Assessment of undiscovered copper resources associated with the Permian Kupferschiefer, Southern Permian Basin, Europe

Abstract

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A multistage origin for Kupferschiefer mineralization

“…Previous age determinations of the Kupferschiefer mineralization have tended to produce one limited age range and postulate one phase of mineralization for each sample suite and it is only recently that models for Kupferschiefer mineralization have incorporated the full spectrum of published ages (e.g., Zientek et al, 2015). The current study is realistically the first to generate a range of ages using one technique and for material collected in close proximity.…”

“…Subsidence rates were not constant and periods when subsidence and heat flow increased could have led to specific episodes of increased fluid release and mineralization. Zientek et al (2015) illustrated the association between basin development and periods of mineralization, and this approach has been adopted and extended here, with the addition of further age determinations and taking into account Previous attempts to quantify the volumes of fluid involved in the Kupferschiefer mineralization have advocated the presence of relatively high concentrations of copper in the hydrothermal fluids (e.g., 1000 ppm; Jowett, 1986;127 ppm;Cathles et al, 1993;60 ppm;Blundell et al, 2003), values not readily found elsewhere in fluids from similar, low-temperature sedimentary basin environments (e.g. Sverjensky, 1987).…”

“…800 years), but these deposits are presently uneconomic and current production is restricted to southwest Poland (Lower Silesia-Dolny Slask). However, a recent probabilistic statistical analysis (Zientek et al, 2015) suggests that undiscovered resources of >100 Mt of Cu metal could be present in Germany and Poland. Active exploration has continued in regions of both former and current mining operations, and in completely new areas (e.g.…”

“…The geological and mineralogical characteristics of the Kupferschiefer have been extensively studied and thorough descriptions of the geology are to be found in Vaughan et al (1989), Oszczepalski (1989Oszczepalski ( ,1999, , Borg et al (2012), and Zientek et al (2015).…”

“…The Cu-Ag mineralization transgresses these lithological boundaries and occurs in units both above and below the Kupferschiefer shale (Figure 2). Notably, current production in Poland includes only 12% derived from the Kupferschiefer (ss), with the majority mined from the Rotliegend, and lesser amounts from the Zechstein (Zientek et al, 2015;KGHM, 2016). An oxidized, red-brown, ferruginous, sulphide-deficient zone known as the Rote Fäule is an important component of the mineralization, as a distinct vertical and lateral metal and mineral zonation exists adjacent to this secondary, redox front (Figure 2).…”