Abstract
The Susana copper deposit is located at an elevation of 860 m above sea level in the coastal Cordillera of northern Chile (Carolina de Michilla district), 110 km north of Antofagasta at 70°10′W and 22°40′S. Initial mining began in 1981 by surface mining methods with production coming from one open bit. Due to subsequent geologic reconnaissance that resulted in the discovery of a mineralized breccia pipe structure, underground mining started in 1983. By 1983, 36000 m of drilling had shown the presence of 8 million metric tons of oxide/sulfide ore averaging 2% copper at 0.5% cutoff (Valdebenito 1983) with probable reserves several million tonnes greater. Mine production in 1985 was 1700 mt/day with Cu >3% and 20 g/mt Ag.
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Wolf, F.B., Fontboté, L., Amstutz, G.C. (1990). The Susana Copper (-Silver) Deposit in Northern Chile Hydrothermal Mineralization Associated with a Jurassic Volcanic Arc. In: Fontboté, L., Amstutz, G.C., Cardozo, M., Cedillo, E., Frutos, J. (eds) Stratabound Ore Deposits in the Andes. Special Publication No. 8 of the Society for Geology Applied to Mineral Deposits, vol 8. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-88282-1_24
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-88282-1_24
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