015 Sillitoe

Economic Geology
Vol. 80, 1985, pp. 1467-1514

Ore-Related Breccias in Volcanoplutonic Arcs
RICHARD H. SILLITOE
8 West Hill Park, Highgate Village, London N6 6ND, England
Abstract
An overview of breccias related to a vriety of base metal, precious metal, and lithophile
element deposits in volcanoplutonic arcs permits definition of six possible mechanisms for
subsurface brecciation.
1. Release ofmagmatic-hydrothermal fluids from high-level hydrous magma chambers during
second boiling and subsequent decompression generates a spectrum of breccia types in which
fragments may suffer collapse and/or ascent. Single or multiple intrusion-related breccia pipes
and pre- and intermineral breccias in porphyry copper deposits provide widespread examples.
2. Magmatic heating and expansion of meteoric pore fluids may lead to brecciation, com-
monly of late or postmineral age and including pebble dikes, in porphyry-type and related
deposits. Magmatic heating of rocks saturated with seawater may cause submarine hydrothermal
eruptions late in the emplacement histories of Kuroko-type massive sulfide deposits; many of
the resultant breccias underwent limited sedimentary transport. Overpressuring of heated
fluids beneath semipermeable, partly self-sealed cap rocks may lead to brecciation and subaerial
hydrothermal eruptions in shallow epithermal precious metal settings; magmatic heating or
tectonic disturbance may have triggered brecciation.
3. Interaction of cool ground waters with subsurface magma can generate phreatomagmatic
explosions. Postmineral phreatomagmatic diatremes associated with porphyry systems and
premineral diatremes with epithermal precious (4- base) metal deposits were generated in
this manner; these attained the palcosurface to produce pyroclastic base surge and fall deposits
that accumulated as tuff rings around maar craters.
4. Magmatic-hydrothermal brecciation may lead to disruption of rocks through to the pa-
lcosurface, decompression, and fragmentation and eruption of the top part of an underlying
magma chamber. Pre- and postmineral magmatic diatremes of this sort are inferred to accom-
pany a few porphyry-type and other base and precious metal systems; they were manifested
at the palcosurface by accumulations of pyroclastic fall and flow deposits.
5. Breccias may result from mechanical disruption of wall rocks during subsurface movement
of magma. Any intrusion-related deposit may include such intrusion breccias.
6. Tectonic breccias resulting from fault displacement may accompany any type of ore
deposit.
A continuum exists between many of these breccia types and it is difficult to identify unique
criteria for their unambiguous distinction.
Introduction
BRECCIAS with an enormous variety of characteristics
are common, perhaps ubiquitous, accompaniments to
a wide spectrum of hydrothermal ore deposits. They
have fascinated and perplexed miners and geologists
for at least 200 years. Ore-related breccias were
identified correctly during the late 19th century (e.g.,
in Cornwall, England; Hunt, 1887, p. 421-422), and
in 1896, Emmons provided an explicit description of
the Bassick and Bull-Domingo breccia pipes in Col-
orado. The common occurrence of breccias as hosts
for, or associates of, hydrothermal ore deposits was
generally appreciated by the early 20th century, as
evidenced by perceptive reviews of their character-
istics and proposals for their origin by Locke (1926),
Walker (1928), and Emroohs (1938). Notwithstanding
their early recognition, however, it has only been
during the last decade or so that some of the more
subtle varieties and expressions of brecciation have
been appreciated. Even today, large matrix-rich bod-
ies of breccia are often confused with volcanosedi-
mentary formations and elongate matrix-poor breccias
are incorrectly assigned a tectonic origin. Worse still,
ore-related breccias not uncommonly pass unnoticed.
Ore-related breccias were last reviewed by Bryner
(1961). Mayo (1976) presented an historical overview
of subsurface breccias of igneous affiliation, but only
a few of his examples are associated with ore deposits.
This paper begins with a brief discussion of classifi-
cation problems and proceeds to a description of the
characteristics, alteration and mineralization features,
and possible origins of six categories of ore-related
breccias. The treatment is based on the writer's field
studies combined with a perusal of the voluminous
literature on ore-related breccias.
Attention is restricted to volcanoplutonic arcs be-
cause they contain a greater number and variety of
ore-related breccias than any other metallogenic set-
0361-0128/85/439/1467-4852.50 1467
1468 RICHARD H. SILLITOE
ting and have provided most of the examples de-
scribed in the literature. Discussion is focused on
breccias that were generated in subsurface environ-
ments by hypogene processes in association with eco-
nomically significant base metal, precious metal, and
lithophile element deposits. Subaerial volcanic brec-
cias are not dealt with, except for those that accu-
mulated in close proximity to their subsurface feeders.
Although this paper is restricted to ore-related
breccias, it should be emphasized that numerous ex-
amples of apparently similar breccias devoid of even
subeconomic amounts of mineralization are known
from arc terranes in many parts of the world (e.g.,
Gates, 1959; Morris and Kopf, 1967; Bussell and
McCourt, 1977).
Classification
A comprehensive genetic classification of ore-re-
lated breccias remains elusive. The proliferation of
genetic terms used to describe breccias tends to ob-
scure rather than illuminate the subject: intrusion,
intrusive, explosion, eruption, collapse, phreatic,
phreatomagmatic, hydrothermal, fiuidization, gas
fluxion, steam blast, hydraulic fracture (hydrofrac),
and tuffisitic are just some of the qualifters used, com-
monly loosely or even erroneously, in the literature.
The difficult question of origin has been further com-
pounded by attempts to explain the formation of
breccias in general by a single mechanism. In common
with Bryner (1961) and Richard (1969), the writer
prefers the notion of multiple origins for ore-related
breccias and is in sympathy with Joralemon (1952, p.
256) when he stated: "It is inconceivable that all
breccia chimneys were formed by the same process,"
and "Nature evidently loves a breccia, and if no vi-
olent phenomenon is available, the breccia is formed
just the same"!
In principle, ore-related breccias are amenable to
classification on the basis of either genetic or descrip-
tive criteria, in the same way as Recent volcanic rocks
(e.g., Wright et al., 1980). Ideally, the descriptive
criteria would be diagnostic of a breccia's genesis. In
the case of ore-related breccias, however, it has
proved impossible to infer the process reliably from
observed geometric, lithologic, and textural charac-
teristics. Existing classification schemes, such as those
by Wright and Bowes (1963), Kents (1964), and Bry-
ner( 1968), are inadequate because of the subjectivity
of many of the descriptive parameters employed, as
well as because of the lack of support for many of the
resulting genetic assumptions.
In this paper, ore-related breccias are discussed in
the context of a broad genetic framework, which takes
into account the overlap now widely recognized be-
tween intrusive, volcanic, and hydrothermal pro-
cesses. With the exception of tectonic breccias, the
primary division is based on the inferred role of
magma and/or aqueous fluids in breccia formation,
and further subdivision is on the basis of ore deposit
type. The resulting scheme, which dictates the or-
ganization of this paper, is summarized in Table 1.
Assignment of a breccia to the appropriate category
does not rely solely on breccia characteristics but also
takes cognizance of the overall environment of brec-
ciation, in particular the relationship to, and condi-
tions of, accompanying ore deposition. The recogni-
tion of modern analogs for several types of ore-related
breccias also proves useful.
Magmatic-hydrothermal breccias are products of
the release of hydrothermal fluids from magma cham-
bers, irrespective of the original source of the fluids
concerned (magmatic, meteoric, connate, or ocean
waters). Hydromagmatic (including hydrovolcanic)
breccias, as defined by Macdonald (1972) and Sher-
idan and Wohletz (1981), are generated by the in-
teraction of magma and an external source of water,
such as ground or surface (ocean, lake) waters. The
hydromagmatic category is subdivided into phreato-
magmatic breccias, where both water and magma di-
rectly contributed to formation of the observed prod-
ucts, and phreatic breccias, in which only magmatic
heat had access to the external water source. Mag-
matic (including volcanic) breccias result from frag-
mentation and eruption of magma from subsurface
TABLE 1. Subdivision of Ore-Related Breccias Employed in this Paper
Magmatic-hydrothermal breccias
Hydromagmatic
(hydrovolcanic)
breccias
Magmatic (volcanic) breccias
Intrusion breccias
Tectonic breccias
Phreatic breccias
Phreatomagmatic breccias
Pipes related to intrusions
Porphyry-type deposits
Epithermal precious (4- base) metal deposits
Porphyry-type and other intrusion-related deposits
Kuroko-type massive sulfide deposits
Porphyry-type and epithermal precious (4- base) metal deposits
Porphyry-type and other base and precious metal deposits
Any intrusion-related deposits
Any type of ore deposit
ORE-RELATED BRECCIAS IN VOLCANOPLUTONIC ARCS 1469
chambers. The remaining categories of subsurface
breccia--intrusion and tectonic--are only briefly
considered for the sake of completeness. Intrusion
breccias are a direct product of the passive subsurface
movement of magma. Tectonic breccias are primarily
the products of tectonic processes, in which water
may or may not have participated. The widely em-
ployed term hydrothermal breccia describes the
products of magmatic-hydrothermal and hydromag-
matic processes and therefore provides a valuable
designation for many ore-related breccias.
An additional category, amagmatic-hydrothermal,
may be introduced to include breccias generated by
hydrothermal fluids of, say, meteoric or cormate or-
igin, uninfiuenced by magmatism. The breccias rec-
ognized from Mississippi Valley-type lead-zinc de-
posits, sediment-hosted massive sulfide lead-zinc de-
posits, unconformity-type uranium deposits, and
sediment-hosted pipes and bodies are all assignable
to this category. However, since these ore deposit
types are generally absent from arc terranes, amag-
matic-hydrothermal breccias are not considered fur-
ther.
Magmatic-Hydrothermal Breccias
Pipes related to intrusions
General remarks: This section describes breccias,
confined to single or multiple pipes, that possess a
close genetic connection with unaltered and unmin-
eralized intrusive rocks, either batholiths or stocks.
There seems to be a gradation from districts charac-
terized by one or more breccia pipes associated with
fresh intrusive rocks to districts in which the pipes
constitute only parts of larger volumes of pervasive
alteration-mineralization of porphyry type (see be-
low). Although most of the breccias summarized in
Table '2 are demonstrably not parts of porphyry sys-
tems, and therefore are not underlain by porphyry-
type mineralization, Copper Creek (Grimour, 1977)
and Kidston (R. H. Sillitoe, unpub. rept., 1980) could
be the high-level manifestations of largely concealed
bodies of porphyry copper-molybdenum and Climax-
type porphyry molybdenum mineralization, respec-
tively.
It is clear from Table 2 that there is no age restric-
tion for mineralized breccia pipes. Known examples
range from Archcan through Proterozoic and Paleo-
zoic to Meso-Cenozoic. Most of the western American
breccia pipes are Mesozoic or Cenozoic in age, al-
though the absence of examples in Table 2 younger
than Eocene is noteworthy. This observation is inter-
preted to reflect eraplacement of the breccias at hyp-
abyssal depths (1-3.6 kin; So and Shelton, 1983) and
the time required for their subsequent unroofing.
Characteristics: The intrusion-related breccias un-
der consideration here are restricted to pipes that may
occur individually or in closely spaced clusters of up
to 200 or more (Table 2). Pipes (also termed chimneys
or columns) are generally roughly circular to ovoid
in cross section and possess vertical dimensions which
are observed or inferred to be several times greater
than their maximum horizontal dimensions. Horizon-
tal dimensions are commonly in the range of 50 to
300 m but are as great as 1,300 X 900 m at Kidston
(Placer Exploration Ltd., 1981) or as little as 3 m in
the Cabeza de Vaca district (Sillitoe and Sawkins,
1971). The full vertical extent of a pipe is nowhere
observable, although minimum vertical dimensions of
725 to 860 m are known for four districts (Table 2).
Unless tilted subsequent to emplacement, pipes are
only uncommonly inclined at more than 15 from the
vertical.
Several examples of partly bifid pipes have been
recorded. The San Antonio de La Huerta pipe in
Sonora, Mexico, divides downward into two prongs
(R. H. Sillitoe, unpub. rept., 1975), whereas the
Childs-Aldwinkle pipe in the Copper Creek district
(Kuhn, 1941), the Ilkwang pipe (Fletcher, 1977), and
the A-B pipe at Inguar/tn (Sawkins, 1979) all bifurcate
upward.
The contacts between breccia pipes and their wall
rocks are commonly abrupt, and in many cases,
marked by a zone of closely spaced vertical fractures
(or sheeting) from 1 to 5 m wide (Fig. 1). Fractures
may be mineralized or lined with fault gouge. Sheet-
ing is not present as a single uninterrupted annulus
but is made up of several straight to gently curved
bands of fractures, which commonly tend to be more
markedly curved at one of their ends. Overlap of these
several lengths of sheeting tends to give a polygonal
outline to pipes. Alternatively, breccia and unfrac-
tured wall rocks may grade into each other over dis-
tances of several meters.
