature inter-
tricts (Lindgren and Loughlin, 1919; Bendezú et al., 2003; mediate argillic type (e.g., Hedenquist et al., 1998; Sillitoe,
Bendezú and Fontboté, 2009). 2000; Seedorff et al., 2005; Bouzari and Clark, 2006) causes
confusion and should probably be discontinued. Phyllic
Alteration-mineralization zoning in porphyry Cu deposits (Lowell and Guilbert, 1970) and sericitic are synonyms.
Porphyry Cu deposits display a consistent, broad-scale alter- The alteration-mineralization zoning sequence typically af-
ation-mineralization zoning pattern that comprises, centrally fects several cubic kilometers of rock (e.g., Lowell and Guil-
from the bottom upward, several of sodic-calcic, potassic, bert, 1970; Beane and Titley, 1981), although sericitic and,
Vuggy residual
quartz /silicification
Steam
heated
Quartz-
kaolinite Quartz-
alunite
Intermediate
Quartz-
argillic
pyrophyllite
Chloritic
ic itic
S er
Decalcification
More
reduced
Weakly skarn
ite
altered
ic
ser
Oxidized Massive
skarn
ite-
sulfide
lor
Ch
Unaltered
Potassic
Propylitic
1km
1km Sodic-
calcic
FIG. 10. Generalized alteration-mineralization zoning pattern for telescoped porphyry Cu deposits, based on the geologic
and deposit-type template presented as Figure 6. Note that shallow alteration-mineralization types consistently overprint
deeper ones. Volumes of the different alteration types vary markedly from deposit to deposit. Sericitic alteration may project
vertically downward as an annulus separating the potassic and propylitic zones as well as cutting the potassic zone centrally
as shown. Sericitic alteration tends to be more abundant in porphyry Cu-Mo deposits, whereas chlorite-sericite alteration de-
velops preferentially in porphyry Cu-Au deposits. Alteration-mineralization in the lithocap is commonly far more complex
than shown, particularly where structural control is paramount. See text for further details and Table 2 for alteration-miner-
alization details. Modified from Sillitoe (1999b, 2000).
0361-0128/98/000/000-00 $6.00 17

18

TABLE 2. Characteristics of Principal Alteration-Mineralization Types in Porphyry Cu Systems1
Alteration type2 Position in system Possible ancillary Principal sulfide Contemporaneous Economic
(alternative name) (abundance) Key minerals minerals assemblages (minor) veinlets3 (designation) Veinlet selvages potential
0361-0128/98/000/000-00 $6.00
Sodic-calcic Deep, including Albite/oligoclase, Diopside, Typically absent Magnetite ± Albite/oligoclase Normally barren,
below porphyry Cu actinolite, epidote, garnet actinolite (M-type) but locally
deposits (uncommon) magnetite ore bearing
Potassic (K-silicate) Core zones of Biotite, Actinolite, epidote, Pyrite-chalcopyrite, Biotite (EB-type), K-feldspar, EDM-type with Main ore
porphyry Cu deposits K-feldspar sericite, andalusite, chalcopyrite ± quartz-biotite-sericite- sericite ± biotite ± contributor
(ubiquitous) albite, carbonate, bornite, bornite ± K-feldspar-andalusite- K-feldspar ± andalusite
tourmaline, magnetite digenite ± chalcocite sulfides (EDM/T4-type), + disseminated
quartz-sulfides ± magnetite chalcopyrite ± bornite;
(A-type), quartz-molybdenite others none, except
± pyrite ± chalcopyrite locally K-feldspar
(central suture; B-type) around A- and B-types
Propylitic Marginal parts of Chlorite, Actinolite, hematite, Pyrite (± sphalerite, Pyrite, epidote Barren, except
systems, below epidote, albite, magnetite galena) for subepither-
lithocaps (ubiquitous) carbonate mal veins

18
Chlorite-sericite Upper parts of Chlorite, Carbonate, epidote, Pyrite-chalcopyrite Chlorite ± sericite ± sulfides Chlorite, sericite/illite Common ore
(sericite-clay-chlorite porphyry Cu core sericite/illite, smectite contributor
[SCC]) zones (common, hematite
particularly in Au- (martite,
RICHARD H. SILLITOE
rich deposits) specularite)
Sericitic (phyllic) Upper parts of Quartz, sericite Pyrophyllite, Pyrite ± chalcopyrite Quartz-pyrite ± other Quartz-sericite Commonly
porphyry Cu deposits carbonate, (pyrite-enargite ± sulfides (D-type) barren, but may
(ubiquitous, except tourmaline, tennantite, pyrite- constitute ore
with alkaline specularite bornite ± chalcocite,
intrusions) pyrite-sphalerite)
Advanced argillic Above porphyry Quartz (partly Diaspore, andalusite, Pyrite-enargite, Pyrite-enargite ± Cu sulfides Quartz-alunite, quartz- Locally
(secondary quartzite Cu deposits, residual, vuggy), zunyite, corundum, pyrite-chalcocite, (includes veins) pyrophyllite/dickite, constitutes ore
in Russian constitutes lithocaps alunite,4 dumortierite, topaz, pyrite-covellite quartz-kaolinite in lithocaps and
terminology) (common) pyrophyllite, specularite their roots
dickite, kaolinite
1 Excluding those developed in carbonate-rich rocks

2 Arranged from probable oldest (top) to youngest (bottom), except for propylitic that is lateral equivalent of potassic; advanced argillic also forms above potassic early in systems (Fig. 10)
3 Many veinlets in potassic, chlorite-sericite, and sericitic alteration contain anhydrite, which also occurs as late, largely monomineralic veinlets
4 Alunite commonly intergrown with aluminum-phosphate-sulfate (APS) minerals (see Stoffregen and Alpers, 1987)
Steam Vuggy residual SHALLOW Advanced argillic

heated quartz/silicification
(py) (py-en, py-cv)
Quartz- Quartz-
alunite kaolinite
Sericitic
Chloritic (py, py-cp,
py-bn)
Sericitic Quartz-
1. 5 km
pyrophyllite Chlorite-
Chlorite- sericite
sericite e
(cp-py) at
st
Potassic n
Propylitic io
(cp-bn)
dat
lf i
prop u
(py) +s
Multiphase ity
Potassic
porphyry A cid
stock 1km
DEEP
1km
EARLY 0.2– 5 Ma LATE
FIG. 11. Generalized alteration-mineralization zoning pattern for a non- FIG. 12. Schematic representation of generalized alteration-mineraliza-
telescoped porphyry Cu system, emphasizing the appreciable, commonly tion sequence in porphyry Cu systems in relation to paleodepth and system
barren gap that exists between the lithocap and underlying porphyry stock. life span. The sequence, from potassic with peripheral propylitic (prop)
Legend as in Figure 10. through chlorite-sericite and sericitic to advanced argillic, is the result of in-
creasing acidity consequent upon the declining temperature of the hy-
drothermal fluids. A broadly parallel increase in sulfidation state of the fluids
results in changes in the sulfide assemblage from chalcopyrite (cp)-bornite
particularly, advanced argillic alteration are much less well (bn), through chalcopyrite-pyrite (py) and pyrite-bornite, to pyrite-enargite
(en) or pyrite-covellite (cv), as charted for several deposits by Einaudi et al.
developed in porphyry Cu deposits associated with alkaline (2003). Note the absence of Cu-bearing sulfides from the early, high-tem-
than with calc-alkaline intrusions (Lang et al., 1995; Sillitoe, perature advanced argillic zone. Modified from Sillitoe (2000).
2002; Holliday and Cooke, 2007), reflecting control of the
K+/H+ ratio by magma chemistry (e.g., Burnham, 1979). Spe-
cific opaque mineral assemblages are intrinsic parts of each Large parts of many porphyry Cu deposits (e.g., Lowell and
alteration type (Table 2; Fig. 12) because of the direct linkage Guilbert, 1970; Titley, 1982), especially deeply formed (e.g.,
between sulfidation state, the chief control on sulfide assem- Butte; Rusk et al., 2004, 2008a) or relatively deeply eroded
blages, and solution pH, a principal control of alteration type examples like El Abra (Ambrus, 1977; Dean et al., 1996) and
(Barton and Skinner, 1967; Meyer and Hemley, 1967; Ein- Gaby (Gabriela Mistral), northern Chile (Camus, 2001,
audi et al., 2003; Fig. 12). Sulfidation state, a function of S fu- 2003), are made up predominantly of potassic alteration,
gacity and temperature, changes from low through interme- which grades marginally into generally weakly developed
diate to high as temperature declines (Barton and Skinner, propylitic zones (Fig. 10). Biotite is the predominant alter-
1967; Einaudi et al., 2003). In general, the alteration-miner- ation mineral in relatively mafic porphyry intrusions and host
alization types become progressively younger upward (Fig. rocks, whereas K-feldspar increases in abundance in more
12), with the result that the shallower alteration-mineraliza- felsic, granodioritic to quartz monzonitic settings. Sodic pla-
tion zones invariably overprint and at least partly reconstitute gioclase may be an accompanying alteration mineral in both
deeper ones. settings. Locally, texture-destructive quartz-K ± Na-feldspar
Sodic-calcic alteration, commonly magnetite bearing (Table flooding overprints and destroys the more typical potassic as-
2), is normally rather poorly preserved at depth in some por- semblages (e.g., Chuquicamata; Ossandón et al., 2001). The
phyry Cu deposits, commonly in the immediate wall rocks to chalcopyrite ± bornite ore in many porphyry Cu deposits is
the porphyry intrusions (e.g., Panguna, Papua New Guinea largely confined to potassic zones (Table 2; Fig. 12), with one
and El Teniente; Ford, 1978; Cannell et al., 2005), a position or more bornite-rich centers characterizing the deeper, cen-
that may give rise to confusion with propylitic alteration (Fig. tral parts of many deposits. In some bornite-rich centers, the
10). Nevertheless, it also characterizes the centrally located sulfidation state is low enough to stabilize digenite ± chal-
zones of some porphyry Cu stocks (e.g., Koloula, Solomon Is- cocite (Einaudi et al., 2003; Table 2). Chalcopyrite-bornite
lands and Island Copper, British Columbia; Chivas, 1978; cores are transitional outward to chalcopyrite-pyrite annuli,
Perelló et al., 1995; Arancibia and Clark, 1996). Sodic-calcic which, with increasing sulfide contents, grade into pyrite
alteration is typically sulfide and metal poor (except for Fe as halos, typically parts of the surrounding propylitic zones
magnetite) but can host mineralization in Au-rich porphyry (Table 2). Pyrrhotite may accompany the pyrite where re-
Cu deposits (e.g., Nugget Hill, Philippines), in some of which duced host rocks are present (e.g., Kósaka and Wakita, 1978;
hybrid potassic-calcic (biotite-actinolite-magnetite) assem- Perelló et al., 2003b). The potassic alteration affects the early
blages are also commonplace (e.g., Santo Tomas II, Ridgeway, and intermineral porphyry generations (Fig. 7) and many in-
and Cotabambas, southern Peru; Sillitoe and Gappe, 1984; termineral magmatic-hydrothermal breccias as well as vari-
Wilson et al., 2003; Perelló et al., 2004a). able volumes of wall rocks. The potassic-altered wall rocks
0361-0128/98/000/000-00 $6.00 19

