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First U-Pb LA-ICP-MS in situ dating of supergene copper mineralization: case study in the Chuquicamata mining district, Atacama Desert, Chile

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Abstract

Since the second half of the twentieth century, exotic copper mineralization represents a prime target for many mining exploration companies operating in the hyperarid Atacama Desert, in northern Chile. Although there is evidence that the emplacement of such deposits took place during specific Tertiary climatic periods and relief formation, many uncertainties remain regarding the exact timing for their deposition and/or the genetic link between the exotic deposits and the primary porphyry copper deposits. We present a first attempt of U-Pb dating of copper-rich minerals from the Mina Sur exotic deposit from the Chuquicamata mining district. A suite of Mn-rich black chrysocolla clasts surrounded by pseudomalachite bands has been characterized and dated in petrographic context using both nanosecond and femtosecond in situ laser ablation ICP-MS analyses. U-Pb dating on pseudomalachite bands yields a crystallization age of 18.4 ± 1.0 Ma. For the Mn-rich chrysocolla clasts, the 206Pb/238U apparent ages range from 19.7 ± 5.0 Ma to 6.1 ± 0.3 Ma, a spread interpreted as the result of U and/or Pb mobility linked to fluid circulation following crystallization. This study demonstrates that supergene copper mineralization can be directly dated by the U-Th-Pb method on pseudomalachite. Furthermore, the age obtained on pseudomalachite indicates that Mina Sur copper deposition took place at ca. 19 Ma, about 11 m.y. after the unroofing and hydrothermal alteration of the Chuquicamata deposit, a result that is consistent with the supergene ages already known in the Atacama Desert.

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Acknowledgments

We thank CODELCO Chile and all the geologists for providing access to the Mina Sur open-pit and for their assistance during the sampling campaign achieved by Eduardo Campos. We would like to thank Fabienne de Parseval who helped with the preparation of the polished and thin sections. The authors want to thank Thierry Aigouy and Philippe de Parseval for their assistance during SEM imaging and electron probe microanalysis respectively. Finally, we thank reviewers T. Bissig and Zhi-Yong Zhu and editors Georges Beaudoin and Shao-Yong Jiang for their constructive and detailed reviews of this manuscript that help us to improve it significantly.

Funding

We thank the IRD (Institut de Recherche pour le Développement, France) and FONDECYT Project No. 1170992 (CONICYT, Chile), for its financial support and more specifically the LMI Copedim, a research program supported by IRD, Université Paul Sabatier (Toulouse, France) and Universidad Católica del Norte (Antofagasta, Chile). This research project was conducted thanks to the French ministry of Higher Education and Research PhD scholarship of Z. S. Kahou, the IRD allowing long-term mission. This work was supported by the program funding of the Institut Carnot ISIFoR and the TelluS Program of CNRS/INSU.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Géosciences Environnement Toulouse(GET), Université de Toulouse, UPS, CNRS, IRD, CNES, 14 avenue E. Belin, 31400, Toulouse, France

    Zia Steven Kahou, Stéphanie Brichau, Stéphanie Duchêne, Mathieu Leisen, François-Xavier d’Abzac & Sébastien Carretier

  2. Univ Rennes, CNRS, Géosciences Rennes – UMR 6118, F-35000, Rennes, France

    Marc Poujol

  3. Departamento de Ciencias Geológicas, Universidad Católica del Norte, Avenida Angamos, 0610, Antofagasta, Chile

    Eduardo Campos & Rodrigo Riquelme

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  1. Zia Steven Kahou
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Kahou, Z.S., Brichau, S., Poujol, M. et al. First U-Pb LA-ICP-MS in situ dating of supergene copper mineralization: case study in the Chuquicamata mining district, Atacama Desert, Chile. Miner Deposita 56, 239–252 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00126-020-00960-2

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