2012 Society of Economic Geologists, Inc.

Special Publication 16, pp. 79104

Chapter 4

Geologic Setting and Evolution of the Porphyry Copper-Molybdenum and

Copper-Gold Deposits at Los Pelambres, Central Chile
JOS PERELL,1, RICHARD H. SILLITOE,2 CONSTANTINO MPODOZIS,1 HUMBERTO BROCKWAY,1 AND HCTOR POSSO3
1 Antofagasta Minerals S.A., Apoquindo 4001, piso 18, Las Condes, Santiago, Chile
2 27 West Hill Park, Highgate Village, London N6 6ND, England
3 Anaconda Per, Avenida Paseo de la Repblica 3245, piso 3, San Isidro, Lima, Peru

Abstract
The porphyry copper mineralization at Los Pelambres is contained in two contiguous deposits, Los Pelam-
bres (Cu-Mo) and Frontera (Cu-Au), which together constitute the third largest copper concentration (~36
million metric tons (Mt) Cu) in the Miocene to early Pliocene belt of central Chile. Los Pelambres is centered
on a composite, N-oriented, ~4.5- 2.5-km precursor quartz diorite stock emplaced within the regional,
NNW-striking, E-vergent Los Pelambres reverse fault. The fault places intensely deformed Late Cretaceous
volcanic and late Oligocene to early Miocene volcanic and volcanosedimentary rocks of the Los Pelambres For-
mation over gently folded early Miocene volcanic rocks of the Pachn Formation. Copper-gold mineralization
at Frontera is hosted mainly by andesite of the Pachn Formation.
Hydrothermal alteration at Los Pelambres-Frontera conforms to the classic zonal pattern in which a potas-
sic center grades laterally to an annular sericitic zone surrounded by a propylitic halo. The bulk of the hypo-
gene metal resource is hosted by multiple veinlet generations within potassic alteration, of which type 4 (quartz
K-feldspar biotite sericite phengite andalusite corundum), A, and B types are volumetrically and
economically the most important. The type 4 veinlets are regularly distributed throughout Los Pelambres and
Frontera, whereas highest intensities of A and B veinlets display a spatial correlation with at least 20 small
(~200-m diam), SE-plunging magmatic-hydrothermal centers. These centers comprise one or more intermin-
eral porphyry intrusions of dacitic (porphyry B) and andesitic (porphyry A) compositions along with igneous
and hydrothermal breccias, the apical parts of which contain aplite and pegmatite pods. These centers acted as
a series of miniature porphyry copper deposits whose coalescence generated the Los Pelambres-Frontera ore-
body. This coalescence also led to deposit-scale sulfide zoning, from internal chalcopyrite-bornite through chal-
copyrite-pyrite to external pyrite. Abundant hydrothermal magnetite accompanies the gold-bearing copper
mineralization in biotitized andesite at Frontera. The sericitic alteration is largely pyritic, but a NE-striking,
SE-dipping corridor of D-type veinlets that overprints the potassic alteration in the northwestern quadrant of
Los Pelambres contains copper sulfosalts. The internal portions of this corridor are characterized by advanced
argillic assemblages, defining the roots of a once more extensive lithocap.
On the basis of detailed U-Pb zircon dating, the intrusive magmatism at Los Pelambres-Frontera lasted ~3.8
m.y., from emplacement of the precursor Los Pelambres stock between ~14 and 12.5 Ma, through generation
of numerous porphyry B and A phases and associated magmatic-hydrothermal centers between ~12.3 and 10.5
Ma, to intrusion of late mineral porphyry at Frontera at ~10.2 Ma. Similarly, the copper, molybdenum, and gold
mineralization was introduced during a protracted interval of ~1.7 m.y., between 11.8 and 10.1 Ma, as con-
strained by Re-Os molybdenite geochronology. The entire system cooled to nearly ambient temperatures by
~8 Ma, as supported by temporally overlapping K-Ar, Ar/Ar, and (U-Th)/He ages, and was exposed to the
effects of supergene oxidation and immature enrichment by ~5 Ma. Plio-Pleistocene glaciation partially eroded
a former, more widespread supergene chalcocite blanket, the remnants of which accounted for the bulk of the
ore mined during the first 10 years of the Los Pelambres open-pit operation.
The southeast-inclined geometry of the entire Los Pelambres-Frontera system, including the porphyry cen-
ters and northeast structural corridor defined by sericitic and advanced argillic alteration, are ascribed to syn-
mineral tilting. The tilting accompanied regional tectonic uplift during crustal shortening and thickening,
which were controlled by thick-skinned reverse faults active ~60 km farther east in Argentina.

Introduction at elevations between 3,200 and 3,600 m above sea level

LOS PELAMBRES, the northernmost and third largest copper
concentration in the Miocene to early Pliocene belt of cen-
tral Chile (Fig. 1), comprises two contiguous deposits, Los
Pelambres copper-molybdenum and Frontera copper-gold.
The deposits underlie the vegetation-free talus slopes of a U-
shaped glacial valley in the Principal Cordillera of the Andes,
Corresponding author: e-mail, jperello@aminerals.cl
(Fig. 2a). Los Pelambres and Frontera along with the cop-
per-molybdenum deposit at El Pachn, 5 km southeast
across the international frontier in Argentina, constitute the
Los Pelambres-El Pachn porphyry copper cluster (Fig. 1).
The supergiant status of the Los Pelambres deposits is de-
fined by their current resource of 6,165 million metric tons
(Mt) at 0.56% Cu and 0.011% Mo, using a cutoff of 0.35%
Cu (Perell et al., 2011).

79
80 PERELL ET AL.

80 100 175 200

h
La Serena

Chile-Peru trenc
74 69 64
120
30 Wadati-Benioff
zone contours
(km)

LOS PELAMBRES-EL PACHON

Flat-slab
z
segment
Juan Fernnde
Mendoza 40
1

Ridge Santiago RIO BLANCO-LOS BRONCE S

Principal deposits Southern

100 km
EL TENIENTE Other deposits and Volcanic
prospects Zone

FIG. 1. Location of the Los Pelambres-El Pachn porphyry copper cluster in the Miocene to early Pliocene porphyry cop-
per belt of central Chile (diagonal shading). The principal deposits are named. The position of the belt with respect to the
transition between amagmatic flat-slab subduction and the Southern Volcanic Zone of the Andes is defined by depth con-
tours on the present-day Wadati-Benioff zone (after Cahill and Isacks, 1992; Anderson et al., 2007).

The deposits at Los Pelambres are owned by Minera Los
Pelambres (Antofagasta Minerals S.A. 60%, Japanese consor-
tium 40%). The copper-molybdenum deposit, mined in an
open pit (Fig. 2b) at a current ore throughput of 176,000 t/d
averaging 0.74% Cu and 0.019% Mo, produced 411,800 t of
copper, 9,900 t of molybdenum, and 39,800 oz of gold, and
1,774,300 oz of silver in 2011. The ore is processed by con-
ventional flotation and the resulting copper concentrate is
transported ~120 km by slurry pipeline to the companys port
for shipment to overseas smelters. Los Pelambres and Fron-
tera are currently the subject of another major infill drilling
campaign, which is likely to further increase resources for a
planned future mine expansion.
This contribution summarizes the historic and recent explo-
ration history of the district, describes the regional geologic
setting and the geology and alteration-mineralization features
of Los Pelambres and Frontera, documents the lifespan of
the hydrothermal system, and discusses the geologic evolu-
tion of the porphyry mineralization within a regional tectono-
magmatic framework. The paper is based on more than three
years of fieldwork by the authors during a brownfields explo-
ration program that included 1:50,000-scale regional, 1:10,000-
scale district, and 1:2,000-scale pit mapping as well as 1:100-
scale logging of 160,000 m of preexisting and newly obtained
drill core. Previous published studies by Sillitoe (1973),
Skewes (1985), Skewes and Atkinson (1985), Atkinson et al.
(1996), Bertens et al. (2003, 2006), Perell et al. (2007, 2009,
2011), and Mpodozis et al. (2009) as well as extensive unpub-
lished in-house data provide the basis for this synthesis. The
porphyry and veinlet nomenclature of Skewes and Atkinson

a b
FIG. 2. Views of Los Pelambres porphyry copper deposit, looking north. a. In 1970 prior to mining. Note the jarositic
leached capping (yellowish-brown) developed over the pyrite-rich sericitic halo. The ore-bearing potassic zone underlies the
U-shaped glacial valley. b. The open pit in 2007 after seven years of large-scale mining.

0361-0128/98/000/000-00 $6.00 80
 PORPHYRY Cu-Mo & Cu-Au DEPOSITS, LOS PELAMBRES, CENTRAL CHILE
(1985) and Atkinson et al. (1996) is followed throughout, but
the relative timing of porphyry phases, the economic relevance
of certain veinlet generations, and the volumetric importance
of hydrothermal breccias are considered to be different.
Exploration History
In 1967, the Instituto de Investigaciones Geolgicas pre-
pared the first geologic report for Los Pelambres, which for-
mally identified the porphyry copper affiliation of the
prospect (Thomas, 1967). Exploration was resumed in 1969
under a joint program conducted by the United Nations and
Empresa Nacional de Minera (ENAMI), the state mining
agency. Drilling defined a mineral inventory of 430 Mt at
0.80% Cu and 0.035% Mo (Sillitoe, 1995). No further explo-
ration took place until 1979 when Anaconda South America
purchased the property from the local owners and undertook
detailed exploration, culminating in 1983 with completion of
a feasibility study for a 60,000 t/d operation based on a re-
source of 3,300 Mt at 0.63% Cu and 0.016% Mo (Sillitoe,
1995; Atkinson et al., 1996). At the copper prices prevailing at
the time, such a large-scale project was considered uneco-
nomic and all work was discontinued.
In 1985, Antofagasta Holdings acquired Anacondas inter-
ests in Chile and a wholly owned subsidiary, Compaa Min-
era Los Pelambres, developed a 5,000-t/d sublevel caving and
flotation operation based on high-grade, breccia-hosted ore
(see below). Through 1999, Compaa Minera Los Pelambres
mined approximately 12 Mt averaging 1.5% Cu (Perell et al.,
2011). Simultaneously, a feasibility study for an 80,000-t/d
plant was carried out, with completion in 1996 and, the fol-
lowing year, a Japanese consortium acquired a 40% interest in
Compaa Minera Los Pelambres and committed the same
proportion of development funding. Project construction
began in early 1998 and in January 2000 the plant attained its
rated capacity. Successive expansions through 2004 increased
ore throughput to 130,000 t/d, with the most recent expansion
completed in 2010 increasing capacity to ~175,000 t/d.
Since the completion of Anacondas feasibility study in
1983, no further exploration was carried out at Los Pelambres
until late 2005 when the brownfields program was initiated by
Antofagasta Minerals S.A. on behalf of the operating com-
pany. The program resulted in discovery of the Frontera cop-
per-gold deposit (700 Mt at 0.52% Cu and 0.1 g/t Au, using a
0.4% Cu cutoff) and definition of additional resources at Los
Pelambres, which together constitute the current global re-
source cited above (Perell et al., 2011).
Tectonomagmatic Setting
Central Chile porphyry copper belt
The Miocene to early Pliocene porphyry copper belt of
central Chile and contiguous Argentina extends for ~400 km
between latitudes 31 and 35 S and contains an exceptional
copper endowment (~360 Mt) contained in a series of super-
giant and smaller sized deposits (Fig. 1). The belt was con-
structed within the Chilenia terrane, a microcontinental block
accreted to the Gondwana margin in the Devonian and un-
derpinned by basement rocks of Proterozoic age (Ramos, 2009).
Following terrane accretion, the belt was the site of exten-
sion-related, bimodal magmatism during the Permo-Triassic,
0361-0128/98/000/000-00 $6.00
81
marine sedimentation in a backarc setting during the Jurassic-
Early Cretaceous, and subaerial, subduction-related, calc-al-
kaline volcanism and associated plutonism during the Creta-
ceous through Cenozoic (Mpodozis and Ramos, 1990).
Central Chile and contiguous parts of Argentina, including
the porphyry copper belt, underwent contractional tectonism
from the early Miocene through early Pliocene in response to
subduction zone shallowing (Jordan et al., 1983). This trig-
gered crustal shortening and thickening through hybrid thin-
and thick-skinned thrusting to generate the Aconcagua fold-
thrust belt (Ramos et al., 1996; see below). The slab shallow-
ing is generally ascribed to the diachronous oblique subduc-
tion of the buoyant Juan Fernndez ridge on the Nazca plate
(Fig. 1; Pilger, 1981; Yez et al., 2001). The copper mineral-
ization in the belt took place between 12 and 4 Ma and ac-
companied multikilometer, regional-scale uplift and concomi-
tant exhumation (Skewes and Holmgren, 1993; Kurtz et al.,
1997). The porphyry copper stocks have rare earth element
signatures interpreted to reflect the thickening of the crust
(Kay et al., 1999; Kay and Mpodozis, 2002).
Tectonics and stratigraphy of the greater
Los Pelambres region
The greater Los Pelambres region, spanning the Chile-Ar-
gentina frontier between latitudes 3135' and 3203'S, com-
prises three main tectonic domains bounded by high-angle,
E- or W-vergent, N- to NNW-striking, reverse faults, herein
named the Los Pelambres, Totoral, and Gonzlez faults (Fig.
3). These structural elements form the northern termination
of the larger Aconcagua and smaller (e.g., La Ramada) fold-
thrust belts (Cegarra and Ramos, 1996; Cristallini and Ramos,
2000).
The eastern domain, east of the E-vergent Los Pelambres
reverse fault, contains the large basement block of the
Cordillera de Santa Cruz (Fig. 3), composed of late Paleozoic
rhyolite and felsic tuff along with comagmatic granitoids,
collectively assigned to the Choiyoi Group (Alvarez, 1996;
Cristallini and Ramos, 2000). Beyond the limits of Figure 3,
this basement block is thrust eastward over synorogenic, con-
tinental, siliciclastic deposits of Miocene age (Jordan et al.,
1996; Prez, 2001). To the west of the Cordillera de Santa
Cruz block, the Paleozoic basement is overlain by Triassic
continental volcanic and sedimentary strata and Jurassic to
Early Cretaceous marine and continental sedimentary rocks
(Alvarez, 1996), which together represent the northernmost
exposures of the sedimentary fill to the Neuqun backarc
basin, amply developed farther south (Mpodozis and Ramos,
1990; Cristallini and Ramos, 2000). These bedded units are
unconformably overlain by continental volcaniclastic conglom-
erate and breccia, rhyolitic tuff, and pyroxene- and hornblende-
bearing andesite and dacite, herein informally grouped as the
Mondaca Strata (Fig. 3), which yield U-Pb zircon ages of 22.1
0.4 and 21.6 0.4 Ma (Table 1). On the Chilean side of the
frontier, at Laguna del Pelado (Fig. 3), these strata are un-
conformably overlain by >400 m of subhorizontal, hornblende-
bearing andesitic lava flows, which provide U-Pb zircon ages
between 21.3 +0.4/-0.3 and 18.3 0.4 Ma (Table 1). Imme-
diately to the north, these rocks are tectonically overlain by
Paleozoic basement and Mesozoic strata along the E-vergent
Mondaca reverse fault (Fig. 3).
81
82 PERELL ET AL.