range from restricted veneers near the stock or dike contacts quartz veinlet stockworks (see below). These high-sulfidation
to kilometer-scale zones, such as those in the mafic host litho- assemblages commonly have higher Cu contents than the for-
logic units mentioned previously at El Teniente, Resolution, mer potassic alteration, resulting in hypogene enrichment
and Oyu Tolgoi. The potassic alteration generally becomes (Brimhall, 1979), although any Au may be depleted (e.g.,
less intense from the older to younger porphyry phases, al- Wafi-Golpu; Sillitoe, 1999b). The Cu-bearing sulfides typi-
though the late-mineral intrusions postdate it and display a cally occur as fine-grained coatings on disseminated pyrite
propylitic assemblage (Fig. 7), albeit of later timing than the grains, which leads to recognition difficulties in deposits that
propylitic halos developed peripheral to potassic zones. also underwent supergene Cu sulfide enrichment (e.g.,
Chlorite-sericite alteration (Table 2), giving rise to distinc- Chuquicamata, Ossandón et al., 2001); indeed, the hypogene
tive, pale-green rocks, is widespread in the shallower parts of contribution is commonly not distinguished from the super-
some porphyry Cu deposits, particularly Au-rich examples, gene enrichment products (e.g., Taca Taca Bajo, Argentina;
where it overprints preexisting potassic assemblages (Figs. 10, Rojas et al., 1999).
11). The alteration is typified by partial to complete transfor- The root zones of advanced argillic lithocaps, commonly at
mation of mafic minerals to chlorite, plagioclase to sericite least partly structurally controlled, may overprint the upper
(fine-grained muscovite) and/or illite, and magmatic and any parts of porphyry Cu deposits, where the sericitic alteration is
hydrothermal magnetite to hematite (martite and/or specu- commonly transitional upward to quartz-pyrophyllite (Fig.
larite), along with deposition of pyrite and chalcopyrite. Al- 10), an assemblage widespread in the deep, higher tempera-
though Cu and/or Au tenors of the former potassic zones may ture parts of many lithocaps (e.g., El Salvador; Gustafson and
undergo depletion during the chlorite-sericite overprints Hunt, 1975; Watanabe and Hedenquist, 2001). Elsewhere,
(e.g., Esperanza, northern Chile; Perelló et al., 2004b), metal however, lower temperature quartz-kaolinite is the dominant
introduction is also widely recognized (e.g., Leach, 1999; overprint assemblage (e.g., Caspiche, northern Chile). The
Padilla Garza et al., 2001; Harris et al., 2005; Masterman et advanced argillic alteration preferentially affects lithologic
al., 2005) and, at a few deposits, is considered to account for units with low (e.g., quartz sandstone, felsic igneous rocks)
much of the contained Cu (e.g., Cerro Colorado, northern rather than high (mafic igneous rocks) acid-buffering capaci-
Chile; Bouzari and Clark, 2006). ties. At several localities, the advanced argillic alteration at
Sericitic alteration (Table 2) in porphyry Cu deposits nor- the bottoms of lithocaps displays a characteristic patchy tex-
mally overprints and wholly or partially destroys the potassic ture, commonly defined by amoeboid pyrophyllite patches
and chlorite-sericite assemblages (Figs. 10−12), although embedded in silicified rock (e.g., Escondida and Yanacocha;
sericitic veinlet halos are zoned outward to chlorite-sericite Padilla Garza et al., 2001; Gustafson et al., 2004). However,
alteration in places (e.g., Dilles and Einaudi, 1992). The degree the patches may also comprise alunite or kaolinite, suggesting
of overprinting is perhaps best appreciated in some magmatic- that the texture may result by either preferential nucleation of
hydrothermal breccia bodies in which isolated magnetite ag- any common advanced argillic mineral or even advanced
gregates occur as stranded remnants in sericitic or chlorite- argillic overprinting of a nucleation texture developed during
sericite zones up to 1 km above the magnetite-cemented, earlier potassic or chlorite-sericite alteration of fragmental rocks
potassic parts (e.g., Chimborazo, northern Chile; Fig. 8). (e.g., Hugo Dummett; Khashgerel et al., 2008, and Caspiche).
Sericitic alteration may be subdivided into two different types: The vertical distribution of the alteration-mineralization
an uncommon, early variety that is greenish to greenish-gray types in porphyry Cu deposits depends on the degree of over-
in color and a later, far more common and widespread, white printing or telescoping, the causes of which are addressed
variety. In the few deposits where it is recognized, the early, further below. In highly telescoped systems, the advanced
greenish sericitic alteration is centrally located and hosts a argillic lithocaps impinge on the upper parts of porphyry
low sulfidation-state chalcopyrite-bornite assemblage, which stocks (Fig. 10) and their roots may penetrate downward for
is commonly ore grade (e.g., Chuquicamata; Ossandón et al., >1 km. In such situations, the advanced argillic alteration may
2001). The late, white sericitic alteration has varied distribu- be 1 to >2 m.y. younger than the potassic zone that it over-
tion patterns in porphyry Cu deposits. It may constitute annu- prints (e.g., Chuquicamata and Escondida; Ossandón et al.,
lar zones separating the potassic cores from propylitic halos, 2001; Padilla-Garza et al., 2004), reflecting the time needed
as emphasized in early porphyry Cu models (Jerome, 1966; for the telescoping to take place. Where telescoping is lim-
Lowell and Guilbert, 1970; Rose, 1970), but is perhaps more ited, however, the lithocaps and potassic-altered porphyry
common as structurally controlled or apparently irregular re- stocks may be separated by 0.5 to 1 km (Sillitoe, 1999b), a gap
placements within the upper parts of chlorite-sericite and/or typically occupied by pyritic chlorite-sericite alteration (Fig.
potassic zones (Fig. 10). The sericitic alteration is commonly 11).
pyrite dominated, implying effective removal of the Cu (± Au) Where carbonate (limestone and dolomite) instead of ig-
present in the former chlorite-sericite and/or potassic assem- neous or siliciclastic rocks host porphyry Cu deposits, calcic
blages. However, sericitic alteration may also constitute ore or magnesian exoskarn is generated in proximity to the por-
where appreciable Cu remains with the pyrite, either in the phyry intrusions, whereas marble is produced beyond the
form of chalcopyrite or as high sulfidation-state assemblages skarn front (Fig. 10). In the case of limestone protoliths, an-
(typically, pyrite-bornite, pyrite-chalcocite, pyrite-covellite, pyrite- hydrous, prograde andraditic garnet-diopsidic pyroxene skarn
tennantite, and pyrite-enargite; Table 2; cf. Einaudi et al., 2003). forms contemporaneously with the potassic alteration of non-
The main development of these bornite-, chalcocite-, and carbonate lithologic units, whereas hydrous, retrograde skarn,
covellite-bearing, high-sulfidation assemblages is largely con- commonly containing important amounts of magnetite, acti-
fined to white sericitic alteration that overprints now-barren nolite, epidote, chlorite, smectite, quartz, carbonate, and iron
0361-0128/98/000/000-00 $6.00 20

sulfides, is the equivalent of the chlorite-sericite and sericitic type), and K-feldspar, and typically lacking alteration sel-
assemblages (Einaudi et al., 1981; Meinert et al., 2003). Dis- vages; (2) sulfide-bearing, granular quartz-dominated veinlets
tal Au skarns are typically more reduced (pyroxene rich) than with either narrow or no readily recognizable alteration sel-
their proximal counterparts (Fortitude, Copper Canyon dis- vages (A and B types); and (3) late, crystalline quartz-sulfide
trict; Myers and Meinert, 1991; Fig. 10). A quartz-pyrite as- veins and veinlets with prominent, feldspar-destructive alter-
semblage replaces any carbonate rocks incorporated in ad- ation selvages (including D type). Group 1 and 2 veinlets are
vanced argillic lithocaps (e.g., Bisbee, Arizona; Einaudi, mainly emplaced during potassic alteration, whereas group 3
1982). Endoskarn tends to be volumetrically minor (Beane accompanies the chlorite-sericite, sericitic, and deep ad-
and Titley, 1981; Meinert et al., 2005). The massive sulfide vanced argillic overprints. Narrow, mineralogically complex
carbonate-replacement deposits are normally enveloped by quartz-sericite-K-feldspar-biotite veinlets with centimeter-
marble. Any sediment-hosted Au mineralization on the scale halos defined by the same minerals (± andalusite ±
fringes of carbonate rock-hosted porphyry Cu systems forms corundum) along with abundant, finely disseminated chal-
where rock permeability is enhanced by decalcification (Fig. copyrite ± bornite characterize the changeover from group 1
10), including sanding of dolomite, but also locally occluded to 2 veinlets in a few deposits, although they may have been
by Au-related jasperoid formation (e.g., Bingham and Sepon confused elsewhere with D-type veinlets because of their
districts; Babcock et al., 1995; Smith et al., 2005; Fig. 9a, d). eye-catching halos; they are termed early dark micaceous
(EDM) halo veinlets at Butte (Meyer, 1965; Brimhall, 1977;
Porphyry Cu veinlet relationships Rusk et al., 2008a) and Bingham (Redmond et al., 2004), and
The veinlet sequence in porphyry Cu deposits, first elabo- type 4 (T4) veinlets at Los Pelambres (Atkinson et al., 1996;
rated by Gustafson and Hunt (1975) at El Salvador and Perelló et al., 2007). Group 3 also includes uncommon, but
widely studied since (e.g., Hunt et al., 1983; Dilles and Ein- economically important massive chalcopyrite ± bornite ±
audi, 1992; Gustafson and Quiroga, 1995; Redmond et al., chalcocite veinlets at the high-grade Grasberg (Pollard and
2001; Pollard and Taylor, 2002; Cannell et al., 2005; Master- Taylor, 2002; I. Kavalieris, pers. commun., 1999), Hugo Dum-
man et al., 2005), is highly distinctive. In a general way, the mett (Khashgerel et al., 2008), and Resolution deposits as well
veinlets may be subdivided into three groups (Table 2; Fig. as elsewhere.
13): (1) early, quartz- and sulfide-free veinlets containing one Many porphyry Cu deposits display single veinlet sequences
or more of actinolite, magnetite (M type), (early) biotite (EB that comply with the generalizations summarized above and
a b A
A
M
D A
A
B
Chlorite
halo
Quartz-
sericite
halo M
A 2cm
A
A A
B
K-feldspar
halo
VEINLET CHRONOLOGY
Biotite M M Magnetite±actinolite
EARLY
Granular quartz- Quartz-magnetite-

A A chalcopyrite±bornite A A chalcopyrite
Quartz-molybdenite± A A Quartz-chalcopyrite
B B chalcopyrite±pyrite
(±suture) Chlorite-pyrite±quartz±
chalcopyrite
LATE
Quartz-pyrite±
D D chalcopyrite
FIG. 13. Schematic chronology of typical veinlet sequences in a. porphyry Cu-Mo deposits and b. porphyry Cu-Au de-
posits associated with calc-alkaline intrusions. Porphyry Cu-Au deposits hosted by alkaline intrusions are typically veinlet
poor (Barr et al., 1976; Lang et al., 1995; Sillitoe, 2000, 2002). Background alteration between veinlets is mainly potassic,
which is likely to contain more K-feldspar in the Mo-rich than the Au-rich porphyry Cu stockworks. Note the common ab-
sence of B- and D-type veinlets from Au-rich porphyry Cu stockworks and M-, magnetite-bearing A-, and chlorite-rich vein-
lets from Mo-rich porphyry Cu stockworks. Veinlet nomenclature follows Gustafson and Hunt (1975; A, B, and D types) and
Arancibia and Clark (1996; M type).
0361-0128/98/000/000-00 $6.00 21

