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Formation of the Mantoverde iron oxide-copper-gold (IOCG) deposit, Chile: insights from Fe and O stable isotopes and comparisons with iron oxide-apatite (IOA) deposits

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Abstract

The Mantoverde iron oxide-copper-gold (IOCG) deposit, Chile, contains hundreds of millions of tonnes (Mt) of mineable iron oxide and copper sulfide ore. While there is an agreement that mineralization at Mantoverde was caused by hydrothermal fluid(s), there is a lack of consensus for the role(s) that non-magmatic vs. magmatic fluid(s) played during the evolution of the mineralized system. In order to overcome the hydrothermal overprint at Mantoverde, which is known to disturb most conventional stable isotope systems (e.g., oxygen), we report the first δ56Fe and δ18O pairs for early-stage magnetite and late-stage hematite that provide information on the source reservoir of the hydrothermal fluids. Magnetite δ56Fe values range from 0.46 ± 0.04 to 0.58 ± 0.02‰ and average 0.51 ± 0.16‰ (n = 10; 2σ). Three hematite δ56Fe values were measured to be 0.34 ± 0.10, 0.42 ± 0.09, and 0.46 ± 0.06. Magnetite δ18O values range from 0.69 ± 0.04 to 4.61 ± 0.05‰ and average 2.99 ± 2.70‰ (n = 9; 2σ). Hematite δ18O values range from − 1.36 ± 0.05 to 5.57 ± 0.05‰ and average 0.10 ± 5.38‰ (n = 6; 2σ). These new δ56Fe and δ18O values fingerprint a magmatic-hydrothermal fluid as the predominant ore-forming fluid responsible for mineralization in the Mantoverde system.

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Acknowledgments

TMC thanks Mantos Copper for providing access to drill core and generous hospitality, Zhenhao Zhou from the University of Illinois for amazing assistance with Fe isotope analyses, and H Mumin, AE Fayek, and one anonymous reviewer whose input greatly improved the quality of this paper.

Funding

TMC thanks the Society of Economic Geologists and the University of Michigan for providing funding. ACS acknowledges funding from NSF EAR Grants No. 1250239 and No. 1264560. MR and FB acknowledge funding from Millennium Science Initiative (MSI) through Millennium Nucleus for Metal Tracing along Subduction Grant NC130065, and FONDECYT Grant No. 1140780 “Metallogenesis of the Mesozoic magmatic arc of northern Chile: Testing the IOCG connection using a multi-proxy geochemical approach.”

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Michigan, 1100 North University Ave, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109-1005, USA

    Tristan M. Childress & Adam C. Simon

  2. Department of Geology and Andean Geothermal Center of Excellence (CEGA), Universidad de Chile, Plaza Ercilla 803, Santiago, Chile

    Martin Reich & Fernando Barra

  3. Mantos Copper, Nicolas Tirado 377, Antofagasta, Chile

    Mauricio Arce

  4. Department of Geology, University of Illinois, 605 E. Springfield Ave., Champaign, IL, USA

    Craig C. Lundstrom

  5. Department of Geological Sciences, University of Oregon, 1275 E 13th Ave., Eugene, OR, USA

    Ilya N. Bindeman

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  1. Tristan M. Childress
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Childress, T.M., Simon, A.C., Reich, M. et al. Formation of the Mantoverde iron oxide-copper-gold (IOCG) deposit, Chile: insights from Fe and O stable isotopes and comparisons with iron oxide-apatite (IOA) deposits. Miner Deposita 55, 1489–1504 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00126-019-00936-x

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