345,000 370,000

CO
6,500,000

R
DIL
LE R
ga
Ro Chalin

A
DE
R
oC
s

arn
quene

icer

S A NT
a
Los
da Piu

A
Pelambres

CR UZ
Frontera
Quebra

El Pachn
Totoral fault

n
ch
Pa
Ro Cros
s sec
tion

R o M
on

da
ca

lt
au
6,475,000

Ar
af
ge ac
n
To

Ch
nd
tin
tor

il
Mo
a

Yunque
al

e
fau
lt

Ro Choapa
Pocuro fault

ez
l
z
Gon
o

R
Laguna del
Los Pelam

Pelado
ral
R o Toto
Gonzlez fau

bre
faus
lt
lt

5 km

Chile Argentina Meters above

Quebrada Piuquenes Ro Santa Cruz sea level
Los Pelambres El Pachn
Ro Pachn
4,000

2,000
Mondaca
Chalinga intrusive complex Totoral fault 0
fault
STRATIFIED ROCKS INTRUSIVE ROCKS
Cretaceous volcanic rocks Middle-late Miocene intrusive rocks (14-10 Ma)
Laguna del Pelado volcanic rocks (20-18 Ma) (Salamanca Formation)
Mondaca Strata (22 Ma) Totoral pluton (18 Ma)
a a: Basal conglomerate Early Cretaceous redbeds
Chalinga intrusive complex
Pachn and Abanico Formations (28-21 Ma) Jurassic continental and a b c: Phase 3 (16-15 Ma)
marine sedimentary sequences c b: Phase 2 (18 Ma)
Los Pelambres Formation (33-18 Ma) a: Phase 1 (23-22 Ma)
Triassic volcanosedimentary rocks
Paleocene volcanic rocks Late Cretaceous-Eocene intrusive rocks
Late Paleozoic-Triassic Reverse fault (teeth on upper plate)
Late Cretaceous (75-70 Ma) basement (Choiyoi Group)
volcanic and sedimentary rocks Normal fault
a a: Intensely deformed sequences of the central domain Undifferentiated fault
FIG. 3. Regional geologic map of the greater Los Pelambres region, based on Alvarez (1996), Mpodozis et al. (2009), and
more recent mapping by the authors. UTM datum: Prov. S. Am 56, Zone 19 South.

0361-0128/98/000/000-00 $6.00 82
 PORPHYRY Cu-Mo & Cu-Au DEPOSITS, LOS PELAMBRES, CENTRAL CHILE 83

TABLE 1. U-Pb Zircon Ages of Selected Geologic Units from Los Pelambres Area and Greater Los Pelambres Region

Sample no. Age (Ma 2) UTM E UTM N General location Geologic unit Comments

PEL 761 22.1 0.4 376,152 6,490,687 Lower Ro Carnicera Mondaca Strata Quartz-sanidine rhyolitic tuff
PEL 681 21.6 0.4 378,011 6,480,767 North of El Yunque Mondaca Strata Welded rhyolitic tuff
prospect
PEL 211 21.3 (+0.4/-0.3) 378,020 6,458,681 Laguna del Pelado Laguna del Pelado Daciandesitic, pumice-rich,
Sequence lithic tuff
PEL 161 18. 3 0.4 379,343 6,461,318 Laguna del Pelado Laguna del Pelado Hornblende-bearing porphyritic
Sequence andesite
FRONT 42 22.7 0.2 360,775 6,487,750 Los Pelambres Pachn Formation Fine-grained porphyritic
andesite
PELLAG 012 21.69 0.26 358,375 6,494,200 Ro Carnicera Pachn Formation Aphanitic andesitic lava
DDH 71962 21.36 0.80 350,000 6,491,440 Los Pelambres Pachn Formation Quartz-eye dacitic sill
PEL 11 33.4 0.5 357,720 6,485,634 Ro Pelambres Los Pelambres Formation Fine-grained andesitic volcanic
breccia
PEL 411 18.5 0.4 364,693 6,464,923 Ro Totoral Los Pelambres Formation Recrystallized daciandesite
PEL 471 24.9 0.5 367,718 6,447,831 Ro Chicharra Abanico Formation Andesitic lithic tuff
PEL 511 22.2 0.4 364,854 6,447,799 Ro Chicharra Abanico Formation Fine-grained porphyritic
andesite
PEL 461 18.5 0.4 359,196 6,460,543 Ro Totoral Totoral pluton Biotite (pyroxene) monzogranite
Sec1-12 23.32 0.23 355,053 6,486,484 Ro Pelambres Chalinga intrusive complex Pyroxene granodiorite
(Phase 1)
PEL2603 21.62 0.67 352,151 6,485,829 Quebrada del Perro Chalinga intrusive complex Pyroxene-hornblende-biotite
(Phase1) granodiorite
PEL2473 18.59 0.43 351,281 6,494,431 Upper Quebrada Chalinga intrusive complex Pyroxene-biotite diorite
Piuquenes (Phase 2)
PEL2463 18.11 0.52 353,490 6,494,503 Upper Quebrada Chalinga intrusive complex Hornblende-biotite granodiorite
Piuquenes (Phase 2)
PEL 2014 16.5 (+0.3/-0.2) 351,270 6,509,363 Ro Tres Quebradas Chalinga intrusive complex Pyroxene-biotite quartz
(Phase 3) monzodiorite
PEL 1031 15.1 (+0.6/-0.6) 350,890 6,504,830 Los Helados, Chalinga intrusive complex Pyroxene-biotite quartz
Ro Chalinga (Phase 3) monzodiorite
PEL 651 15.4 0.4 373,153 6,483,804 Ro Pachn Northwest-trending Hornblende-biotite dacitic
intrusive belt porphyry
PEL 661 15.0 0.3 378,397 6,475,054 El Yunque prospect Northwest-trending Hornblende-biotite dacitic
intrusive belt porphyry
PEL 1021 70.1 1.5 358,755 6,488,350 Los Pelambres Country rock at Quartz-eye rhyolitic tuff
Los Pelambres

Notes: UTM datum for all samples is Prov. S. Am 56, Zone 19 South
1 Dated at the University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona
2 Dated at Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, Australia
3 Dated at University of Tasmania, Tasmania, Australia
4 Dated at Washington State University, Washington

A well-defined belt of pyroxene olivine-bearing basaltic
to andesitic lava flows and minor felsic tuff interbeds extends
continuously throughout the greater Los Pelambres region
for ~60 km and constitutes the Pachn Formation (Fernn-
dez et al., 1974; Lencinas and Tonel, 1993). Near Los Pelam-
bres, as well as east of the international frontier, this unit
yields U-Pb zircon ages between 21.69 0.26 and 22.7 0.2
Ma and, in the Los Pelambres open pit, it is intruded by a
quartz-eye dacite sill with a U-Pb zircon age of 21.36 0.80
Ma (Perell et al., 2009; Table 1). The Pachn Formation is
the westernmost unit of the eastern domain, and throughout
the area is delimited westward by the Los Pelambres fault
(Fig. 3).
The central domain straddles the international frontier and
corresponds to a N- to NW-striking, ~5-km-wide, fault-
bounded zone of strongly deformed andesitic to basaltic lava
flows and tuffs, fluviatile epiclastic strata, and local lacustrine
limestone of the Los Pelambres Formation (Rivano and
Seplveda, 1991) as well as tectonic slivers of Cretaceous vol-
canic rocks (Fig. 3). The domain, defined and bounded by the
E-vergent Los Pelambres and Totoral and W-vergent
Gonzlez faults is intensely deformed, as indicated by vertical
and overturned strata, anastomosing, thrust-bounded tec-
tonic lenses, and widespread mesoscale, subisoclinal folds.
Newly obtained U-Pb zircon ages for the Los Pelambres For-
mation, ranging from 33.4 0.5 to 18.0 0.4 Ma (Table 1),
confirm its early Oligocene to early Miocene age (Mpodozis
et al., 2009; Perell et al., 2009), contrary to previous Early
Cretaceous age assignments (Rivano and Seplveda, 1991;
Bertens et al., 2006).
West of the Totoral and Gonzlez faults, the western domain
comprises a >2-km-thick, gently E-dipping sequence of conti-
nental volcanic, volcanosedimentary, and sedimentary rocks of
Cretaceous age, including the Salamanca Formation (Rivano
and Seplveda, 1991) and other undifferentiated units (Fig.
3). The steeply dipping Pocuro fault, first defined farther
south in central Chile by Carter and Aguirre (1965), consti-
tutes the tectonic contact between the Salamanca Formation
to the west and the other volcanic units farther east, which
become more intensely deformed on approach to the central
domain. The tectonic wedge of Cretaceous volcanic rocks
between the Totoral and Gonzlez faults is an example of

0361-0128/98/000/000-00 $6.00 83
84 PERELL ET AL.
particularly intense deformation (Fig. 3). The volcanic rocks
exposed east of the Pocuro fault yield U-Pb zircon ages be-
tween 75 and 70 Ma, similar to the 70.10 1.50 Ma age
(Table 1) obtained from the rhyolitic tuff at Los Pelambres
(see below). The Cretaceous volcanic rocks of the western do-
main are unconformably overlain northwest of Los Pelambres
by andesitic volcanic sequences of Paleocene age and, at Ro
Totoral, by similar rocks of latest Oligocene to early Miocene
age (Fig. 3). Immediately south of the area covered by Figure
3, the latter rocks provided U-Pb zircon ages of 24.9 0.5 and
22.2 0.4 Ma (Table 1) and are correlated with the north-
ernmost expressions of the Abanico Formation, widely dis-
tributed farther south (Charrier et al., 2002).
Intrusive rocks of the greater Los Pelambres region
Meso-Cenozoic intrusive magmatism is abundantly devel-
oped in the western domain where Late Cretaceous, Pale-
ocene, Eocene, and Oligocene plutons and stocks of generally
intermediate composition intrude the volcanic and vol-
canosedimentary sequences. However, intrusive activity is
markedly less abundant farther east. South of Los Pelambres,
at Ro Totoral, the large, isolated, pyroxene-bearing, Totoral
monzogranite pluton, with a single U-Pb zircon age of 18.5
0.4 Ma (Fig. 3; Table 1), intrudes and effectively constrains
the age of the Abanico Formation volcanism. Similarly, im-
mediately west of Los Pelambres, the large 25- 15-km,
multiphase, partly nested Chalinga intrusive complex (Fig. 3)
was initiated with pyroxene diorite and granodiorite phases,
followed by olivine gabbro and diorite. The early intrusions
have U-Pb zircon ages between 23.3 0.2 and 21.6 0.6 Ma,
whereas the later ones give U-Pb zircon ages of 18.6 0.4 and
18.1 0.5 Ma (Table 1). A third, quartz monzodiorite phase
forms the northern part of the Chalinga intrusive complex, a
southeastern lobe of which cuts the Totoral fault at the west-
ern edge of the central domain. This third phase yields U-Pb
zircon ages of 16.5 +0.3/0.2 and 15.1 0.6 Ma (Table 1),
thereby providing a minimum age for the Totoral reverse
fault at this latitude.
A string of equigranular to porphyritic, hornblende-bearing
quartz diorite and dacite stocks extends southeastward for
~70 km from the youngest phase of the Chalinga intrusive
complex to beyond the international frontier (Fig. 3) and in-
cludes, among others, the porphyry copper centers at Los
Pelambres, El Pachn, Yunque, and beyond the greater Los
Pelambres region, Cerro Mercedario (Sillitoe, 1977; Bertens
et al., 2006; Mpodozis et al., 2009; Perell et al., 2009). Dated
intrusions of this transverse intrusive trend yield new U-Pb
zircon ages of 15.4 0.4 and 15.0 0.3 Ma (Table 1). The
northwesternmost intrusion in this trend is the Los Pelam-
bres stock and satellite bodies, for which Bertens et al. (2003,
2006) and A. Bertens (writ. commun., 2007) reported U-Pb
zircon ages of 13.92 0.15 and 12.51 0.17 Ma. These in-
trusions were controlled by and sealed the Los Pelambres re-
verse fault during the waning stages of Chalinga intrusive
complex emplacement, in accord with the timing of the To-
toral fault reported above.
Igneous petrochemistry of the greater Los Pelambres region
The Oligocene to Miocene volcanic sequences of the greater
Los Pelambres region are predominantly composed of andesite,
0361-0128/98/000/000-00 $6.00
basaltic andesite, and basalt, the great majority with SiO2 con-
tents between 61 and 53%. They display FeO/MgO versus
SiO2 ratios transitional between the tholeiitic and calc-alka-
line fields and possess flat rare earth element patterns, with
La/Yb between 5 and 19 and La/Sm between 3 and 6 (Fig. 4).
Intrusive and volcanic rocks with ages between 18 and 15 Ma
display more felsic compositions (6762% SiO2), stronger arc-
like signatures, and higher La/Yb (634) but similar La/Sm
(37) ratios.
The Los Pelambres stock and related porphyry copper cen-
ters (see below) have low Nb/Ta ratios (<11) and steep rare
earth element patterns (La/Yb: 2672; Fig. 4). The Sm/Yb ra-
tios of 4 to 9 for these intrusive rocks indicate that amphibole
and garnet were stable as residual or crystallizing phases in a
deeper source region, in contrast to the Los Pelambres and
Pachn Formations, which are characterized by Sm/Yb ratios
between 2 and 3. These petrochemical features, together
with very high Sr/Y ratios (6192), place the porphyry copper-
related Los Pelambres intrusive rocks in the adakite field
(Fig. 4; cf. Reich et al., 2003), whereas the absence of Eu
anomalies is compatible with the highly oxidized state of the
magmas. The petrochemical evolution of the Los Pelambres
magmas is similar to that documented for other porphyry
copper deposits in central Chile (Kay and Mpodozis, 2002)
and supports emplacement during crustal thickening conse-
quent upon the tectonic contraction described above (Kay
and Mpodozis, 2002; Hollings et al., 2005).
Geology of Los Pelambres-Frontera Area
Country rocks
Los Pelambres and Frontera are spatially and genetically re-
lated to multiphase porphyry bodies that are located within and
immediately southeast of the Los Pelambres stock (Figs. 5, 6).
The stock is emplaced into the Late Cretaceous rhyolitic tuff
and late Oligocene to early Miocene Los Pelambres and
Pachn Formations (see above). The two formations are sepa-
rated by the N-striking Los Pelambres reverse fault (Figs. 3, 5).
East of the fault, the Pachn Formation is composed of
gently to steeply dipping (2070W), massive andesitic
flows and flow breccias, whereas moderately to steeply dip-
ping (5080W) epiclastic rocks and andesite flows consti-
tute the Los Pelambres Formation to the west (Figs. 3, 5).
Several roof pendants and large blocks of massive andesite,
some up to 500 m in vertical extent, are present in the Los
Pelambres stock, defining a NW-trending corridor through
the north-central parts of the open pit (Fig. 5). Within the pit
and its immediate environs, both formations are also in-
truded by numerous, coarse-grained, porphyritic andesite
dikes and sills of premineral age and, more locally, as in the
northern high wall of the pit, by quartz-eye-bearing sills of
dacitic composition (cf. quartz-feldspar porphyry of Atkinson
et al., 1996). West of the Los Pelambres fault, the brownish-
colored epiclastic sandstone and shale of the Los Pelambres
Formation unconformably overlie the Late Cretaceous rhy-
olitic tuff (Fig. 5).
Los Pelambres stock
The late Miocene Los Pelambres stock is a N-trending, 4.5-
2.5-km intrusion that has been intersected by drilling to a
84
 PORPHYRY Cu-Mo & Cu-Au DEPOSITS, LOS PELAMBRES, CENTRAL CHILE 85