in Figure 13 and Table 2, but repetitions of group 1 and 2 vein- of the A-type generations, but D-type veinlets may also con-
lets, for example, early biotite, EDM halo, and A types cut by tain appreciable amounts of molybdenite in some deposits.
lesser numbers of later EDM halo and A types (e.g., Bingham; The B-type veinlets are typically absent from Au-rich, Mo-
Redmond et al., 2001), occur where time gaps between por- poor porphyry Cu deposits (Fig. 13b). The D-type veinlets,
phyry phases are sufficiently large; however, group 2 and 3 far more abundant in porphyry Cu-Mo than Cu-Au deposits
veinlets are only uncommonly repeated. Additional complica- (Fig. 13a), may also occur as structurally controlled swarms
tions are widely introduced by repetitive veinlet reopening (e.g., El Abra; Dean et al., 1996), a characteristic particularly
during subsequent veining events. Much of the metal in many evident in the case of the late-stage, meter-scale, enargite-
porphyry Cu deposits is contained in the quartz-dominated, bearing, massive sulfide veins spanning the upper parts of
group 2 veinlets and as disseminated grains in the intervening porphyry Cu deposits and lower parts of overlying lithocaps
potassic-altered rocks, although some of the late, group 3 (Fig. 6; see above).
quartz-sulfide veins and their wall rocks may also be important Magnetite ± actinolite (M-type) and quartz-magnetite (A-
contributors. Irrespective of whether the Cu-bearing sulfide type) veinlets are far less common in Mo- than Au-rich por-
minerals are coprecipitated with veinlet quartz or, as generally phyry Cu deposits (Fig. 13), the latter typified by particularly
seems to be the case, introduced paragenetically later (e.g., elevated hydrothermal magnetite contents, commonly attain-
Redmond et al., 2001, 2004), a particularly strong correlation ing 5 to 10 vol percent (Sillitoe, 1979, 2000; MacDonald and
exists between quartz veinlet intensity and metal content in Arnold, 1994; Proffett, 2003). The dominant veinlets in most
many porphyry Cu deposits, particularly in Au-rich examples Au-only porphyry deposits, as documented in the Maricunga
(Sillitoe, 2000). However, the porphyry Cu-Au deposits associ- belt, are distinctly banded and comprise layers of both translu-
ated with alkaline rocks, particularly those in British Colum- cent and dark-gray quartz (Vila and Sillitoe, 1991), the color of
bia, are largely devoid of veinlets (Barr et al., 1976). Once the latter commonly caused by abundant vapor-rich fluid in-
formed, the quartz-bearing veinlets are permanent features clusions (Muntean and Einaudi, 2000). These banded veinlets
that are not erased during subsequent alteration overprinting, are ascribed to the shallowness of porphyry Au formation (<1
although their metal contents may be wholly or partially re- km; Vila and Sillitoe, 1991; Muntean and Einaudi, 2000).
moved (see above). Therefore recognition of A- and B-type Anhydrite and tourmaline are prominent veinlet, breccia-
veinlets in sericitic or advanced argillic zones testifies unam- filling, and alteration minerals in many porphyry Cu deposits
biguously to the former presence of potassic alteration. (Table 2), including associated skarns. The anhydrite, attain-
The A-type veinlets range from stockworks to subparallel, ing 5 to 15 percent of rock volumes, occurs in small amounts
sheeted arrays, the latter particularly common in Au-rich por- in most group 2 and 3 veinlet types as well as in the form of
phyry deposits (Sillitoe, 2000). Few, if any, stockworks are disseminated grains in the intervening altered rocks but com-
truly multidirectional and one or more preferred veinlet ori- monly also constitutes end-stage, nearly monomineralic vein-
entations are the norm. These may reflect district-scale tec- lets. Absence of anhydrite to depths of several hundred me-
tonic patterns (e.g., Heidrick and Titley, 1982; Lindsay et al., ters beneath the current surface in many porphyry Cu
1995) or, where concentric and radial arrays predominate, systems is normally due to supergene dissolution (see Sillitoe,
control by magma ascent and/or withdrawal in the subjacent 2005). Tourmaline may occur in minor amounts in several
parental chambers (e.g., El Teniente; Cannell et al., 2005). veinlet types, even those formed early in deposit histories
The quartz veinlet stockworks are most intense in and around (e.g., T4 veinlets al Los Pelambres; Perelló et al., 2007), but
the early porphyry intrusions, where they may constitute as it is most abundant with quartz and/or pyrite in D-type vein-
much as 90 to 100 percent of the rock (e.g., Ok Tedi and let generations and any associated magmatic-hydrothermal
Hugo Dummett; Rush and Seegers, 1990; Khashgeral et al., breccias affected by sericitic alteration (Fig. 8).
2006), and die out gradually both laterally into the wall rocks
(e.g., Sierrita-Esperanza, Arizona; Titley et al., 1986) and Advanced argillic lithocaps
downward (e.g., El Salvador; Gustafson and Quiroga, 1995); The upper parts of porphyry Cu systems, mainly at shallower
however, they tend to have more clearcut upper limits, just a levels than their porphyry intrusions, are characterized by
few tens of meters above the apices of the porphyry intru- lithocaps: lithologically controlled zones of pervasive advanced
sions, in the few deposits where relevant data are available argillic alteration with structurally controlled components,
(e.g., Guinaoang, Wafi-Golpu, and Hugo Dummett; Sillitoe including their subvertical root zones (Figs. 4, 6, 10; Table 2;
and Angeles, 1985; Sillitoe, 1999b; Khashgeral et al., 2006). Sillitoe, 1995a). Original lithocaps have areal extents of sev-
The quartz veinlets commonly cut proximal prograde ex- eral to >10 and, locally, up to 100 km2 and thicknesses of >1
oskarn (Einaudi, 1982) but do not extend into the more distal km, and hence are much more extensive than the underlying
carbonate rock-hosted ore types. Locally, early A-type vein- porphyry Cu deposits. Indeed, two or more porphyry Cu de-
lets displaying aplitic centers or along-strike transitions to posits may underlie some large, coalesced lithocaps (Fig. 4),
aplite and/or aplite porphyry (vein dikes) are observed (e.g., which, as noted above, may have formed progressively over
Gustafson and Hunt, 1975; Heithersay et al., 1990; Lickfold periods of up to several million years (e.g., Yanacocha;
et al., 2003; Rusk et al., 2008a). The earliest A-type veinlets Gustafson et al., 2004; Longo and Teal, 2005). Most observed
may be sinuous and have nonmatching margins, features as- lithocaps are only erosional remnants, which may either
cribed to formation under high-temperature, overall ductile wholly or partially overlie and conceal porphyry Cu deposits
conditions, whereas later veinlets are more planar. (e.g., Wafi-Golpu; Sillitoe, 1999b) or occur alongside them and,
Much of the Mo in many porphyry Cu-Mo deposits occurs hence, above propylitic rock (e.g., Nevados del Famatina, Ar-
in the B-type veinlets, in marked contrast to the Cu dominance gentina, Batu Hijau, and Rosia Poieni, Romania; Lozada-
0361-0128/98/000/000-00 $6.00 22

Calderón and McPhail, 1996; Clode et al., 1999; Milu et al., solution in bornite and, to a lesser degree, chalcopyrite (e.g.,
2004; Figs. 6, 10). Many lithocaps are vertically zoned, from Arif and Baker, 2002), and Cu are introduced together as
the previously described quartz-pyrophyllite at depth to pre- components of centrally located potassic zones; hence, the
dominant quartz-alunite and residual quartz—the residue of two metals normally correlate closely (Sillitoe, 2000; Ulrich
extreme base leaching (Stoffregen, 1987) with a vuggy ap- and Heinrich, 2001; Perelló et al., 2004b). Gold grades may
pearance that reflects the original rock texture—at shallower be up to ~50 percent higher in bornite-rich than chalcopyrite-
levels where the causative fluid was cooler and, hence, more dominated potassic assemblages, which has been explained
acidic (Giggenbach, 1997; Fig. 10). The roots of lithocaps may by the experimental observation that bornite solid solution is
also contain the relatively high temperature species, an- capable of holding up to one order of magnitude more Au
dalusite and corundum (>~370ºC; Hemley et al., 1980), as ac- than intermediate solid solution (ISS), the high-temperature
companiments to pyrophyllite and/or muscovite (e.g., Cabang precursors of bornite and chalcopyrite, respectively (Simon et
Kiri, Indonesia, El Salvador, and Cerro Colorado; Lowder al., 2000; Kesler et al., 2002). The Au grains in some deposits
and Dow, 1978; Watanabe and Hedenquist, 2001; Bouzari contain minor amounts of PGE minerals, particularly Pd tel-
and Clark, 2006). Where the fluids that cause advanced lurides (Tarkian and Stribrny, 1999). In contrast, Cu and Mo
argillic alteration are F rich, topaz, zunyite, and fluorite are correlate less well, with spatial separation of the two metals
lithocap minerals (e.g., Hugo Dummett; Perelló et al., 2001; commonly resulting from the different timing of their intro-
Khashgerel et al., 2006, 2008, and Resolution). The principal duction (e.g., Los Pelambres; Atkinson et al., 1996). In many
borosilicate mineral in lithocaps is dumortierite rather than Au-rich porphyry Cu deposits, Mo tends to be concentrated
tourmaline. The more structurally and lithologically confined as external annuli partly overlapping the Cu-Au cores (e.g.,
components of lithocaps, termed ledges rather than veins be- Saindak, Pakistan, Cabang Kiri, Batu Hijau, Bajo de la Alum-
cause they are mainly the products of rock replacement brera, and Esperanza; Sillitoe and Khan, 1977; Lowder and
rather than incremental open-space filling, display well-de- Dow, 1978; Ulrich and Heinrich, 2001; Garwin, 2002; Prof-
veloped alteration zoning (e.g., Steven and Ratté, 1960; Stof- fett, 2003; Perelló et al., 2004b). The Bingham, Island Cop-
fregen, 1987), with cores of vuggy, residual quartz, and asso- per, and Agua Rica, Argentina, porphyry Cu-Au-Mo deposits
ciated silicification rimmed outward (and downward) by are exceptions to this generalization because of their deep,
consecutive bands of quartz-alunite, quartz-pyrophyllite/dick- centrally located molybdenite zones (John, 1978; Perelló et
ite/kaolinite (pyrophyllite and dickite at hotter, deeper levels), al., 1995, 1998).
and chlorite-illite/smectite. The Cu ± Mo ± Au cores typically have kilometer-scale
Although all these alteration zones are pyritic, the Au-, Ag-, halos defined by anomalous Zn, Pb, and Ag values that reflect
and Cu-bearing, high sulfidation-state assemblages (com- lower temperature, hydrothermal conditions (Fig. 9a, b). In
monly pyrite-enargite and pyrite-covellite; Table 2; Fig. 12) some systems, Mn (±Ag) is also markedly enriched in the out-
tend to be confined to the vuggy, residual quartz and silicified ermost parts of the halos (e.g., Butte; Meyer et al., 1968).
rock, the latter normally better mineralized where phreatic These Zn-Pb-Ag ± Mn halos commonly coincide spatially
breccias are present (see above). Apart from the massive, with propylitic alteration zones but are invariably best defined
commonly enargite-bearing sulfide veins and replacement in the distal skarn environment (e.g., Meinert, 1987; Meinert
bodies in the deeper parts of some lithocaps (see above), et al., 2005), beyond which even more distal Au-As ± Sb
veins and veinlets are generally only poorly developed, with zones may be developed (e.g., Bingham and Sepon districts;
much of the pyrite and any associated sulfides being in dis- Babcock et al., 1995; Cunningham et al., 2004; Smith et al.,
seminated form. Open-space filling is also uncommon, except 2005; Fig. 9a, c). Peripheral veins cutting propylitic halos may
in phreatic breccias and unusual, isolated veins (e.g., La Meji- also be Au rich, and at Mineral Park an outward zoning from
cana alunite-pyrite-famatinite vein at Nevados del Famatina; Pb-Zn to Au-Ag is evident (Eidel et al., 1968; Lang and Eas-
Lozada-Calderón and McPhail, 1996). Barite and native S are toe, 1988; Fig. 9b). Nevertheless, in some porphyry Cu de-
common late-stage components of many ledges. posits, these halo metals, particularly Zn, occur as late-stage
These advanced argillic alteration zones extend upward to veinlet arrays overprinting the Cu-dominated cores rather
the sites of paleowater tables, which may be defined, if suitable than peripherally (e.g., Chuquicamata; Ossandón et al., 2001).
aquifers (e.g., fragmental volcanic rocks) were present, by sub- In a general sense, the broad-scale zoning pattern devel-
horizontal, tabular bodies of massive opaline or chalcedonic oped in the deeper parts of porphyry Cu systems persists into
silicification, up to 10 m or so thick; the low crystallinity is the overlying lithocap environment where any Cu and Au
caused by the low temperature (~100ºC) of silica deposition. (±Ag) commonly occur approximately above the underlying
The overlying vadose zones are marked by easily recognizable, porphyry Cu deposits, albeit commonly areally more exten-
steam-heated alteration rich in fine-grained, powdery cristo- sively, particularly where structural control is prevalent. The
balite, alunite, and kaolinite (Sillitoe, 1993, 1999b; Fig. 10). main geochemical difference between the Cu-Au zones in
porphyry Cu deposits and those in the overlying lithocaps is
Metal zoning the elevated As (±Sb) contents consequent upon the abun-
Metal zoning in porphyry Cu systems is well documented, dance of the Cu sulfosalts in the latter. Nevertheless, the
particularly at the deeper, porphyry Cu levels (e.g., Jerome, lithocap mineralization also contains greater albeit trace
1966; Titley, 1993). There, Cu ± Mo ± Au characterize the amounts of Bi, W, Sn, and/or Te (e.g., Einaudi, 1982) as well
potassic, chlorite-sericite, and sericitic cores of systems. How- as appreciable Mo. The Cu/Au ratios of lithocap-hosted, high-
ever, in Au-rich porphyry Cu deposits, the Au, as small (<20 sulfidation mineralization tend to decrease upward, with the
µm) grains of high (>900) fineness native metal and in solid result that most major high-sulfidation Au (±Ag) deposits
0361-0128/98/000/000-00 $6.00 23

