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Late Cretaceous porphyry copper mineralization in Sonora, Mexico: Implications for the evolution of the Southwest North America porphyry copper province

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Abstract

Two porphyry Cu-Mo prospects in northern Sonora, Mexico (Fortuna del Cobre and Los Humos) located within the southwestern North American porphyry province have been dated in order to constrain the timing of crystallization and mineralization of these ore deposits. In Fortuna del Cobre, the pre-mineralization granodiorite porphyry yielded an U-Pb zircon age of 76.5 ± 2.3 Ma, whereas two samples from the ore-bearing quartz feldespathic porphyry were dated at 74.6 ± 1.3 and 75.0 ± 1.4 Ma. Four molybdenite samples from Los Humos porphyry Cu prospect yielded a weighted average Re-Os age of 73.5 ± 0.2 Ma, whereas two samples from the ore-bearing quartz monzonite porphyry gave U-Pb zircon ages of 74.4 ± 1.1 and 74.5 ± 1.3 Ma, showing a Late Cretaceous age for the emplacement of this ore deposit. The results indicate that Laramide porphyry Cu mineralization of Late Cretaceous age is not restricted to northern Arizona as previously thought and provide evidence for the definition of NS trending metallogenic belts that are parallel to the paleo-trench. Porphyry copper mineralization follows the inland migration trend of the magmatic arc as a result of the Farallon slab flattening during the Laramide orogeny.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Benito Noguez-Alcántara and Francisco Quintanar for providing samples and geologic information on these prospects. We also thank Thomas Bissig (Associate Editor) and Kenneth Clark for their constructive reviews of this manuscript. Support of FONDAP project no. 15090013 “Centro de Excelencia en Geotermia de los Andes, CEGA” is acknowledged.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Geología, Chile and Andean Geothermal Center of Excellence (CEGA), Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile

    Fernando Barra

  2. School of the Environment, Washington State University, Pullman, WA, USA

    Victor A Valencia

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  1. Fernando Barra
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  2. Victor A Valencia
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Correspondence to Fernando Barra.

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Editorial handling: T. Bissig

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Barra, F., Valencia, V.A. Late Cretaceous porphyry copper mineralization in Sonora, Mexico: Implications for the evolution of the Southwest North America porphyry copper province. Miner Deposita 49, 879–884 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00126-014-0544-1

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