The upward and downward terminations of pipes
are not commonly observed. Locally, as in the San
Pedro de Cachiyuyo district (Sillitoe and Sawkins,
1971), pipes are seen to be capped by dome-shaped
roofs overlain by columns of altered but unbrecciated
rock, and it seems unlikely that many of these breccia
pipes approached the palcosurface. Where the bot-
toms of pipes have been observed, as in the A-B pipe
at Inguarm (Sawkins, 1979) and the San Antonio de
La Huerta pipe (R. H. Sillitoe, unpub. rept., 1975),
they are irregular but grossly fiat, and breccia ter-
minates abruptly against less altered intrusive or
country rocks. The Copper Prince pipe in the Copper
Creek district is underlain by a mineralized open fis-
sure (Kuhn, 1941; Joralemon, 1952), whereas the
lensoid Extensi6n San Luis pipe at Inguarm is tran-
sitional downward to a shear zone (V. F. J. Escand0n,
unpub. talk 1974).
The breccias are normally characterized by angular
to subrounded fragments ranging in size from a few
centimeters to several meters and, locally, several tens
TABLE 2.
Selected Examples of Mineralized
Locality Host rocks Age (m.y.)
No. of pipes Surface Vertical
(total/ dimensions dimension
mineralized) (m) (m)
Fragment
form Rock flour
Tribag, On- Granite, mafic vol-
tario, Canada canics, felsite
1,055 4/3 up to 700 X 300 >860 Angular Absent (except
East breccia)
Chadbourne, Andesitic + rhyo-
Ontario, Can- litic volcanics
ada
Golden Sun- Calcareous sedi-
light, Mon- ments, latite por-
tana phyry
Victoria, Limestone, sand-
Nevada stone
Copper Creek, Granodiorite, an-
Arizona desitic volcanics
Ortiz, New Quartzite, pyroclas-
Mexico tics
Los Pilares, Latitic q- andesitic
Sonora, volcanics
Mexico
Washington Andesitic, latitic
dist., Sonora, q- trachytic
Mexico volcanics
La Colorada, Trachytic q- rhyoli-
Zacatecas, tic pyroclastics
Mexico
Inguarfm, Mi- Granite, granodio-
choactn, rite, granodiorite
Mexico porphyry
Tu'rmalina,
Peru
Granodiorite
Archean
Early Ter-
tiary
135(?)
68
Oligocene
-55(?)
45.7
53.6 t
35.6
Tertiary
1/1 300 x 120 >750
1/1 200 x 200 , >550
>4/1 >200 x 75 >800
>200/8 up to 180 >270
3/1 970 X up to 600 >150
1/1 600 X 300 >725
13/2 up to 100 >400
9/6 up to 100 X 40 >300 (600
inferred)
10/3 up to 600 X 300 225
1/1 150 X 150 >600
Angular Absent
Angular to sub- Absent
rounded
Angular, locally Present in
rounded parts
Angular to Absent
rounded
Angular to Locally pres-
rounded ent
Angular Absent
Angular or Present in
rounded some pipes
Mainly Abundant
rounded
Angular to 10 to >50%
rounded
rounded
San Pedro de
Cachiyuyo,
Chile
Cabeza de
Vaca, Chile
El Bolsico,
Chile
San Francisco
de Los Andes,
Argentina
Granodiorite
Granodiorite, an-
desitic volcanics
Quartz diorite,
quartz diorite
porphyry
Sandstone, shale,
siltstone
Paleocene
24/10 up to 250 X 130 216
62 >100/5 up to 70 > 100
Paleocene
Late Carbon-
iferous-
Early
Permian
4/1 180 x 95 >170
3/1 70 x 15-30 >35
rounded
Angular to
locally
rounded
Angular to
rounded
Angular
Absent
Abundant
Absent
Breccia Pipes Related to Intrusive Rocks
Hydro-
thermal
alteration Principal hypogene
(t = tour- metallic minerals
maline) (in order of abundance)
Principal gangue
minerals
Structural
control
Related
intrusive rock
Ore reserve
and/or mined
(M = million, t
= metric tons)
Reerence
Sericitic, Pyrite, chalcopyrite, Quartz, calcite,
chloritic, pyrrhotite, magnetite, ankerite, lau-
argillic molybdenite montite
Sericite-cal- Pyrite
cite
Silicifica-
tion, seri-
citic
Calc-silicate
Sericitic (t),
K silicate
Sericitic
Sericitic,
chloritic
Sericitic, K
silicate,
chloritic
Sericitic
Propylitic
(t)
Sericitic,
chloritic
(t)
Sericitic (t)
Sericitic (t)
Sericitic (t)
Silicifica-
tion (t)
Pyrite, chalcopyrite,
bornitc, galena, sphal-
erite
Pyrite, chalcopyrite
molybdenite, bornitc
Pyrite, magnetite, hema-
tite, scheelite
Specularitc, pyrite, chalo
copyrite, scheelite
molybdenite, schee-
lite
Pyrite, sphalerite, ga-
lena, tetrahedrite,
chalcopyrite
Chalcopyrite, pyrite,
scheelite
molybdenite, arseno-
pyrite, wolframite,
scheelite
specularitc, scheelite
Chalcopyrite, molybde-
nite, pyrite, specular-
itc
Pyrite, arsenopyrite,
bismuthinite, chalco-
pyrite
Quartz, albite,
calcite, anker-
itc, dolomite
Quartz, barite,
sericite, fiuora-
patire
Calcite, diopside,
garnet, quartz
Quartz, sericite,
chlorite, tour-
maline
Calcite
Quartz, calcite,
chlorite
Quartz, tourma-
line
Quartz
Quartz, epidote,
tourmaline,
chlorite, cal-
cite
Quartz, tourma-
line
Quartz, tourma-
line
Quartz, tourma-
line, K-feld-
spar, calcite
Quartz, tourma-
line, sericite,
calcite
Tourmaline,
quartz
Faults, joints,
contacts
Fault related
Not recognized
Absent
Probably absent
Not recognized
Not recognized
At least partly
fault related
Not recognized
N 20 W + N
70 E faults(?)
Not recognized
Absent
Absent
Not recognized
Jointing
Felsite stock(?)
Syenite(?)
body
Latite por-
phyry
stock(?)
Quartz fatire
porphyry
stock(?)
Latite
Quartz latite
porphyry(?)
Unknown
Granodiorite
pluton(?)
Quartz monzo-
nite(?)
Granodiorite
q- granodio-
rite por-
phyry stock
Granodiorite
pluton
Granodiorite
pluton
Granodiorite
pluton
Granodiorite
pluton
Granodiorite
pluton
i Mr, 1.6% Cu;
40 Mt, 0.2%
Cu (Breton
pipe)
1.8 Mr, 4.5
ppm Au
31 Mr, 1.9 ppm
Au
2.2 Mr, 2.4%
Cu, 0.05% Bi
3,714 t Cu,
3,151 t Mo
7 Mt, 1.7 ppm
Au, 0.05%
WOa
19 Mr, 2.6%
Cu; 44 Mt,
0.8% Cu
1.2 Mr, 1.7%
Cu, 0.14%
W, O.O6%
Mo
2 Mr, 4% Pb
q- Zn, 120
ppm Ag
6 Mt, 1.2 to
1.5% Cu,
0.04% WOa
13,600 t Cu,
1,360 t Mo
>0.6 Mt, 3.7%
Cu
High-grade Cu,
minor W
2.7 Mr, 1.27%
Cu, 0.12%
Mo
38 t Bi
Armbrust (1969),
Blecha (1974),
Norman and
Sawkins (1985)
Walker and Cregh-
cur (1982)
Porter and RipIcy
(1985)
Atkinson et al.
(1982)
Kuhn (1941), Jora-
lemon (1952),
Simons (1964)
Lindquist (1980),
Wright (1983)
Wade and Wandtke
(1920), Locke
(1926), Thorns
(1978)
Sillitoe (1976),
Simmons and
Sawkins (1983)
Albinson (1973)
Escand6n (unpub.
talk, 1974), Silli-
toe (1976),
Sawkins (1979)
Carlson and Sawk-
ins (1980)
Sillitoe and Sawkins
(1971)
Parker et al.
(1963), Sillitoe
and Sawkins
(1971)
Pimentel (1979), C.
Llaumett (unpub.
rept., 1981)
Llambias and Mal-
vicini (1969)
14 7 2 RICHARD H. SILLITOE
TABLE 2--(Continued)
Locality Host rocks Age (m.y.)
No. of pipes Surface Vertical
(total/ dimensions dimension Fragment
mineralized) (m) (m) form
Rock flour
Y16j'firvi, Fin- Intermediate volca- 1,800 to
land nics 1,900
Ilkwang, Quartz monzonite 69
S. Korea
2/1 700 X 5-80 380 Angular Absent
1/1 80 X 50 >100 Angular to Absent
rounded
Khao Soon, Argiilaceous sedi-
Thailand ments
Redbank, Trachytic volcanics,
Northern dolomite, sand-
Territory, stone, shale
Australia
Triassic(?)
1,575(?)
Kidston, Gneiss, granodio- Middle Car-
Queensland, rite boniferous
Australia
1/1 800 X 400 >300 Angular to sub- Absent
rounded
50/9 up to 135 >330 Angular Generally ab-
sent
1/1 1,300 X 900 >250 Angular to sub- <5%
rounded
After Damon et al. (1983)
of meters. Megafragments > 100 m across have been
defined at Kidston (Placer Exploration Ltd., 1981).
Several pipes exhibit a marked decrease in the degree
of breeeiation both inward and downward, as at E1
Bolsleo (Pimentel, 1979), Turmalina (Carlson and
Sawkins, 1980), Ilkwang (Fletcher, 1977), and Los
Pilares (Wade and Wandtke, 1920). The last is char-
acterized by an unbreeciated cylindrical core. Large
fragments in pipe interiors may also display zones of
marginal sheeting similar to those around pipes.
Breeeia fragments were separated by 5 to 30 vol
percent open space prior to complete or partial ee-
menration by gangue and sulfide minerals. In a few
pipes, silt- to sand-size clastic material, commonly
termed rock flour, is present as a matrix and is gen-
erally accompanied by fragments with a greater de-
gree of rounding. Fragment rounding and rock flour
are both attributed to interfragment attrition. Rock
flour-bearing breccia may be present in pipes as local
patches, as distinctly separate, commonly late bodies
(e.g., Victoria, Atkinson et al., 1982; Redbank, Knut-
son et al., 1979), or as the only material present (e.g.,
La Colorada, Albinson, 1973; Inguarftn, V. F. J. Es-
eand6n, unpub. talk, 1974). The informal descriptive
terms open space breccia and rock flour breceia may
be used to distinguish between these two end-member
types. These terms are preferred to the roughly
equivalent collapse and intrusion breecias of Bryner
(1968) and many subsequent workers because they
do not connote formational mechanisms. Both types
of breccias may be clast supported, but in many ex-
ampies a matrix of either rock flour or hydrothermal
cement completely separates fragments.
Some breccias, or more generally, their upper parts,
are characterized by tabular fragments to which the
descriptive terms shingle breccia or domino breccia
have been applied (Fig. 2). In extreme eases, aspect
ratios of tabular fragments attain 1:30. In many ex-
amples, it is clear that the tabular form of fragments
is not attributable to closely spaced jointing or bed-
ding of prebreeeiation lithologies. Characteristically,
tabular fragments are aligned parallel to one another,
like shingles on a roof, with attitudes changing pro-
gressively from steep in close proximity to the pipe
walls through gently inward dipping to subhorizontal
in the central parts of pipes. Shingle breccia is prob-
ably produced by the regular breakage and detach-
ment of zones of sheeting like those around pipe walls
and large fragments. The progressive decrease in dip
of tabular fragments inward from pipe walls suggests
a process of slabbing from the walls and/or roof of a
pipe followed by downward settling.
Some breccias contain highly rounded, spheroidal
clasts, locally up to 1 m in diameter (Fig. 3). Such
fragments may be isolated in angular breecias or may
constitute the majority of the fragments throughout,
or in part of, a pipe, as at Bull-Domingo, Colorado
(Emmons, 1896). The outer portions of some sphe-
roidal clasts are characterized by closely spaced con-
centric fractures, which give rise to an onionlike ap-
pearance termed hypogene exfoliation by Farmin
(1937). Locally, the outermost concentric layer(s) is
Hydro-
thermal
alteration
(t = tour-
maline)
Principal hypogene
metallic minerals
(in order of abundance)
Principal gangue Structural Related
minerals control intrusive rock
Ore reserve
and/or mined
(M = million, t
= metric tons)
Reference
Silicifica-
tion,
chloritic
Sericitic
Sericitic, si-
lieifiea-
tion
Arsenopyrite, chalcopy- Tourmaline Not recognized Granodiorite 4 Mt, 1.4% Cu,
rite, pyrrhotite, pluton 0.04%
scheelite WOa
Pyrrhotite, chalcopy- Quartz, tourma- Absent Quartz monzo- 3,500 t Cu, 40
rite, arsenopyrite, line nite stock t W
wolframite
Ferberite, pyrite Quartz Nearby fault Unknown W
K-feldspar- Chalcopyrite
chlorite
Sericitic, Pyrite, sphalerite, ga-
carbonate lena
Dolomite, quartz, E to NE linea- Trachyte
chlorite ments plugs(?)
Quartz, calcite, Not recognized Rhyolite dikes
sericite + stock(?)
Himmi et al. (1979)
Fletcher (1977)
Ishihara et al.