occur in the shallow parts of lithocaps, commonly—but not The parental magmas need to be water rich (>~4 wt %) and
always—with their tops immediately below the former pale- oxidized in order to maximize the metal contents of the re-
owater table positions (Sillitoe, 1999b). Nevertheless, super- sultant aqueous phase (Burnham and Ohmoto, 1980; Candela
gene leaching commonly masks the original Cu distribution and Holland, 1986; Dilles, 1987; Cline and Bodnar, 1991;
pattern. Any intermediate-sulfidation precious metal miner- Candela, 1992; Candela and Piccoli, 2005; Richards, 2005).
alization developed alongside the lithocaps contains much High water contents result in magmas becoming saturated
higher contents of Zn, Pb, Ag, and Mn than the high-sulfida- with the aqueous phase, into which the ore metals can parti-
tion orebodies, in keeping with the situation described above tion efficiently; and high oxidation state suppresses magmatic
from the porphyry Cu level. The shallow-level, steam-heated sulfide, such as pyrrhotite, precipitation, a process that may
and paleowater-table zones are typically devoid of precious cause sequestration of metals before they can partition into
and base metals and As and Sb, unless telescoped onto the the aqueous phase. Nevertheless, resorption of any sulfide
underlying mineralization as a result of water-table descent, melt during ascent of oxidized magmatic fluids could make a
but commonly have elevated Hg contents (e.g., Pascua-Lama; major contribution to metal budgets (Keith et al., 1997; Hal-
Chouinard et al., 2005). ter et al., 2005). The magmas are also exceptionally S rich, as
emphasized by recognition of anhydrite as a magmatic min-
Genetic Model eral in some porphyry stocks (Lickfold et al., 2003; Audétat et
al., 2004; Stern et al., 2007; Chambefort et al., 2008). Addi-
Magma and fluid production tion of mafic melt to the parental chambers could be an ef-
Porphyry Cu systems typically span the upper 4 km or so fective means of augmenting S and metal budgets (Keith et
of the crust (Singer et al., 2008; Figs. 6, 10), with their cen- al., 1997; Hattori and Keith, 2001; Maughan et al., 2002; Hal-
trally located stocks being connected downward to parental ter et al., 2005; Zajacz and Halter, 2009).
magma chambers at depths of perhaps 5 to 15 km (Cloos,
2001; Richards, 2005; Fig. 4). The parental chambers, tend- Early porphyry Cu system evolution
ing to be localized at sites of neutral buoyancy (Cloos, 2001; Porphyry Cu mineralization in the deeply formed (up to 9
Richards, 2005), are the sources of both magmas and high- km) potassic alteration zones at Butte and elsewhere took
temperature, high-pressure metalliferous fluids throughout place directly from a single-phase, relatively low salinity
system development. (2−10 wt % NaCl equiv), aqueous liquid (Rusk et al., 2004,
Field observations and theoretical calculations suggest that 2008a); such a phase may contain several thousand ppm to
parental chambers with volumes on the order of 50 km3 may several percent of base metals and several ppm Au, based on
be capable of liberating enough fluid to form porphyry Cu de- thermodynamic (Heinrich, 2005) and analytical (Audétat et
posits, but chambers at least an order of magnitude larger are al., 2008) observations. However, at the shallower depths typ-
needed to produce giant systems, particularly where deposit ical of most deposits (<~4 km), the mineralization is intro-
clusters or alignments exist (Dilles, 1987; Cline and Bodnar, duced by a two-phase fluid, comprising a small fraction of
1991; Shinohara and Hedenquist, 1997; Cloos, 2001; Cathles hypersaline liquid (brine) and a much larger volume of low-
and Shannon, 2007). The metal-charged aqueous phase is re- density vapor (Fournier, 1999), produced by either direct ex-
leased from the cooling and fractionating parental chambers solution from the melt (Shinohara, 1994) or, more typically, as
during open-system magma convection as well as later stag- the single-phase liquid decompresses, cools, and intersects its
nant magma crystallization (Shinohara and Hedenquist, solvus (e.g., Henley and McNabb, 1978; Burnham, 1979;
1997). Convection provides an efficient mechanism for deliv- Cline and Bodnar, 1991; Webster, 1992; Bodnar, 1995; Cline,
ery of copious amounts of the aqueous phase, in the form of 1995). Coexistence of immiscible hypersaline liquid and
bubble-rich magma, from throughout the parental chambers vapor has been ubiquitously demonstrated in numerous fluid
to the basal parts of porphyry stocks or dike swarms (Candela, inclusion studies (Roedder, 1984), which also show that the
1991; Shinohara et al., 1995; Cloos, 2001; Richards, 2005). In liquid phase is enriched in Na, K, and Fe chlorides, giving rise
most systems, any volcanism ceases before porphyry Cu sys- to salinities of 35 to 70 wt percent NaCl equiv (e.g., Roedder,
tem formation is initiated, although relatively minor eruptive 1971; Nash, 1976; Eastoe, 1978; Bodnar, 1995), whereas the
activity, such as dome emplacement, may be either inter- vapor phase contains acidic volatile species, preeminently
spersed with or perhaps even accompany ascent of the mag- SO2, H2S, CO2, HCl, and any HF (e.g., Giggenbach, 1992,
matic aqueous phase (e.g., Bingham and Yanacocha; Deino 1997). Fluid inclusion microanalysis and experimental studies
and Keith, 1997; Longo and Teal, 2005). reveal that, during phase separation, specific element suites
The shallow-level porphyry stocks do not themselves gen- selectively fractionate between the vapor and hypersaline liq-
erate the bulk of the magmatic fluid volume, but simply act uid. In many cases, vapor can contain an appreciable amount
as “exhaust valves,” conduits for its upward transmission of the Cu, Au, Ag, and S, plus much of the As, Sb, Te, and B,
from the parental chambers, perhaps via cupolas on their whereas Fe, Zn, Pb, Mn, and possibly Mo preferentially par-
roofs (Fig. 4). This scenario implies episodic but focused tition into the hypersaline liquid (Heinrich et al., 1999; Hein-
magma and fluid ascent for as long as ~5 m.y. in the case of rich, 2005; Pokrovski et al., 2005, 2008, 2009; Williams-Jones
long-lived porphyry Cu systems, whereas elsewhere the loci and Heinrich, 2005; Simon et al., 2007; Audétat et al., 2008;
of intrusive and hydrothermal activity migrate, either sys- Nagaseki and Hayashi, 2008; Wilkinson et al., 2008; Pudack et
tematically or randomly, to give rise to the porphyry Cu and al., 2009; Seo et al., 2009).
epithermal Au deposit clusters and alignments discussed Transport of Cu and probably also Au was for decades tac-
above. itly assumed to be in the form of chloride complexes in the
0361-0128/98/000/000-00 $6.00 24

hypersaline liquid phase (e.g., Holland, 1972; Burnham, (Burnham, 1979): a process that may give rise to large in-
1967, 1997; Burnham and Ohmoto, 1980; Candela and Hol- creases in rock volume (Cathles and Shannon, 2007). The sin-
land, 1986), but recent experimental work and fluid inclusion gle-phase liquid, the mineralizer in deeply formed porphyry
S analysis show that volatile S ligands (H2S ± SO2) in the Cu deposits, may generate the relatively uncommon EDM
vapor phase can also act as major Cu- and Au-transporting halo veinlets (Rusk et al., 2008a; Proffett, 2009), whereas the
agents (Nagaseki and Hayashi, 2008; Pokrovski et al., 2008, two-phase fluid produces the more common A- and B-type
2009; Seo et al., 2009; Zajacz and Halter, 2009). In contrast, quartz veinlets (e.g., Roedder, 1984, and references therein).
Mo may be transported as different, possibly oxochloride The local occurrence of vein dikes (see above), as well as
complexes in the hypersaline liquid phase (Ulrich and Mavro- recognition of coexisting melt and aqueous fluid inclusions in
genes, 2008). early quartz veinlets (Harris et al., 2003), confirms that
Current orthodoxy maintains that the early sodic-calcic al- magma and mineralizing fluid commonly coexist, although
teration observed in some porphyry Cu deposits is a product markedly different densities dictate that they typically sepa-
of inflowing brine sourced from host-rock sequences (Carten, rate. The stockwork veinlets control and focus continued fluid
1986; Dilles and Einaudi, 1992; Dilles et al., 1995; Seedorff et ascent, with partial dissolution of quartz during cooling
al., 2005, 2008), in keeping with theoretical predictions for through its retrograde solubility field (<~550-400°C at pres-
fluids following heating paths under silicate-rock−buffered sures <~900 b; Fournier, 1999) enhancing the permeability of
conditions (e.g., Giggenbach, 1984, 1997). Light stable iso- the A-type quartz veinlets during at least some of the Cu-Fe
tope studies of sodic-calcic alteration in the Yerington district sulfide precipitation (Rusk and Reed, 2002; Redmond et al.,
support the involvement of externally derived brine from the 2004; Landtwing et al., 2005); synmineral faulting and frac-
host sedimentary sequence (Dilles et al., 1992, 1995), al- turing may play a similar role. The quartz-veined cores of
though the albite-actinolite alteration there is magnetite de- potassic zones remain barren where temperatures are too
structive (Carten, 1986; Dilles et al., 1995). In other cases, high to permit appreciable Cu-Fe sulfide and associated Au
however, there is evidence for an origin from hypersaline deposition, potentially giving rise to the bell- and cap-shaped
magmatic liquids, with the paucity of contained sulfide min- ore zones described above (e.g., Bingham, Resolution, and
eralization being due to excessively high temperatures and Batu Hijau; Babcock et al., 1995; Ballantyne et al., 2003;
oxygen fugacities and the consequent deficiency of reduced S Setyandhaka et al., 2008). Fluid pressures may fluctuate from
(John, 1989; Clark and Arancibia, 1995; Lang et al., 1995). A lithostatic to hydrostatic during porphyry Cu formation (e.g.,
magmatic source would certainly be favored where sodic-cal- Ulrich et al., 2001), as a result of both repetitive fracture
cic zones are metal bearing (see above). propagation and sealing and reductions in confining pressure
As porphyry Cu systems cool through the 700° to 550°C consequent upon surface degradation (see below). These
temperature range, the single-phase liquid or, more com- pressure variations may induce changes in the fluid phases
monly, coexisting hypersaline liquid and vapor initiate potas- present and consequent remobilization as well as precipita-
sic alteration and perhaps the first metal precipitation in and tion of metals (e.g., Klemm et al., 2007; Rusk et al., 2008a).
around the early porphyry intrusions (e.g., Eastoe, 1978; Bod- Magmatic-hydrothermal brecciation may be triggered by sud-
nar, 1995; Frei, 1995; Ulrich et al., 2001). Nevertheless, in den release of fluid overpressures caused by roof failure
many porphyry Cu deposits, it is fluid cooling over the ~550º above large, expanding vapor bubbles (Norton and Cathles,
to 350°C range, assisted by fluid-rock interaction, that is 1973; Burnham, 1985), particularly near the ductile-brittle
largely responsible for precipitation of the Cu, in low sulfida- transition (Fournier, 1999).
tion-state Cu-Fe sulfide assemblages, plus any Au (e.g., Ul- During the protracted potassic alteration event(s) that af-
rich et al., 2001; Redmond et al., 2004; Landtwing et al., fect the early and intermineral porphyries and their immedi-
2005; Klemm et al., 2007; Rusk et al., 2008a). In addition, up- ate wall rocks, heated external water, largely meteoric but
ward decompression and expansion of the vapor phase causes possibly containing a connate component (e.g., Bingham;
rapidly decreasing solubility of the vapor-transported metals Bowman et al., 1987), generates the peripheral propylitic al-
(Williams-Jones et al., 2002), as confirmed by their very low teration, mainly by moderate-temperature hydration reac-
contents in high-temperature but atmospheric-pressure fu- tions (Meyer and Hemley, 1967). Convective circulation of
maroles (Hedenquist, 1995). Such a decrease in solubility the external water takes place where rock permeabilities are
leads to wholesale precipitation of the Cu-Fe sulfides to- adequate (Fig. 14): a process that acts as a potent cooling
gether with Au, thereby potentially accounting for the typi- mechanism for porphyry Cu systems (Cathles, 1977), particu-
cally shallow formation (Cox and Singer, 1992; Sillitoe, 2000) larly after parental intrusions have crystallized and no longer
of Au-rich porphyry Cu deposits (Williams-Jones and Hein- exsolve magmatic fluid.
rich, 2005). The different Mo complexing (see above), proba- The voluminous vapor readily separates from the coexist-
bly assisted by progressive increase of the Mo/Cu ratio in the ing hypersaline liquid and, because of its lower density, as-
residual parental melt as crystallization proceeds (Candela cends buoyantly into the 1- to 2-km-thick rock column above
and Holland, 1986), results in much of the molybdenite being the porphyry intrusions (e.g., Henley and McNabb, 1978;
precipitated not only later than but also spatially separate Hedenquist et al., 1998; Fig. 14). Progressive disproportiona-
from the bulk of the Cu ± Au (see above). tion of the contained SO2 (to H2SO4 and H2S) once it and HCl
Potassic alteration and associated metal deposition are ini- (plus any HF) condense into ground water (Giggenbach,
tiated under near-lithostatic conditions and involve extensive 1992; Rye, 1993) generates the extremely low pH fluid re-
hydraulic fracturing of the ductile rock at high strain rates sponsible for the high degrees of base leaching involved in ad-
(Fournier, 1999) to generate the pervasive stockwork veining vanced argillic lithocap formation (e.g., Meyer and Hemley,
0361-0128/98/000/000-00 $6.00 25