10 200

Adakites
8 160

120 Los Pelambres

FeO*/MgO

6
Tholeiite

Sr/Y
4 80

Normal arc
2 Los Pelambres 40

Calc-alkaline
0 0
50 60 70 80 0 10 20 30 40
a SiO2 b Y

Oligocene-early Miocene
1000 Oligocene-early Miocene volcanic rocks volcanic rocks
Early Miocene Chalinga intrusive
Early Miocene volcanic rocks complex (23-22 Ma)
100
Early Miocene Totoral pluton
(18 Ma)
Early Miocene Laguna del Pelado
10 volcanic rocks (21-18 Ma)
Middle Miocene intrusive rocks
(16-15 Ma)

1 Nonmineralized Late Miocene

intrusive rocks (12-10 Ma)
Los Pelambres intrusive rocks

0.1 PYX = Pyroxene

Sm

HBL = Hornblende
Tm
Gd
Nd

Ho
Ce

Yb
Dy
Eu

Tb

Lu
La

Pr

Er

c GAR = Garnet

10
Los Pelambres
80
Adakites
8

60
Los Pelambres 6
La/Sm
La/Yb

40
4

20 2
Normal arc

0 0 PYX HBL GAR

0 1 2 3 4 5 0 3 4 6 8 10
d Yb e Sm/Yb

FIG. 4. Petrochemical features of the Oligocene and Miocene igneous rocks of the greater Los Pelambres region. a.
FeO*/MgO vs. SiO2 plot. Calc-alkaline and tholeiitic fields after Miyashiro (1974). b. Sr/Y vs Y plot. Adakite and normal arc
fields from Defant and Drummond (1990). c. Chondrite-normalized rare earth element patterns (Boynton, 1984). Note the
steep configuration and concave shape of the Los Pelambres intrusive rock patterns, indicating residual or crystallizing am-
phibole/garnet in the magma source region. d. La/Yb vs. Yb diagram highlighting the adakitic nature of the Los Pelambres
intrusive rocks. Fields are from Castillo (2012). e. La/Sm vs. Sm/Yb diagram displaying the strong petrochemical differences
between Oligocene to early Miocene volcanic and >15 Ma intrusive rocks compared to <15 Ma intrusions. The magmas of
the first group evolved at low pressures in the presence of pyroxene, whereas the younger group evolved at higher pressures
across the transition zone from amphibole to garnet stability, as indicated by higher Sm/Yb ratios. Ranges of Sm/Yb ratios are
from Kay et al. (1999).

0361-0128/98/000/000-00 $6.00 85
86 PERELL ET AL.

358,000 359,000 360,000 361,000

Low-grade Late mineral

FAULT
stockpile and Diorite and dacite porphyry
moraine deposits
Intermineral

S
RAM-05

MBR E
6,492,000 N Magmatic-hydrothermal centers
Magmatic-hydrothermal breccia
L O S P E LA
Porphyry A family

50 B Porphyry B family
Premineral
0
3,50 a a : Los Pelambres quartz diorite stock
MINA PORTEZUELO b (porphyritic within dotted line)
b : Satellite phases
3,300 PORTEZUELO
ESTE Country rocks
6,491,000 Pachn Formation
50
3,2 a : Dominantly andesite
80 a
70 b : Dacite sill
b
08
OUT LINE 20

A DAM-01 Los Pelambres Formation

A
(Figs.6a, 9b) Cretaceous rhyolitic tuff
3,200

70
Fault: mapped, inferred
PIT

DAM-18
6,490,000 Reverse fault (teeth on
CLUSTER upthrown block)
70
OESTE
500 m
MINA

AR GE E
VICTORIA MAM-03

CHIL
NT INA
70 70

6,489,000
DAM-10

PEGMATITA
SUR

FRONTERA
75

Low-grade
20
(Fig

stockpile
s.6
B
b, 9

6,488,000
c)

DAM-06

80
70

FIG. 5. Simplified geologic map of Los Pelambres-Frontera area, based on surface and pit mapping and core logging by
the authors. Basic geologic elements modified from Thomas (1967), Sillitoe (1973), and Atkinson et al. (1996). Positions of
sections presented in Figures 6 and 9 are also shown. UTM datum: Prov. S. Am 56, Zone 19 South.

0361-0128/98/000/000-00 $6.00 86
 PORPHYRY Cu-Mo & Cu-Au DEPOSITS, LOS PELAMBRES, CENTRAL CHILE 87

Meters above
sea level
3,800
A A
Original topography
2008 pit

3,400

3,000

30 year pit
c 1 cm

2,600 250 m
a
Meters above
sea level
B Original topography B
3,800

3,400 2008 pit

30 year pit 1 cm
d
3,000

2,600

400 m
b
a
Late porphyry a: Porphyry A family
b: Porphyry B family
b
Magmatic-hydrothermal centers
Los Pelambres stock
UST e 1 cm
Pachn Formation
Breccias Fault
a
a: Hydrothermal cement Los Pelambres Formation
b: Igneous matrix
b
FIG. 6. Representative geologic sections and principal intrusive phases of Los Pelambres porphyry copper-molybdenum
deposit. a. East-west transverse section. b. Northwest-southeast longitudinal section. Note the southeast plunge of the por-
phyry centers and associated features. c. Quartz diorite of Los Pelambres stock. d. Porphyry B, Los Pelambres. e. Porphyry
A, Los Pelambres.

depth of 1.5 km (Figs. 5, 6). The stock is composed of sev-
eral discrete phases, including medium- and fine-grained,
equigranular as well as porphyritic varieties. The bulk of the
stock is made up of light- to medium-gray, subequigranular
to hypidiomorphic equigranular quartz diorite (tonalite of
Sillitoe, 1973, following IUGS classification [Streckeisen,
1973]), with a dominance of plagioclase of andesine compo-
sition over biotitized hornblende and biotite (Atkinson et al.,
1996; Table 2; Fig. 6c). Minor quartz and K-feldspar occur
interstitially in the equigranular phases, and aplitic ground-
mass is common in the porphyritic phases. Porphyritic
quartz diorite occupies an important volume in the east-cen-
tral part of the Los Pelambres stock (Fig. 5), but its contact
relationship with the rest of this intrusion is poorly defined.
However, local observations suggest that the porphyritic
phases postdate emplacement of the equigranular quartz
diorite.
Intermineral porphyry phases
Numerous intermineral porphyry phases are present at Los
Pelambres and Frontera, which, for practical reasons, are
herein grouped into two main families: porphyry A and por-
phyry B (cf. Atkinson et al., 1996). The porphyry phases typi-
cally comprise dikes and small bodies of irregular geometry,
the majority of which are clustered in the central parts of the
Los Pelambres stock (Figs. 5, 6). A poorly defined alignment
of minor intrusions cutting andesitic rocks of the Pachn For-
mation extends for ~2 km southeastward into the Frontera
deposit and beyond (Fig. 5). At least 20 discrete intrusive cen-
ters form the central cluster of porphyry A and porphyry B,
the largest ones attaining 250 m in diameter where subcircu-
lar and 500 m in length where dike-like in form (Fig. 5). Both
the porphyry A and porphyry B families consist of multiple
phases, many of which could not be unambiguously corre-
lated on a hole-to-hole basis.

0361-0128/98/000/000-00 $6.00 87
 88

TABLE 2. Principal Characteristics of the Los Pelambres-Frontera Porphyry-Related Intrusive Units

0361-0128/98/000/000-00 $6.00
Dominant phenocryst phase Groundmass
Vol %
Unit (rock type) phenocrysts Quartz K-feldspar Plagioclase Biotite Amphibole2 Vol % Composition Textural features

Los Pelambres 70 1525% 510% 6065% 310% 310% 30 Aplitic (quartz- Quartz diorite comprises ~90% of the stock;
stock1 0.52 mm 26 mm (to 1 cm) 15 mm 15 mm K-feldspar), light to medium gray, medium-grained
An30-An40 amphibole (1-3 mm), subequigranular to equigranular,
hypidiomorphic; porphyritic (porphyritic
quartz diorite) and fine-grained equigranular
(microdiorite) phases present

Porphyry B 50-65 15% Minor to absent 4075% 520% 520% 3540 Felsitic, Dominantly of dacitic composition; light to
family (PB) 12.5 mm 28 mm 24 mm 24 mm microaplitic; medium gray or brownish, with medium-
plagioclase, grained (2-4 mm) crowded porphyritic
K-feldspar, texture; miarolitic cavities locally present;
quartz, biotite, multiple phases apparent on the basis of
amphibole crosscutting relationships

88
Porphyry A 35 <2% Minor to absent 2040% 1020 % 1020% 65 Trachytic; Dominantly of andesitic composition; dark
family (PA) <1 mm 16.5 mm 16 mm 16 mm biotite, gray to brown, medium to fine-grained
PERELL ET AL.

An30-An40 plagioclase, (1-3 mm) porphyritic texture; miarolitic

rare interstitial cavities locally present; biotite is dominant
quartz component of groundmass; multiple phases
apparent on the basis of crosscutting
relationships

Late Porphyry (L) 70 <1% Absent 4060% 510% 510% 30 Biotite, Dominantly of microdioritic composition; as
0.51 mm 12 mm 12 mm 12 mm plagioclase, dikes between 20 and 30 m wide of limited
amphibole distribution; the terminal phase at Frontera
is light gray and medium-grained (1-4 mm)
porphyritic, with dacitic composition

Notes: All phases contain variable amounts of apatite, magnetite, rutile, and zircon as accessories; hematite occurs as inclusions in rutile in porphyry A and B phases
1 Porphyritic phase (Fig. 5)
2 All amphibole, dominantly hornblende, is moderately to completely altered to biotite
 PORPHYRY Cu-Mo & Cu-Au DEPOSITS, LOS PELAMBRES, CENTRAL CHILE 89

Porphyry B dikes and coalescent bodies are characterized
by crowded, medium-grained, porphyritic textures, with an
overall dacitic composition (Table 2; Fig. 6d). In contrast,
porphyry A intrusions are finer grained, darker brown in
color, and dominantly andesitic in composition (Table 2; Fig.
6e). Oriented plagioclase and biotite phenocrysts impart a
characteristic and readily identifiable, banded texture to
many of the porphyry A phases. Although porphyry B is locally
observed to cut porphyry A, it is normally the case in por-
phyry centers containing both families that porphyry A post-
dates porphyry B and truncates some of its contained veinlets.
This observation contradicts the relative age relationship pro-
posed by Atkinson et al. (1996, fig. 14), who preferred an
early, premineral timing for the porphyry A family. These ap-
parently mutually crosscutting relationships suggest the pos-
sibility that, in fact, there may be more than one generation
of both porphyry A and porphyry B (see below). Localized
miarolitic cavities, containing biotite, chlorite, anhydrite, and
chalcopyrite, are present in both of the porphyry families, im-
plying fluid segregation and entrapment during porphyry
consolidation (cf. Candela, 1997).
Related magmatic-hydrothermal features
At least 12 of the porphyry centers within the open pit at
Los Pelambres and beyond are characterized by one or more
closely related features indicative of the magmatic to hydro-
thermal transition. These features, elaborated in Table 3,
comprise aplite, pegmatite, unidirectional solidification tex-
tures (cf. Shannon et al., 1982), and magmatic-hydrothermal
and igneous breccias (cf. Sillitoe, 1985) as well as the copper,
molybdenum, and gold mineralization (see below). An ideal-
ized reconstruction of the features with respect to a porphyry
center is given in Figure 7a. The developmental sequence of
these features in each center is complex, and not necessarily
the same in all centers, with exposure level clearly being an
important determinant of what is observed. As summarized in

Aplite-pegmatite Zone of pervasive

pods and dikes sericite-chlorite alteration

Sheeted quartz
veinlets and local Magmatic-hydrothermal
UST development breccia with hydrothermal
cement > igneous matrix

1 cm
d
Magmatic-hydrothermal
breccia with dominantly
igneous matrix bn
bi
Intermineral porphyry
phase with irregular bn qz
miarolitic cavities

a 100 m cp

an

1 cm
e

3 cm
b

1 cm 3 cm
c f
FIG. 7. Magmatic-hydrothermal features of Los Pelambres porphyry copper-molybdenum and Frontera copper-gold de-
posits. a. Idealized reconstruction of magmatic-hydrothermal and igneous breccias, aplite-pegmatite bodies, unidirectional
solidification texture (UST), and sheeted quartz veinlets with respect to an underlying porphyry A or B center. b. Aplite with
pegmatitic clots of brown and green biotite and K-feldspar. c. Sheeted quartz veinlets, associated with bornite and chal-
copyrite (dark spots). d. Unidirectional solidification texture defined by quartz layers. e. Magmatic-hydrothermal breccia,
cemented by quartz (qz), biotite (bi), bornite (bn), chalcopyrite (cp), and anhydrite (an). f. Igneous breccia, with porphyry B
matrix (dark, indicated by scratcher).

0361-0128/98/000/000-00 $6.00 89
 TABLE 3. Main Features of Selected Magmatic-Hydrothermal Centers at Los Pelambres-Frontera 90

Sulfide
Dimensions (m) Elevation assemblage
length of highest Vertical zonation and down- Average grade
width exposure Shape of facies Causative Veinlet intensity plunge
Center vertical (m asl) strike/plunge top bottom porphyry phase Host rocks (A and B type) zonation Cu (%) Mo (%) Au (ppm)

RAM-05 160 120 250 3,600 Subcircular Pegmatite Two families Los Pelambres Low (<3/m2) Py-Cp 0.20.3 <0.01 n.a.
10/80 S UST PA of PA stock

0361-0128/98/000/000-00 $6.00
Mina 170 70 300 3,400 Subcircular Tourmaline- PA Los Pelambres Moderate to Py-Cp >0.6 <0.01 <0.01
Portezuelo 0/55 SE anhydrite stock high (1020/m2) Cp-Py
breccia Cp-Bo
pegmatite PA
Portezuelo 170 130 210 3,500 Irregular Pegmatite PB Los Pelambres Low to Cp-Py 0.40.6 <0.01 <0.01
Este ~0/ 55 E igneous stock moderate Cp
breccia PB (310/m2)
DAM-01 180 90 >700 3,150 Subcircular; UST anhydrite PB Los Pelambres Moderate to Cp-Bo >1.0 ~0.050.08 0.05
cylinder-like breccia igneous stock very high Bo-Cp
30/55 SE breccia PB (10>30/m2)
DAM-18 400 80 >700 3,200 Subcircular Tourmaline PB Los Pelambres Low to Py 0.6 ~0.030.05 <0.01
to tabular breccia igneous stock moderate Py-Cp
10/55 SE breccia PB (310/m2) Cp-Bo
Cluster 600 240 >600 3,100 Highly Anhydrite PB Los Pelambres Low to Cp 0.40.6 0.02 <0.01
Oeste irregular; breccia igneous intruded stock moderate Cp-Bo

90
limits poorly breccia PB, by PA (310/m2)
defined probable PA
0/55 SE
PERELL ET AL.