(1980)
3.5 Mt, 1.8% Orridge and Mason
Cu (1975), Knutson
et al. (1979)
39 Mt, 1.76 Bain et al. (1978),
ppm Au Placer Explora-
tion Ltd. (1981)
partially detached and, in places, disaggregated to
produce tabular fragments.
Intrusion-related breccias rarely reveal evidence
to suggest appreciable vertical displacement of frag-
ments during pipe emplacement. In fact, in parts of
some pipes, fragments appear merely to have been
pulled apart and can be fitted back into their original
positions as in a jigsaw (Fig. 4). Normally the lithol-
ogies of fragments closely match those of their wall
rocks, thereby commonly producing monolithologic
breccias. Where several rock types adjoin a pipe, little
mixing of fragments of different lithologies has taken
place and contacts beyond the pipe may be extended
through the breccia (Fig. 5). There is, however, nor-
mally a relatively small downward displacement of all
fragments at most levels within a pipe. This has been
quantified by comparison with distinctive wall-rock
lithologies at several localities and amounts to 25 m
at Washington (Simmons and Sawkins, 1983), 100 m
at Redbank (Orridge and Mason, 1975) and Tribag
(Norman and Sawkins, 1985), >125 m at Panuco,
Mexico (Buchanan, 1983), and a maximum of 160 m
at Los Pilares (Wade and Wandtke, 1920; Fig. 5).
Locally, however, there is evidence for some mixing
and upward transport of fragments, as at La Colorada
and Kidston.
Breccias are commonly located in the upper parts
of, or immediately above, plutons or stocks, or are
distributed around their sloping margins. In some
districts, pipes may be interpreted to have extended
from the upper parts of a pluton into its roof rocks.
In several districts, including some confined to sizable
plutons, small volumes of fine-grained porphyritic in-
trusive rock are temporally, spatially, and probably
genetically associated with the brecciation process.
The intrusive rock may occur as dikes and small bod-
ies, angular breccia fragments, and irregular, partly
disaggregated masses within the pipe. The last type
of occurrence provides evidence that the magma was
plastic during brecciation. These minor intrusions
have been emphasized from the Chilean districts
(Parker et al., 1963; Sillitoe and Sawkins, 1971),
Copper Creek (Simons, 1964), Tribag (Blecha, 1974),
Victoria (Atkinson et al., 1982), and Kidston (Placer
Exploration Ltd., 1981), and suggest the presence in
depth of larger bodies of the same intrusive rock with
which pipe formation was linked. Such a body was
encountered by drilling some 800 m beneath the out-
crop of the Breton pipe at Tribag (Blecha, 1974).
Table 2 suggests that there is no general agreement
on the role of structure in localization ofbreccia pipes.
The impression is gained from the literature that the
importance assigned to structural control says more
about the proclivity of the observer than it does about
the localization of breccia pipes! This statement is
borne out by comparing the interpretations of Kuhn
(1941) and Simons (1964) for the Copper Creek dis-
trict. On the basis of available evidence, it is tenta-
tively concluded that major regional structures play
little part in breccia pipe formation and, if structural
control is significant, it is likely to be by minor faults,
fractures and joints. One of the most detailed struc-
FIG. 1. A typical sheeted zone bordering a breccia pipe. Ilk-
wang, southern Korea.
tural studies of a breccia pipe and its environs was
undertaken at Chacritas, Chile, by Reyes and Charrier
(1976), who concluded that neither the position nor
the shape of the pipe was structurally determined.
-?
FIG. 3. Spheroidal fragment and its mould.
Alteration and mineralization: Most intrusion-re-
lated breccias carry copper mineralization, although
molybdenum, tungsten and/or gold are commonly also
economically important commodities (Table 2), and
a minor tonnage of bismuth ore was exploited at San
Francisco de Los Andes (Llamblas and Malvicini,
1969). Breccias at Chadbourne, Golden Sunlight, Or-
tiz, and Kidston (Table 2) are exploitable solely for
their gold (and subordinate silver) contents. A few
breccias are different and contain silver-lead-zinc or
tungsten mineralization (Table 2).
All breccias of this type underwent to some degree
the hydrothermal replacement and open-space-filling
stages referred to below, a fact which strongly sug-
gests that alteration and mineralization were neces-
sary consequences of the brecciation process. How-
ever, (50 percent of breccias in any duster of pipes
are ore bearing (Table 2), a characteristic that has
often frustrated the explorationist (Joralemon, 1952).
Sericitization is the most common alteration type
FIG. 2. Shingle breccia cemented by massive tourmaline from
a breccia pipe. Yabricoya district, Chile. Geology pick handle as
FIG. 4. Typical jigsaw breccia cemented by tourmaline and
sericitized along fragment margins and fractures. Approximately
one-third natural size.
ORE-RELATED BRECCIAS 1N VOLCANOPLUTONIC ARCS 1475
E W
SHEEEDI v .
' "'"'Kv , [1 VOLCANIC
1001, , 2.5-3.0 Cu ORE "=
0 melers ]00
FIO. 5. Cross section through the Los Pilares breccia pipe,
Sonora, Mexico. It shows the distribution of copper orebodies as
an annulus in the mginal pt of the breccia well as smaller
bodies within it, and the depression of the latite-andesite contact
within the breccia pipe. Taken from Wade and Wandtke (190),
with lithologic nomenclature from Thorns (1978).
in the breccia pipes discussed in this section and is
commonly accompanied by tourmaline (Table 2; Figs.
2 and 4). Chloritization and silicification were also
commonly developed, propylitic and K silicate as-
semblages are recorded in a few pipes or parts thereof,
and calc-silicate alteration is present at Victoria (At-
kinson et al., 1982). Alteration generally ends
abruptly around the margins of pipes, especially at
sheeted zones, but in some examples (e.g., Ilkwang;
Fletcher, 1977) may extend a few meters or even tens
of meters into the wall rocks. Marked changes in al-
teration type are observed in some pipes: sericitiza-
tion changes downward to propylitization at Los Pi-
lares (Wade and Wandtke, 1920) and transitions from
sericitic to K silicate assemblages have been noted in
the lowermost portions of pipes at Washington (Sim-
mons and Sawkins, 1983), Childs-Aldwinkle, Copper
Creek district (Kuhn, 1941), and Los Verdes, Buena
Esperanza district, Mexico (R. H. Sillitoe, unpub.
rept., 1975).
The alteration (replacement) stage in breccia pipes
took place immediately after, and perhaps also during,
fragmentation. It was followed by an episode of open-
space filling, during which both gangue and metallic
minerals were precipitated (Table 2). Both are com-
monly coarse grained and well crystallized, and peg-
matitic textures are common. In copper-bearing pipes,
the open-space-filling stage commenced with the
outward growth from fragments of tourmaline and/
or quartz, followed by any scheelite, wolframite, or
arsenopyrite and finally by pyrite (and/or pyrrhotite),
chalcopyrite, and molybdenite. Sphalerite and galena
followed by carbonates and/or late quartz may con-
stitute a final filling. Ore minerals at Inguartn, E1 Bol-
sico, and La Colorada are dispersed in interfragment
rock flour instead of present as open-space fillings. In
contrast to many breccia varieties (see below), most
of the intrusion-related breccias considered here un-
derwent only single mineralization events and gen-
erally lack evidence for rebreeciation of early min-
eralization; Golden Sunlight and Kidston are, how-
ever, exceptions.
Instead of being homogeneously mineralized, many
breccias contain only restricted volumes of ore-grade
material. This is commonly present along part of a
pipe margin, immediately adjoining the sheeted zone,
as at Victoria, Los Pilares (Fig. 5), Turmalina, E1 Bol-
sico (Fig. 6), Ilkwang, and San Francisco de Los Andes.
At Los Pilares, the marginal annulus of ore thickens
substantially at both ends of the ovoid pipe. At Y18-
jSrvi, the four steep ore shoots are located close to
the northeastern end of the extremely elongate pipe
(Himmi et al., 1979). Enhanced permeability resulting
from more original open space between fragments,
and proximity to the sheeted zone, is believed to ac-
count for the higher-grade mineralization in the mar-
ginal parts of pipes. The highest grade of gold ore at
Kidston occurs at the southwestern end of the pipe
in an exceptionally wide (up to 300 m), inward-dip-
ping, quartz-filled sheeted zone, which cuts Precam-
brian granite wall rocks, the breccia, and postbreccia
rhyolite dikes (Bain et al., 1978; Fig. 7).
Ore may be restricted to portions of pipe interiors.
The gold orebody at Ortiz coincides with the part of
the star-shaped breccia that carries the least rock flour
(Lindquist, 1980). Orebodies in the Breton breceia
at Tribag are confined to domal fractures, which are
oval to circular in plan, extend into the wall rocks of
the breccia (Blecha, 1974), and probably resulted
from late subsidence (Norman and Sawkins, 1985).
Total Cu O. 30
7 .... Mo '0.25
,,
,,,. .,.,
'"' ' "
2 ','i
' ' ^ I:j 's
o " ' 'g--- ..... ' "--- o
IN SlTU BRECCIATION ' ,
CSTS: CL^STS '?ST CSTS J
SHEED o 2 5oo m SHE.D
I I i i
ZE ZE
. 6. Relationship betwee. copper a.d molybde.um co.-
re.rs a.d breccia chactedstics across the 1 Bolsico breccia pipe,
Chile. Mappi a.d sampli. carried o.t alo the SV] adit o
the 3,030-m level. Compiled [rom PimeteJ (]gTg) ad C. Jau-
mett (u.pub. rept., ]gS]).
Sheeted
quartz veins
Contact
Late { Rhyolite & microgranite ''.-'.':
Paleozoic Breccia pipe
Precambrian { Granite
Metamorphic rocks
FIG. 7. Surface map of the breccia pipe at Kidston, Queensland,
Australia, to show distribution of gold-bearing annular fractures
and postbreccia dikes. Taken from Bain et al. (1978).
At Chadbourne, gold is concentrated in cylindrical
shoots ofbreccia, up to 40 m wide, that have the same
plunge as the pipe (Walker and Cregheur, 1982).
Metals are commonly zoned at the scale of a pipe.
For example, at Turmalina the molybdenum content
exceeds that of copper in the upper parts of the pipe
but decreases steadily downward (Carlson and Saw-
kins, 1980), whereas in the Childs-Aldwinkle pipe at
Copper Creek the molybdenum content remains un-
changed (0.6-1.2%), but the copper content increases
from i percent at the top to 6 to 8 percent on the
800-ft level (Kuhn, 1941). In contrast, molybdenum
increases in grade downward in the Washington pipe
(Simmons and Sawkins, 1983). Horizontal metal zon-
ing may also be present, as at E1 Bolsico, where Pi-
mentel (1979) reported a zonation from copper-mo-
lybdenum through molybdenum to a low-grade core
inward from the sheeted contact (Fig. 6).
Studies of fluid inclusions in open-space-filling
minerals from intrusion-related breccias reveal that
the mineralizing fluids ranged in temperature from
310 to 470C and in salinity from 1 to 50 equiv. wt
percent NaC1 (see So and Shelton, 1983). The higher
temperature and higher salinity fluids are similar to
those involved in early (K silicate) stages of porphyry
deposit formation (Sheppard et al., 1971) and like
them may be reasonably inferred as at least partly of
magmatic-hydrothermal origin.
Origin: All the principal mechanisms for breccia
pipe formation were proposed, at least in basic form,
many years ago and recent studies of breccia pipe
formation have all utilized one of these mechanisms
with at most minor modification or embellishment
(Table 3). Bearing in mind the downward movement
of fragments and the existence of up to 20 percent
open space in many pipes, any brecciation mechanism
must be capable of generating an appreciable void.
Five hypotheses have been entertained for the pro-
duction of a void (Table 3): (1) localized dissolution
and upward removal of rock material by fluids re-
leased from cooling magma (Locke, 1926), (2) release,
perhaps explosively, of volatiles from magma with
material carried physically upward (Walker, 1928;
Emmons, 1938), (3) downward movement of magma
by either shrinkage or withdrawal (Hulin, 1948;
Perry, 1961), (4) development of a bubble on the roof
of a stock or pluton by accumulation of exsolved fluids
(Norton and Cathies, 1973), and (5) production of
dilatent zones on major faults during displacement
(Mitcham, 1974).
The first four hypotheses all account for the
ubiquitous association observed between breccia
pipes, intrusive rocks, and alteration-mineralization,
whereas the fifth does not and therefore is discounted
as a general brecciation mechanism.
The four proposed mechanisms for breccia pipe
formation may not necessarily be considered as mu-
tually exclusive and might all contribute in varying
degrees to brecciation if considered in the context of
Burnham's (1979, 1985) model for energy release
during eraplacement and solidification of hydrous
magmas at high crustal levels. As quantified by Burn-
ham (1985), energy is dissipated from hydrous magma
during exsolution of an aqueous fluid phase by the
second boiling reaction (water-saturated melt--
crystals + aqueous fluid), and then by decompression
of both the exsolved low-density aqueous fluid and
the water-saturated residual melt. Decompression
causes expansion of previously exsolved fluid, exso-
lution of additional fluid, and the expenditure of a
greater amount of energy than during second boiling.
As discussed by Allman-Ward et al. (1982) and Burn-
ham (1985), processes triggered by and accompa-
nying decompression appear to account satisfactorily
for the formation of breccia pipes, especially where
fluid is released from the top of a restricted cupola
(giving a single pipe) or is preferentially channeled
by inhomogeneous structurally prepared wall rocks
above a more extensive pluton (giving a swarm of
pipes).