Depth, High-temperature
km fumarole
0
Progressive
paleosurface
degradation
High-temperature
lithocap HS
epithermal
Moderate-
temperature lithocap Sericitic ±
2 chlorite-sericite
400°C
Potassic
IS
epithermal
300°C
4
500°C
Rapid Further
300°C
cooling cooling
6 PORPHYRY
MAGMA
EARLY LATE
Two-phase
Single-phase liquid Hypersaline liquid Single-phase liquid Ground
(high temperature) (low temperature) water
Vapor
FIG. 14. Schematic time slices through the telescoped porphyry Cu system illustrated in Figures 6 and 10 to show the
evolution of the main magmatic fluid and alteration-mineralization types in concert with progressive downward magma so-
lidification, cooling, and paleosurface degradation. At the early stage (left side), magma is present at the top of the parental
chamber, a single-phase, low- to moderate-salinity liquid exits the magma and undergoes phase separation during ascent to
generate immiscible hypersaline liquid and vapor, which generate potassic alteration plus contained low sulfidation-state por-
phyry Cu ± Au mineralization. The upward-escaping, low-pressure vapor that does not attain the paleosurface as high-tem-
perature fumaroles (e.g., Hedenquist, 1995; Hedenquist et al., 1993) forms acidic condensate to produce generally barren
advanced argillic alteration. As magma solidification advances downward (middle), the entire system progressively cools, and
the rock can fracture in a brittle fashion on cooling below ~400ºC (Fournier, 1999); at this stage, lithostatic gives way to hy-
drostatic pressure, and erosion (or some other mechanism) progressively degrades the paleosurface. Under these lower tem-
perature conditions, sericitic ± chlorite-sericite alteration zones begin to form from a deeply derived, single-phase aqueous
liquid generated by one or both of the methods (see text) postulated by Hedenquist et al. (1998) and Heinrich et al. (2004).
Eventually (right side), the sericitic ± chlorite-sericite alteration may cause variable degrees of Cu ± Au removal, but hypo-
gene Cu enrichment is also possible in the former. The same liquid continues upward into the lithocap where, upon cooling
in an unbuffered environment, it evolves into a high sulfidation-state liquid; if properly focused, it may generate high-sulfi-
dation (HS) epithermal deposits. Renewed neutralization of this same liquid on exiting the lithocap and/or aliquots of the
deep liquid that bypass the lithocap entirely may give rise to peripheral intermediate-sulfidation (IS) epithermal mineraliza-
tion. Based on modeling by Hedenquist et al. (1998), Sillitoe and Hedenquist (2003), and Heinrich (2005).
1967). Focused ascent of the reactive fluid through fault and unlikely to produce much mineralization, thereby possibly ac-
other permeable conduits leads to generation of the vuggy, counting for the barren status of many lithocaps (e.g., Heden-
residual quartz cores (if pH is <2; Stoffregen, 1987), flanked quist et al., 1998, 2000; Heinrich et al., 2004; Heinrich, 2005).
by zoned advanced argillic halos (Table 2; see above) indica-
tive of partial outward fluid penetration, neutralization, and Late porphyry Cu system evolution
cooling. However, because of the low pressure of the lithocap As the underlying parental magma chambers progressively
environment and, hence, low metal-transporting capability of solidify and magma convection ceases, there are marked re-
the absorbed vapor (see above), the resultant acidic fluid is ductions in both the heat flux and aqueous fluid supply to the
0361-0128/98/000/000-00 $6.00 26

overlying porphyry Cu systems (Dilles, 1987; Shinohara and permeability (Fig. 14). In the skarn environment, the early
Hedenquist, 1997), effects that are accompanied by down- two-phase hypersaline liquid plus vapor is likely to be fol-
ward propagation of the lithostatic-hydrostatic transition lowed under declining temperature conditions by the single-
(Fournier, 1999). Under these lower temperature conditions, phase liquid (e.g., Meinert et al., 1997, 2003; Fig. 14), from
the aqueous liquid phase exsolves more slowly from the still which the retrograde skarn Cu ± Au ± Zn, carbonate-re-
crystallizing magma and, in turn, advects more slowly and placement Cu or Zn-Pb-Ag-(Au), and sediment-hosted Au-
cools, such that it may not intersect its solvus. If this scenario (As-Sb) deposits are formed (e.g., Meinert et al., 1997, 2003;
is correct, a single-phase, low- to moderate-salinity (5−20 wt Heinrich, 2005).
% NaCl equiv) liquid in the 350° to 250°C temperature range High Zn, Pb, Ag, and Mn contents are recorded in hyper-
ascends directly from the parental chambers into overlying saline liquid inclusions from quartz veinlets formed during
porphyry Cu systems (Shinohara and Hedenquist, 1997; potassic alteration (Bodnar, 1995; Heinrich et al., 1999; Ul-
Hedenquist et al. 1998; Fig. 14). Alternatively, a single-phase rich et al., 1999; Wilkinson et al., 2008), but these chloride-
liquid may form, possibly after separation of some brine, by complexed metals (see above) remain in solution because
subsequent contraction of vapor of the same composition as it they are not appreciably concentrated in the sulfides present
cools at elevated pressures above the critical curve of the fluid in the main porphyry Cu orebodies. Cooling of the hyper-
system (Heinrich et al., 2004; Heinrich, 2005). The low-salin- saline liquid in contact with external wall rocks and dilution
ity liquid, whose ascent is controlled by the preexisting quartz with meteoric water in the propylitic halos may be the main
veinlet stockworks, synmineral faults, and permeability con- causes of Zn, Pb, Ag, and Mn precipitation (Hemley and
trasts provided by steep intrusive contacts, appears to be re- Hunt, 1992), giving rise to the geochemical halos of these
sponsible for the progressive formation of the chlorite-sericite metals and, in some systems, localized vein concentrations
and sericitic alteration, as well as continued advanced argillic (Jerome, 1966; Figs. 6, 10). The largest concentrations of pe-
alteration and the principal Cu and Au mineralization in the ripheral Zn, Pb, and Ag are confined to systems hosted by re-
overlying lithocaps (Hedenquist et al., 1998; Heinrich et al., ceptive carbonate rocks, where fluid neutralization induces
2004; Rusk et al., 2008b). the precipitation of these metals in skarn and carbonate-re-
Admixture of magmatic and meteoric fluids, with the latter placement deposits (Seward and Barnes, 1997).
dominant, was long considered necessary to produce sericitic The fluid most likely to lead to appreciable high-sulfidation
alteration and the attendant low- to moderate-salinity liquid, Au ± Ag ± Cu mineralization in the relatively barren, early-
i.e., 5 to 10× dilution of the hypersaline liquid (e.g., Shep- formed lithocaps is the low- to moderate-salinity, H2S-rich,
pard et al., 1971; Taylor, 1974), but recent interpretations of aqueous liquid that produces the underlying sericitic zones
stable O and H isotope data reveal that an exclusively mag- (Hedenquist et al., 1998; Heinrich et al., 2004; Heinrich,
matic fluid is quite capable of producing the chlorite-sericite 2005; Pudack et al., 2009; Fig. 14). On entering the lithocap
and sericitic assemblages (Kusakabe et al., 1990; Hedenquist environment, this intermediate sulfidation-state liquid (form-
and Richards, 1998; Hedenquist et al., 1998; Watanabe and ing chalcopyrite and tennantite at depth) becomes unbuffered
Hedenquist, 2001; Harris and Golding, 2002; Skewes et al., and easily evolves to a higher sulfidation state on cooling
2003; Rusk et al., 2004; Khashgerel et al., 2006). However, (Einaudi et al., 2003; Sillitoe and Hedenquist, 2003). The
meteoric water involvement in late sericitic alteration is by no Cordilleran massive sulfide lodes are localized where the liq-
means precluded (e.g., Hedenquist et al., 1998; Harris et al., uid follows pronounced structural permeability spanning the
2005), particularly on the margins of systems where the ad- sericitic to advanced argillic transition (Figs. 6, 10) or, less
vecting magmatic liquid may entrain convecting meteoric commonly, encounters reactive carbonate rocks (e.g., Baum-
water, although its formerly preeminent role in the porphyry gartner et al., 2008; Bendezú and Fontboté, 2009). However,
Cu genetic model (e.g., Beane and Titley, 1981; Hunt, 1991) much of the Au precipitates in the shallower parts of lithocaps
is now greatly diminished. Since chlorite-sericite alteration because of the greater likelihood of sharp drops in Au solu-
partially or totally reconstitutes potassic assemblages, and bility caused by either intense boiling in upflow conduits or
sericitic alteration does the same to potassic and/or chlorite- admixture of the ascendant liquid with cool, inflowing ground
sericite assemblages, it is generally impossible to determine if water; in some cases, the latter appears to originate from the
the contained metals are inherited from the former sulfide vadose zone (see below) where it was steam heated (Heden-
assemblage(s) (e.g., Brimhall, 1979) or newly introduced in quist et al., 1998; Heinrich, 2005, and references therein;
the ascendant, still magmatic-sourced aqueous liquid. How- Figs. 6, 14). These shallow Au precipitation processes may be
ever, apparent confinement of hypogene Cu enrichment (see particularly effective in permeable phreatic breccias created
above) to sericitic alteration overprinting rocks cut by quartz by boiling of the ascendant liquid, vapor buildup beneath sili-
veinlet stockworks that formerly contained chalcopyrite ± cified seals, and eventual catastrophic release, perhaps as-
bornite may suggest that a large component of the Cu in the sisted by external triggers (faulting, seismic shaking, and/or
newly generated high sulfidation-state assemblages is derived deep intrusion contributing gases; e.g., Nairn et al., 2005).
by relatively localized remobilization (Sillitoe, 1999b). The low- to moderate-salinity liquids responsible for high-
The base and precious metal deposit types in both carbon- sulfidation deposits in lithocaps may, under appropriate struc-
ate and noncarbonate wall-rock lithologic units likely form tural and hydrologic conditions, pass into adjoining, less-
from the same aqueous magmatic fluids that are involved in altered rocks and undergo sufficient neutralization and
porphyry Cu alteration and mineralization, wherever there is reduction during outward flow and wall-rock reaction to pro-
provision of lateral fluid access from the porphyry stock or duce liquids appropriate for formation of intermediate-sulfi-
dikes via lithologic, structural, and/or hydrothermally induced dation epithermal deposits (Sillitoe, 1999b; Einaudi et al.,
0361-0128/98/000/000-00 $6.00 27