Mina 160 70 >300 3,150 Subcircular Pegmatite PB Los Pelambres Low to Cp-Bo 0.6 0.02 <0.01
Victoria 0/55 SE anhydrite-biotite- stock and moderate Bo-Cp
tourmaline Pachn (310/m2)
breccia PB Formation
andesite
MAM-03 150 140 450 3,450 Subcircular; Anhydrite PA Pachn Moderate Cp-Bo 0.40.5 <0.005 0.1
cylinder-like breccia PA Formation (1020/m2) Bo-Cp
0/80 SE andesite
DAM-10 150 100 300 3,300 Cylinder-like Pegmatite PA Pachn Low to Cp-Bo 0.40.5 <0.002 0.10.2
0/ 80 SE UST PA Formation moderate Bo-Cp
andesite (310/m2)
Pegmatita 470 90 >400 3,300 Tabular Pegmatite PB PB Los Pelambres Low (<3/m2) Py 0.20.3 <0.005 <0.01
Sur 0/75 E stock Cp-Py
DAM-06 120 100 >600 3,800 Subcircular Quartz-anhydrite PB Pachn Low to Cp-Py 0.3 <0.002 0.1
to tabular breccia PB, intruded Formation moderate Cp-Bo
0/85 E probable PA by PA andesite (310/m2) Bo-Cp
DDH-1061 120 80 250 2,900 Subcircular Anhydrite PB Los Pelambres Moderate Cp-Bo 0.61.0 0.010.02 <0.01
0/65 E breccia stock to high
pegmatite PB (1030/m2)

Abbreviations: PA = Porphyry A family, PB = Porphyry B family, UST= Unidirectional solidification texture, n.a. = not available
Sulfides: Bo = bornite, Cp = chalcopyrite, Py = pyrite
 PORPHYRY Cu-Mo & Cu-Au DEPOSITS, LOS PELAMBRES, CENTRAL CHILE
Table 3, the features are preserved at various elevations be-
tween 3,600 and 2,900 m above sea level and, in combination,
display irregular forms, particularly where clustered (e.g.,
Cluster Oeste; Fig. 5). This clustering led previously to inter-
pretation of a single, large breccia body (the Central breccia;
Atkinson et al., 1996). The breccias and related features are
generally <200 m in diameter, although larger (up to 600 m)
bodies occur where clustered or elongated (e.g., Pegmatita
Sur; Fig. 5). Vertical extents, constrained by drilling, range
from 210 to 700 m; typically, they display a SE plunge of 55
on average, although steeper attitudes are also observed
(Table 3). The magmatic-hydrothermal brecciation and asso-
ciated features are better developed on the southeastern,
hanging wall rather than northwestern, footwall sides of the
centers (Fig. 6b).
In the idealized section (Fig. 7a), aplite and pegmatite con-
stitute composite bodies in which both products are inti-
mately and irregularly mixed (Fig. 7b). These bodies occur to-
gether with sheeted quartz veinlets (Fig. 7c) and
unidirectional solidification textures (Fig. 7d) in the roof
zones of the breccia bodies and/or the associated causative in-
trusions. The pegmatite portions comprise several of quartz,
K-feldspar, biotite, chlorite, tourmaline, sericite, anhydrite,
and copper-iron sulfides, an association similar to that in the
miarolitic cavities in the subjacent porphyry bodies (see
above). Magmatic-hydrothermal breccia is normally polymict
and composed of clasts of several intrusive phases, including
the Los Pelambres quartz diorite, as well as andesite in the
vicinity of volcanic country rock (e.g., Frontera deposit). The
hydrothermal cement is made up of the same minerals as
those in the aplite-pegmatite bodies (Fig. 7e). Downward, the
hydrothermal cement becomes progressively less at the ex-
pense of an igneous matrix of porphyry A or B composition
(Fig. 7f).
Late mineral porphyry phases
Late mineral diorite porphyry and microdiorite dikes are
exposed at surface and have been encountered by drilling,
predominantly in the zone between Los Pelambres and Fron-
tera (Figs. 5, 6b). The typically N- to NE-striking, steeply dip-
ping dikes along the southeastern margin of the Los Pelam-
bres stock are 20 to 30 m wide and several hundred meters
long, and display equigranular, microphaneritic textures. The
late mineral body at Frontera strikes northwest and has a
dacitic composition and coarse-grained, porphyritic texture
(Table 2).
Structure
The tectonic development of the Los Pelambres-Frontera
area is dominated by the N-striking, high-angle Los Pelam-
bres reverse fault, a brittle structure that places the Late Cre-
taceous rhyolitic tuff and late Oligocene to early Miocene Los
Pelambres Formation over the early Miocene Pachn For-
mation (Figs. 3, 5). The western lobe of the Los Pelambres
stock cuts the fault, thereby implying that final displacement
took place prior to mid-Miocene intrusion (see above). The
westerly monoclinal dips of both the Los Pelambres and
Pachn Formations steepen markedly on approach to the
fault. Immediately north and south of the Los Pelambres
stock, the epiclastic units of the Los Pelambres Formation
0361-0128/98/000/000-00 $6.00
91
display ramp structures and tight local folding about N-strik-
ing axes.
A series of NE-striking, 55 to 70 SE-dipping faults, de-
fined by late-stage swarms of veins and veinlets and associated
alteration and mineralization (see below), cut the west-central
parts of the Los Pelambres stock (Fig. 5). A principal compo-
nent of this fault set appears to displace the Los Pelambres
stock contact and Los Pelambres fault (Fig. 5). Nonetheless,
there is no obvious structural control of the porphyry centers
and associated breccias and other features, which appear to
have an entirely random distribution; however, the three
Frontera centers do define a southeast alignment.
Hydrothermal Alteration and Mineralization
Alteration-mineralization assemblages
Los Pelambres and Frontera partly conform to the classic
Lowell and Guilbert (1970) hydrothermal alteration model, in
which a potassic center grades laterally to an annular sericitic
zone surrounded by a propylitic halo (Sillitoe, 1973; Fig. 8a).
The bulk of the hypogene metal resource is hosted by the
large potassic zone, shown by drilling to extend to a depth of
at least 1.2 km, whereas the sericitic halo is largely pyritic.
The potassic alteration is defined by the presence of hydro-
thermal biotite and K-feldspar together with anhydrite, chal-
copyrite bornite trace digenite, and molybdenite (Sillitoe,
1973). Hornblende in the igneous rocks at Los Pelambres is
almost totally converted to fine-grained, shreddy, brown bi-
otite, and plagioclase is partially replaced by K-feldspar (Silli-
toe, 1973; Skewes, 1985; Skewes and Atkinson, 1985; Atkin-
son et al., 1996). In contrast to Los Pelambres, the potassic
alteration at Frontera is developed mainly in andesitic rocks
of the Pachn Formation, which are transformed to gra-
noblastic aggregates of fine-grained, brown biotite accompa-
nied by subordinate chlorite and apatite. Minor epiclastic
horizons in the Pachn Formation are replaced by alternating
bands of garnet, hedenbergite, actinolite, and chlorite.
Hydrothermal magnetite is present locally at Los Pelambres
but is abundant (>5 vol %) in the biotitized rocks at Frontera
(Sillitoe, 1973; Perell et al., 2007, 2009, 2011). The mag-
matic-hydrothermal and igneous breccias, described above,
are integral parts of the potassic zone at both Los Pelambres
and Frontera. The breccias, unlike the pervasive potassic
zone, contain brown and green biotite as well as being char-
acterized by the development of sericite chlorite in their
apical parts (Fig. 7a).
The annular sericitic zone is best developed in the north-
western quadrant (Fig, 8a), where it coincides with the NE-
striking structural zone, elements of which affect not only the
Los Pelambres stock but also extend for up to 1 km into the
propylitic andesitic host rocks. The sericitic alteration clearly
overprints and destroys the earlier formed potassic assem-
blage and comprises quartz, sericite, pyrite, and subsidiary
schorlitic tourmaline, the latter present as patches, veinlets,
and rosettes (Sillitoe, 1973). Tennantite, chalcopyrite, galena,
sphalerite, molybdenite, and trace digenite are minor con-
stituents. Locally, internal parts of the northeast structural
corridor contain andalusite and kaolinite, minerals denoting
the existence of advanced argillic alteration. Silicified an-
desitic rocks mapped previously in the northeastern quadrant
91
92 PERELL ET AL.

359,000 361,000 359,000 361,000

3,5 N
00
0
3,50

3,300 3,300

08
08
50 50

20
20
3,2 3,2

I NE
I NE
N 00
3,2

P I T O UT L
P I T O UT L

3,200
6,490,000 LOS PELAMBRES
LOS PELAMBRES

FRONTERA
1 km
FRONTERA
1 km Veinlet intensity
2
6,488,000 Sericitic Low (up to 3 veinlets/m )
Potassic Moderate (up to 10 veinlets/m 2)
Propylitic High (up to 20 veinlets/m2 )
a b
359,000 361,000

6,492,000 N

3,5
00

3,300
08 50
3,2
20
OUT LINE

00
3,2

LOS PELAMBRES
PIT

6,490,000

d 2 cm

1 km
FRONTERA

Veinlet intensity
Low (up to 3 veinlets/m2 )
6,488,000 Moderate (up to 10 veinlets/m2 )
High (up to 20 veinlets/m2 )
Very high (up to 40 veinlets/m2 ) 2 cm
c e

f 2 cm g 2 cm

FIG. 8. Hydrothermal alteration and veinlet types at Los Pelambres and Frontera. a. Map of alteration zoning. b. Distri-
bution of type 4 veinlets. c. Distribution of A- and B-type veinlets. d. Biotite-rich type 4 veinlet (dark) cut by an A-type quartz
veinlet (pale), porphyry B, Los Pelambres. e. Magnetite-rich type 4 veinlets cut by magnetite-bearing A veinlet, porphyry B,
Frontera. f. B veinlet with molybdenite along its margins (shown by scratcher tip), Los Pelambres stock. g. D veinlets con-
taining pyrite and tennantite (dark), porphyry B, northeast structural zone, Los Pelambres. a, b, and c based on a combina-
tion of core logging and pit and surface mapping. UTM datum: Prov. S. Am 56, Zone 19 South.

0361-0128/98/000/000-00 $6.00 92
 PORPHYRY Cu-Mo & Cu-Au DEPOSITS, LOS PELAMBRES, CENTRAL CHILE
(Sillitoe, 1973) also contain andalusite and, in the topograph-
ically higher (~3,700 m) parts of the northeast corridor, veins
containing andalusite, sericite, barite, gypsum (after anhy-
drite), and native sulfur cut the propylitic halo (cf. Sillitoe,
1973).
Veinlet types and distribution
Six main veinlet types are widely recognized throughout
the potassic zone at Los Pelambres and Frontera, which, from
oldest to youngest based on crosscutting relationships, com-
prise early biotite, green mica, type 4, A, B, and D (Skewes
and Atkinson, 1985; Atkinson et al., 1996; Table 4; Fig. 8d-g);
only the last four types were systematically counted at the de-
posit scale and incorporated in the resource model (Fig. 8b,
c). The entire veinlet sequence is characterized by the pres-
ence of varied amounts of anhydrite and tourmaline (Table 4).
These six veinlet types, described in Table 4, are widely rec-
ognized in porphyry copper deposits worldwide (e.g., See-
dorff et al., 2005; Sillitoe, 2010). At Los Pelambres-Frontera,
the most widespread veinlet types are type 4, A, and B, which
have a combined footprint of approximately 4 2 km (Fig.
8b, c). The distribution of these three veinlet types defines
NE and SE trends, which mirror the structural and geologic
elements described above (Fig. 8b, c). Within these trends,
there is a concentric distribution of veinlet intensities, culmi-
nating in discrete centers of greatest veinlet development
(Fig. 8b, c). The early biotite and green mica veinlets are also
widely, but irregularly, distributed and, hence, not readily
countable. In contrast, the D veinlets are concentrated in the
northeast structural corridor in the northwestern quadrant,
where their latest representatives contain the base metal sul-
fides listed above besides abundant pyrite (Table 4; Fig. 8g).
The early biotite and green mica veinlets contain only triv-
ial amounts of copper-bearing sulfide minerals. The earliest
significant introduction of copper and molybdenum at Los
Pelambres and copper and gold at Frontera accompanied
generation of the type 4 veinlets (Fig. 8d, e). The type 4 vein-
lets make a major contribution to the copper inventory at Los
Pelambres, probably accounting for approximately 0.4% of
the deposit average grade of 0.56% Cu; this is somewhat less
than the figure estimated by Atkinson et al. (1996) for shallow
levels of the orebody where chalcocite enrichment was ubiq-
uitous (see below). In common with similar (early dark mica-
ceous; Meyer, 1965) veinlets elsewhere, most of the con-
tained chalcopyrite and bornite are disseminated in the halos,
which are composed of admixed quartz, K-feldspar, biotite,
sericite, phengitic sericite, andalusite, anhydrite, corundum,
rutile, and plagioclase (Skewes and Atkinson, 1985; Atkinson
et al., 1996; Proffett, 2009; Table 4). The A- and B-type vein-
let generations, some with weakly developed K-feldspar
halos (Table 4; Fig. 8d, f), contain the rest of the copper in
both deposits, and, in conjunction with the magmatic-hydro-
thermal breccias, clearly give rise to the centers of highest
grade. The type 4 veinlets contain relatively minor, but
widely distributed, molybdenite at Los Pelambres, but the B
veinlets account for at least 60% of the total; however, B
veinlets are more sparsely developed at Frontera, which, as a
result, contains less molybdenite (5060 ppm Mo; Perell et
al., 2011). The gold at Frontera is hosted by the type 4 and A
veinlets, which, unlike their counterparts at Los Pelambres,
0361-0128/98/000/000-00 $6.00
93
contain appreciable amounts of magnetite and subsidiary
actinolite (Fig. 8e). The Frontera deposit also contains early,
sulfide-poor magnetite-actinolite veinlets with prominent al-
bite halos.
Sulfide and metal zoning
The sulfide minerals at Los Pelambres and Frontera are
zoned within and around the individual porphyry centers
(Table 3), from the scale of the A and B veinlets to whole-rock
volumes, and independently of the host rock (Atkinson et al.,
1996). In contrast, the type 4 veinlets are not zoned around
the individual porphyry centers but nonetheless do contribute
to the deposit-scale sulfide zoning pattern (Fig. 8b). The cores
of the porphyry centers, where A- and B-type veinlet intensi-
ties are highest but not necessarily everywhere the same, are
characterized by chalcopyrite/bornite ratios of 2 to 3 at Los
Pelambres but as low as unity at Frontera where total sulfide
contents are much less (<1 vol %). Bornite contents are high-
est in the cores of the porphyry centers and decrease both
outward and upward to give rise to chalcopyrite, chalcopyrite
plus pyrite, and, eventually, pyrite alone. Nonetheless, total
sulfide contents remain approximately the same (~2 vol %)
through to the pyrite halo, except within the overprinted
sericitic alteration along the NE-striking structural zone (Fig.
8a), where pyrite contents locally attain 5 vol %. The por-
phyry A centers are everywhere lower grade than porphyry B
centers. Sulfides in the apical portions of the magmatic-
hydrothermal breccias in both porphyry A and B centers tend
to be both higher grade and coarser grained than those in the
associated porphyry intrusion and immediate wall rock (Fig.
7e). A few porphyry centers situated near the margins of the
Los Pelambres stock are less strongly veined and more
pyritic, in keeping with their position in the deposit-scale zon-
ing pattern (e.g., RAM-05 and Pegmatita Sur; Fig. 5; Table 3).
The most remarkable aspect of metal zoning at Los Pelam-
bres-Frontera is the distribution of molybdenum and gold,
with the former concentrated at Los Pelambres and the latter
almost exclusively confined to Frontera (Fig. 9a). Copper, in
contrast, spans both deposits. At Los Pelambres, molybde-
num tenors of >50 ppm define a N-trending zone, some 4 km
long and up to 1 km wide (Fig. 9a). However, the highest
molybdenum values are confined to the north-central part of
this zone, which is characterized by a steep, SE-plunging
cylindrical body containing >200 ppm Mo (Fig. 9a, c). The
high-grade, hypogene copper mineralization (>0.6%) also
plunges southeastward at a similar angle, in conformity with
the partly coalesced porphyry centers (Fig. 9b). There is a
clearcut correlation between gold and hydrothermal mag-
netite, which is most marked at Frontera but remains valid
even for the minor gold occurrences within the Los Pelam-
bres deposit (Fig. 9a). Nonetheless, a single, small bornite-
rich zone within the apical part of the DAM-01 magmatic-
hydrothermal breccia (Fig. 5) contains up to 0.1 g/t Au even
though it lacks magnetite.
Most of Los Pelambres and all Frontera are devoid of ar-
senic, which is associated almost exclusively with the over-
printed sericitic alteration and tennantite-bearing D vein-
lets that define the northeast structural corridor in the
northwestern quadrant of Los Pelambres (Fig. 9d). Nonethe-
less, values are relatively low (<550 ppm As).
93
94 PERELL ET AL.