Violent and rapid expulsion of fluid from magma
would be capable of generating steep tensile fractures,
or reopening existing faults or fractures, and further
widening them by hydraulic fracture of their walls.
Decompression caused by propagation of fractures
into higher level, lower pressure (perhaps hydrostatic)
TABLE 3. Some Suggested Mechanisms for Formation of Breccia Pipes
Principal mechanism Modification
Violent release of fluid from magma (Emmons, 1938; Llambias
and Malvicini, 1969; Knutson et al., 1979; Allman-Ward et
al., 1982; Burnham, 1985; Porter and Ripley, 1985 )
Subsurface shock metamorphism (Godwin, 1973)
Collapse due to excavation of exsolved vapor bubble (Norton
and Cathies, 1973)
Collapse into void formed by rock dissolution (mineralization
stoping; Locke, 1926; McKinstry, 1955; Sillitoe and Sawkins,
1971; Mills, 1972)
Rock dissolution along minor faults with only subsidiary col-
lapse (Kuhn, 1941 ; Johnston and Lowell, 1961 )
Readjustment upon cooling of underlying magma with only
subsidiary collapse (Butler, 1913 )
Collapse into void formed by magma withdrawal (Perry, 1961;
Blecha, 1974; Atkinson et al., 1982 )
Collapse into void formed by shrinkage due to cooling of
magma (Hulin, 1948)
Collapse into dilatent zone formed on major fault (Mitcham,
1974)
Chemical brecciation in situ following pipe formation by an-
other mechanism (Sawkins, 1969)
Combined with decrease in magma pressure (Armbrust, 1969 )
Due to magma advance (hydraulic ramming; Kents, 1964)
Due to magma advance and followed by solution-induced col-
lapse (Fletcher, 1977 )
With venting of rock flour to give void for collapse (Scherken-
bach, 1982; Simmons and Sawkins, 1983 )
Following fracturing due to magmatic pulsations (Reyes and
Charrier, 1976 )
Due to release of fluid (Walker and Cregheur, 1982 )
Mechanism proposed for single pipe or group of pipes
regimes would result in increased fluid release from
the magma, and an increased rate of fluid "streaming"
(Burnham, 1985), both of which could result in mixing
and milling of fragments, production of rock flour
matrix, and varying degrees of upward transport of
material. Such conditions would also facilitate intru-
sion of small volumes of magma into and around de-
veloping breccia pipes.
If fluid pressures dropped to values below those
necessary to maintain the channel open at depth, cav-
ing and spalling of the walls of the partly evacuated
conduit might be induced. Open-space and shingle
breccias, sheeted zones, arching roof fractures, and
exfoliated fragments might all be produced in this
way. The close association of rock flour and open
space breccias in the same pipe swarm and, locally,
even in a single pipe accords well with such fluctua-
tions in fluid pressure during decompression.
It is uncertain if the fracturing and fragmentation
involved in the generation of sheeting and shingle
breccia can be attributed solely to the effects of de-
compression or whether the preexistence of an array
of concentric and radial fractures produced by up-
ward-directed (fluid) pressures (Reyes and Chattier,
1976) is also required. As a cause for hypogene ex-
foliation in these and other breccias (see below), an
instantaneous drop in confining pressure during de-
compression (Godwin, 1973; Sillitoe, 1976; Allman-
Ward et al., 1982) is preferred to other proposed
mechanisms, such as interclast attrition (e.g., Gavasci
and Kerr, 1968), mechanical detachment of altered
clast rims (e.g., Simons, 1964; Sillitoe and Sawkins,
1971), and thermal spalling of fluid-heated clasts (e.g.,
McBirney, 1959; Warnaars, 1983).
Features such as fragment rounding and mixing,
rock flour generation, and differential vertical dis-
placement of fragments have been considered by
many workers (e.g., Mayo, 1976; Woolsey et al.,
1975; McCallurn, 1985) to be compatible with the
operation of fiuidization as a transport mechanism
during the formation of subsurface breccias, including
some of those under consideration in this section.
However, in view of the great disparity in particle
sizes in rock flour breccias, it seems unlikely that more
than a small fraction of a breccia was ever truly flu-
idized (cf. Wolfe, 1980). If particles of a given size
were fluidized, then finer grained material would un-
dergo elutriation to accumulate at the top of the pipe
above fines-depleted breccia (cf. Wilson, 1980); this
vertical zoning is never observed. It is more likely
that breccias which underwent significant upward
movement did so as slurries, in much the same way
as the chaotic fragment assemblages in debris flows
(P. T. Delaney, writ. commun., 1984).
A discrete void filled by fluid could also be pro-
duced on a pluton's roof as a result of either localized
lifting of the roof rocks during fluid release (Burnham,
1985; Fig. 8a) or, perhaps less probably, by with-
drawal of magma (Perry, 1961; Fig. 8c). Burnham
(1985) calculated that energy released instanta-
neously during decompression by a unit mass of
magma would be sufficient to lift an equivalent mass
of rock for a height of 990 m, given no frictional re-
sistance, and therefore confirmed the feasibility of
generating a void in this way. The reality of fluid-
filled voids at the tops of magma chambers is con-
firmed by the existence at Panasqueira, Portugal, of
a lensoid mass of quartz that was precipitated in a
cavity at the apex of a granite cupola (Kelly and Rye,
!979). However, breccia pipe formation was inhibited
at Panasqueira either because fluid pressures were
insufficient to instigate horizontal extension failure or
because the 14-m height of the cavity was too little
to induce appreciable caving.
Fluid corrosion of quartz-rich rocks might also be
effective in producing or enlarging voids near the tops
of plutons or in their immediate roof rocks (Locke,
1926; Fig. 8b). The mechanism is viable during cool-
ing of a fluid from 520 to 340C at a constant pres-
sure not exceeding 900 bars (the region of retrograde
solubility for quartz; Fournier, 1983). Sericitization
of feldspars also results in the production of significant
void space (15-20% of the feldspar volume; W. C.
Burnham, writ. commun., 1984). Evidence for partial
dissolution of igneous rocks is provided both by the
corroded and porous fragments found in some brec-
cias and by the existence of unbrecciated replacement
pipes. These are particularly common near the roofs
a b c
_ ___
.....
........................................................... .....
G. 8. Schematic representation ofbreccia pipes above a plu-
ton roof that were formed with three different types of transitory
void development: (a) doming of roof rocks by accumulation of
exsolved fluid, (b) dissolution of roof rocks by exsolved fluid, and
(c) magma withdrawal.
WHIPSTICK MINE Extrapolated former position of contact
:::++::':{. REPLACEMENT PiPE
0 meters 100
FIG. 9. The bismuth- and molybdenum-bearing Whipstick re-
placement pipes, New South Wales, Australia. Taken from Weber
et al. (1978).
of felsic plutons in eastern Australia and comprise
steep, narrow (1-10 m), branching bodies, of roughly
circular to elliptical cross section, filled with remnants
of sericitized intrusive rock and pegmatitic aggregates
of quartz, molybdenite, bismuthinite, wolframite, and
other minerals (Blanchard, 1947; Fig. 9). The evi-
dence favors production of premineralization open-
ings by rock solution, with the pipes perhaps not being
wide enough to have permitted caving and breccia
formation (McKinstry, 1955).
Geometric relationships near the bottoms of pipes,
as schematized in Figure 8, may prove useful for dis-
tinguishing between voids formed by fluid overpres-
sures, rock dissolution, and magma withdrawal.
In most intrusion-related breccias, only one brec-
ciation event occurred and was probably accom-
plished by low-density aqueous fluids (W. C. Burn-
ham, writ. commun., 1984). It was followed by the
open-space-filling stage of mineralization, in which
high-salinity fluids played an important role (see So
and Shelton, 1983). Fluid flow through many breccias
seems to have been sluggish if the coarse, locally peg-
matitic texture of ore and gangue minerals is attrib-
uted to slow crystallization rather than to a low degree
of fluid supersaturation.
Porphyry-type deposits
General remarks: Most porphyry systems, be they
dominated by copper, molybdenum, gold, tin, or
tungsten, contain one or more varieties ofbreccia (cf.
Richard, 1969). Breccias are reported from 50 to 60
percent of porphyry systems, as in western Canada
(Seraphim and Hollister, 1976) or the Philippines
(Sillitoe and Gappe, 1984). More are certainly present
but either are not exposed or have not been recog-
nized. The breccias range from minor adjuncts to de-
posits to the economically dominant parts of some
porphyry systems, as at Boss Mountain, Copper Flat,
Cumobabi, Los Bronces (Disputada), and Ardlethan
(Table 4). Even porphyry-type mineralization as old
as early Archcan is well endowed with breccias (Bar-
ley, 1982).
Characteristics: The most abundant and widespread
breccias in porphyry systems are grouped under this
category. They exhibit a broad spectrum of charac-
teristics (Table 4), many of them shared with the in-
trusion-related breccia pipes dealt with above.
The breccias commonly occur as lensoid, ovoid, or
circular pipelike bodies with steep to vertical dips
(Table 4). Pipes may.occur singly or in groups of as
many as 25 at Copper Basin (Johnston and Lowell,
1961) and 35 at Cumobabi (Scherkenbach et al.,
1985). Additional geometries include dikes, irregular
bodies, carapaces to dikes or plugs (e.g., Island Cop-
per, Cargill et al., 1976; and E1 Abra, Ambrus, 1977),
and annular configurations (e.g., around an unbrec-
ciated core at Duluth, Cananea, Perry, 1935).
The breccia bodies range in horizontal dimensions
from a few meters to a maximum of 2 X 0.7 km for
the composite pipe at Los Bronces (Warnaars, 1983).
Known vertical dimensions are likewise considerable
and commonly range from 500 to 1,000 m at Red
Mountain (Quinlan, 1981; Fig. 10), Cananea (Perry,
1935, 1961), and Ardlethan (Paterson, 1976) to at
least 1;100 m at Los Bronces (Warnaars et al., 1985).
An upward increase in the rock volume occupied by
breccia is recorded from some localities, e.g., Sierrita-
Esperanza (West and Aiken, 1982) and Toquepala,
Peru (Zweng and Clark, 1984).
The form of pipelike breccias in porphyry systems
is, in general, less regular than that of breccia pipes
divorced from porphyry systems. Irregular embay-
ments and offshoots from the main breccia bodies are
commonplace and contacts with the enclosing parts
of the porphyry system are commonly gradational,
although they can be sheeted and abrupt (e.g, Whim
Hill breccia at Santa Rita; Norton and Cathies, 1973).
A number of examples of both the tops and bottoms
of porphyry-related breccias have been described.
Examples of bottoming, characterized by a rapid
transition from breccia to stockworked or fractured
rock, include the Transvaal breccia at Cumobabi (at
350 m; Scherkenbach, 1982) and the Whim Hill
breccia at Santa Rita (at about 100 m as two separate
lobes; Norton and Cathies, 1973). Upward termina-
tions ofbreccias have been described from the Capote
pipe at Cananea, which fades out into a mineralized
limestone horizon 100 m beneath the surface (Perry,
1935; Meinert, 1982), and the 148-155 pipe at Red
Mountain, which tops out about 1,200 m below the
surface (Quinlan, 1981; Fig. 10). Given this evidence
from Cananea and Red Mountain, and observations
elsewhere (e.g., Copper Flat, Dunn, 1982; and Santo
Nifio, Philippines, Sillitoe and Gappe, 1984) sug-
gesting marked upward decrease in the size ofbreccia
bodies, it is inferred that most porphyry-related brec-
cias were originally "blind."
It is clear from Table 4 that breccia fragments range
from angular to rounded and that comminuted rock
flour may or may not contribute to their matrices. It
would appear that heterolithologic breccias with sub-
rounded or rounded fragments and a rock flour matrix
(rock flour breccias; Fig. 11) are more widespread
than intrusion-related breccia pipes (Table 4). The
rock flour matrix locally exhibits irregular but gen-
erally steep alignment of its constituent particles, a
fabric attributed to upward fluid streaming (e.g.,
Central breccia at Los Bronces, Warnaars et al., 1985;
Llallagua, Fig. 12; and Ok Tedi, Arnold and Fitzger-
ald, 1977). Tabular fragments are uncommon. Rem-
nant open space between fragments is frequently ob-
served but in many cases amounts to only a few vol-
ume percent of the breccia and comprises isolated,
roughly triangular openings in tightly fitting fragment
arrays. Clast-supported breccias are the norm (Fig.
11) although every gradation to bodies composed en-
tirely of rock flour is known. Only a small percentage
of breccias possesses an igneous matrix (in the sense
that it is composed of an intrusive rock). Examples
include a small part of the breccias at Boss Mountain
(Soregaroli, 1975), Bethlehem (Briskey and Bellamy,
1976), Granisle (Kirkham, 1971), and Ok Tedi (Ar-
nold and Fitzgerald, 1977).
Individual porphyry-related breccias also seem to
exhibit a greater variety of textures than isolated
breccia pipes. This feature attains its extreme devel-
opment at Los Bronces, where a sequence of seven
principal breccias each distinguished on the basis of
the size and form of clasts, the nature and amount of
matrix, and the degree and type of alteration-min-
eralization constitutes a single composite pipe (War-
naars, 1983; Warnaars et al., 1985).