2003; Sillitoe and Hedenquist, 2003; Fig. 14). The above- deposit of the type that is sought, or (3) frontier terranes with
cited examples of mineralogic transitions between high- and geologic conditions that are perceived to imply potential. On
intermediate-sulfidation mineralization provide support for the basis of recent exploration successes, the first choice has
this mechanism. Alternatively, the deeply derived intermedi- been shown to be a wise one, as witnessed by the strings of
ate sulfidation-state liquids may bypass the lithocaps entirely high-sulfidation Au and Au-rich porphyry discoveries that
and still produce intermediate-sulfidation mineralization at now define the El Indio-Maricunga belt in northern Chile
shallow epithermal levels (Sillitoe and Hedenquist, 2003, Fig. and Cajamarca-Huaraz belt in northern Peru (Sillitoe, 2008),
14). as well as discovery of the Resolution porphyry Cu-Mo de-
At paleowater tables, near the tops of the lithocaps and posit in the southwestern North American Cu province after
nearby areas, the liquid portion of the boiling high- and in- a 100-year exploration history (Manske and Paul, 2002). To
termediate-sulfidation fluids follows hydrologic gradients, date, the second choice could be taken to have been less suc-
whereas the H2S-bearing vapor (with H2S contributed by the cessful, as shown by the lack of economically significant dis-
magma as well as SO2 disproportionation) continues its ascent coveries in the vicinities of the major but isolated Bingham,
into the overlying vadose zones. There, it condenses into Butte, Pebble, and Oyu Tolgoi districts, although greenfield
ground water to oxidize and produce the low-temperature, exploration is in its infancy in the still poorly defined mag-
acidic fluid responsible for the blanketlike, advanced argillic matic arcs that host the last two of these. However, the El
alteration zones characteristic of the steam-heated environ- Indio and Yanacocha high-sulfidation Au deposits were ini-
ment (Sillitoe, 1993, 1999b; Fig. 10). tially the isolated orebodies that led to eventual definition of
As the thermal regimes of porphyry Cu systems decay, shal- the El Indio-Maricunga and Cajamarca-Huaraz belts, respec-
lowly generated alteration-mineralization types become tele- tively. The third choice, frontier terranes, obviously involves
scoped over more deeply formed ones (e.g., Gustafson, 1978; higher risk but resulted in the recent discoveries of Pebble,
Fournier, 1999; Heinrich et al., 2004; Williams-Jones and Oyu Tolgoi, and Reko Diq, for example (Bouley et al., 1995;
Heinrich, 2005; Rusk et al., 2008a), thereby causing the se- Perelló et al., 2001, 2008; Kirwin et al., 2003).
quence of metal remobilization and reprecipitation events The empirical relationship between well-established mag-
emphasized above. Indeed, the tops of porphyry intrusions matic (including postcollisional) arcs containing major, high-
may be subjected to at least four distinct alteration-mineral- grade hypogene porphyry Cu and high-sulfidation Au de-
ization events, commencing with potassic and ending with ad- posits and contractional tectonic settings characterized by
vanced argillic, as temperature fronts retreat downward (Fig. high surface uplift and denudation rates (see above) may
14). The resultant telescoping is potentially more extreme, prove to be a useful criterion for selection of underexplored
giving rise to deep penetration of advanced argillic alteration arc segments with incompletely tested potential. Contrac-
into porphyry stocks, where porphyry Cu systems undergo ei- tional settings are strongly suggested where entire arc seg-
ther rapid, synhydrothermal erosion under high uplift, pluvial ments possess only minor volcanic rock volumes contempora-
or glacial conditions (Fig. 14) or, perhaps less commonly, neous with the development of porphyry Cu systems,
gravity-induced sector collapse of any overlying volcanic edi- particularly where lithocaps are widely preserved as evidence
fices (Sillitoe, 1994; Perelló et al., 1998; Landtwing et al., for shallow erosion. Contractional settings are also likely in
2002; Carman, 2003; Heinrich, 2005; Masterman et al., 2005; belts or districts where porphyry Cu stocks or dike swarms are
Rohrlach and Loucks, 2005; Pudack et al., 2009). overprinted on precursor plutons or, in island-arc settings,
By the time that the late-mineral porphyry phases are where marine sedimentary rocks only slightly older than the
added to porphyry Cu stocks or dike swarms, fluid ascent porphyry Cu systems have been uplifted to ~1 km or more
from the parental magma chambers has all but ceased, and K above sea level (Sillitoe, 1998). In arcs where volcanic rocks
and metal availability is too limited to generate appreciable are abundant, large-volume ignimbrites, indicative of caldera
potassic alteration and mineralization. The only fluid present formation, are taken to seriously downgrade porphyry Cu and
is of external origin and produces propylitic alteration similar related epithermal Au potential for the reason given above.
to that in the earlier formed propylitic halos. Diatreme brec- The clustering or alignment of both porphyry Cu and
cias are preferentially emplaced at this time because external high-sulfidation Au deposits has been shown time and again
water access to late-mineral magma bodies, a requirement for to be a highly effective exploration concept. The recent major
phreatomagmatic activity, is facilitated. End-stage, ground- porphyry Cu-Mo ± Au discoveries in the productive Col-
water incursion into the hot porphyry Cu deposits leads to an- lahuasi (Rosario Oeste), Chuquicamata (Toki cluster; Rivera
hydrite veinlet formation, in conformity with the mineral’s and Pardo, 2004; Fig. 3b), Escondida (Pampa Escondida),
retrograde solubility (e.g., Rimstidt, 1997). and Los Bronces-Río Blanco (Los Sulfatos; Fig. 5a) districts
of Chile are all within <1 to 3 km of the previously known de-
Exploration Implications posits, as are the several porphyry Cu-Au discoveries in the
Cadia district (Holliday et al., 1999) and high-sulfidation Au
Target selection discoveries in the Yanacocha district (Harvey et al., 1999) that
When planning exploration programs for porphyry Cu ± were made since mining commenced. In any deposit cluster
Mo ± Au, skarn Cu ± Au, or high-sulfidation epithermal Au or alignment, the best deposit may be found first or only after
deposits, the preeminent ore types hosted by porphyry Cu several lesser discoveries have already been made (e.g., Hugo
systems, the choice is between selection of (1) mature, well- Dummett; Kirwin et al., 2003). Whether or not these and
endowed Cu or Au belts, (2) emerging belts with less obvious other deposit clusters and alignments owe their existence to
metallogenic credentials but having at least one important fundamental faults or lineaments (see above; Richards, 2000),
0361-0128/98/000/000-00 $6.00 28

it is often not obvious if exploration—commonly focused on lithocaps. As a consequence, the most distal and subtle ore
areas of pre- or postmineral cover—should target broadly types, sediment-hosted Au on the fringes of carbonate rock-
equidimensional deposit arrays or arc-parallel or arc-trans- hosted districts and Zn-Pb-Ag ± Au−bearing intermediate-
verse alignments, particularly when only one or two deposits sulfidation epithermal veins and carbonate-replacement bod-
have been defined. However, local structural observations, ies on the fringes of lithocaps attract less attention and may be
perhaps interpreted from geophysical responses, may assist easily missed.
in this regard, although this approach played no part in the It also needs to be emphasized that few porphyry Cu sys-
recent discoveries noted above in the Chilean porphyry Cu tems, whatever their exposure level, contain the full spectrum
districts. of potential ore types depicted in Figure 6, although the
Even cursory inspection of Figure 6 shows clearly that ero- Bingham district with its porphyry Cu-Au-Mo, Cu-Au skarn,
sion level is a fundamental control on the mineralization types carbonate-replacement Zn-Pb-Ag-Au, and sediment-hosted
that may be anticipated to occur in porphyry Cu systems. If Au deposits (Babcock et al., 1995) and the more shallowly ex-
porphyry Cu deposits concealed beneath advanced argillic al- posed Lepanto district with its porphyry Cu-Au, high-sulfida-
teration are the principal target, then deeply eroded lithocaps tion Cu-Au-Ag, and intermediate-sulfidation Au-Ag-Cu de-
in which quartz-pyrophyllite ± muscovite ± andalusite alter- posits (Hedenquist et al., 2001) are exceptionally well endowed
ation is prominent are best selected (e.g., El Salvador). Any in this regard. Nevertheless, many systems contain only one or
exposed A-type quartz veinlet stockworks overprinted by two deposit types rather than a full zonal array (Table 3), with
sericitic and/or advanced argillic assemblages immediately the presence of the more distal ore types at either porphyry Cu
pinpoint the spots for initial scout drilling (Sillitoe, 1995a). In or lithocap levels being independent of the size and grade of
contrast, D-type veinlets may be up to 1 km laterally away the porphyry Cu deposits or prospects. Therefore, recognition
from the target. Nevertheless, bearing in mind that most ob- of even weakly developed mineralization of a single type may
served lithocaps are only erosional remnants, exploration help to direct exploration for potentially higher grade mineral-
should focus first around their peripheries in case a porphyry ization of other types elsewhere in the system. Furthermore,
Cu deposit has already been exposed. However, should the Mo- as well as Au-rich porphyry Cu deposits may be associated
search be for high-sulfidation Au deposits, the shallow parts with Au-endowed lithocaps (e.g., Nevados del Famatina dis-
of lithocaps may have the best potential for the discovery of trict; Lozada-Calderón and McPhail, 1996), although lithocaps
large, albeit commonly low-grade orebodies. The existence of above any porphyry Cu deposit may lack appreciable high-sul-
even minor erosional remnants of steam-heated horizons and fidation mineralization (e.g., Red Mountain; Corn, 1975; Quin-
their chalcedonic bases, generated above and at paleowater lan, 1981), at least in their preserved parts.
tables, respectively, guarantees that the appropriate near-sur-
face level is preserved (Sillitoe, 1999b). Target appraisal
Assessment of the likely host-rock lithologic units is also im- Notwithstanding the typical occurrence model depicted in
portant during initial appraisals of porphyry Cu belts and dis- Figure 6 and taking into account the critical importance of
tricts. Obviously, major skarn, carbonate-replacement, and erosion level, the innumerable variations on the porphyry Cu
sediment-hosted Au deposits can only be expected where rel- genetic theme result in a broad spectrum of three-dimen-
atively thinly bedded, commonly silty carbonate rocks are sional intrusion, breccia, alteration, and mineralization
present. Large, high-grade porphyry Cu deposits seem to be geometries (e.g., Gustafson and Hunt, 1975). At first glance,
favored by the “pressure-cooker effect” provided by imper- using representative cross sections of alteration at four high-
meable wall rocks, including massive, thickly bedded carbon- grade hypogene porphyry Cu deposits as examples (Fig. 15),
ate sequences (e.g., Grasberg), a situation that can also lead these varied geometries are not easy to relate to a standard
to the formation of blind high-grade deposits overlain by largely geologic model. Each individual deposit or prospect must be
unaltered rocks (e.g., Hugo Dummett, Ridgeway, Pueblo carefully constructed using surface mapping and core log-
Viejo). Exceptionally ferrous Fe-rich rocks, relatively uncom- ging, with particular attention paid to the temporal as well as
mon in most arc terranes, also appear to assist with develop- spatial relationships of its constituent parts. Only then will the
ment of high hypogene Cu grades as well as maximizing the positive and negative geologic features and, hence, its overall
wall rock-hosted component of the deposit (e.g., El Teniente, potential become evident.
Resolution, Oyu Tolgoi). Highly permeable, noncarbonate In most magmatic arc terranes, it is roughly estimated that
host rocks may promote lateral fluid channeling, which may >90 percent of explored porphyry systems lack Cu and Au
lead to generation of distal ore types other than structurally concentrations with foreseeable potential, commonly because
controlled veins (e.g., Andacollo). Porous and permeable vol- the ore-forming processes, from magma generation through
caniclastic and epiclastic sequences also favor large-tonnage to alteration and mineralization, were less than fully opti-
orebody development in the lithocap environment, especially mized (e.g., Richards, 2005). Some critical step in the genetic
where they happen to be shallowly located with respect to sequence was either poorly developed or entirely missing.
paleosurfaces. For example, porphyry Cu prospects containing only weakly
The large size of some porphyry Cu systems, with maxi- developed potassic alteration and A-type quartz veinlets in
mum radii of ~8 km (e.g., Fig. 9) and maximum areal extents their central parts, indicating a deficiency of early-stage mag-
approaching 100 km2 (Singer et al., 2008), complicates their matic fluids, are typically subore grade. Similarly, proximal
effective exploration because attention is unavoidably focused skarns lacking hydrous, retrograde overprints are unlikely to
on the more prominently altered parts, such as pyrite-bearing host significant Cu-Au deposits. Lithocaps dominated by
porphyry Cu mineralization, pyrite halos, and pyrite-rich quartz-alunite or quartz-pyrophyllite alteration but without
0361-0128/98/000/000-00 $6.00 29