TABLE 4. Principal Veinlet Types at Los Pelambres-Frontera:

Veinlet fill

Veinlet type Dimensions Habit Gangue Sulfides

Early Biotite (EB) Few cm long and Planar to sub-planar seams Biotite, anhydrite, quartz; Minor; mainly Cp and Bo;
<1 cm wide with diffuse margins local tourmaline and chlorite trace Po and Py in places

Green Mica (GM) Few cm long and Highly variable, from planar
<0.5-1 cm wide and continuous central fill
to poorly defined alignments
of intermittent clots
Type 4 (T4) Several tens of cm long; Central fill variable in
halos up to 1 m wide outline; halos typically 5-10
times wider than central
veinlet fill
Typically white and/or green Minor; mainly Cp and Bo
sericite (phengite), biotite,
and chlorite; variable K-
feldspar, anhydrite, plagio-
clase, andalusite, corundum,
and tourmaline
Quartz, green phengitic Present; Cp, Bo, and Mol;
sericite, K-feldspar, tourmaline, Py increases laterally
and anhydrite; variable
andalusite and corundum

A-type (A) Early veinlets are short Early representatives are
and discontinuous, a few wavy with fuzzy edges;
cm long; later veinlets central fill is granular and
are continuous >5-10 cm sugary in texture; later
representatives typically
planar, with sharp edges
B-type (B) Several cm to tens of cm Planar, with sharp edges;
long and 1-2 cm wide centerline well developed
and continuous; comb
textures common
Granular quartz, K-feldspar,
and anhydrite with variable
biotite and trace tourmaline;
veinlets of pure quartz
common
Quartz, K-feldspar, and
anhydrite with variable
amounts of tourmaline
Important; mainly Cp, Bo,
Mol; Di locally present;
Py increases laterally
Important; Cp, Bo, Mol, Py.
Py increases laterally; Mol-only
veinlets locally dominant

D-type (D) Several tens of cm to Planar and continuous, with
meters long and a few sharp edges and sericitic
cm to tens of cm wide halos; in structurally con-
trolled zones at Los
Pelambres, with minor
hydrothermal breccia;
coarse-grained sulfide fill
Typically quartz only, but
anhydrite and tourmaline
locally present
Dominantly Py, but Cp and
Mol in places; Ten, Ga, Di,
and Sph present in large
transgressive corridors at
Los Pelambres

Abbreviations: Bo = bornite, Cp = chalcopyrite, Di = digenite, Ga = galena, Mol = molybdenite, Po = pyrrhotite, Sph = sphalerite, Ten = tennantite

Supergene Alteration and Mineralization
Supergene profile
The supergene profile at Los Pelambres is thinnest beneath
the floor of the U-shaped glacial valley (Fig. 2a), where sul-
fide oxidation is locally as little as 6 m and chalcocite enrich-
ment is vestigial (Sillitoe, 1973; Fig. 9b). However, the profile
thickens as the pyrite halo is approached beneath the valley
sides, where sulfide oxidation penetrates in places to depths
of 200 m and the immaturely developed enrichment zone av-
erages ~80 m thick, but locally attains a maximum of ~350 m
(Atkinson et al., 1996; Fig. 9b).
The leached capping is predominantly goethitic within the
confines of the potassic zone but becomes increasingly
jarosite rich peripherally as pyrite contents increase (Fig. 2a).
In the goethitic capping, oxide copper minerals are relatively
uncommon and consist mainly of malachite, although azurite,
chrysocolla, chalcanthite, brochantite, and pseudomalachite
are reported from the eastern parts of the potassic zone (Sil-
litoe, 1973). Nevertheless, the close coincidence between the
>300-ppm Cu isopleth in talus fines and the mapped potassic
zone at surface (Maranzana, 1972) emphasizes that copper
removal was incomplete.
In contrast, at Frontera, copper leaching is minimal and an
oxidized zone, containing malachite and pitch limonite
(cupriferous goethite) and averaging 140 m thick, is underlain
by immature supergene enrichment, which is best developed
within the uppermost 50 to 120 m of the sulfide zone, where

0361-0128/98/000/000-00 $6.00 94
 PORPHYRY Cu-Mo & Cu-Au DEPOSITS, LOS PELAMBRES, CENTRAL CHILE 95

Summary of Alteration-Mineralization Assemblages

Veinlet halo

Gangue Sulfides Distribution Comments

Normally without halos, but
locally with incipient albite
and/or chlorite
Quartz, K-feldspar plus trace
biotite and andalusite
None to minor Irregularly distributed throughout the
Los Pelambres stock, but never in
countable amounts; rare in Porphyry B
and A phases
Minor; Irregularly distributed within the
Cp and Bo Los Pelambres stock, but never in
countable amounts; rare in Porphyry
B and A phases
Typically the earliest veinlet event; probably
accompanied by widespread biotitization of mag-
matic ferromagnesian componets in all intrusive
phases, but dominantly in the Los Pelambres stock;
some generations possibly transitional to T4 and
GM veinlets; magnetite is an important veinlet
constituent at Frontera
Transitional between EB and T4 veinlets, and
locally a variety of T4; magnetite is an important
veinlet constituent at Frontera

Variable mixtures of quartz,
K-feldspar, biotite, sericite,
phengitic sericite, andalusite,
anhydrite, corundum, rutile,
and plagioclase
Uncommon in early wavy
veinlets; later veinlets are
more planar with K-feldspar
Uncommon; locally K-feldspar
halos are incipiently developed;
weak sericitic halos present in
outer parts of Los Pelambres
Important; sericite, muscovitic
sericite, and montmorillonite,
plus local trace albite
Important; Cp, Widely distributed throughout Los
Bo, Mol; minor Pelambres and Frontera, although most
Di in places; Py common within Los Pelambres stock and
increases laterally Porphyry B phases; decreasing intensity
in Porphyry A phases
None to minor; Widely distributed throughout Los
Cp, Bo Pelambres and Frontera, but more
intense around emanative centers
associated with porphyry B phases and
UST zones; porphyry A phases contain
proportionally lesser amounts
Minor; Widely distributed throughout Los
Cp, Bo, Mol Pelambres where they occur together
with A veinlets, mainly in Porphyry B
phases in proximity to emanative centers;
a central zone at Los Pelambres contains
high-grade Mo in emanative centers
DAM-1 and Cluster Oeste
Important; dom- A several hundred-meter wide swarm cuts
inantly Py with through the central and northwestern
variable amounts quadrant of Los Pelambres with a
of Ten, Ga, Sph, dominatly 35-40 strike, 50-60SE dip and Sph
and Cp
Earliest significant contributor of Cu (Mo) at Los
Pelambres and Cu-Au at Frontera; deposit-scale
zonation includes central parts of Los Pelambres
with Cp-Bo T4 veinlets and peripheral parts
dominated by Py-bearing veinlets; everywhere T4
veinlets are crosscut by A-, B-, and D-type veinlets,
although multiple generations and mutually cross-
cutting relationships with A and B veinlets locally
present
Significant contributors of Cu (Mo) at Los
Pelambres and Cu-Au at Frontera; laterally
zoned, with Cp-Bo zones in central parts and
Py-dominated veinlets in peripheral parts of Los
Pelambres; later veinlet events transitional to B,
although multiple generations present
Principal contributor of Mo at Los Pleambres;
several generations present with mutual cross-
cutting relationships with A veinlets; almost
absent at Frontera, where they contribute to
background Mo contents (~50 ppm)
Although dominantly Py-rich, a terminal event of
Cu introduction, together with As, along trans-
gressive veinlet and vein swarms with Ten plus Ga

the chalcocite occurs as thin replacement coatings on chal-
copyrite, bornite, and minor pyrite grains (Perell et al.,
2011). Minor cuprite and native copper occur in the vicinity
of the oxide-sulfide interface.
Anhydrite front
Los Pelambres and Frontera are both characterized by an
abrupt anhydrite front, above which nearly all the anhydrite
in both the veinlets and host rock has been removed by the
passage of cool ground water to leave characteristic open
pores and cavities (Sillitoe, 1973). The anhydrite front com-
monly coincides closely with the base of chalcocite enrich-
ment (Fig. 9b), although in places it is developed up to 50 m
deeper (Atkinson et al., 1996).
Geochronology of Intrusive Rocks and
Mineralization at Los Pelambres-Frontera
U-Pb zircon ages of intrusive rocks
This study is underpinned by 18 new LA-ICP-MS U-Pb zir-
con ages on intrusive rocks (Table 5). Two of these ages show
that the Los Pelambres quartz diorite stock was emplaced be-
tween 13.60 0.30 and 13.00 0.70 Ma, which are broadly
compatible with previously reported U-Pb zircon ages rang-
ing from 13.92 0.15 to 12.51 0.17 Ma (Bertens et al.,
2003, 2006; A. Bertens, writ. commun., 2007; see above).
Eight ages for six different porphyry B centers at Los
Pelambres and Frontera range from 12.30 0.30 to 10.80
0.23 Ma, defining an interval of ~1.5 m.y. Seven ages for

0361-0128/98/000/000-00 $6.00 95
96 PERELL ET AL.

N N N
6,492,000

00
3,500 3,5 3,500
2008

2008

2008
3,300 00 3,300
3,3
0
25
E

NE

NE
3,
OUT LIN

OUT LI

OUT LI

3,25
3,25

0
0
IT

IT

IT
6,490,000 P P P

Cu % Mo ppm Au ppm
>1.0 > 200 > 0.2
0.6 - 1.0 100 - 200 0.1 - 0.2
6,488,000
0.4 - 0.6 50 - 100 0.08 - 0.1
0.1 - 0.4
1 km 1 km 1 km
358,500 360,500 358,500 360,500 358,500 360,500
a
B B
Meters above
sea level 359,000

fault
Original topography 3,800 6,492,000
3,800

Los Pelambres
2008 pit
N
3,400 3,400
TS 3,50
0

BE
3,000 3,000 3,300
Cu % 30 year pit
> 0.8 08 50
3,2
> 0.6 2,600 20
L I NE
2,600
> 0.35
PIT OUT

b 500 m

3,200
TS
B Top of sulfides B
Meters above BE
Bottom of supergene enrichment
sea level 6,490,000
Original topography 3,800
3,800
2008 pit
3,400 3,400 As ppm
TS
131-550
BE
Mo ppm 3,000 51-130
3,000
> 400 Reverse fault
30 year pit
> 300 Fault: mapped, inferred
2,600 > 200 2,600 1 km
> 100
500 m d
c
FIG. 9. Metal zoning at Los Pelambres-Frontera. a. Plan views of copper, molybdenum, and gold distribution at 3,000 m
above sea level, simplified from the block model (all available data, including blast holes). b. NW-SE longitudinal section (same
as Fig. 6b) at Los Pelambres, showing copper distribution. c. NW-SE longitudinal section (same as Fig. 6b) at Los Pelam-
bres, showing molybdenum distribution. d. Plan view of arsenic distribution. UTM datum: Prov. S. Am 56, Zone 19 South.

seven different porphyry A centers at Los Pelambres and emplacement and initiation of porphyry center development.
Frontera fall between 11.50 0.30 and 10.53 0.14 Ma, a The partial temporal overlap between the age ranges for the
range of ~1.0 m.y. Two U-Pb zircon ages from surface expo- porphyry A and B centers is notable, bearing in mind that
sures of porphyries considered to be porphyry B yielded ages where crosscutting relationships are observed porphyry A is
that fall in the range defined above (Bertens et al., 2003, generally younger than porphyry B. Nevertheless, it is clear
2006). The single age for the late mineral dacite porphyry that the youngest porphyry B and porphyry A ages are for the
dike at Frontera is 10.24 0.55 Ma. Frontera samples (Table 5).
The oldest age for a porphyry center at Los Pelambres
(Pegmatita Sur; Fig. 5; Tables 3, 5) is, within error limits, es- Re-Os ages of molybdenite
sentially the same as the two youngest ages obtained for the During this study, 12 Re-Os ages were determined for dif-
Los Pelambres quartz diorite by Bertens et al. (2003, 2006) ferent molybdenite samples from Los Pelambres and Frontera
and this study, implying a close relationship between stock (Table 6). The ages lie between 11.81 0.06 and 10.14 0.04

0361-0128/98/000/000-00 $6.00 96
 PORPHYRY Cu-Mo & Cu-Au DEPOSITS, LOS PELAMBRES, CENTRAL CHILE 97

TABLE 5. U-Pb Zircon Ages of Some Intrusive Phases at Los Pelambres-Frontera

UTM
Magmatic-
Sample no. N E Intrusive suite hydrothermal center Location Age (Ma 2)

DAM - 11 6,490,501 358,864 PB DAM-01 Los Pelambres 11.70 0.30

FRONT - 22
(DDH817:122) 6,488,686 360,446 PB MAM-03 Frontera 11.29 0.37
FRONT - 32
(DDH817:300) 6,488,619 360,495 PB MAM-03 Frontera 10.83 0.23
FRONT - 12
(DDH817:30) 6,488,720 360,421 PB MAM-03 Frontera 10.80 0.23
MAM - 3 (330)1 6,489,332 360,065 PA MAM-03 Frontera 10.70 0.20
RAM - 051 6,491,900 359,972 PA RAM-05 Los Pelambres 11.50 0.30
PELSE - 022 6,487,780 360,720 PL DAM-06 Frontera 10.24 0.55
FRONT - 82
(DAM - 10:570) 6,488,833 360,511 PB DAM-10 Frontera 10.87 0.07
PELSE - 012 6,488,630 360,500 PA DAM-10 Frontera 10.53 0.14
FRONT - 102
(MAM - 6:432) 6,488,806 360,598 PA DAM-10 Frontera 11.13 0.12
DDH 1030 (494)1 6,490,354 358,450 PA DAM-18 Los Pelambres 11.50 0.30
DAM - 181
(DDH1030:247) 6,490,191 358,608 Los Pelambres stock DAM-18 Los Pelambres 13.00 0.70
DDH 1052 (160)1 6,488,581 359,472 PB Pegmatita Sur Los Pelambres 12.30 0.30
DDH 2424 (107)1 6,490,946 359,678 PB Portezuelo Este Los Pelambres 11.90 0.30
DDH 2268 (140)1 6,490,152 358,944 PB Cluster Oeste Los Pelambres 11.80 0.30
DDH 2439 (80)1 6,489,949 358,969 PA Cluster Oeste Los Pelambres 11.50 0.30
DDH 1012 (195)1 6,491,003 359,334 PA Mina Portezuelo Los Pelambres 10.80 0.20
DDH 303 (121)1 6,489,898 359,479 Los Pelambres stock Mina Victoria Los Pelambres 13.60 0.30