The degree of fragment displacement in porphyry-
related breccias is varied but, in general, is greater
than in intrusion-related breccia pipes, an observation
supported by the frequency of heterolithologic brec-
cia. Particularly noteworthy is the increased evidence
for the ascent of clasts--intrusive clasts were dis-
placed upward by 200 m in the Infiernillo breccia at
Los Bronces (Warnaars, 1983) and K silicate-altered
clasts were carried upward at least 100 m at Mocoa
(Sillitoe et al., 1984a). Descent of fragments is also
documented, however, and amounts to 250 to 300 m
at Los Bronces (Warnaars, 1983; Warnaars et al.,
1985) and >330 m in the Capote pipe at Cananea
(Perry, 1961). Elsewhere, however, as at Copper Flat
(Dunn, 1982), fragment displacement is considered
to be minimal.
The breccias described in this section generally are
closely related to one or more porphyry stocks. Most
breccias are rooted in porphyry intrusions, although
in some cases, as at Cananea (Perry, 1935), Questa
(Leonardson et al., 1984), Red Mountain (Quinlan,
1981), and Ardlethan (Paterson, 1976), much of the
TABLE 4. Selected Examples of Magmatic-Hydrothermal
Hydrothermal
Principal host Form of breccia alteration (t --
Locality rocks Age (m.y.) body Fragment form Rock flour tourmaline)
Bethlehem, Granodiorite 200 Steep elongate Angular to
B.C., Can- anastomosing rounded
ada bodies
Boss Mountain, Granodiorite 105 Irregular lenslike Angular to
B.C., Can- vertical body rounded
ada
Galore Creek, Alkalic volcanics, 174 to 198 Steep pipelike Angular to
B.C., Can- syenite por- bodies rounded
ada phyry
Island Copper, Quartz-feldspar 154 Carapace to Rounded
B.C., Can- porphyry, an- steep dike
ada desitic volca-
nics
Mt. Pleasant, Granite por- 330 to 340 Pipelike body Angular and
N. B., Can- phyry rounded
ada
Sacaton, Ari- Quartz monzo- 64.5 Large irregular Mainly subangular
zona nite porphyry, body to subrounded
monzonite
porphyry,
granite
Sierrita-Esper- Quartz monzo- 57 Irregular up- Angular to
anza, Ari- nite porphyry, ward-flared rounded
zona quartz monzo- bodies
nite, quartz
diorite, andesi-
tic volcanics
Copper Basin, Quartz diorite, 64 25 vertical pipes Angular to
Arizona quartz monzo- rounded
nite, quartz
monzonite
porphyry
Red Mountain, Latitic and an- 60 Steep pipe Angular
Arizona desitic volca-
nics
Copper Flat, Quartz monzo- 73.4 Steep elongate Angular, little dis-
New Mexico nite pipe placed
Santa Rita, Granodiorite 63 Elongate pipe Angular, sub-
New Mexico porphyry (Whim Hill rounded
breccia)
Questa, New Andesitic volca- 23
Mexico nics
Cananea, Son- Granite, lime- 59.9
ora, Mexico stone, quartz-
ite, rhyolitic to
andesitic vol-
canics
Cumobabi, Quartz monzo- 40.0
Sonora, Mex- nite porphyry
ico or andesitic
volcanics
Body above cu- Subangular(?)
pola of aplite
porphyry
Eight principal Angular to sub-
pipes rounded
35 irregular Angular but
pipes and rounded at La
bodies Verde pipe
Abundant Biotitic
0 to 70% Biotitic
Present lo- K silicate
cally (+ garnet)
Abundant Pyrophyllite-
sericite
Abundant Quartz-topaz
5 to 20% K silicate
Abundant in K silicate
upper
parts
Absent Quartz-K-feld-
spar
Absent K silicate
+ sericitic
Absent K silicate
Present K silicate
Absent
Absent
Absent,
present at
La Verde
pipe
K silicate
Sericitic, K sil-
icate, skarn
destruction
K silicate or
sericitic (t)
Breccias Associated with Porphyry-type Deposits
Principal metallic Principal gangue Age relative to Economic
minerals minerals porphyry deposit significance Reference
Chalcopyrite, bornite,
pyrite, molybdenite
Molybdenite, pyrite
Pyrite, chalcopyrite, mo-
lybdenite
Biotite, chlorite, Largely premineral High-grade parts Briskey and Bellamy
tourmaline, of orebodies (1976)
quartz
Quartz
Biotite, garnet, an-
hydrite
Early intermineral Ore largely re- Soregaroli (1975),
stricted to Soregaroli and
breccias Nelson (1976)
Premineral Part of orebody Allen et al. (1976)
Quartz, pyrophyllite Premineral Part of orebody Cargill et al. (1976)
Wolframite, molybdenite,
arsenopyrite, native
bismuth, bismuthinite
lybdenite, specularite
Quartz, fluorite Premineral
Quartz Premineral
Main part of W- Kooiman et al.
Mo orebody (1984)
Hosts much of Cummings (1982)
West orebody
lybdenite
Quartz, biotite Early mineral High-grade ore West and Aiken
(19S2)
lybdenite
Quartz Largely premineral Three pipes carry Johnston and Lowell
high-grade Cu- (1961)
Mo ore
Chalcopyrite, pyrite, mo- Quartz, K-feldspar, Premineral
lybdenite anhydrite, calcite
Pyrite, chalcopyrite, Quartz, biotite, K- Early mineral
magnetite, molybde- feldspar, fluorite,
nite calcite, apatite
Pyrite, chalcopyrite, Quartz, K-feldspar, Early mineral
magnetite, molybde- biotite
nite
Molybdenite Quartz, K-feldspar, Premineral
biotite
High-grade ore,
especially on
contacts
High-grade cen-
tral part of ore-
body
Part of supergene
orebody
Main orebody
Quinlan (1981)
Dunn (1982)
Kerr et al. (1950),
Rose and Baltosser
(1966), Norton
and Cathies (1973)
Leonardson et al.
(1984)
Chalcopyrite, bornite,
pyrite, sphalerite, mo-
lybdenite, galena
Pyrite, molybdenite,
chalcopyrite, tetrahe-
drite
Quartz, carbonate,
phlogopite (La
Colorada), chlo-
rite
Quartz, biotite, K-
feldspar, anhy-
drite, apatite, sid-
erite or quartz,
tourmaline
Intermineral
Premineral
High-grade ore
Four bodies carry
Mo ore
Perry (1935, 1961),
Meinert (1982)
Sillitoe (1976),
Scherkenbach et al.
(1985)
TABLE 4. (Continued)
Hydrothermal
Principal host Form of breccia alteration (t --
Locality rocks Age (m.y.) body Fragment form Rock flour tourmaline)
La Caridad, Quartz monzo- 54.5
Sonora, Mex- nite porphyry,
ico diorite, grano-
diorite
Mocoa, Colom- Dacite porphyry, 166
bia andesitic-daci-
tic volcanics
Quebrada Quartz monzo- 38
Bianca, nite, quartz
Chile and feldspar
porphyries
E1 Abra, Chile Diorite 33 to 35
Los Bronees,
Chile
Llallagua,
Bolivia
Panguna,
Papua New
Guinea
Quartz monzo- 7.4 to 4.9
nite, andesitic
volcanics
Quartz latite 20
porphyry, ar-
gillite
Andesitc, diorite, 3 to 5
granodiorite
Ok Tedi, Quartz monzo-
Papua New nite porphyry
Guinea
Ardlethan, Adamellite,
N. S.W., quartz-feldspar
Australia porphyry
Irregular to Rounded to sub- <10% Sericitic +
pipelike angular silicate
bodies
Irregular bodies Angular to sub- 0 to 20% K silicate
on roof and rounded q- sericitic
flank of stock
Lens-shaped Rounded to Minor Sericitic (t), K
composite angular silicate
body + pipe(s)
(2 X 1 km)
Hoodlike bodies Angular to Minor K silicate
to dacite por- rounded
phyry plugs
Seven steep bod- Angular to suban- 0 to 40% Sericitic (t),
ies comprising gular propylitic
2 X 0.7-km
complex
Pipes, dikes, and Subangular to 20 to 100% Sericitic (t)
irregular rounded
bodies
Irregular pipe- Angular to 0 to 80% Biotitic
like bodies rounded
1.1 Dikes and irreg- Angular to 0 to 100%
ular bodies rounded
(10-20% of
stock)
411 to 412 Four irregular Angular to Abundant
pipelike rounded
bodies
K silicate
Sericitic (t),
chloritic (t)
After Damon et al. (1983)
brecciation is in overlying rocks. Locally, specific in-
termineral intrusions may be singled out as closely
related both spatially and genetically to brecciation.
Examples include dacite porphyry plugs at E1 Abra
(Ambrus, 1977), a biotite granodiorite at Panguna
(Baldwin et al., 1978), and quartz diorite porphyries
at Biga (Atlas) and Santo Tomas II in the Philippines
(Sillitoe and Gappe, 1984).
Breccias occupy a wide variety of positions within
porphyry systems. Many of them are centrally placed,
as at Copper Flat (Dunn, 1982), Questa (Leonardson
et al., 1984), and Red Mountain (Quinlan, 1981; Fig.
10), whereas others are eccentrically located (e.g.,
Mocoa, Sillitoe et al., 1984a; Los Bronces, Warnaars,
1983). Elsewhere breccia pipes constitute partial
halos to porphyry copper deposits, as at Bingham,
Utah, where a variety of poorly documented breccia
pipes, perhaps not all of the same origin, is present
in the peripheral lead-zinc zone (Rubright and Hart,
1968), and at Bagdad, Arizona, where the most im-
portant pipe (the Black Mesa) carries copper and mo-
lybdenum mineralization (Anderson et al., 1955).
Fault control ofbreccias in porphyry systems is not
widely recognized, although it is likely at some lo-
calities, such as Bethlehem, where the marked elon-
gation of some of the breccia bodies is suggestive of
structural localization (Briskey and Bellamy, 1976).
Contacts between different lithologies, especially be-
tween intrusions and their wall rocks, seem to have
provided a more widespread locus for brecciation.
Alteration and mineralization: K silicate alteration
dominated by biotite, K-feldspar, or both minerals is
the most widespread alteration type in porphyry-re-
lated breccias, although sericitization is also relatively
common (Table 4). In addition, advanced argillic al-
teration occurs at Island Copper (Cargill et al., 1976),
Principal metallic Principal gangue Age relative to Economic
minerals minerals porphyry deposit significance Reference
Pyrite, chalcopyrite Quartz, tourmaline Intermineral Part of chalcocite
ore zone
Chalcopyrite, pyrite, mo- Quartz, K-feldspar, Intermineral Partly high-grade
|ybdenite sericite, chlorite ore
Pyrite, chalcopyrite, bor- Quartz, biotite, K- Intermineral Lens-shaped
nite, molybdenite feldspar, sericite, body contains
tourmaline Cu-Mo ore
Chalcopyrite, bornite
Biotite Intermineral Part of ore zone
Pyrite, chalcopyrite, Tourmaline, quartz, Intermineral Parts of four
specularite, mo- ohiorite, sericite, breccias consti-
lybdenite anhydrite tute hypogene
ore
Cassiterite, pyrite
Chalcopyrite, bornite
lybdenite
Tourmaline, quartz Pre- and inter- Partly ore
mineral
Quartz, biotite, K- Intermineral High-grade ore
feldspar
Quartz, biotite Intermineral Part of orebody
Saegart et al. (1974),
R. H. Sillitoe (un-
pub. rept., 1975)
Sillitoe et al. (1984a)
Hunt et al. (1983)
R. H. Sillitoe and H.
Neumann (unpub.
rept., 1970), Am-
brus (1977)
Warnaars (1983),
Warnaars et al.
(1085)
$illitoe et al. (1975),
Grant et al. (1980)
Baldwin et al. (1978)
Arnold and Fitzger-
ald (1977)
Pyrite, arsenopyrite,
sphalerite, galena,
chalcopyrite, cassiterq
itc
Quartz, tourmaline, Early and inter- Comprises most
sericite, chlorite, mineral of the nine ore-
siderite, fluorite bodies
Paterson (1976), P. J.
Eadington and
R. G. Paterson (un-
pub. rept., 1984)
propylitization at Los Bronces (Warnaars et al., 1985),
quartz-topaz alteration at Mt. Pleasant (Kooiman et
al., 1984), and skarn-destructive quartz-chlorite-car-
bonate-hematite alteration at Cananea (Meinert,
1982). K silicate alteration is notably more abundant
than in intrusion-related breccia pipes. At some lo-
calities, both K silicate-altered and sericitized breccias
are present in close proximity (e.g., Mocoa; Sillitoe
et al., 1984a); elsewhere sericitic alteration over-
printed early K silicate assemblages (e.g., Cumobabi;
Scherkenbach, 1982) or characterizes the apex and
flanks of a largely K silicate-altered pipe (e.g., Red
Mountain; Quinlan, 1981). At Cumobabi, breccias lo-
cated near the center of the hydrothermal system are
K silicate altered and constitute molybdenum ore
whereas more peripheral breccias are propylitized
and/or sericitized and are devoid of ore to explored
depths (Sillitoe, 1976; Scherkenbach, 1982).
