Economic Geology Vol. 81, 1986, pp.

489-492

TIMING OF VOLCANIC AND HYDROTHERMAL ACTIVITY, HUANCA VELICA MERCURY DISTRICT, PERU EDWIN H. McKv.,
U.S. Geological Suwey,345 MiddlefieldRoad,Mail Stop941, MenloPark, California 94025

DONALD C. NOBLE,
MackaySchool of Mines,University of Nevada-Reno, Reno,Nevada89557 AND CISAR VIDAL C.
Buenaventura Ingenieros S.A.,E. Larrabure Y Unanue146, Lima 1, Peru Introduction

The Huancavelica district, located in the western

Casapalca Formationelsewhere andhenceare probably not part of that formation.

cordilleraof centralPeru (Fig. 1) at an elevationof Middle Miocene and YoungerVolcanic Rocks more than 3,800 m, hasthe largesttotal production of mercury in the western hemisphere andthe fourth The volcanic rockssurrounding the Huancavelica largesttotal production of any districtin the world districtconsist largelyof dense dacitelavas containing (Baileyet al., 1973). Althoughthe districtincludes abundant, but relativelysmall,phenocrysts of plagio~ manymines,by far the mostimportantis the Santa clase,biotite, hornblende,and Fe-Ti oxides.Large Bfirbaramine, located about 2.5 km southof the town variations in the ratio ofbiotite to hornblende suggest of Huancavelica (Fig. 2). a moderaterangein chemicalcomposition. Although The geology andmineraldeposits of the Huancav- the rocks aremostly dacitic,andesitc is present locally elica districthavebeen described in detail by Yates west of the district. et al. (1951) and FernandezConehaet al. (1952), In manyareas theselavas haveundergone weakto hydrothermal alterationandlocallyhostbase whoreference anumber ofearlier reports. Thehistory intense of miningin the districthasbeen discussed in detail andprecious metalmineralization. Mercury is found by Whitaker(1941) andLohmann Viilena(1949) and in the volcanic rocks in several areas in the southern summarized by Rodriguez Hoyle (1974) andSamam part of the district (Yateset al., 1951; Fernandez Boggio (1972, 1983).A modern discussion oftheearly Conchaet al., 1952) and is presentwithin the base economic importance andsocialconsequences of the of a volcanic dome about 2.5 km west-northwest of mercuryminesis givenby Hemming (1970). the Santa Bftrbara mine (locality2, Fig. 2). VeinsconMercurymineralization islargelyrestrictedto Me- taining tetrahedrite and barite are present in the sozoicstratathat were tightly folded and faulted in northern and nothwesternparts of the district and earlyto middleMiocene time (Yates et al., 1951;Fer- lead,zinc,arsenic, antimony, andsilvermineralization nandez Concha et al., 1952; Narvaez and Guevara, accompanied by strong hydrothermalalteration is 1968; McKee and Noble, 1982). Lavasof interme- presentin hornblende-biotite daciteat YanaMina and diate to siliciccomposition locally intrude the de- 4 km south of the Santa Bftrbara mine. The altered formedrockswithin the centralpart of the district andmineralizedrocksat YanaMina are cut by a dike andlargevolumes of intermediateto siliciclavaflows of unalteredbiotite daciteor rhyodacite(locality1, are presentdirectlyto the southand west (Fig. 2). Fig. 2). The proximity and abundanceof igneousrocks A distinctive unit of daciteor rhyodacite containing of plagioclase, biotite, and quartz stronglysuggests that mineralization is genetically large phenocrysts related to Cenozoic igneous activity (Petersen, 1972). is presentin severalareasin the central part of the Field work in the Huancavelica districtby Noble district,whereit hasbeenmappedasintrusivedacite andVidal in 1978 and 1983 confirmed the geologic by Yateset al. (1951) and FernandezConchaet al. relations described by Yateset al. (1951). Volcanic (1952). Similarrocks thathaveundergone onlyslight andsedimentary rocks, originally assigned to the Cas- hydrothermalalterationform a smallhill, known as apalcaFormation by Narvaezand Guevara(1968), JatunCalvario,about 1.5 km southof the SantaBfirare in fact of late Oligocene and earlyMioceneage baramine (locality5, Fig. 2). Highly alteredandmin(McKeeand Noble, 1982), muchyoungerthan the eralized rock includedin this unit by Yates et al.