Notes: UTM datum: Prov. S. Am 56, Zone 19 South

1 Dated at University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona
2 Dated at Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, Australia

Ma. To these may be added 13 additional molybdenite ages
reported by Bertens et al. (2006), three by Mathur et al.
(2001), two by Stein et al. (2002), and two by Hannah et al.
(2007), all from Los Pelambres and all falling in the age range
defined by this study. This database clearly shows that the
molybdenite mineralization at Los Pelambres-Frontera was
introduced during a protracted interval of ~1.7 m.y., which
accords well with the ~1.4-m.y. interval defined by additional
molybdenite ages from Los Pelambres reported by Stein et al.
(2004) but not considered herein. The samples dated during
this study show that the youngest ages are for Frontera
molybdenites (Table 6), in good agreement with the U-Pb
data (see above).
K-Ar and Ar/Ar ages for silicate minerals
Six K-Ar ages reported by Atkinson et al. (1996) and two by
Quirt et al. (1971), all for biotite from the Los Pelambres
stock and porphyries, range from 10.7 to 8.9 Ma. Ten samples
of igneous and hydrothermal muscovite, biotite, and horn-
blende from within and immediately surrounding Los Pelam-
bres were subjected to Ar/Ar age determination by Bertens et
al. (2006) and yielded ages of 10.58 to 9.52 Ma (no errors re-
ported). These K-Ar and Ar/Ar ages overlap with the
youngest Re-Os molybdenite ages and would appear to re-
flect initial cooling of the system below the argon blocking
temperature.
Ar/Ar ages for supergene jarosite group minerals
The earliest jarosite age determined at Los Pelambres is
5.34 Ma, implying that the deposit was already unroofed by
the latest Miocene (Bertens et al., 2006). However, most of
the jarosite ages fall in the 3.06 to 0.93 Ma range, when su-
pergene oxidation was clearly active (Bertens et al., 2006).
(U-Th)/He zircon and apatite ages
Bertens et al. (2006) presented six (U-Th)/He zircon and
apatite ages from Los Pelambres. The ages of 10.37 to 8.15
Ma (no errors reported) are not much younger than the K-Ar
and Ar/Ar determinations, implying rapid cooling of the Los
Pelambres stock and its associated mineralization.
Discussion
District-scale controls
The Los Pelambres and Frontera deposits are located along
the faulted eastern boundary of a narrow, N-NW-striking belt
of intensely deformed rocks, which are the product of tec-
tonic inversion of the extensional Abanico intra-arc basin (Jor-
dan et al., 2001; Charrier et al., 2002; Fig. 3). The compres-
sive collapse of the Abanico basin at ~20 Ma correlates with a
drastic decrease in crust generation in the eastern Pacific
Ocean and a drop in Nazca-South America plate convergence
velocity (Pardo-Casas and Molnar, 1987; Somoza, 1998; Con-
rad and Lithgow-Bertelloni, 2007). Increased mechanical
coupling along the plate interface (e.g., Yez and Cembrano,
2004) may have produced the change from extension to con-
traction that led to initiation of the Aconcagua and La Ra-
mada fold-thrust belts in the greater Los Pelambres region
(Giambiagi and Ramos, 2002; Ramos et al., 2002). At Los
Pelambres, this event is bracketed by the Chalinga intrusive

0361-0128/98/000/000-00 $6.00 97
98 PERELL ET AL.

TABLE 6. Re-Os (molybdenite) Ages from Los Pelambres-Frontera

Sample no.
North/East Location Re (ppm) 187Re (ppm) 187Os (ppb) Age (Ma 2) Comments

MAM-17 (699)1 Portezuelo Este, 309.65 193.84 38.32 11.81 0.06 T4 quartz-molybdenite veinlet with
(6,491,350/359,528) Los Pelambres grayish halos overprinting biotitized
Los Pelambres stock; cut by A-type
quartz-sulfide veinlet without alteration
halos
MAM-17 (714)1 Portezuelo Este, 163.01 102.04 19.25 11.27 0.09 T4 halo-rich veinlet with centerline fill
(6,491,350/359,528) Los Pelambres of chalcopyritye-molybdenite; cuts
biotitized Los Pelambres stock
MAM-17 (714)2 Portezuelo Este, 238.6 0.6 150.0 0.4 28.69 0.02 11.48 0.05 T4 veinlet with grayish-greenish halo
(6,491,350/359,528) Los Pelambres cutting biotitized Los Pelambres stock;
chalcopyrite, bornite, and molybdenite
along center line, with quartz
DAM-06 (402.3)2 DAM-06 area, 535.4 1.4 336.5 0.9 60.10 0.04 10.72 0.04 B-type quartz-molybdenite veinlet cut-
(6,487,750/360,599) Frontera ting through a poorly defined T4 seam
of K-feldspar, biotite, chlorite, and mag-
netite, with disseminated chalcopyrite;
both veinlets cut magnetite-rich bioti-
tized andesite of the Pachn Formation
DAM-06 (420)2 DAM-06 area, 154.0 0.4 96.77 0.25 16.94 0.02 10.51 0.04 Classic halo-dominated T4 veinlet with
(6,487,750/360,599) Frontera irrregular disseminations of chalcopy-
rite and molybdenite; veinlet cuts
Porphyry B and is cut by thin A-type
veinlets
DAM-06 (376.2)2 DAM-06 area, 475.6 1.3 298.9 0.8 53.65 0.04 10.77 0.04 A-type quartz veinlet with irregular
(6,487,750/360,599) Frontera arrays of molybdenite and finely dis-
seminated chalcopyrite; veinlet cuts
Porphyry B and earlier EB-type seams
DAM-09 (458.3)2 Northern part of 221.7 0.6 139.3 0.4 23.55 0.02 10.14 0.04 B-type quartz-molybdenite veinlet, with
(6,489,175/360,401) Frontera, transitional molybdenite along a well-defined
to Los Pelambres centerline; veinlet cuts igneous breccia
with biotitized andesite fragments and
Porphyry B matrix
DDH-71 (106)3 Los Pelambres pit, 16.79 10.51 2 11.66 0.04 Swarm of T4 veinlets, with grayish halos
(6,491,330/359,052) north wall overprinting biotitized Los Pelambres
stock; cut by B- and D-type veinlets

Notes: UTM datum: Prov. S. Am 56, Zone 19 South

1 Dated at Department of Geosciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona
2 Dated at University of Alberta, Alberta, Canada
3 Dated at AIRIE - Colorado State University, Colorado

complex, which constrains the timing of the reverse motion
on the Los Pelambres and Totoral faults to pre-16.5 Ma (Fig.
3; see above).
During the mid-Miocene (~1413 Ma), emplacement of
the precursor Los Pelambres stock took place at the intersec-
tion of the NW-striking belt of mid-Miocene intrusions and
the Los Pelambres fault. This NW-striking intrusive align-
ment may have been localized by a transverse, deeply pene-
trating basement feature, not currently evident at the surface
and comparable to those mapped but poorly understood far-
ther north in the Andes (Salfity, 1985). Therefore, porphyry
copper formation at Los Pelambres took place ~10 m.y. after
the inversion of the Abanico basin when the deformation
front shifted eastward, giving rise to the Frontal Cordillera
(e.g., Cordillera de Santa Cruz; Fig. 3) by thick-skinned re-
verse faulting (Jordan et al., 1996; Prez, 2001; Giambiagi and
Ramos, 2002). The tectonic migration and emplacement of
the Los Pelambres porphyry copper deposits also coincide
with subduction of the Juan Fernndez Ridge beneath the
leading edge of the South America plate at this latitude
(Yez et al., 2001; Kay and Mpodozis, 2002; see above).
As shown above, the porphyry copper-related intrusions at
Los Pelambres display adakitic signatures (high Sr/Y and
La/Yb), concave heavy rare earth element patterns, and lack
of europium anomalies indicative of hornblende fractionation
in hydrous, oxidized magmas. Slab flattening and continued
deformation increased crustal thickness (Kay and Mpodozis,
2002) under Los Pelambres and may have induced partial fu-
sion of the mantle lithosphere; a situation that seems to have
played a fundamental role in the generation of the giant Los
Pelambres porphyry copper system.
Deposit-scale temporal development
Magmatism at Los Pelambres commenced with emplace-
ment of the multiphase Los Pelambres quartz diorite stock
between ~14 and 12.5 Ma (Fig. 10a). Intrusion of the numerous

0361-0128/98/000/000-00 $6.00 98
 PORPHYRY Cu-Mo & Cu-Au DEPOSITS, LOS PELAMBRES, CENTRAL CHILE 99

Los Pelambres-Frontera
Ma

supergene activity
magmatic-hydrothermal centers

Los Pelambres-Frontera
PLEISTOCENE

El Pachn mineralization
hydrothermal cooling
Los Pelambres-Frontera
Los Pelambres-Frontera
(Los Pelambres-Pachn-Abanico Formations)
PLIOCENE

(Los Pelambres stock)

mineralization
(Chalinga intrusive complex)

Precursor plutonism
Premineral plutonism
LATE

10
Regional volcanism
MIDDLE
MIOCENE

15 RAM-05
(11.5) N

MINA PORTEZUELO
(10.8)
PORTEZUELO ESTE
20
EARLY

(11.9)
[11.81-11.27]
DAM-1
(11.7)

25 DAM-18
(11.5)
MAM-03
(11.3-10.7)
LATE

CLUSTER [10.14]
OESTE
(11.8-11.5)
OLIGOCENE

30 DAM-10
PEGMATITA (11.1-10.5)
SUR (12.3)
EARLY

DAM-06
[10.77-10.51] DAM-06
(10.2)

(U-Pb)
a b [Re-Os]

FIG. 10. Summary chronology of magmatic, hydrothermal, and supergene events in the Los Pelambres district. a. Re-
gional volcanism, premineral plutonism, porphyry intrusion and cooling, and hypogene and supergene mineralization at Los
Pelambres-Frontera. The age of mineralization at the El Pachn deposit is also shown. Note the almost transitional or over-
lapping nature of the magmatic, hydrothermal, and supergene events. Data from Bertens et al. (2003, 2006) and Tables 1, 5,
and 6. b. U-Pb zircon and Re-Os molybdenite ages or age ranges for ten of the porphyry centers at Los Pelambres-Frontera.
Geologic elements taken from Figure 5 and data from Tables 5 and 6.

B and A porphyry centers commenced almost immediately deposit (9.168.43 Ma; Bertens et al., 2006), 5 km farther
thereafter and lasted for ~1.5 m.y., terminating with the southeast (Figs. 3, 10a).
Frontera late mineral porphyry at 10.24 0.55 Ma (Fig. 10a). Based on the temporally overlapping arrays of U-Pb zir-
Therefore, the Los Pelambres stock is clearly a precursor in- con and Re-Os molybdenite ages, the longevity of intrusion,
trusion genetically related to porphyry copper formation. The magmatic-hydrothermal brecciation, potassic alteration,
individual porphyry and associated magmatic-hydrothermal veining, and associated copper-molybdenum and copper-
centers within the Los Pelambres stock and southeastward to gold mineralization at Los Pelambres and Frontera was ~1.7
Frontera appear to have been emplaced over intervals of 0.3 to 1.5 m.y., an interval which is expanded to ~3.8 m.y. if the
to 0.6 m.y., but without any clearly discernable space-time precursor Los Pelambres stock is also included (Perell et
arrangement (Fig. 10b). However, the Frontera porphyry al., 2009). The continuity of molybdenum introduction for
centers do tend to be younger than those within the Los ~1.7 m.y. argues against the existence of discrete metallifer-
Pelambres stock (Fig. 10b), in accord with the southeastward ous pulses separated by quiescent intervals. The K-Ar,
younging of the Re-Os molybdenite ages. This southeastward Ar/Ar, and (U-Th)/He ages document cooling of the Los
migration appears to have been maintained at the district Pelambres-Frontera system to near ambient temperatures
scale for a further ~2 m.y. to account for the El Pachn by ~8 Ma (Bertens et al., 2006; Fig. 10a) as a result of rapid

0361-0128/98/000/000-00 $6.00 99
100 PERELL ET AL.

exhumation during the tectonically induced uplift. Indeed,
the Los Pelambres deposit was exposed to the effects of su-
pergene oxidation and enrichment by ~5 Ma (Bertens et al.,
2006; Fig. 10a). The supergene profile was eroded from the
upstream Los Pelambres valley floor during the Plio-Pleis-
tocene glaciation but preserved downstream and on the val-
ley sides (Fig. 9b, c).
Deposit architecture and evolution
A schematic model for the genesis of Los Pelambres-Fron-
tera is presented as Figure 11. The Los Pelambres quartz
diorite stock is hypothesized to be a cupola above a deeper,
parental intrusive complex (Fig. 11a). The widespread distri-
bution of the type 4 veinlets and the fact that early examples
are truncated by the intermineral B and A porphyries suggest

15 Ma 14-12.5 Ma
Paleosurface
?
Totoral fault

Los Pelambres fault

Chalinga
Type 4 veinlets
intrusive

complex ?

Regional
uplift Cupola
2 km

2 km

2 km Postulated intrusive 2 km
complex High-temperature Regional
single-phase uplift
a b magmatic liquid

12.3-10.3 Ma ? 10 Ma?
?
Advanced argillic ?
lithocap
Late-mineral dike

Meteoric
Frontera water
Low-temperature
single-phase liquid
Los Pelambres
Porphyry B and
Sericitic
Porphyry A magmatic-
alteration
hydrothermal centers
2 km

2 km

Two-phase
brine/vapor input
2 km Regional 2 km Regional
uplift uplift
c d
FIG. 11. Schematic evolution of Los Pelambres-Frontera system over its ~3.8-m.y. lifespan. a. The precursor Los Pelam-
bres quartz diorite stock commences differentiation as the cupola of a postulated parental plutonic complex; this is inferred
to have taken place following final emplacement of the Chalinga intrusive complex, which was rapidly uplifted along the re-
gionally extensive Totoral fault system (Fig. 3). b. The Los Pelambres stock magmas separate, ascend, and focus flow of high-
temperature, single-phase liquid which, upon cooling, reacts with the quartz diorite and develops early potassic alteration in
the form of widespread biotitization of magmatic hornblende along with formation of early biotite, green mica, and, most im-
portantly, type 4 veinlets. The Los Pelambres stock is emplaced along the structural break provided by the formerly active
Los Pelambres fault (Fig. 3) and becomes tilted as uplift progresses throughout the region. c. The Los Pelambres stock mag-
mas continue their ascent, with fresh magma being emplaced as multiphase porphyry B and porphyry A centers, each with
its own magmatic-hydrothermal focus. Each center creates its own miniature porphyry system, including several generations
of A- and B-type quartz veinlets. Coalescence of the centers is favored by physical proximity as well as by new generations
of type 4 veinlets, which continue to form, albeit in lesser numbers. Most of the porphyry centers are confined within the
Los Pelambres stock although some, like those at Frontera, are emplaced in the immediate andesitic wall rocks. Renewed
magma input forms the late mineral dikes in the roof of the tilted system, particularly at Frontera, simultaneous with paleo-
surface degradation in response to continued regional surface uplift. d. The system cools and renewed aqueous liquid as-
cends, preferentially along fracture swarms, and continues upward into the lithocap. The upper parts of the Los Pelambres
stock and its contained magmatic-hydrothermal centers are then overprinted by the roots of the lithocap, as synhydrother-
mal erosion and surface degradation progresses. Based on theoretical modeling by Rusk et al. (2008), Redmond and Einaudi
(2010), and Sillitoe (2010).