TABLE 3. Representative Examples of Various Mineralization-Type Combinations in Porphyry Cu Systems1
District, Porphyry Proximal Distal Carbonate- Sediment- Peripheral High- Intermediate-

location deposit skarn skarn replacement Hosted veins/mantos sulfidation sulfidation Reference(s)
Bingham, Bingham Carr Fork and Zn-Pb-Ag- Barneys Babcock et al.

Utah Cu-Au-Mo North Shoot (Au) bodies Canyon and (1995), Cunning-
Cu-Au Melco Au ham et al. (2004)
Copper Copper East and West Lower Zn-Pb Theodore et al.

Canyon, Canyon stock Zone Cu-Au2 Fortitude occurrences (1982), Wotruba
Nevada Cu-Mo-Au2 Au3 et al. (1988), Cary
et al. (2000)
Superior, Resolution Superior Paul and Knight

Arizona Cu-Mo Cu-Ag (1995), Manske
and Paul (2002)
Yanacocha, Kupfertal Yanacocha Au Harvey et al.

Peru Cu-Au Norte Au occurrences (1999)
Antamina, Cu-Mo Antamina Cu- Zn-Pb-Ag Love et al. (2004),

Peru occurrence Zn-Mo-Ag-Au veins Redwood (2004)
Potrerillos, Mina Vieja San Antonio Cu Jerónimo Silica Roja El Hueso Thompson et al.
Chile Cu-Mo-Au Au Au Au (2004)
Andacollo, Carmen de Andacollo Reyes (1991)

Chile Andacollo Oro Au
Cu-Mo-Au
Lepanto, Far Southeast Lepanto Victoria Hedenquist et al.

Philippines Cu-Au Cu-Au-Ag and Teresa (2001)
Au-Ag-Cu
Wafi-Golpu, Wafi Cu-Au A and Link Link Zone Ryan and Vigar
Papua New Zone Au Au (1999)
Guinea
Sepon, Padan and Cu-Au Khanong and Discovery, R.H. Sillitoe

Laos Thengkham occurrences Thengkham Nalou, etc. (unpub. repts.,
Mo-Cu South Cu-Au Au 1994–1999),
occurrences Smith et al. (2005)
Bau, Cu-Au Cu-Au Zn-Pb Bau Au Percival et al.

Malaysia occurrences occurrences occurrences (1990), Sillitoe
and Bonham
(1990)
Recsk, Recsk Deeps Recsk Deeps Recsk Recsk Lahóca Parád Kisvarsanyi
Hungary Cu-Au-Mo Cu-Au Deeps Deeps Cu-Au Au-Ag (1988), Földessy
Zn-Cu Zn-Pb and Szebényi
(2008)
1 Minor occurrences italicized

2 Porphyry Cu formation likely inhibited by reduced nature of the host porphyry (Meinert, 2000)
3 Proximal to distal skarn transition spanned by Phoenix and Greater Midas pits (Cary et al., 2000)
appreciable development of vuggy, residual quartz and asso- be removed and dissipated during the formation of lower tem-
ciated silicification, perhaps because fluid pH was too high or perature, pyrite-bearing alteration assemblages (Gammons
exposure level is too deep, are much less likely to contain and Williams-Jones, 1997; Sillitoe, 2000; Kesler et al., 2002).
major high-sulfidation Au deposits, although Pueblo Viejo Thermal regimes that permit vertically extensive ore zone de-
provides a salutary exception (Kesler et al., 1981; Sillitoe et velopment in potassic zones commonly have greater size po-
al., 2006). tential than those that were excessively hot internally, thereby
Commonly, the highest grade and most coherent porphyry inhibiting sulfide precipitation and giving rise to large, low-
Cu deposits are those that retain their early porphyry phases grade or barren cores; the exception is where the resultant
and potassic alteration assemblages—with which much of the shell-like orebodies are areally extensive and thick (e.g., Bing-
metal content is initially introduced—in essentially unmodi- ham and Resolution; Babcock et al., 1995; Ballantyne et al.,
fied form. This is particularly the case for Au, which tends to 2003). The enhanced Cu ± Au tenors of many bornite-rich
0361-0128/98/000/000-00 $6.00 30

0 800E W E 500m
2600m
t zone
ich men
enr
Colluvium
Supergene
Co
2200m 0m
nt
C
u
%C
ac
%
tf
<0.5
au
lt
>0.5
<0.5% Cu
>0.5% Cu
1800m
500m >2.5% Cu -500m
a
500m
b
3000E 4000E 22400N Postmineral basalt 23200N
5800m
Leached + oxidized zone RL
2700m
>0
.2
>1.5% Cu
%
5400m
C
fault
u
RL
2200m
We st
Cu
Cu
>0.5%
<0.5%
5000m
RL
500m
c
Late-mineral porphyry
Mineralized porphyry 500m
d
Alteration
Unaltered Propylitic
Albite Potassic-propylitic transition
Advanced argillic Potassic (alkali feldspar)
Sericitic Potassic (biotite)
Sericitic over potassic Calcic-potassic
Chlorite-sericite over potassic Silica-garnet
FIG. 15. Simplified sections through high-grade hypogene porphyry Cu deposits to illustrate the wide variation in alter-
ation zoning patterns and their relationship to porphyry intrusions and Cu tenor. a. El Teniente, Chile (from Cannell et al.,
2005). b. Hugo Dummett North at Oyu Tolgoi, Mongolia (from Khashgerel et al., 2008). c. Chuquicamata, Chile (from Os-
sandón et al., 2001). d. Ridgeway, New South Wales, Australia (from Wilson et al, 2003). Note that the high-grade (>1.5%
Cu) zone at Chuquicamata includes a substantial, but unquantified, contribution from supergene enrichment.
0361-0128/98/000/000-00 $6.00 31

porphyry Cu deposits provide the justification for deeper drill In lithocaps, permeable lithologic units are an especially
testing of both bornite-bearing and bornite-free potassic al- important control of the largest high-sulfidation epithermal
teration zones that are judged to have been only relatively Au deposits, as mentioned previously, in contrast to tight
shallowly explored (e.g., Esperanza; Perelló et al., 2004b). rocks, such as little-fractured lava domes and flows, which
Abundant hydrothermal magnetite is a good indicator of po- typically host smaller, fault- and fracture-controlled deposits.
tentially Au-rich porphyry Cu deposits (Sillitoe, 1979), and Any carbonate rocks affected by the lithocap environment
the presence of banded quartz veinlets may be used to iden- may be particularly receptive. However, through-going struc-
tify most, but not all, Cu-poor porphyry Au deposits (Vila and tural (fault and fracture network) and hydrothermal (phreatic
Sillitoe, 1991). breccia and vuggy, residual quartz) permeability is probably
Where lower grade intermineral intrusions and barren late- the most critical requirement for the development of impor-
and postmineral intrusions or diatremes are volumetrically tant high-sulfidation deposits; otherwise, inadequate late-
important, the original mineralized rock volumes may be stage aqueous liquids from the cooling parental magma
physically disrupted and ore-zone geometries radically changed chambers gain access to the lithocaps. Lateral transfer of such
and generally rendered less continuous. Where intense chlo- liquids beyond lithocaps to form intermediate-sulfidation epi-
rite-sericite or sericitic alteration overprints are developed, thermal deposits is also dependent on the existence of suit-
the reconstitution of potassic alteration may result in either able permeability, which in a few cases is the direct continua-
reduction or complete stripping of original metal contents. tion of that utilized by the contiguous high-sulfidation
Furthermore, even where appreciable Au is retained in chlo- mineralization (e.g., Colquijirca, Tintic).
rite-sericite assemblages, flotation recoveries are commonly
lower (<60%) than for ore from potassic zones (>80%) be- Concluding Statement
cause some of the Au originally in solid solution and encapsu- Porphyry Cu deposits are arguably the most studied and
lated in and attached to chalcopyrite ± bornite becomes potentially best known and understood ore deposit type (e.g.,
linked to introduced pyrite (Sillitoe, 2000). Seedorff et al., 2005), and their relationships with the skarn
In the more highly telescoped systems, where sericitic environment have been appreciated for many years (Einaudi
and/or advanced argillic assemblages overprint appreciable et al., 1981; Einaudi, 1982). Only in the last decade or so,
volumes of potassic and/or chlorite-sericite alteration within however, have the physicochemical connections with the
porphyry intrusions, the ensuing effects can be varied. Where high- and intermediate-sulfidation epithermal environment
the sericitic alteration is superimposed on quartz veinlet within and around overlying lithocaps been clarified (e.g.,
stockworks, Cu contents in the form of the high sulfidation- Hedenquist et al., 1998, 2001). The current state of geologic
state Cu sulfides may be increased by hypogene enrichment understanding allows explorationists to use a combination of
(e.g., Wafi-Golpu). However, if the overprinted high-sulfida- empirical and genetic models with ever-increasing degrees of
tion assemblages also contain appreciable arsenical sulfosalts, confidence (Thompson, 1993; Sillitoe and Thompson, 2006).
a situation that becomes increasingly likely upward in most Furthermore, the current geologic knowledge base permits
systems, the resultant mineralization is less desirable because meaningful deployment of sophisticated geochemical and
it is not only refractory if subjected to bacterial heap leaching geophysical techniques in some exploration programs (e.g.,
but also generates As-rich flotation concentrates that may Kelley et al., 2006; Holliday and Cooke, 2007).
prove difficult to market. Nevertheless, there is still a great deal to learn, a fact under-
Although many hydrothermal breccias, like the late dia- scored by the relatively recent appreciation of the contrasting
tremes mentioned above, are commonly diluents to ore, some metal contents of coexisting hypersaline liquids and vapors
magmatic-hydrothermal breccias give rise to anomalously high- (Heinrich et al., 1999; Ulrich et al., 1999) and experimental
grade rock volumes despite their intermineral timing. Fur- determination of volatile S complexes as potentially important
thermore, magmatic-hydrothermal breccia cemented mainly Cu- and Au-transporting agents throughout porphyry Cu
by quartz, tourmaline, and pyrite may be zoned downward systems (Williams-Jones et al., 2002; Nagaseki and Hayashi,
over hundreds of meters to chalcopyrite-rich material, which 2008; Pokrovski et al., 2008, 2009). A short, personalized
is likely to persist into any underlying biotite-cemented brec- selection of outstanding questions includes the following:
cia (e.g., Los Bronces-Río Blanco; Vargas et al., 1999; Fig. 8). (1) what are the fundamental mantle and/or crustal factors
Interrelationships between porphyry intrusions and car- that dictate whether youthful arc segments are endowed with
bonate host rocks can influence the form and size of skarn de- giant porphyry Cu systems (e.g., central Andes), only incipi-
posits, typically with above-average Cu tenors. Where steeply ently developed systems (e.g., Cascades, western United
dipping, receptive carbonate rock sequences abut steep por- States), or none at all (e.g., Japan)? (2) what are cross-arc lin-
phyry stock contacts, vertically extensive proximal skarn bod- eaments, and can they be demonstrated to play a truly influ-
ies may form (e.g., the >1,600-m extent of the Ertsberg East ential role in the localization of porphyry Cu systems? (3) how
(Gunung Bijih) Cu-Au deposit, Indonesia; Coutts et al., 1999). important are mafic magmas in the development of the
Unusually large, laterally extensive proximal skarn bodies may parental magma chambers beneath porphyry Cu systems, and
form preferentially where suitable carbonate host rocks abut what material contributions do they make to the systems
the tops of porphyry stocks (e.g., Antamina; Redwood, 2004). themselves? (4) how is the single-phase magmatic liquid
Structural permeability linking porphyry stocks to the fringes transferred from the parental magma chambers to porphyry
of carbonate rock-dominated districts seems to be a require- Cu stocks or dike swarms, and what distance can be travelled
ment for formation of substantial sediment-hosted Au de- by this fluid between exiting the chambers and eventual
posits (e.g., Bingham district; Cunningham et al., 2004). phase separation? (5) what are the deep processes that result
0361-0128/98/000/000-00 $6.00 32