Quartz is the most widespread cementing mineral,
although it is absent or minor at E1 Abra and Galore
Creek. In K silicate-altered breccias it is accompanied
by K-feldspar and/or biotite, to which one or more of
chlorite, fluorite, apatite, siderite, tourmaline, mag-
netite, and specularitc may be added. The K silicate
assemblage present as a matrix to breccias at Questa
(Leonardson et al., 1984), Copper Flat (Dunn, 1982),
and the Colorada pipe at Cananea (Perry, 1935, 1961)
is pegmatitic in texture. Tourmaline tends to be a
more common constituent of sericitized breccias (Ta-
ble 4). Garnet occurs as both an alteration and matrix
mineral at Galore Creek (Allen et al., 1976). One or
more of chalcopyrite, pyrite, and molybdenite is also
present as a matrix component, even in rock flour
breccias. Cassiterite is the economically most impor-
tant cementing mineral at Llallagua and Ardlethan,
as is wolframite at Mt. Pleasant.
148-155
BECCIA riPE
1
/I I
o m.. '
FIG. 10. Diagrammatic cross section through the Red Mountain
porphyry copper system, Arizona, to show the central position
of the 148-155 breccia pipe. Taken from Quinlan (1981).
FIG. 12. Swirly flow texture in rock flour matrix to hetero-
lithologic breccia. Oruro tin deposit, Bolivia. Approximately half
natural size.
Brecias in porphyry systems are commonly char-
acterized by higher contents of exploitable metals
than the surrounding stockworks. The situation
reaches an extreme at Boss Mountain (Soregaroli,
1975), Copper Flat (Dunn, 1982), Cumobabi (Scher-
kenbach, 1982), and Los Bronces (Warnaars et al.,
1985), where the porphyry copper stockworks be-
yond the breccias do not attain ore grades. Elsewhere,
however, including Island Copper, Cananea, Mocoa,
Quebrada Bianca, Questa, Llallagua, Mt. Pleasant, and
Ardlethan, breccias constitute the highest grade parts
of the orebodies. Locally, as at Los Bronces (Warnaars,
1983) and Mocoa (Sillitoe et al., 1984a), metal grades
are appreciably enhanced by the presence of previ-
ously mineralized clasts in the breccias. In some brec-
cias, the metal budget is distinctly different from that
characteristic of the porphyry deposit as a whole. As
examples, at Quebrada Bianca, a dikelike breccia car-
,, -- _. ,,' - , *. ; . '
. -.. ... q . . - , '- *
.- .. **":-:'..../.,.;:.:..,d - .%" ..'.- ;-.. ,[ ,,
O. 11. Tie! rock flour breccia. EI Abra porphyry copper
depo,it, hile.
ries more than 15 times the average molybdenum
grade of the rest of the deposit (Hunt et al., 1983)
and at Santo Tomas II, Philippines, small pipelike
breccias have markedly higher Mo to Cu and Mo to
Au ratios than the rest of the deposit (Sillit.oe and
Gappe, 1984).
In common with intrusion-related breccia pipes,
some breccias in porphyry systems are characterized
by a preferred distribution of ore minerals. Examples
may be cited from the 148-155 pipe at Red Mountain,
where copper, molybdenum, and silver grades around
the margins are several times greater than those in
its interior (Quinlan, 1981), and from the Donoso pipe
at Los Bronces, where copper is concentrated in a
series of downward-closing shells (Warnaars, 1983).
Based on the examples selected for Table 4, breccia
emplacement in porphyry systems ranges in age from
premineral to intermineral. In premineral examples
there is no evidence of any earlier stages of miner-
alization, and at some localities, such as Bethlehem
(Briskey and Bellamy, 1976), the main mineralized
stockwork crosscuts the breccia bodies. Where brec-
cias are designated as early mineral (Table 4), there
is only minor evidence from constituent fragments
for prebrecciation alteration and mineralization. This
is exemplified by low-grade pyrite-chalcopyrite min-
eralization related to pervasive sericitization that
predated the brecciation-K silicate alteration event
at Copper Flat (Dunn, 1982), a barren prebreccia
stage of quartz-K-feldspar veining at Sierrita-Esper-
anza (West and Aiken, 1982), and prebreccia quartz-
topaz alteration at Ardlethan (P. J. Eadington and
R. G. Paterson, unpub. rept., 1984). In contrast, in-
termineral breccias were emplaced later than one or
more main stages of alteration and mineralization.
Evidence for this conclusion is commonly provided
by the restriction of ore-bearing veinlets to individual
fragments in a breccia (Fig. 13), as emphasized for
Granisle and elsewhere by Kirkham (1971), or by the
truncation of alteration and stockwork veinlets by an
entire breccia body. Intermineral breccias may also
contain clasts of mineralized breccia derived from
preexisting bodies, a relatively common feature at Los
Bronces (Warnaars, 1983) and elsewhere.
In some cases, copper and molybdenum introduc-
tion to intermineral breeeias accompanied renewed
(or continued) K silicate alteration, whereas elsewhere
it was associated with localized serieitie, or in most
Philippine examples, ohiotitle alteration (Si!litoe and
Gappe, 1984).
Stable isotope studies to determine the source of
fluids responsible for alteration-mineralization of
breeeias in porphyry systems have not been carried
out. However, the coincidence of brecciation and K
silicate alteration during the early development stages
of many porphyry systems (Table 4) suggests that me-
teoric-hydrothermal fluids generally were subordi-
nate to fluids of direct magmatic-hydrothermal par-
entage (Sheppard et al., 1971).
Origin: Most workers in the last two decades have
attributed the principal breeeias in porphyry systems
to the violent release of magmatic-hydrothermal fluids
from cooling stocks (e.g., Phillips, 1973; Seraphim
and Hollister, 1976). It is clear that the model of
Burnham (1979, 1985) and others for brecciation by
fluid liberation during second boiling, followed by
decompression of the released fluids, is as effective
in explaining the wide variety of breeeias in porphyry
systems as it is the isolated intrusion-related breeeia
pipes described above. Furthermore, the widespread
stockwork fractures in porphyry systems may also be
FIG. 13. Intermineral breeeia with quartz veinlet confined to
clast near the middle of photograph. Chlorite-bearing rock flour
matrix.
attributed to the same late magmatic processes
(Burnham, 1979).
The spectrum of textures and relationships sum-
marized above for breccias in porphyry systems may
be attributed to the same mechanisms used to explain
comparable features in isolated breccia pipes. It is
therefore no longer necessary to invoke separate or-
igins for texturally and geometrically different brec-
cias that occur in close proximity in many porphyry
systems; they may all be related to the same Overall
mechanism.
Rock flour breccias showing evidence of mixing and
upward transport of fragments are apparently more
widespread in porphyry systems than in isolated
breccia pipes and may be due to the efficient release
of larger volumes of fluids from subvolcanic porphyry
stocks than from the roofs of deeper seated plutons
(see Burnham, 1985). A more protracted release of
fluids, or several stages of release as a result of mul-
tiple intrusion, effectively explains the intermineral
position of many breccias in porphyry systems. In-
termineral brecciation may also be favored by the re-
duction of rock permeability resulting from early
stages of K silicate alteration (particularly quartz pre-
cipitation) and mineralization (see Fournier, 1983).
Phreatic (Hydromagmatic) Breccias
Epithetreal precious (_ base) metal deposits
General remarks: Epithermal precious metal de-
posits may be subdivided conveniently into three
principal categories (Bonham and Giles, 1983): vol-
canic-hosted deposits, hot spring-related deposits, and
carbonate-hosted (Carlin-type) deposits. A shallow
(< 1,000 m) level of emplacement is inferred for most
epithermal deposits. An association of epithermal de-
posits with volcanic structures or landforms, including
flow-dome complexes, maar-diatreme systems, and
caldera ring fractures (Table 5), emphasizes the shal-
low depths of emplacement. In fact, several of the hot
spring-related deposits attained the contemporary
surface as shown by their association with sinters (Ta-
ble 5). As a consequence of their shallow settings,
most deposits range from Miocene to Pleistocene in
age and lack large volumes of associated intrusive
rocks (Table 5).
It is widely accepted that breccias are a common
accompaniment to volcanic-hosted and hot spring-re-
lated epithermal deposits and are considered by Ber-
ger and Eimon (1983) and Bonham and Giles (1983)
as an integral part of the latter category. Their im-
portance in many Carlin-type deposits has also been
emphasized recently (Sillitoe, 1983a).
Characteristics: A broad range of breccia types is
found in epithermal systems (Table 5). Their geom-
etries range from small veins and veinlets (Fig. 14) to
large pipes, tabular masses, and irregular anastomos-
TABLE 5. Selected Examples of Phreatic Breccias
Locality
Host rocks
Age (m.y.) Volcanic setting Form Fragment characteristics
Equity Silver,
B.C., Canada
Dacitic tuffs 59 None known Irregular tabular Angular to rounded, at
body least two generations
Cinola, B.C.,
Canada
Delamar, Idaho
Cripple Creek
(Globe Hill),
Colorado
Summitville,
Colorado
Red Mountain,
Colorado
Round Mountain,
Nevada
Buckhorn,
Nevada
Buckskin,
Nevada
Hasbrouck
Mountain,
Nevada
Conglomerates,
siltstones
Rhyolite domes,
plugs, flows
Latite-phonolite
intrusions
Quartz latite por-
phyry dome
Rhyolitic to
quartz latitic
volcanics,
quartz latite
porphyry plugs
Metasediments,
ignimbrite
Basaltic andesitic
volcanics, argil-
lite
Rhyolitic pyro-
clastics
Volcaniclastic
sediments, ig-
nimbrite
Late Ceno- None known
zoic
15 Rhyolite flow-
dome com-
plex
27 to 28 Interior of dia-
treme
22 to 23
22.5
25
Late Tertiary
15.5
16.3
Dome on older
caldera ring
fracture
Ring fracture of
older caldera
On caldera ring
fracture
Graben
Rhyolite flow-
dome com-
plex
Rhyolite flow-
dome com-
plex
Extensive, poorly Angular to rounded(?)
defined bodies
Irregular vein Angular, monolithologic
and pipelike to subrounded, het-
bodies erolithologic
Irregular bodies Angular, monolithologic
and pipes to to rounded, hetero-
>330 m lithologic; three
generations
Pods, pipes, and Angular to subrounded,
tabular bodies mono- or heterolitho-
logic, three
generations
Pipes to >370 m Angular to rounded, het-
erolithologic
Upward-flared
pipelike body
to >350 m
Pipelike body
+ subaerial(?)
patches
Pipelike body
Extensive irregu-
lar bodies
Angular to subangular,
heterolithologic,
moved upward
Angular
Angular to rounded,
sorted parallel to con-
tact
Angular to rounded, het-
erolithologic, moved
upward
Northumberland,
Nevada
Alligator Ridge,
Nevada
Limestone, dolo-
mite, shale, silt-
stone
Limestones,
shales
84.6(?)
Tertiary(?)
None known
None known
Structurally and
stratigraphi-
cally con-
trolled bodies
Irregular(?)
bodies
Angular
Angular
La Coipa, Chile
Rosia Montana,
Romania
Chinkuashih,
Taiwan
Wau, Papua New
Guinea
Siltstone, dacitic
ignimbrite
4- tuff
Dacite porphyry
Sandstone, shale
Phyllites, explo-
sion breccia
Miocene(?)
Late Mio-
cene
Pleistocene
<4 to >2.4
Dacite domes
Probable flow-
dome com-
plex
Dacite porphyry
flow-dome
complex
Tuff ring around
maar
Irregular pipes
and bodies
Breccia pipes to
500 m
Small pipes
and dikes to
>200 m
Anastomosing
veins and
pods, subaerial
apron
Angular to subrounded
Angular to rounded(?)
