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Economic Geology; March 2001; v. 96; no. 2; p. 233-237; DOI: 10.2113/96.2.233
© 2001 Society of Economic Geologists
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A Special Issue Devoted to Porphyry Copper Deposits of Northern Chile

Francisco Camus{dagger}

Codelco-Chile, Huérfanos 1270, Santiago, Chile

John H. Dilles{dagger}{dagger}

Department of Geosciences, Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon 97331

{dagger} Email: FCamus@stgo.codelco.cl

{dagger}{dagger} Email: dillesj@geo.orst.edu

The first 20% of the full text of this article appears below.


   Introduction
 
Chile is known worldwide as the site of one of the largest copper concentrations on Earth. A total resource (including production) of about 400 million tons (Mt) of fine copper has been identified in 50 porphyry copper deposits and numerous prospects (Fig. 1). Considering 10 Mt of contained fine copper as a minimum tonnage to classify a porphyry copper deposit as a giant ore deposit, the Chilean cordillera contains nine of the 16 giant porphyries along the circum-Pacific belt. Among them are the three largest of all, El Teniente, Río Blanco-Los Bronces, and Chuquicamata (Fig. 1), all containing resources plus production of more than 50 Mt of fine copper. Currently, Chile annually produces about 4.6 Mt of fine copper that represents about 37 percent of the world production.


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  		FIG. 1. Map of northern Chile showing the five major metallogenic belts and locations of the principal porphyry copper and porphyry gold deposits. Inset shows regions of Chile. Deposits described in this volume belong to the late Eocene-Oligocene belt.

 
This enormous geologic potential has triggered numerous international mining companies to concentrate their exploration efforts in the Central Andes with emphasis in Chile. During the past 25 years, exploration expenditures have surpassed a figure on the order of US$2 billion. As a result, a total of 76 copper and gold discoveries have been made, 24 of which are already in production (Cabello, 2000). Among them, the most relevant discoveries are the porphyries at La Escondida, Escondida Norte, Zaldívar, Rosario and Ujina in the Collahuasi mining district, Quebrada Blanca, Lomas Bayas, and (in the last 5 years) Spence and Gaby Sur.

The presence of such a significant number and large size of copper porphyries intrigued several generations of researchers during the twentieth century. The ongoing exploration . . . [Full Text of this Article]




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