0361-0128/86/519/489-4$2.50

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SCIENTIFIC COMMUNICATIONS

canicrocksin the district,three age determinations were madeto verify the age.
Discussion and Conclusions

The close association of voluminous volcanic rocks

with the mercury mineralization suggests a genetic relationship betweenigneous and hydrothermal activity. The mineralization wasmostlikely produced by subvolcanicintrusionsassociated with the late Miocenevolcanic rocks.Bodiesof brecciacomposed of clasts of Tertiary volcanicand Mesozoicsedimentary rocksthat are in placesmineralizedappear to be, at leastin part, of hydrothermal or phreatomagmatic origin.

Mercury andrelatedmineralization in mostplaces in the Huancavelica districtmustbe somewhat younger than the hostlavasdated at 6.7 q- 0.6, 7.7 q- 0.3, and7.8 q-1.2 m.y. The majormercurymineralization in the SantaBtrbaramine area probablyalso was formedat thistime (somewhat afterabout7 m.y. ago). Suchan age is consistent with late Miocene agesof mineralization at the nearbyJulcani(Noble and Silberman,1984) andHuachocolpa (Bruhaet al., 1982) districts, andat a numberof otherdistricts throughout Peru. The possibilitycannotbe ruled out that some mineralization, and particularly the economically mostimportant mineralizationof the SantaBtrbara mine, formedin the middle Miocene(about16 m.y. ago)asthe resultof the firstphase of igneous activity that producedthe distinctiveplageoclase-, biotite-, andquartz-bearing daciteof the JatunCalvarioarea. FIC. 1. Map of Peruwith location of the Huancavelica mercury Reheating andhydrothermal solutions associated with district. the regionallyimportant7-m.y.-oldigneousactivity mayhaveremobilizedandredistributed mercurydeposited duringthisearlier,16-m.y.-old igneous event. (1951) andFernandez Concha et al. (1952) ispresent As statedabove, mineralizationin mostparts of the directly southandwest of the SantaBtrbara mine. districtis mostlikely relatedto, but somewhat younger than, the 7-m.y. event. Hydrothermal activity had RadiometricAges ceased at YanaMina by about3.3 m.y. ago and it is Potassium-argon age determinationson five vol- probablethat hydrothermal activityand mineralizacanicrocksserveasthe geochronologic basefor this tion had ceased throughout the districtby this time. study. The analyses were doneusing isotope dilution methods as described by Dalrympleand Lanphere Acknowledgments (1969). Specimens of the voluminous hornblendeand bioField workwasdonefor Compania de MinasBuentite dacite (Tv, Fig. 2; specimens 2, 3, and 4, Table aventura,S. A., and Buenaventura Ingenieros, S. A., 1) yieldedages of 6.7 q-0.6, 7.7 q-0.3, and7.8 q-1.2 whichhavekindly allowedpublication of the results. m.y. The postmineralization dike from Yana Mina Favio Paz of Mines Buenaventura and Roger Cabos Part of the labo(specimen 1, Table 1) yieldeda significantly younger greatly facilitatedthe field studies. ageof 3.3 q-0.3 m.y. ratory work was supported by the NationalScience Appreciablyolder agesof 16.5 q- 0.3, 16.9 q- 0.2, Foundation. We thank M. L. Silbermanfor allowing and 16.2 q- 3.0 m.y. were obtainedon an unaltered the inclusion of a previouslyunpublished agedeterspecimen of biotitedacite(Td, Fig. 2) fromJatun Cal- mination. vario(specimen 5, Table 1). Because of the relatively great differencein age betweenthis and other vol- January 29, June 10, 1985

HUANCAVE LICA

Qac
Qac

JP

Oac

Kgf

========================================================================= '::::: :::::: ::::..................

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Kgm I
.............

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::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: ......... i..C. ... :.:.: :.:.: :.:.::

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No

Q[-

QUATERNARY ALLUVIUM,COLLUVlUM ANDGLACIAL DEPOSITS RHYOLITEDIKE ( 3.3 nty.)

:
'A

HYDROTHERMAL AND TECTONIC BRECCIA

DACITIC ANDRHYODACITIC LAVAS ( 6.7-T. S nty. ) DACITIC LAVAS ( - 16.5 m.y. )
UN CONFORMITY

'3STRIKE AND DIP OF FLOW FOLIATION , STRIKE OF VERTICAL JOINTS

T[-FI
,,,---

CON6LOMERATEE,TUFF8 ANDVOLCANICLASTIC STRATA (LATE OLI6OCENE ANDLOWER MIOCENE)

u NC ON FDR M ITY,

K[--] MACHAY LIMESTONE ( ALBIAN )

KIng-]

CHACLATACANA VOLCANICS (CRETACEOUS GRAN FARALLON SANDSTONE ( LOWER CRETACEOUS )

PUCARA GROUP( UPPER TRIASSIC ANO JURASSIC )

I
KI LDMETER8

FIG. 2. Geologicmap of the Huancavelica mercury district,Andesof southernPeru.