0361-0128/98/000/000-00 $6.00 100

 PORPHYRY Cu-Mo & Cu-Au DEPOSITS, LOS PELAMBRES, CENTRAL CHILE
that the bulk of the type 4 veining is either linked to a con-
cealed early porphyry intrusion or took place prior to any por-
phyry emplacement at Los Pelambres-Frontera (Fig. 11b). If
the latter alternative were the case, then the dilute, single-
phase fluid responsible for the type 4 veining (Rusk et al.,
2008; Proffett, 2009) must have ascended alone from the sub-
jacent parental pluton.
The individual multiphase porphyry centers appear to have
acted like a series of miniature porphyry copper deposits,
which coalesced to form the Los Pelambres-Frontera ore-
body (Fig. 11c). Each center gave rise to brecciation and as-
sociated magmatic-hydrothermal features (see above) as well
as generating its own sulfide zoning pattern. These discrete
foci bring to mind the concept of emanative centers, first de-
fined by Dines (1934, 1956), within the granitic plutons of the
Cornubian tin-tungsten-copper province of southwestern
England. The coalescence of the zoning patterns linked to in-
dividual porphyry centers led during potassic alteration to the
deposit-scale sulfide zoning from internal chalcopyrite-bor-
nite through chalcopyrite-pyrite to peripheral pyrite. Fur-
thermore, A- and B-type veinlet intensities also attain their
maxima in some of the porphyry centers, in contrast to the
type 4 veinlets (Fig. 8b, c).
There is a gross coincidence between copper and molybde-
num mineralization at the scale of the Los Pelambres-Fron-
tera system, although at the cutoff grades employed in Figure
9a, the correlation is far from perfect. In marked contrast, ap-
preciable gold is confined to Frontera, where it correlates
well with copper. The gold-bearing bornite and chalcopyrite
at Frontera are associated with appreciable hydrothermal
magnetite, a mineral largely absent from the gold-poor Los
Pelambres deposit, thereby displaying the classic gold-rich
porphyry copper deposit signature (Sillitoe, 1979; Perell et
al., 2011). The gold-bornite correlation proposed by Kesler et
al. (2002) is only evident in the apical part of a single porphyry
center (DAM-01; see above) and does not apply at the deposit
scale.
The sericitic alteration and contained pyrite, best devel-
oped in the northwestern quadrant of the Los Pelambres de-
posit, is partly controlled by the contact of the Los Pelambres
stock and the NE-striking structural zone (Fig. 8a). The seric-
itization overprinted the potassic zone and partially depleted
its copper and molybdenum contents, although minor quan-
tities of copper-bearing sulfosalts were precipitated. The
presence of localized advanced argillic alteration in the north-
east structural corridor suggests that the roots of a previously
far more extensive lithocap are preserved there (Fig. 11d).
The SE-inclined geometry of both the porphyry centers
and northeast structural corridor are explained by north-
westward tilting of the entire Los Pelambres-Frontera sys-
tem by as much as 35 (Fig. 11b-d). The preferential preser-
vation of the sericitic alteration in the northwestern quadrant
of the Los Pelambres deposit further supports this interpre-
tation. The fact that the brecciation and associated mag-
matic-hydrothermal features are best developed on the
southeastern, hanging-wall sides of the porphyry centers
(Fig. 6b) implies that the tilting was synmineral in timing and
presumably linked to the tectonic uplift of the greater Los
Pelambres region between 12 and 7 Ma (Giambiagi and
Ramos, 2002).
0361-0128/98/000/000-00 $6.00
101
Comparison with other central Chile porphyry
copper deposits
The Los Pelambres-Frontera system shares a number of
obvious intrusive and hydrothermal features with the other
deposits in the central Chile porphyry copper belt, particu-
larly the giant Ro Blanco-Los Bronces and El Teniente sys-
tems (Fig. 1).
The Los Pelambres and Ro Blanco-Los Bronces deposits
were both generated near batholithic intrusions, the Chalinga
intrusive complex and San Francisco batholith, respectively,
the emplacement of both of which began several million years
before the onset of porphyry copper mineralization (Deckart
et al., 2005; this study). Furthermore, the porphyry copper
alignments in both the Los Pelambres-El Pachn and Ro
Blanco-Los Bronces districts project southeastward from the
respective batholithic intrusions (Warnaars et al., 1985; Ser-
rano et al., 1996; Fig. 3), presumably implying similar base-
ment tectonic controls.
The individual porphyry centers documented at Los
Pelambres-Frontera also bear close similarities with the
aligned series of small, but partly coalesced magmatic-hydro-
thermal centers that combine to form the El Teniente por-
phyry copper-molybdenum deposit (Vry et al., 2010). As at
Los Pelambres, each of the El Teniente centers is character-
ized by magmatic-hydrothermal breccias and veinlet zoning.
All three of the main central Chile deposits contain well-
mineralized, magmatic-hydrothermal breccias, although
these are volumetrically and economically far more important
at Ro Blanco-Los Bronces than at the other two deposits. In-
deed, the magmatic-hydrothermal breccias at Los Pelambres-
Frontera constitute no more than 5% of the orebody (Fig. 5),
thereby emphasizing that it cannot be considered as a
megabreccia deposit (Skewes and Stern, 1994, 1995). The
abundance of magmatic-hydrothermal breccias at Ro
Blanco-Los Bronces could be interpreted to imply a shal-
lower erosion level than at Los Pelambres, especially since
much of the porphyry copper mineralization there is con-
cealed beneath pyritic rocks (R. H. Sillitoe, pers. observa-
tions) and several of the major breccias display sericitic alter-
ation and are pyritic and copper poor in their near-surface
parts (Vargas et al., 1999; Irarrazaval et al., 2010). A similar
situation is observed at the small Copper Creek porphyry
copper deposit in Arizona, where numerous magmatic-hydro-
thermal breccia pipes, displaying sericitic alteration at shallow
levels, overlie largely concealed porphyry copper mineraliza-
tion (Guthrie, 1994; Anderson et al., 2009).
Conclusions
The Los Pelambres porphyry copper-molybdenum and con-
tiguous Frontera porphyry copper-gold deposits were gener-
ated in a period of ~1.5 to 1.7 m.y., immediately following
emplacement of a host precursor quartz diorite pluton. The
latter, the Los Pelambres stock, was localized by the preexist-
ing, N-NWstriking Los Pelambres reverse fault, which
bounds the eastern side of a narrow, intensely deformed struc-
tural corridor. The Los Pelambres fault and other subparallel
reverse faults in the greater Los Pelambres region were active
2 to 3 m.y. before Los Pelambres stock emplacement as a re-
sponse to orogen-wide, contractional deformation and crustal
101
102 PERELL ET AL.
thickening. The Los Pelambres stock is the northwesternmost
of a series of intrusive centers that define a marked align-
ment, trending for 70 km southeast from the Chalinga intru-
sive complex, a composite mafic to intermediate composition
batholith assembled from 23 to 15 Ma. Basaltic to andesitic
volcanism at and near Los Pelambres ceased ~4 m.y. prior to
emplacement of the Los Pelambres stock.
The Los Pelambres and Frontera deposits comprise at least
20 discrete, multiphase, intermineral porphyry centers in-
truded within and just beyond the Los Pelambres stock. Par-
tial coalescence of these centers, many of them blind, accounts
for the giant status of the deposit (36 Mt Cu). Although there
is no clearcut spatial or temporal arrangement of the individ-
ual porphyry centers, there does appear to be a southeastward
younging from Los Pelambres to Frontera, which continues
in the same direction for 5 km to the El Pachn porphyry cop-
per-molybdenum deposit. Each center is associated with
magmatic-hydrothermal breccia and associated features in-
dicative of the magmatic-to-hydrothermal transition as well as
being the focus of quartz veining and sulfide zoning. How-
ever, early generations of type 4 (early dark micaceous) vein-
lets are present throughout the Los Pelambres stock and do
not appear to be directly related to the known porphyry cen-
ters. Pervasive potassic alteration affected the entire Los
Pelambres stock but is overprinted by sericitic alteration in
the northwestern quadrant of the Los Pelambres deposit
where the roots of an advanced argillic lithocap are preserved.
The gold-rich character of the Frontera deposit correlates
well with its abundant hydrothermal magnetite content. The
porphyry centers and structurally controlled parts of the
sericitic zone were generated during northwest tilting of up to
35, linked to the regional contractional tectonism.
Continued contractional tectonism and consequent uplift
cooled the Los Pelambres deposit to ambient temperatures
within ~2 m.y. of its final emplacement and exposed it to su-
pergene processes within a further ~3 m.y. The leached cap-
ping and underlying chalcocite enrichment zone were par-
tially eroded during U-shaped glacial valley development in
the Plio-Pleistocene. Supergene processes at Los Pelambres
were penecontemporaneous with giant porphyry copper for-
mation farther south in the central Chile Miocene to early
Pliocene belt, at Ro Blanco-Los Bronces and El Teniente
(e.g., Howell and Molloy, 1960; Warnaars et al., 1985).
Acknowledgments
Patricio East and Felipe Matthews are thanked for their
contributions to the brownfields program that resulted in the
discovery of Frontera, an effort that received unstinting sup-
port from Ricardo Muhr. Edmundo Martnez, Hctor
Poblete, Esteban Acua, Jorge Artal, and Tammy Verdugo as-
sisted with various technical aspects of the program during
which the staff of Compaa Minera Los Pelambres, particu-
larly Francisco Carvajal, Alvio Zuccone, and Fernando
Gonzlez provided invaluable logistic assistance. Alfredo
Bertens shared his ideas and U-Pb data for Los Pelambres,
and Paula Cornejo and Enrique Tidy provided petrographic
descriptions of selected samples from the area. Much of the
U-Pb geochronology reported here was conducted by Victor
Valencia, whereas Robert Creaser, Fernando Barra, and Holly
Stein separately undertook the Re-Os molybdenite dating.
0361-0128/98/000/000-00 $6.00 102
Hctor Poblete drafted the figures. Thorough manuscript re-
views by William Atkinson and John Proffett are much ap-
preciated.
REFERENCES
Alvarez, P., 1996, Los depsitos trisicos y jursicos de la Alta Cordillera de
San Juan, in Geologa de la Regin del Aconcagua, Provincias de San Juan
y Mendoza: Direccin Nacional del Servicio Geolgico [Argentina], Anales,
v. 24, no. 14, p. 59137.
Anderson, E.D., Atkinson, W.W., Jr., Marsh, T., and Iriondo, A., 2009, Geol-
ogy and geochemistry of the Mammoth breccia pipe, Copper Creek min-
ing district, southeastern Arizona: Evidence for a magmatic-hydrothermal
origin: Mineralium Deposita, v. 44, p. 151170.
Anderson, M., Alvarado, P., Zandt, G., and Beck, S., 2007, Geometry and
brittle deformation of the subducting Nazca plate, Central Chile and Ar-
gentina: Geophysical Journal International, v. 171, p. 419434.
Atkinson, W.W., Jr., Souviron, A., Vehrs, T.I., and Faunes, A., 1996, Geology
and mineral zoning of the Los Pelambres porphyry copper deposit, Chile:
Society of Economic Geologists Special Publication 5, p. 131155.
Bertens, A., Deckart, K., and Gonzalez, A., 2003, Geocronologa U-Pb, Re-
Os y 40Ar-39Ar del prfido de Cu-Mo Los Pelambres, Chile central [abs.]:
Congreso Geolgico Chileno, 10th, Concepcin, 2003, CD-ROM, 1 p.
Bertens, A., Clark, A.H., Barra, F., and Deckart, K., 2006, Evolution of the
Los Pelambres-El Pachn porphyry copper-molybdenum district, Chile/
Argentina: Congreso Geolgico Chileno, 11th, Antofagasta, 2006, Actas, v.
2, p. 179181.
Boynton, W.V., 1984, Cosmochemistry of the rare earth elements: Meteorite
studies, in Henderson, P., ed., Rare earth element geochemistry: Amster-
dam, Elsevier, p. 63114.
Cahill, T., and Isacks, B.L., 1992, Seismicity and shape of the subducted
Nazca plate: Journal of Geophysical Research, v. 97, B12, p. 1750317529.
Candela, P.A., 1997, A review of shallow, ore-related granites: Textures,
volatiles, and ore metals: Journal of Petrology, v. 38, p. 16191633.
Carter, W.D., and Aguirre, L., 1965, Structural geology of Aconcagua
Province and its relationship to the Central Valley graben, Chile: Geologi-
cal Society of America Bulletin, v. 76, p. 651664.
Castillo, P.R., 2012, Adakite petrogenesis: Lithos, v. 134135, p. 304316.
Cegarra, M., and Ramos, V.A., 1996, La franja plegada y corrida del Aconca-
gua, in Geologa de la Regin del Aconcagua, Provincias de San Juan y
Mendoza: Direccin Nacional del Servicio Geolgico [Argentina], Anales,
v. 24, no. 14, p. 387422.
Charrier, R., Baeza, O., Elgueta, S., Flynn, J.J., Gans, P., Kay, S.M., Muoz,
N., Wyss, A.R., and Zurita, E., 2002, Evidence for Cenozoic extensional
basin development and tectonic inversion south of the flat-slab segment,
southern Central Andes, Chile (3336SL): Journal of South American
Earth Sciences, v. 15, p. 117139.
Conrad, C.P., and Lithgow-Bertelloni, C., 2007, Faster seafloor spreading
and lithosphere production during the mid-Cenozoic: Geology, v. 35, p.
2932.
Cristallini, E.O., and Ramos, V.A., 2000, Thick-skinned and thin-skinned
thrusting in the La Ramada fold and thrust belt: Crustal evolution of the
High Andes of San Juan, Argentina (32SL): Tectonophysics, v. 317, p.
205235.
Deckart, K., Clark, A.H., Aguilar, C., Vargas, R., Bertens, A., Mortensen,
J.K., and Fanning, M., 2005, Magmatic and hydrothermal chronology of
the giant Ro Blanco porphyry copper deposit, Central Chile: Implications
of an integrated U-Pb and 40Ar/39Ar database: Economic Geology, v. 100, p.
