Trace-metal content of the Cerro Quema Au-Cu deposit (Azuero Peninsula, Panama): Implications for exploration

Corral, Isaac; Corbella, M.; Gómez‐Gras, David; Griera, Albert

doi:10.18268/bsgm2018v70n2a14

Cited by 7 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 31 publications

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“…The first geological studies of the Azuero Peninsula (e.g., Del Giudice and Recchi, 1969;Ferencic, 1970;Kesler et al, 1977) noted the potential for Au and Cu deposits in the region. Later works specifically on the Cerro Quema deposit focused on geology (Horlacher and Lehmann, 1993;Nelson, 1995;Corral et al, 2011), and metallogeny (Leach, 1992;Corral, 2013;Corral et al, 2016). This report presents the first documentation of the genesis of the de Buchs et al, 2010;Corral et al, 2011Corral et al, , 2013.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 79%

Origin and evolution of mineralizing fluids and exploration of the Cerro Quema Au-Cu deposit (Azuero Peninsula, Panama) from a fluid inclusion and stable isotope perspective

Corral

Cardellach

Corbella

et al. 2017

Ore Geology Reviews

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Cerro Quema is a high sulfidation epithermal Au-Cu deposit with a measured, indicated and inferred resource of 35.98 Mt. @ 0.77 g/t Au containing 893,600 oz. Au (including 183,930 oz. Au equiv. of Cu ore). It is characterized by a large hydrothermal alteration zone which is interpreted to represent the lithocap of a porphyry system. The innermost zone of the lithocap is constituted by vuggy quartz with advanced argillic alteration locally developed on its margin, enclosed by a well-developed zone of argillic alteration, grading to an external halo of propylitic alteration. The mineralization occurs in the form of disseminations and microveinlets of pyrite, chalcopyrite, enargite, tennantite, and trace sphalerite, crosscut by quartz, barite, pyrite, chalcopyrite, sphalerite and galena veins.Microthermometric analyses of two phase (L + V) secondary fluid inclusions in igneous quartz phenocrysts in vuggy quartz and advanced argillically altered samples indicate low temperature (140-216°C) and low salinity (0.5-4.8 wt% NaCl eq.) fluids, with hotter and more saline fluids identified in the east half of the deposit (Cerro Quema area).Stable isotope analyses (S, O, H) were performed on mineralization and alteration minerals, including pyrite, chalcopyrite, enargite, alunite, barite, kaolinite, dickite and vuggy quartz. The range of δ 34 S of sulfides is from − 4.8 to − 12.7‰, whereas δ 34 S of sulfates range from 14.1 to 17.4‰. The estimated δ 34 S ΣS of the hydrothermal fluid is − 0.5‰. Within the advanced argillic altered zone the δ 34 S values of sulfides and sulfates are interpreted to reflect isotopic equilibrium at temperatures of~240°C. The δ 18 O values of vuggy quartz range from 9.0 to 17.5‰, and the δ 18 O values estimated for the vuggy quartz-forming fluid range from − 2.3 to 3.0‰, indicating that it precipitated from mixing of magmatic fluids with surficial fluids. The δ 18 O of kaolinite ranges from 12.7 to 18.1‰ and δD from − 103.3 to − 35.2‰, whereas the δ 18 O of dickite varies between 12.7 and 16.3‰ and δD from − 44 to − 30. Based on δ 18 O and δD, two types of kaolinite/dickite can be distinguished, a supergene type and a hypogene type. Combined, the analytical data indicate that the Cerro Quema deposit formed from magmatic-hydrothermal fluids derived from a porphyry copper-like intrusion located at depth likely towards the east of the deposit. The combination of stable isotope geochemistry and fluid inclusion analysis may provide useful exploration vectors for porphyry copper targets in the high sulfidation/lithocap environment.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 79%

Origin and evolution of mineralizing fluids and exploration of the Cerro Quema Au-Cu deposit (Azuero Peninsula, Panama) from a fluid inclusion and stable isotope perspective

