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Some thoughts on gold-rich porphyry copper deposits

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Abstract

Porphyry copper deposits carrying more than 0.4 gm/ton gold are briefly described from northwest Argentina, northwest Pakistan, the Intermontane belt of British Columbia, the Philippines, Sulawesi, Papua New Guinea, Sabah and Puerto Rico. Gold is normally present in potassium silicate alteration, which commonly carries an unusually high magnetite content. High gold content is not directly related to geotectonic setting, composition of the host intrusive, nature of the wall rocks, age of mineralization, erosion level, size of the ore body, or the presence or absence of sericitic alteration. Conditions conducive to a high gold content are likely to have developed in porphyry copper systems at or near to their present sites in the crust rather than at deeper levels during magma generation and ascent.

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  1. Department of Mining Geology, Royal School of Mines, Imperial College of Science and Technology, Prince Consort Road, SW7 2BP, London, England

    R. H. Sillitoe

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Sillitoe, R.H. Some thoughts on gold-rich porphyry copper deposits. Mineral. Deposita 14, 161–174 (1979). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00202933

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