905934.
Defant, M.J., and Drummond, M.S., 1990, Derivation of some modern arc
magmas by melting of young subducted lithosphere: Nature, v. 347, p.
662665.
Dines, H.G., 1934, The lateral extent of the ore-shoots in the primary depth
zones of Cornwall: Transactions of the Royal Geological Society of Corn-
wall, v. 16, p. 279296.
1956, The metalliferous mining region of south-west England: Eco-
nomic Memoir of the Geological Survey of Great Britain, 795 p.
Fernndez, R.R., Brown, R.F., and Lencinas, A.N., 1974, Pachn, un
nuevo prfiro cuprfero argentino, Dto. Calingasta, Prov. de San Juan,
Repblica Argentina: Congreso Geolgico Argentino, 5th, Buenos Aires,
1974, Actas, v. 2, p. 7789.
Giambiagi, L.B., and Ramos, V.A., 2002, Structural evolution of the Andes in
a transitional zone between flat and normal subduction (3330 3345 S),
 PORPHYRY Cu-Mo & Cu-Au DEPOSITS, LOS PELAMBRES, CENTRAL CHILE
Argentina and Chile: Journal of South American Earth Sciences, v. 15, p.
101116.
Guthrie, J.O., 1994, Copper Creek: An example of the upper portions of a
porphyry copper system, in Trip 8: Copper Creek, Tiger, San Manuel open
pit, Kalamazoo: Bootprints along the Cordillera-Porphyry copper deposits
from Alaska to Chile Symposium, Tucson, Arizona, 1994, Field Trip Guide-
book, 21 p.
Hannah, J.L., Stein, H.J., Wieser, M.E., de Laeter, J.R., and Varner, M.D.,
2007, Molybdenum isotope variations in molybdenite: Vapor transport and
Rayleigh fractionation of Mo: Geology, v. 35, p. 703706.
Hollings, P., Cooke, D., and Clark, A., 2005, Regional geochemistry of Ter-
tiary igneous rocks in central Chile: Implications for the geodynamic envi-
ronment of giant porphyry copper and epithermal gold mineralization:
Economic Geology, v. 100, p. 887904.
Howell, F.H., and Molloy, S.J., 1960, Geology of the Braden orebody, Chile,
South America: Economic Geology, v. 70, p. 863905.
Irarrazaval, V., Sillitoe, R.H., Wilson, A.J., Toro, J.C., Robles, W., and Lyell,
G.D., 2010, Discovery history of a giant, high-grade, hypogene porphyry
copper-molybdenum deposit at Los Sulfatos, Los Bronces-Ro Blanco dis-
trict, central Chile: Society of Economic Geologists Special Publication 15,
p. 253269.
Jordan, T.E., Isacks, B.L., Allmendinger, R.W., Brewer, J.A., Ramos, V.A.,
and Ando, C.J., 1983, Andean tectonics related to geometry of subducted
Nazca plate: Geological Society of America Bulletin, v. 94, p. 341361.
Jordan, T.E., Tamm, V., Figueroa, G., Flemings, P.B., Richards, D., Tabbutt,
K., and Cheatham, T., 1996, Development of the Miocene Manantiales
foreland basin, Principal Cordillera, San Juan, Argentina: Revista Geolg-
ica de Chile, v. 23, p. 4379.
Jordan, T.E., Burns, M., Veiga, R., Pngaro, F., Copeland, P., Kelley, S., and
Mpodozis, C., 2001, Extension and basin formation in the southern Andes
caused by increased convergence rate: A mid Cenozoic trigger for the
Andes: Tectonics, v. 20, p. 308324.
Kay, S.M., and Mpodozis, C., 2002, Magmatism as a probe to the Neogene
shallowing of the Nazca plate beneath the modern Chilean flat-slab: Jour-
nal of South American Earth Sciences, v. 15, p. 3957.
Kay, S.M., Mpodozis, C., and Coira, B., 1999, Neogene magmatism, tecton-
ics, and mineral deposits of the central Andes (22 to 33 S latitude): Soci-
ety of Economic Geologists Special Publication 7, p. 2759.
Kesler, S.E., Chryssoulis, S.L., and Simon, G., 2002, Gold in porphyry cop-
per deposits: Its distribution and fate: Ore Geology Reviews, v. 21, p.
103124.
Kurtz, A., Kay, S.M., Charrier, R., and Farrar, E., 1997, Geochronology of
Miocene plutons and Andean uplift history in the El Teniente region, cen-
tral Chile (34-35S): Revista Geolgica de Chile, v. 24, p. 7590.
Lencinas, A., and Tonel, M., 1993, La Brecha Sur del yacimiento de cobre
porfdico de Pachn, San Juan, Repblica Argentina: Congreso Geolgico
Argentino, 12th, and Congreso de Exploracin de Hidrocarburos, 2nd, Men-
doza, 1993, Actas, v. 1, p. 241247.
Lowell, J.D., and Guilbert, J.M., 1970, Lateral and vertical alteration-miner-
alization zoning in porphyry ore deposits: Economic Geology, v. 65, p.
373408.
Maranzana, F., 1972, Application of talus sampling to geochemical exploration
in arid areas: Los Pelambres hydrothermal alteration area, Chile: Transac-
tions of the Institution of Mining and Metallurgy, sec. B., v. 81, p. B26B33.
Mathur, R., Ruiz, J.R., and Munizaga, F.M., 2001, Insights into Andean met-
allogenesis from the perspective of Re-Os analysis of sulfides [ext. abs.]: So-
ciedad Geolgica de Chile, South American Symposium on Isotope Geol-
ogy, 3rd, Santiago, 2001, Extended Abstract Volume, CD-ROM, p. 500503.
Meyer, C., 1965, An early potassic type of wall rock alteration at Butte, Mon-
tana: American Mineralogist, v. 50, p. 17171722.
Miyashiro, A., 1974, Volcanic rock series in island arcs and active continental
margins: American Journal of Science, v. 274, p. 321355.
Mpodozis, C., and Ramos, V., 1990, The Andes of Chile and Argentina: Cir-
cum-Pacific Council for Energy and Mineral Resources Earth Science Se-
ries, v. 11, p. 5990.
Mpodozis, C., Brockway, H., Marquardt, C., and Perell, J., 2009, Geocro-
nologa U/Pb y tectnica de la regin de Los Pelambres-Cerro Mercedario:
Implicancias para la evolucin cenozoica de los Andes del centro de Chile
y Argentina: Congreso Geolgico Chileno, 12th, Santiago, 2009, Actas, pen-
drive, 4 p.
Pardo-Casas, F., and Molnar, P., 1987, Relative motion of the Nazca (Faral-
lon) and South American plates since Late Cretaceous time: Tectonics, v. 6,
p. 233248.
0361-0128/98/000/000-00 $6.00
103
Perell, J., Sillitoe, R.H., Brockway, H., Posso, H., East, P., Sol, M., and
Stein, H., 2007, Los Pelambres, Chile: Recent advances in the geology and
evolution of a major Cu-Mo and Cu-Au porphyry system [abs.]: Ores and
orogenesis. A symposium honoring the career of William R. Dickinson: Ari-
zona Geological Society, Tucson, 2007, Program with Abstracts, p.
133134.
Perell, J., Sillitoe, R.H., Brockway, H., Posso, H., and Mpodozis, C., 2009,
Contiguous porphyry Cu-Mo and Cu-Au mineralization at Los Pelambres,
Central Chile: Congreso Geolgico Chileno, 12th, Santiago, 2009, Actas,
pendrive, 4 p.
Perell, J., Brockway, H., Posso, H., Sillitoe, R.H., East, P., and Matthews, F.,
2011, Discovery of the Frontera porphyry copper-gold deposit at Los
Pelambres, central Chile: Biennial Meeting of the Society of Geology Ap-
plied to Mineral Deposits (SGA), 11th, Antofagasta, Chile, 2011, Proceed-
ings, v. 2, p. 909911.
Prez, D.J., 2001, Tectonic and unroofing history of Neogene Manantiales
foreland basin deposits, Cordillera Frontal (3230S), San Juan Province,
Argentina: Journal of South American Earth Sciences, v. 14, p. 693705.
Pilger, R.H., 1981, Plate reconstructions, aseismic ridges, and low angle sub-
duction beneath the Andes: Geological Society of America Bulletin, v. 92,
p. 448456.
Proffett, J.M., 2009, High Cu grades in porphyry Cu deposits and their rela-
tionship to emplacement depth of magmatic sources: Geology, v. 37, p.
675678.
Quirt, S., Clark, A.H., Farrar, A., and Sillitoe, R.H., 1971, Potassium-argon
ages of porphyry copper deposits in northern and central Chile [abs.]: Ge-
ological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, v. 3, no. 7, p. 676677.
Ramos, V.A., 2009, Anatomy and global context of the Andes: Main geologic
features and the Andean orogenic cycle: Geological Society of America
Memoir 204, p. 3165.
Ramos, V.A., Cegarra, M., and Cristallini, E., 1996, Cenozoic tectonics of the
High Andes of west-central Argentina (3036S latitude): Tectonophysics,
v. 259, p. 185200.
Ramos, V.A., Cristallini, E.O., and Prez, D.J., 2002, The Pampean flat-slab
of the Central Andes: Journal of South American Earth Sciences, v. 15, p.
5978.
Redmond, P.B., and Einaudi, M.T., 2010, The Bingham Canyon porphyry
Cu-Mo-Au deposit. I. Sequence of intrusions, vein formation, and sulfide
deposition: Economic Geology, v. 105, p. 4368.
Reich, M., Parada, M.A., Palacios, C., Dietrich, A., Schultz, F., and Lehmann,
B., 2003, Adakite-like signature of late Miocene intrusions at the Los
Pelambres giant porphyry copper deposit in the Andes of central Chile:
Metallogenic implications: Mineralium Deposita, v. 38, p. 876885.
Rivano, S., and Seplveda, P., 1991, Hoja Illapel, Regin de Coquimbo: Ser-
vicio Nacional de Geologa y Minera, Carta Geolgica de Chile 69, 132 p.
Rusk, B.G., Reed, M.H., and Dilles, J.H., 2008, Fluid inclusion evidence for
magmatic-hydrothermal fluid evolution in the porphyry copper-molybde-
num deposit at Butte, Montana: Economic Geology, v. 103, p. 307334.
Salfity, J.A., 1985, Lineamientos transversales al rumbo andino en el noroeste
argentino: Congreso Geolgico Chileno, 4th, Antofagasta, 1985, Actas, v. 1,
p. 2/1192/137.
Seedorff, E., Dilles, J.H., Proffett, J.M., Jr., Einaudi, M.T., Zurcher, L.,
Stavast, W.J.A., Johnson, D.A., and Barton, M.D., 2005, Porphyry deposits:
Characteristics and origin of hypogene features: Economic Geology 100th
Anniversary Volume, p. 251298.
Serrano, L., Vargas, R., Stambuk, V., Aguilar, C., Galeb, M., Holmgren, C.,
Contreras, A., Godoy, S., Vela, I., Skewes, M.A., and Stern, C.R., 1996, The
late Miocene to early Pliocene Ro Blanco-Los Bronces copper deposit,
central Chile: Society of Economic Geologists Special Publication 5, p.
119130.
Shannon, J.R., Walker, B.M., Carten, R.B., and Geraghty, E.P., 1982, Unidi-
rectional solidification textures and their significance in determining rela-
tive ages of intrusions at the Henderson mine, Colorado: Geology, v. 10, p.
293297.
Sillitoe, R.H., 1973, Geology of the Los Pelambres porphyry copper deposit,
Chile: Economic Geology, v. 68, p. 110.
1977, Permo-Carboniferous, Late Cretaceous and Miocene porphyry
copper-type mineralization in the Argentinian Andes: Economic Geology,
v. 72, p. 99103.
1979, Some thoughts on gold-rich porphyry copper deposits: Mineral-
ium Deposita, v. 14, p. 161174.
1985, Ore-related breccias in volcanoplutonic arcs: Economic Geology,
v. 80, p. 14671514.
103
104 PERELL ET AL.
1995, Exploration and discovery of base- and precious-metal deposits in
the circum-Pacific region during the last 25 years: Resource Geology Spe-
cial Issue 19, 119 p.
2010, Porphyry copper systems: Economic Geology, v. 105, p. 341.
Sillitoe, R.H., and Perell, J., 2005, Andean copper province: Tectonomag-
matic settings, deposit types, metallogeny, exploration, and discovery: Eco-
nomic Geology 100th Anniversary Volume, p. 845890.
Skewes, M.A., 1985, Biotitas en la zona de alteracin potsica del depsito de
cobre porfdico Los Pelambres: Congreso Geolgico Chileno, 4th, Antofa-
gasta, 1985, Actas, v. 2, p. 3-3413-353.
Skewes, M.A., and Atkinson, W., Jr., 1985, Petrology of the early formed
hydrothermal veins within the central potassic alteration zone of Los
Pelambres porphyry copper deposit, Chile: Revista Geolgica de Chile, no.
2526, p. 3956.
Skewes, M.A., and Holmgren, C., 1993, Solevantamiento andino, erosin y
emplazamiento de brechas mineralizadas en el depsito de cobre porfdico
Los Bronces, Chile central (33S); aplicacin de geotermometra de inclu-
siones fluidas: Revista Geolgica de Chile, v. 20, p. 7183.
Skewes, M.A., and Stern, C.R., 1994, Tectonic trigger for the formation of
late Miocene Cu-rich megabreccias in the Andes of central Chile: Geology,
v. 22, p. 551554.
1995, Genesis of the giant late Miocene to Pliocene copper deposits of
central Chile in the context of Andean magmatic and tectonic evolution: In-
ternational Geology Review, v. 37, p. 893909.
Somoza, R., 1998, Updated Nazca (Farallon)-South America relative motions
during the last 40 My: Implications for mountain building in the central
Andean region: Journal of South American Earth Sciences, v. 11, p.
211215.
Stein, H., Sillitoe, R., and Perell, J., 2002, Discerning the lifespan of a giant
porphyry Cu deposit: Re-Os dating at Los Pelambres, Chile [abs.]:
Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, v. 66, no. 15A, p. A738.
0361-0128/98/000/000-00 $6.00
Stein, H., Cannell, J., Cooke, D., Sillitoe, R., and Perell, J., 2004, Metallif-
erous moments inside the lifespan of porphyry-style Cu-Au-Mo deposits
[abs.]: International Association of Volcanology and Chemistry of the
Earths Interior (IAVCEI) General Assembly, Pucn, Chile, 2004, Ab-
stracts, CD-ROM, 1 p.
Streckeisen, A.L., 1973, Plutonic rocks classification and nomenclature rec-
ommended by the IUGS Subcommission on the systematics of igneous
rocks: Geotimes, v. 18, no. 10, p. 2630.
Thomas, A., 1967, Geologa del yacimiento cuprfero Los Pelambres, provin-
cia de Coquimbo, departamento de Illapel: Santiago, Chile, Instituto de In-
vestigaciones Geolgicas, unpublished open-file report, 12 p.
Vargas, R., Gustafson, L.B., Vukasovic, M., Tidy, E., and Skewes, M.A., 1999,
Ore breccias in the Rio Blanco-Los Bronces porphyry copper deposit,
Chile: Society of Economic Geologists Special Publication 7, p. 281297.
Vry, V.H., Wilkinson, J.J., Seguel, J., and Milln, J., 2010, Multistage intru-
sion, brecciation, and veining at El Teniente, Chile: Evolution of a nested
porphyry system: Economic Geology, v. 105, p. 119153.
Warnaars, F.W., Holmgren, C., and Barassi, S., 1985, Porphyry copper and
tourmaline breccias at Los Bronces-Rio Blanco, Chile: Economic Geology,
v. 80, p. 15441565.
Yez, G., and Cembrano, J., 2004, Role of viscous plate coupling in the late
Tertiary Andean tectonics: Journal of Geophysical Research, v. 109,
B02407, 21 p.
Yez, G., Ranero, C.R., von Huene, R., and Daz, J., 2001, Magnetic anom-
aly interpretation across the southern central Andes (32-34S): The role of
the Juan Fernndez Ridge in the late Tertiary evolution of the margin:
Journal of Geophysical Research, v. 106, B4, p. 63256345.
104