Corral

Cardellach

Corbella

et al. 2017

Ore Geology Reviews

Self Cite

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“…On the other hand, the absence of correlation of Au with iron seems to diminish (but not exclude) the possible importance of an association with Fe-oxyhydroxide, as often reported in the literature (Karasyova et al 1998; Ran et al 2002; Cohen & Waite, 2004; Corral et al 2018). Moreover, in the territory under examination, the lack of a correlation between stibnite and pyrite occurrences is observed.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 74%

Sb–Au-bearing chalcedonies in hot geothermal systems: insights from the jasperoids of Poggio Peloso (southern Tuscany, Italy)

et al. 2023

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Detailed characterization was performed on the chalcedonies from the jasperoids of the Pietratonda–Poggio Peloso Sb–Au deposit (southern Tuscany, Italy). The main purpose was to retrieve information on the geothermal fluids that formed the chalcedonies and the source of antimony concentrations. Investigations were performed using optical microscopy, laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction on both the chalcedonies and the lithotypes cropping out in the area. The results obtained allow the chalcedonies of Pietratonda–Poggio Peloso to be described as a unicum, based on the very high contents of Sb that do not find a comparison in the literature. The textures showed multiple generations of silica that agree well with an environment characterized by multiple injections of mineralizing solutions, bearing variable physicochemical characteristics. The transport likely took place in an alkaline environment, while the acidification of the water may have favoured the precipitation at varying temperatures but not higher than 225 °C. The rocks from which the constituents may have been leached are the hosting carbonates and the surrounding metamorphic rocks. Among the examined rocks, the metamorphic rocks showed the most numerous and significant correspondences with the chalcedonies and were the only ones in which discrete amounts of gold contents were found.

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“…These pelagic/hemipelagic sequences may correspond to the B" horizon mapped, nearly reached in the ODP 999 in the Kogi Rise in the Caribbean Plate interior (Abrams & Hu, 2000;Bowland, 1993;Röhl & Abrams, 2000). Geologic maps of the eastern Azuero Peninsula by Corral et al (2011Corral et al ( , 2013, and by Montes et al (2012b) in the southern flank of the San Blas Range, have delineated the outcrop pattern, and cross-cutting relationships of hemipelagic carbonates and pelagic mudstone and chert with the tectono-stratigraphic units above and below. Both studies use these sequences to separate plateau products from arc products, thought to represent the transition from plume vulcanism to subduction-related vulcanism.…”

Section: Hemipelagic and Pelagic Sequencesmentioning

confidence: 75%

Chapter 15

SGC¹

2019

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A review of the bedrock geology of the Isthmus of Panama highlights tectonic deformation-tilting, bending, and breaking-, as the major controlling factor in the sites and modes of Cenozoic sedimentation. Deformation in Paleocene -early Eocene times folded and faulted a basement complex composed of plateau basalts, pelagic and hemipelagic sequences, and an overprinted magmatic arc. This deformation episode brought parts of the isthmus from lower bathyal depths to subaerial exposure, bringing about basement cooling and eroding the plutonic bodies that make up the roots of a Campanian to Eocene arc. A clastic-carbonate, less deformed, upper Eocene and younger sedimentary sequence onlaps nonconformably the basement complex. Southward tilting of the isthmus controlled the accumulation of the clastic wedge, recording first shallow marine depositional environments, followed by deepening, and then by shoaling. This sequence resulted from basin tilting that simultaneously raised the San Blas Range, eroding it, while deepening the axis of the Chucunaque Basin. Bending and breaking of the isthmus took place as it was being detached from the trailing edge of the Caribbean Plate, and marked the start of left-lateral offset of the isthmus in late Eocene times.

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Trace-metal content of the Cerro Quema Au-Cu deposit (Azuero Peninsula, Panama): Implications for exploration

Cited by 7 publications

References 31 publications

Origin and evolution of mineralizing fluids and exploration of the Cerro Quema Au-Cu deposit (Azuero Peninsula, Panama) from a fluid inclusion and stable isotope perspective

Origin and evolution of mineralizing fluids and exploration of the Cerro Quema Au-Cu deposit (Azuero Peninsula, Panama) from a fluid inclusion and stable isotope perspective

Sb–Au-bearing chalcedonies in hot geothermal systems: insights from the jasperoids of Poggio Peloso (southern Tuscany, Italy)

Chapter 15

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