in some porphyry Cu systems being apparently short lived Arancibia, O.N., and Clark, A.H., 1996, Early magnetite-amphibole-plagio-
while others may remain at least intermittently active for up clase alteration-mineralization in the Island Copper porphyry copper-gold-
molybdenum deposit, British Columbia: ECONOMIC GEOLOGY, v. 91, p.
to ≥5 m.y.? (6) why do some porphyry Cu deposits develop 402−438.
large and high-grade magmatic-hydrothermal breccias, Arif, J., and Baker, T., 2004, Gold paragenesis and chemistry at Batu Hijau,
whereas others have only minor examples or none at all? (7) Indonesia: Implications for gold-rich porphyry copper deposits: Mineral-
if externally derived, nonmagmatic brine is responsible for at ium Deposita, v. 39, p. 523−535.
Atkinson, W.W., Jr., Souviron, A., Vehrs, T.I., and Faunes, A., 1996, Geology
least some examples of sodic-calcic alteration, how does it ac- and mineral zoning of the Los Pelambres porphyry copper deposit, Chile:
cess the cores of some porphyry Cu deposits between early Society of Economic Geologists Special Publication 5, p. 131−156.
porphyry emplacement and magmatic fluid ascent responsi- Audétat, A., Pettke, T., and Dolejš, D., 2004, Magmatic anhydrite and calcite
ble for initiation of potassic alteration (and locally sinuous A- in the ore-forming quartz-monzodiorite magma at Santa Rita, New Mexico
type quartz veining)? (8) what controls metal depletion versus (USA): Genetic constraints on porphyry-Cu mineralization: Lithos, v. 72, p.
147−161.
enrichment during chlorite-sericite and sericitic overprints? Audétat, A., Pettke, T., Heinrich, C.A., and Bodnar, R.J., 2008, The compo-
(9) what are the main mechanisms controlling the bulk sition of magmatic-hydrothermal fluids in barren and mineralized intru-
Cu/Au/Mo ratios of porphyry Cu deposits? (10) why is Au sions: ECONOMIC GEOLOGY, v. 103, p. 877−908.
transported to the distal limits of only a few porphyry Cu sys- Babcock, R.C., Jr., Ballantyne, G.H., and Phillips, C.H., 1995, Summary of
tems for concentration in sediment-hosted deposits, and why the geology of the Bingham district: Arizona Geological Society Digest 20,
p. 316−335.
are most of these apparently small compared to virtually iden- Ballantyne, G., Marsh, T., Hehnke, C., Andrews, D., Eichenlaub, A., and
tical Carlin-type deposits (Cline et al., 2005)? (11) what is the Krahulec, K., 2003, The Resolution copper deposit, a deep, high-grade por-
fluid regime responsible for metal zoning in lithocaps, and phyry copper deposit in the Superior district, Arizona: Marco T. Einaudi
why are so many lithocaps apparently barren? (12) why do Symposium, Society of Economic Geologists Student Chapter, Colorado
School of Mines, Golden, CO, 2003, CD-ROM, 13 p.
only a few lithocaps appear to develop intermediate-sulfida- Ballard, J.R., Palin, J.M., Williams, I.S., Campbell, I.H., and Faunes, A.,
tion epithermal precious metal deposits on their peripheries? 2001, Two ages of porphyry intrusion resolved for the super-giant
Effective study of these and other problems will require Chuquicamata copper deposit of northern Chile by ELA-ICP-MS and
field-based geochemical and geophysical work and an array of SHRIMP: Geology, v. 29, p. 383−386.
evermore sophisticated laboratory equipment for high-preci- Barr, D.A., Fox, P.E., Northcote, K.E., and Preto, V.A., 1976, The alkaline
suite porphyry deposits—A summary: Canadian Institute of Mining, Met-
sion fluid inclusion and trace element analysis, isotopic deter- allurgy and Petroleum Special Volume 15, p. 359−367.
minations, isotopic dating, and experimental work on fluid Barra, F., Ruiz, J., Valencia, V.A., Ochoa-Landín, L., Chesley, J.T., and
evolution and metal transport. But more fundamentally, how- Zurcher, L., 2005, Laramide porphyry Cu-Mo mineralization in northern
ever, we require better and more detailed documentation of Mexico: Age constraints from Re-Os geochronology in molybdenite: ECO-
NOMIC GEOLOGY, v. 100, p. 1605−1616.
geologic relationships in porphyry Cu systems worldwide, at Barton, P.B., Jr., and Skinner, B.J., 1967, Sulfide mineral stabilities, in
all scales from the thin section to the entire system, and with Barnes, H.L., ed., Geochemistry of hydrothermal ore deposits: New York,
greater emphasis on the regional to district context, particu- Holt, Rinehart & Winston, p. 236−333.
larly the relationship to igneous evolution. And these geologic Baumgartner, R., Fontboté, L., and Venneman, T., 2008, Mineral zoning and
observations must further emphasize the relative timing of in- geochemistry of epithermal polymetallic Zn-Pb-Ag-Cu-Bi mineralization at
Cerro de Pasco, Peru: ECONOMIC GEOLOGY, v. 103, p. 493−537.
trusion, brecciation, alteration, and mineralization events be- Baumgartner, R., Fontboté, L., Spikings, R., Ovtcharova, M., Schaltegger, U.,
cause isotopic dating techniques do not and may never have Schneider, J., Page, L., and Gutjahr, M., 2009, Bracketing the age of mag-
the required resolution. It is acquisition of this geologic detail matic-hydrothermal activity at the Cerro de Pasco epithermal polymetallic
that is going to enable better application of laboratory tech- deposit, central Peru: A U-Pb and 40Ar/39Ar study: ECONOMIC GEOLOGY, v.
niques and, hopefully, further clarify the localization and evo- 104, p. 479−504.
Beane, R.E., and Titley, S.R., 1981, Porphyry copper deposits. Part II. Hy-
lutionary histories of porphyry Cu systems as well as the fun- drothermal alteration and mineralization: ECONOMIC GEOLOGY 75TH AN-
damental controls on large size and high hypogene grade. NIVERSARY VOLUME, p. 235−269.
Bendezú, R., and Fontboté, L., 2009, Cordilleran epithermal Cu-Zn-Pb-(Au-
Acknowledgments Ag) mineralization in the Colquijirca district, central Peru: Deposit-scale
mineralogical patterns: ECONOMIC GEOLOGY, v. 104, p. 905–944.
Larry Meinert, Economic Geology editor, is thanked for the Bendezú, R., Fontboté, L., and Cosca, M., 2003, Relative age of Cordilleran
invitation to contribute this overview and for his vinous base metal lode and replacement deposits, and high sulfidation Au-(Ag)
inducements to get it finished. Support over the years from epithermal mineralization in the Colquijirca mining district, central Peru:
numerous major and junior companies, particularly Anglo Mineralium Deposita, v. 38, p. 683−694.
Bendezú, R., Page, L., Spikings, R., Pecskay, Z., and Fontboté, L., 2008,
American, Antofagasta Minerals, Codelco Chile, Billiton, New 40Ar/39Ar alunite ages from the Colquijirca district, Peru: Evidence of
CRA Exploration, Minera Escondida, Minorco, RGC Explo- a long period of magmatic SO2 degassing during formation of epithermal
ration, and Rio Tinto Mining and Exploration, along with the Au-Ag and Cordilleran polymetallic ores: Mineralium Deposita, v. 43, p.
input of innumerable explorationists worldwide deserves hon- 777−789.
orable mention. Constructive comments on the manuscript Bissig, T., Lee, J.K.W., Clark, A.H., and Heather, K.B., 2001, The Cenozoic
history of volcanism and hydrothermal alteration in the central Andean flat-
by Chris Heinrich, Larry Meinert, Pepe Perelló, Jeremy slab region: New 40Ar-39Ar constraints from the El Indio-Pascua Au (-Ag,
Richards, Alan Wilson, and the Economic Geology reviewers, Cu) belt, 29°20'-30°30' S: International Geology Review, v. 43, p. 312−340.
Regina Baumgartner, John Dilles, and Jeff Hedenquist, led to Bodnar, R.J., 1995, Fluid-inclusion evidence for a magmatic source for met-
clarification of ideas and substantial improvements. als in porphyry copper deposits: Mineralogical Association of Canada Short
Course Series, v. 23, p. 139−152.
Bouley, B.A., St. George, P., and Wetherbee, P.K., 1995, Geology and dis-
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©2010 Society of Economic Geologists, Inc.

Economic Geology, v. 105, pp. 3–41

Porphyry Copper Systems*

Submitted: April 15, 2009

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Introduction intermediate-sulfidation epithermal Au ± Ag ± Cu orebodies

Island Copper Bingham Majdanpek

Principal metals Deposit type Age

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writ. commun., 2009). Typical hypogene porphyry Cu de-

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Exotic (supergene) Cu deposit MM

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Los Piches Los Sulfatos

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Late-mineral porphyry LITHOCAP Phreatic breccia

Subvolcanic basement / carbonate horizon

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the component phases (e.g., Ballard et al., 2001; Maksaev et

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eruption breccia in diam) lithocap subrounded native S

fluids (Sillitoe, 1985). Many porphyry Cu deposits contain

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mit of jaspe roid

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by Rolando Carrascal Miranda

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rich deposits) specularite)

1 Excluding those developed in carbonate-rich rocks

Steam Vuggy residual SHALLOW Advanced argillic

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Granular quartz- Quartz-magnetite-

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TABLE 3. Representative Examples of Various Mineralization-Type Combinations in Porphyry Cu Systems1

District, Porphyry Proximal Distal Carbonate- Sediment- Peripheral High- Intermediate-

Bingham, Bingham Carr Fork and Zn-Pb-Ag- Barneys Babcock et al.

Copper Copper East and West Lower Zn-Pb Theodore et al.

Superior, Resolution Superior Paul and Knight

Yanacocha, Kupfertal Yanacocha Au Harvey et al.

Antamina, Cu-Mo Antamina Cu- Zn-Pb-Ag Love et al. (2004),

Andacollo, Carmen de Andacollo Reyes (1991)

Lepanto, Far Southeast Lepanto Victoria Hedenquist et al.

Sepon, Padan and Cu-Au Khanong and Discovery, R.H. Sillitoe

Bau, Cu-Au Cu-Au Zn-Pb Bau Au Percival et al.