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TBLE 1.

SCIENTIFIC COMMUNICATIONS

Potassium-Argon Age Determinations on VolcanicRocksfrom the Huancavelica Mercury District, Peru

Location

Location,

Mineral

K20

40n, rad

40n, rad

Age ___ o

Fig. 2
I 2 3

Field number
HCV-YM HCV-DAS TORO DOME

LatitudeS
12o50.5 ' 12o47.5 ' 12o49.9 '

Longitude W
74o57.9 ' 74o59.3 ' 74o52.0 '

dated
Biotite Biotite Biotite

(wt %)
8.44 8.47 8.66

(moles/g X 10-)
0.3961 0.8261 0.9561

(%)
24 33 29

(m.y.)
3.3 0.3 6.7 ___ 0.6 7.7 __-0.3

4
5

HCV-DSEM
HCV-CALV

12o50.8'
1249.1 '

7457.1'
74o57.9 '

Plagioclase
Biotite

1.035
8.77

0.1214
2.095
2.140

8.7
57
53

7.8 1.2
16.5 -*- 0.3
16.9 0.2

Plagioclase

0.603

0.1413

10.4

16.2 _+3.0

Constants: 3, + 3,' -- 0.581 X 10- yr-, 3,-- 4.962 X 10- yr-, 4K/Ktota = 1.167 X 10-4 mole/mole
Locations: 1, biotite daciteor rhyodacitefrom unaltereddike 0.3 km southwest of YanaMina; 2, biotite-hornblende dacitefrom northern margin of dome directly north of Sacsamarca; 3, biotite-hornblende dacite from dome, Cerro Montepata, 11 km eastsoutheast of mineSanta Bbxbara, eastof Figure2; 4, biotite-hornblende dacitefrom northernmarginof dome1.4 km east-southeast of YanaMina; 5, biotite dacite or rhyodacitefrom smalldome,JatunCalvario

REFERENCES

Bailey, E. H., Clark, A. L., and Smith, R. M., 1973, Mercury: U.S. Geol. SurveyProf. Paper820, p. 401-414. Bruha,D. J., McKee,E. H., andNoble, D.C., 1982, Paragenetic fluid-inclusion and geochronologic studyof the Teresitavein system, Huachocolpa district,Peru labs.]:Geol. Soc.America Abstracts with Programs, v. 14, p. 152-153. Dalrymple, G. B., and Lanphere, M. A., 1969, Potassium-argon dating:SanFrancisco, W. H. Freemanand Company,258 p. FernandezConcha,J., Yates,R. G., andKent, D. F., 1952, Geologladel DistritoMercurlferode Huancavelica: Peru,Inst. Nac. Inv. FomentoMinerosBol. 5, 56 p. Hemming,J., 1970, The conquest of the Incas:New York, Harcourt BraceJovanovich, 641 p. Lohmann Villena, G., 1949, Las minas de Huancavelica en los siglos XVI y XVII: Escuda Estudios Hispano-Americanos Sevilla,
Consejo Superior Inv. Cient., 466 p. McKee, E. H., and Noble, D.C., 1982, Miocene volcanismand deformation in the western cordillera andhighplateaus of southcentralPeru: Geol. Soc.AmericaBull., v. 93, p. 657-662.

Narvaez, S., and Guevara, C., 1968, Mapa ge61ogico del cuadrfmgulo de Huancavelica: Servicio Geologla MinerlaPer6. Noble, D.C., and Silberman,M. L., 1984, Evolutionvolc/tnica y hidrothermal y cronologia de K/At del distritominerodeJulcani: Soc.Geol. Peru, Vol. JubilarLX Aniv., Fasc.5, 35 p. Peterson,U., 1972, Geochemicaland tectonic implicationsof SouthAmericanmetallogenic provinces: New York Acad. Sci. Annals,v. 196, p. 1-38. Rodriguez Hoyle, D., ed., Per6 minero 1974: Lima Soc. Nac. Minerla y Petr61eo, 301 p. Samam6 Boggio, M., 1972, Minerla Peruana: Biografla y estat6gia de unaactivadad decisiva: Lima, EditorialLitografica"La Confianza" S. A., 530 p. -1983, Per6: A mining country, vol. 1, History: Lima,
INGEMMET, 247 p.

Whitaker, A. P., 1941, The Huancavelicamercury mine: Cambridge, Harvard Univ. Press,150 p. Yates, R. G., Kent,D. F., andFernandez Concha, J., 1951, Geology of the Huancavelica quicksilver district, Peru:U.S. Geol.Survey Bull. 9754-A, 45 p.