Angular or rounded,
moved upward, het-
erolithologic
Angular to rounded, het-
erolithologic
1486
Associated with Precious Metal Deposits
Hydrothermal Principal hypogene
alteration minerals
Ore deposit type
and ore reserve
(M = million,
t: metric tons)
Relation to
palcosurface
Relation to
orebody
Reference
Advanced Quartz, pyrite, arseno- Bulk Ag-Cu-Au-Sb; Subsurface Constitutes ore
argillic pyrite, tetrahedrite, 28 Mt, 106 ppm (1,000 m?)
chalcopyrite, sphaler- Ag, 0.38% Cu,
itc, galena 0.96 ppm Au
Silicification Quartz, pyrite, marcasite Bulk Au; 41 Mt, Subsurface, proba- Constitutes ore
1.85 ppm Au bly shallow
Silicification, Quartz, pyrite, nauman- Bulk Ag-Au; 9 Mt, Shallow subsurface Partly ore
argillic nite, argentitc 86 ppm Ag, i and at paleosur-
ppm Au face (sinter)
Quartz, sericite, Quartz, fluorite, carbon- Bulk Au, 2 orebod- Subsurface
chlorite, ate, celestite, anhy- ies; 4 Mt, 1.3
montmoril- drite, pyrite, galena, to 1.8 ppm Au
1onite sphalerite, chalcopy-
rite, pyrrhotite
Silicification, Quartz, alunite, pyrite, Au-Ag-Cu lodes Shallow subsurface
advanced enargite, covellite, na- and pipes
argillic rive sulfur
Silicification, Quartz, clays, pyrite, en-
advanced argite, chalcocite, co-
argillic veilitc, bornitc, sphal-
erite, galena
Silicification Pyrite
Silicification, Quartz, pyrite, marcasite
kaolinitc, ad-
ularia, seri-
cite
Silicification, Quartz, pyrite, stibnite,
alunite sulfosalts, cinnabar
Silicification, Quartz, pyrite, acan-
adularia, illite thite, stibnite, pyrar-
gyrite, chalcopyrite
Silicification Quartz, barite, pyrite
(jasperold)
Silicification Quartz, calcite, barite,
(jasperoid) pyrite, stibnite
Silicification, Quartz, pyrite, sphaler-
advanced itc, galena, chalcopy-
argillic rite, sulfosalts
Silicification, Quartz, rhodochrosite,
adularia, pyrite, sphalerite, ga-
argillic lena, chalcopyrite
Silicification Pyrite, enargite, quartz,
alunite
Minor
Quartz, calcite, manga-
nocalcite, pyrite, galena,
sphalerite
Cu-Au-Ag pods
and pipes
Bulk Au; 204 Mt,
1.2 ppm Au
Bulk Au; 4.6 Mt,
1.54 ppm Au
Vein and stock-
work Au-Ag
Bulk Au-Ag
Carlin-type Au;
40 Mt, 2.4
ppm Au
Carlin-type Au;
4.5 Mr, 4.1 ppm
Au
Bulk Ag-Au pros-
pect
Au
Cu-Au veins
+ breccias
Bulk Au-Ag
Subsurface
Shallow subsurface
Shallow subsurface
and paleosur-
face(?) (sinter
fragments)
Shallow subsurface
and palcosur-
face (sinter)
Shallow subsurface
(<150 m) to pa-
leosurface (sin-
ter)
Subsurface
Subsurface
Shallow subsurface
and palcosur-
face (sinter)
Subsurface
Subsurface
Shallow subsurface
and paleosur-
face
Constitutes ore
Ore bearing
and postore
Contains ore-
bodies
Barren, central
to orebody
Constitutes part
of orebody
Cut by veins
Constitutes ore-
body
Constitutes ore
Partly ore
Partly mineral-
ized
Partly ore
Partly ore
Constitutes ore
Cyr et al. (1984),
Wodjak and Sinclair
(1984)
Cruson et al. (1983)
Pansze (1975), R. H.
Sillitoe and H. F.
Bonham (unpub. ob-
servations, 1981)
Thompson et al.
(1985)
Steven and Ratt
(1960), Perkins and
Nieman (1983)
Burbank (1941),
Fisher and Leedy
(1973), Lipman et
al. (1976)
Mills (1982), Berger
and Eimon (1983)
Monroe and Plahuta
(1984)
Vikre (1983)
Bonham and Carside
(1979), R. H. Silli-
toe and H. F. Bon-
ham (unpub. obser-
vations, 1981), Gra-
ney (1984)
Motter and Chapman
(1984), R. H. Silli-
toe and H. F. Bon-
ham (unpub. obser-
vations, 1981)
Klessig (1984), R. H.
Sillitoe and H. F.
Bonham (unpub. ob-
servations, 1981)
R. H. Sillitoe (unpub.
rept., i980)
R5dulescu et al.
(1981)
Chu (1975)
Sillitoe et al. (1984b)
1487
FIG. 14. Typical breccia veinlet resulting from hydraulic frac-
ture. Matrix comprises silicified rock flour. Epithermal precious
metal prospect, Chile.
ing bodies. Several epithermal breccias possess known
vertical extents of 200 to 500 m (Table 5). The reg-
ularly shaped pipes at Red Mountain (Burbank, 1941)
and Chinkuashih (Chu, 1975) are reminiscent of the
intrusion-related pipes described above. It is therefore
significant that marginal sheeted zones and a close
relation of breccias to quartz latite porphyry plugs
are characteristic of several pipes at Red Mountain
(Burbank, 1941; Fisher and Leedy, 1973) and large
isolated spheroidal fragments were reported from
Chinkuashih (Chu, 1975).
At several localities, such as Round Mountain (Mills,
1972), there is a marked upward flare to pipe-shaped
bodies, which is interpreted to be due to their ap-
proach to the contemporary land surface. In fact, at
Buckhorn (Monroe and Plahuta, 1984), Buckskin
(Vikre, 1983), Hasbrouck Mountain (Graney, 1984),
Delamar (R. H. Sillitoe and H. F. Bonham, Jr., unpub.
observations, 1981), La Coipa (R. H. Sillitoe, unpub.
rept., 1980), and Wau (Sillitoe et al., 1984b), brec-
ciation breached the palcosurface. Remnants of sub-
aerial breccia aprons are still preserved at Wau. Es-
sentially subaerial breccias at the Milestone prospect
(Delamar), Buckhorn, and Hasbrouck Mountain con-
tain fragments of sinter as well as a variety of under-
lying rocks, whereas at La Coipa (and in places at
McLaughlin, California) surface hot spring sinters
underwent brecciation more or less in situ. Silicified
logs accompany sinter fragments at Milestone.
The textures of epithermal breccias are extremely
varied. Rock flour and open-space breccias are both
widespread (Berger and Eimon, 1983) and both may
occur in individual breccia bodies. Rock flour is com-
monly masked by silicification (Fig. 14). There is
commonly evidence for relatively restricted upward
displacement of fragments, but this is claimed to attain
200 m in rock flour breccias at Chinkuashih (Chu,
1975). Appreciable open space is widespread in some
breccias, especially those that underwent hypogene
leaching during advanced argillic alteration, as at Red
Mountain (Burbank, 1941). Some epithermal breccias
display a clear gradation to stockwork fracturing (e.g.,
Delamar, Hasbrouck Mountain, Globe Hill at Cripple
Creek, Alligator Ridge, and Equity Silver).
Many epithermal breccias provide evidence of
multiple stages of silicification, mineralization, and
brecciation, and at some localities a temporal se-
quence, with each breccia exhibiting its own distinc-
tive characteristics, may be determined. For example,
Thompson et al. (1985) proposed four stages ofbrec-
ciation, each accompanied by mineralization, in the
Globe Hill area at Cripple Creek. The intermineral
(and, locally, even postmineral) timing of brecciation
is emphasized at many localities by the restriction of
distinctive types of silicification or sulfide veining to
isolated fragments. For example, as many as four va-
rieties of silicified limestone occur .in breccia in the
Taylor district, Nevada (Lovering and Heyl, 1974).
A structural control of epithermal breccias is em-
phasized more frequently than for deeper seated
breccias associated more closely with plutons and
stocks. Minor faults are considered to have localized
the Red Mountain pipes (Burbank, 1941; Fisher and
Leedy, 1973) and the Chinkuashih breccia dikes and
pipes (Chu, 1975), whereas a major oblique-slip fault
abuts and probably localized the Cinola breccias
(Cruson et al., 1983). In the Globe Hill area at Cripple
Creek, faulting took place during brecciation and
acted as an important spatial control (Thompson et
al., 1985). High-angle faults and stratigraphic hori-
zons, especially limestone-shale contacts, localized
much of the silicification and brecciation in carbonate-
hosted epithermal deposits, as at Northumberland
(Motter and Chapman, 1984) and Alligator Ridge
(Klessig, 1984). Structures of volcanic origin also
controlled brecciation and mineralization in several
epithermal districts, as at Wau where short low-angle
extensional structures between a diatreme ring fault
(see below) and a regional fault localized brecciation
(Sillitoe et al., 1984b).
Alteration and mineralization: The dominant fea-
ture that distinguishes epithermal breccias from most
magmatic-hydrothermal breccias is the widespread
occurrence of quartz as both a pervasive replacement
of, and a cement to, fragments. It is generally fine
grained and commonly chalcedonic, and characterizes
all but three of the examples cited in Table 5. Silicified
carbonate rocks .are generally referred to as jasperoid.
In epithermal precious metal deposits where silic-
ification is widespread, there is a close relationship
between the development of pervasive chalcedonic
silica and brecciation, as seen at Summitville (Steven
and Ratt6, 1960), in the carbonate-hosted epithermal
deposits (Table 5), and elsewhere. The breccia pipes
at Red Mountain (Burbank, 1941) are capped by mas-
ORE-RELATED BRECCIAS IN VOLCANOPLUTONIC ARCS
1489
sive silicification. Silicification is accompanied by, or
grades into, advanced argillic alteration rich in alunite
at Summitville, Red Mountain, La Coipa, and Chink-
uashih but is surrounded by less acid alteration types
at the other localities listed in Table 5. Patches of
silicification and associated brecciation are also typical
of the similar zones of advanced argillic alteration that
characterize the upper (volcanic) parts of porphyry
copper systems (Sillitoe, 1983b).
The presence or absence of advanced argillic al-
teration is the dominant control on the sulfide and
gangue mineralogy of the breccias. Sulfur-rich sUl-
fides, especially pyrite, enargite, luzonite, and cov-
ellitc, generally cement silicified breccias within
zones of advanced argillic alteration, whereas much
smaller amounts of pyrite, either alone or accompa-
nied by sphalerite, galena, chalcopyrite, tennantite-
tetrahedrite and/or argentitc occur where advanced
argillic alteration is absent. Breccias associated with
Carlin-type deposits tend to be cemented by a re-
stricted number of minerals, of which quartz, calcite,
pyrite, barite, and stibnite are the most widespread.
Epithermal breccias commonly constitute gold and/
or silver ore. Breccias may provide the main loci for
ore, as at Red Mountain (Burbank, 1941), or may sim-
ply host some of the highest grade portions of an ore
body, as at Hasbrouck Mountain (Graney, 1984) or
Northumberland (Motter and Chapman, 1984). In
these and most of the other examples in Table 5 the
precious metal mineralization is present mainly in the
breccia cement. Locally, however, as at Buckskin
(Vikre, 1983), precious metals are present only in
veins and stockworks that cut breccia. At Wan, much
of the gold in the breccias is present in clasts of vein
material ($illitoe et al., 1984b). In contrast, the brec-
cia pipe at Round Mountain is barren, although it is
surrounded by ore (Mills, 1982). Many of the brec-
ciated jasperoids associated with carbonate-hosted
epithermal deposits contain only trace amounts of
precious metals, although at Northumberland and Al-
ligator Ridge (Table 5) they are integral parts of the
orebodies.
Only sparse information is available concerning the
fluids involved in the formation of the epithermal de-
posits listed in Table 5 (e.g., Cripple Creek, Thomp-
son et al, 1985; Equity Silver, Wodjak and Sinclair,
1984). In common with most epithermal precious
metal deposits, however, the ore fluids are assumed
to have been dominated by meteoric water (e.g.,
O'Neil and Silberman, 1974; Radtke et al., 1980).
The most likely exceptions to this generalization are
the volcanic-hosted deposits that contain enagite and
gold as components of advanced argillic alteration
(Summitville, Red Mountain, and Chinkuashih in Ta-
ble 5), in which magmatic-hydrothermal fluids could
conceivably have been important at least during early
stages of mineralization. This appears to have been
the case in the zone of advanced argillic alteration at
Julcani, Peru, where a radial swarm of tourmaline--
bearing breccia dikes emplaced prior to the main base
and precious metal mineralization is interpreted by
Shelnutt and Noble (1985) to be a product of deep-
seated magmatic-hydrothermal fluids.
Modern analogs: Some epithermal breccias may be
compared directly to the products of brecciation as-
sociated with active meteoric water-dominated geo-
thermal systems in the Taupo volcanic zone of North
Island, New Zealand, the western United States, and
elsewhere. Brecciation is a common phenomenon at
shallow levels in geothermal systems, and locally it
breached the land surface to produce craters sur-
rounded by aprons of breccia (Fig. 15). In keeping
with the inferred mechanism of formation, the sub-
aerial ejecta have been called hydrothermal explosion
breccias (Muffler et al., 1971) or hydrothermal erup-
tion breccias (Lloyd, 1959). Hydrothermal eruptions
(hydroexplosions; Sheridan and Wohletz, 1983) were
observed at Waimangu, New Zealand, in 1900-1904
and again in 1917 (Lloyd and Keam, 1965; Fig. 15),
and at La Soufrire, Guadeloupe, French West Indies
in 1976 (Heiken et al., 1980).
In North Island, New Zealand, an area southwest
of the Tarawera flow-dome complex, on the edge of
the Okataina caldera (Fig. 16), is characterized by
many hydrothermal explosion breccias. During the
emplacement of the youngest Tarawera domes about
900 years ago (Cole, 1979), a series of hydrothermal
eruptions took place in the nearby Waiotapu geo-
thermal system, many of them localized by the Nga-
pouri and associated faults (Lloyd, 1959; Cross, 1963;
Hedenquist, 1983; Hedenquist and Henley, 1985).
The craters along the trace of the Ngapouri fault (Fig.
16) are occupied by lakes measuring 100 to 750 m
in diameter, which are surrounded by circular to oval
FIG. 15. Hydrothermal eruption of the Waimangu "geyser,"
probably in early 1904. Note the apron of breccia alongside the
eruption crater. Taken from Lloyd and Keam (1976) after an orig-
inal by Iles Photo, Rotorua.
I
17615 .
