The shoshonite porphyry Cu-Au association at Bajo de la Alumbrera, Catamarca Province, Argentina

Bajo de la Alumbrera forms an example of a series of world class copper-gold deposits that are hosted by potassic igneous rocks. The Bajo de la Alumbrera porphyry copper-gold deposit is situated in the Catamarca Province of Northwest-Argentina and belongs to the ten largest copper mines in the world; it is also one of the largest gold producers in South America. The deposit is characterized by an alteration-zoning pattern with a central potassic core which grades outwards into a zone with propylitic alteration and an intermediate annular phyllic overprint. Porphyry copper-gold mineralization consists mainly of disseminated and/or vein-related chalcopyrite within the central potassic alteration zone which also hosts the highest gold grades (up to 2 ppm). Mineralization is genetically related to co-magmatic hypabyssal dacite domes with shoshonitic compositions which intruded the high-K calc-alkaline andesitic to latitic lava flows, breccia tuffs, and agglomerates of the Upper Miocene Farallon Negro Formation. The Farallon Negro Formation is interpreted as the remnants of a major stratovolcano some 16 km in diameter, with volcanism being controlled by sinistral pull-apart tectonics along a major NW-trending lineament. The dacitic rocks associated with the porphyry copper-gold mineralization have porphyritic textures with phenocrysts of alkali feldspar, plagioclase, biotite, and very rare amphibole in a fine-grained feldspathic groundmass. The abundance of hydrous minerals, such as biotite phenocrysts and apatite microphenocrysts, is consistent with the volatile-rich nature of the melts. The rocks underwent moderate degrees of clinopyroxene-biotite-âpatite-titanite fractionation. Several samples are overprinted by weak to moderate potassic or carbonate-sericite alteration. Geochemically, the dacites are characterized by high LILE (e.g. K20 up to 7.16 wt%, and Rb, Sr, and Ba up to 145 ppm, 445 ppm, and 610 ppm, respectively), moderate LREE (La < 73 ppm and Ce < 140 ppm), and low HFSE (TiO₂ < 0.92 wt%, Zr < 142 ppm, Hf < 4.6) which are typical for subduction-related potassic igneous rocks from a mature continental-arc setting. The rocks have evolved compositions with relatively low mg# < 53. Their high Ba/Nb and high Rb/Nb ratios (up to 87 and 31, respectively) clearly distinguish them from rocks derived from within-plate settings. The rocks from Bajo de la Alumbrera contain average ratios of Fe₂O₃/(FeO+Fe₂O₃) as high as 0.49 reflecting the oxidized nature of their parental melts.