Lake
raraweca
l
/ /
38015 '-
$.
L. Ngdkoro
0 5 10km.
L __ -- -- I 1
I
Waimongu
Lake
Rerewhakaaitu
() Lote Pleistocene dome rhyolites
Lore (;luotemory. foults:
... o bserved/conceeled
Hydrothermel eruption craters
::. Lake Rotomehane pre-1886
.,.t Limit of Okatoino Volcanic Center
FIG. 16. Map of the Tarawera volcanic complex and associated hydrothermal eruption craters,
North Island, New Zealand. Compiled from Lloyd (1959), Cross (1963), and Healy et al. (1964).
ejecta aprons ranging from i to 6 km 2 in area (Cross,
1963). In the southern Waiotapu area, an eruption
crater 60 to 65 m across is occupied by Champagne
Pool (Fig. 16), around which metal-bearing sinter
terraces are currently accumulating. On the basis of
the lithologies of clasts in the breccia apron around
Champagne Pool, Hedenquist and Henley (1985) de-
termined that the eruption extended downward to a
depth of about 170 m. Fragments in nearby breccia
aprons originated from depths as great as 300 m.
The Tarawera volcanic complex became active
again in 1886, when a fissure (the Tarawera rift; Fig.
16) bisecting the domes erupted basaltic tephra. At
the southwestern end of the fissure, at Waimangu (Fig.
16), minor basaltic eruption was followed four years
later in 1900 by the inception of hydrothermal erup-
tions (Lloyd and Keam, 1965, 1976). The so-called
Waimangu geyser (Fig. 15) erupted in Echo Crater
and threw jets of debris, mud, and water to heights
as great as 460 m and was characterized for four years
by four- to nine-hour eruptions recurring at intervals
of 30 to 36 hours (Lloyd and Keam, 1965). In August
1903, the crater measured 120 X 75 m and was 14.6
m deep (Lloyd and Keam, 1965). Some 12 years later,
another eruption crater was created nearby. The ini-
tial steam-charged blast carrying rocks and mud partly
destroyed a building, 0.8 km away, and claimed two
lives. Ejecta attained heights of 300 m, but activity
had nearly ceased only two weeks later (Lloyd and
Keam, 1965).
Several hydrothermal eruption events took place
in the Kawerau and Orakeikorako geothermal fields
of North Island since 16,000 years ago (Nairn and
Solia, 1980; Lloyd, 1972). At Kawerau, three co-
alesced eruption craters, each estimated to be 300 to
500 m wide, resulted from eruption of material from
depths of at least 200 m (Nairn and Solia, 1980).
In 1976, phreatic eruptions were observed from
fissures on the flanks of a volcanic dome at La Souf-
rire (Heiken et al., 1980). Clouds of steam and fine-
grained tephra rose buoyantly and were then pushed
downward as density currents along surrounding val-
leys.
The breccias produced by hydrothermal eruptions
constitute aprons that decrease in both thickness and
constituent clast size outward from crater rims. A
maximum thickness of 13 m was reported for breccia
on the rim of the Okaro crater at Waiotapu (Cross,
1963; Fig. 16). The breccias are heterolithologic and
matrix supported, with some partial rounding of frag-
ments observable locally. Clasts are up to 2 m across
and commonly include hydrothermally altered ma-
terial derived from preexisting alteration zones; py-
ritized, silicified, veined, and/or hydraulically brec-
ciated fragments are widespread. At Kawerau, Nairn
and Solia (1980) distinguished three episodes of hy-
draulic brecciation from features displayed by breccia
clasts. Carbonized wood also occurs locally, accre-
tionary lapilli were reported at La Soufrire (Heiken
et al., 1980), and fragments ofsinter were recognized
in breccia around Lake Ngapouri (Fig. 16; Hedenquist
and Henley, 1985). No juvenile clasts are present.
The breccia matrices comprise clay-rich rock flour,
which is typically muddy when wet. Breccias are
mostly chaotic but may be weakly bedded.
Ore deposits are not known to be associated with
any of the recent hydrothermal eruption craters and
associated breccias but may well be in the process of
formation in the breccia-filled vents inferred to un-
derlie the craters. Evidence for this notion is provided
by contents of up to 80 ppm Au and 175 ppm Ag in
sinter around the rim of the Champagne Pool crater
(Weissberg, 1969) and by the model presented by
Hedenquist and Henley (1985).
Origin: Work by Henley and Thornley (1979),
Nairn and Solia (1980), Hedenquist (1983), Berger
and Eimon (1983), Fournier (1983), Hedenquist and
Henley (1985), and Nelson and Giles (1985) has led
to a good understanding of the likely mechanisms for
phreatic brecciation associated with epithermal pre-
cious metal deposits and analogous geothermal sys-
tems. The brecciation seems generally to be depen-
dent upon a buildup of hydrostatic pressure beneath
a local barrier of low permeability. Permeability is
commonly reduced by localized self-sealing (Facca
and Tonani, 1967) in response to dumping of silica
as fluids cooled on approach to the surface. Hence
the widespread occurrence of silicification in and
around epithermal breccias and the presence of silic-
ified (or silica-carbonate) clasts in most hydrothermal
breccias observed at the tops of hydrothermal sys-
tems. Alternatively, zones of low permeability may
be provided by gouge-filled fault zones, shale beds,
or densely welded volcanic rocks. Hydrostatic pres-
sure increase beneath a localized barrier may be due
directly to ascending fluids or, as proposed by Hed-
enquist and Henley (1985), to the transmission of
deeper fluid pressures to the barrier via a compress-
ible cap of gas (particularly CO2) that separated and
accumulated during boiling. Magmatic heating also
provides an effective means of increasing fluid pres-
sures (Nelson and Giles, 1985).
The trigger for phreatic brecciation is commonly
attributed to intrusion of magma and/or seismically
induced faulting, although more transient effects may
also prove adequate (e.g., earth tides; Heiken et al.,
1980). At Wau, brecciation was attributed to rapid
reductions of confining pressure induced by sliding
of rock masses into a maar crater (Sillitoe et al.,
1984b), but it could also have been a response to
high-level dike intrusion. Activation of the Ngapouri
and subsidiary faults along with magmatic intrusion
were thought to have triggered hydrothermal erup-
tions at Waiotapu (Lloyd, 1959; Cross, 1963),
whereas faulting alone was favored as a cause for these
eruptions by Hedenquist and Henley (1985) and for
those at Kawerau (Nairn and Solia, 1980). At La Souf-
rire, there is no evidence that faulting played any
part in the phreatic activity, which is more reasonably
related to magmatic heating (Heiken et al., 1980).
As the prelude to hydrothermal eruption, a semi-
permeable barrier undergoes rupture by hydraulic
fracturing, which is dependent upon the fluid pressure
exceeding the sum of the lithostatic pressure and the
tensile strength of the rock. Hydraulic fracturing, with
or without the assistance of faulting, causes de-
compression of the fluid-filled fissures, which in turn
causes disruption of their enclosing rocks and, com-
monly, the violent conversion (flashing) of water to
steam. Continued violent discharge of water, steam,
and entrained debris progressively widens initial fis-
sures to form larger breccia bodies and pipes. The
first eruptions at Waimangu in 1900 and at Kawerau
are suspected to have been base surges (Lloyd and
Keam, 1976; Nairn and Solia, 1980).
Available energy can be dissipated in the subsurface
to give rise to "blind" breccias or it may be sufficient,
to maximum depths of about 1 km (Nelson and Giles,
1985), to cause fissure propagation to the paleosur-
face and hydrothermal eruption to take place. Evi-
dence is summarized above for hydrothermal eruption
in several hot spring-related precious metal deposits,
but brecciation is likely to have been an entirely sub-
surface phenomenon in many carbonate-hosted epi-
thermal deposits and probably also in some volcanic-
hosted epithermal deposits. The self-sealing-rupture
sequence is likely to be episodic in most epithermal
environments, as shown by evidence for multiple
brecciation and silicification cited above. Boiling and
chemical changes accompanying or immediately fol-
lowing brecciation may be instrumental in precious
metal precipitation (Berger and Eimon, 1983; Hed-
enquist and Henley, 1985).
Porphyry-type and other intrusion-related deposits
General remarks: This section treats a variety of
generally poorly altered and mineralized breccias as-
sociated with porphyry-type and other deposits. The
breccias differ from those assigned above to a mag-
matic-hydrothermal origin.
Characteristics: Breccias included in this category
(Table 6) may be broadly subdivided into two ge-
ometries: irregular to pipelike bodies, and dikes and
their offshoots. Many examples of the latter type are
called pebble dikes, a term of some antiquity (e.g.,
TABLE 6. Selected Examples of Phreatic Breccias
Locality Control Age (m.y.)
Form
Fragment
characteristics Matrix
Butte, Montana Quartz porphyry
dike contacts
Butte, Montana Above quartz la-
tite porphyry
dike
62.8 to 57.7
62.8 to 57.7
Urad, Colorado Rhyolite porphyry "-30
contacts
Mt. Emmons, None known "-16
Colorado
Central City, Partly east-north-
Colorado east fractures
(The Patch)
59
Irregular bodies
(Modoc brec-
cias)
Dikes, pipes
(Mtn. View
breccias)
Shallow irregu-
lar bodies
Dikes (up to
750 m)
Steep pipe (230
X 140, 480 m
deep)
Angular to rounded, Rock flour
monolithologic
heterolithologic
Angular to rounded, Rock flour or
mono- to heterolith- none
ologic
Subrounded Rock flour
Angular to rounded Rock flour
Leadville, Col- Postmineral quartz Early Ter-
orado monzonite por- tiary
phyry
Tintic, Utah Fractures, monzo- Oligocene
nite porphyry
dikes
Bisbee, Ari- Faults, bedding 163
zona planes
Cuajone, Peru Northwest faults, 51
latite porphyry
Toquepala, Latite porphyry 59
Peru
E1 Salvador, Northwest + ra- 41
Chile dial fractures,
latite porphyry
Dikes Angular to rounded, Rock flour
heterolithologic + porphyry
Dikes, lenses, Angular to rounded, Rock flour, mi-
sills heterolithologic nor porphyry
Dikes, sills,
pipes
Steep tabular
+ irregular
bodies
Irregular pipe,
dikes
Dikes
Subangular to rounded, Rock flour
heterolithologic
Rounded, heterolitho- Latite porphyry,
logic minor rock
flour
Rounded Rock flour
heterolithologic
Mt. Morgan, Partly northeast Middle De-
Queensland, fault vonian
Australia
Dikes
heterolithologic
Parsons, 1925) used to describe dikelike bodies of
breccia in which the fragments are well rounded.
In Table 6, the first type is represented by the Red
Mountain breccias described by Wallace et al. (1978)
at Red Mountain (Urad), the Modoc breccias studied
by Minervini (1975) at Butte, and The Patch referred
to by Bastin and Hill (1917) and Sims et al. (1963) in
the Central City district. Fragments in these breccias
range from angular to rounded and are set in variable
amounts of rock flour. At Urad, both the Junk Rock
and Rubble Rock breccias vary from open space- to
rock flour-dominated over short distances. There is a
tendency for the breccias to be monolithologic, with
little evidence for appreciable fragment transport. At
both Urad and Butte, this type of breccia is closely
related to particular phases of porphyry intrusion and
tends to be concentrated as sleeves or envelopes
around the resulting intrusive bodies.
The second type comprises mainly dikes (Fig. 17),
which at some localities are accompanied by sill-like
bodies, pipes, and irregular bodies. Abrupt transitions
from one geometry to another are commonplace, as
ORE-RELATED BRECCIAS 1N VOLCANOPLUTONIC ARCS
Associated with Porphyry and Related Deposits
1493
Upward
fragment
Hydrothermal Cementing displace- Relationship to
alteration minerals ment (m) Ore deposit type orebody
Reference
Propylitic Chlorite, epidote, Present Porphyry Cu-Mo Pre-Main Stage
pyrite, sphaler- + veins veins, barren
ire, chalcopy-
rite
Minor None > 120 Porphyry Cu-Mo Post-Main Stage
+ veins veins
Partly sericitic None Minor Mo lode in porphyry Postore
Mo system
None None 500 Porphyry Mo Postore
Sericitic Quartz, pyrite, Unknown Au-Ag-Cu-Pb-Zn Preore
sphalerite, veins + breccia
chalcopyrite,
galena, tetrahe-
drite
None None Present Pb-Zn-AgoAu re- Postore
placement + vein
Partly silicified Quartz, pyrite, up to 1,800 Pb-ZnoAg-Au veins Preore, largely
local Pb-Zn ore + replacements barren
None None >1,000 Porphyry Cu + re- Postore
placement Cu
+ Pb-Zn
Partly silicified Quartz, pyrite Present Porphyry Cu-Mo Postmineral
Minervini (1975)
Sales (1914), Meyer et al.
(1968)
Wallace et al. (1978)
Thomas and Galey (1982)
Bastin and Hill (1917),
Sims et al. (1963)
Thompson et al. (1983)
Farmin (1934), Lovering
et al. (1949), Morris
and Lovering (1979)
Bryant and Metz (1966),
Bryant (1968, 1983)
Satchwell (1983)
Minor
Chlorite, calcite
(deep); serici-
tic, advanced
argillic (shal-
low)
None
Minor Present Porphyry Cu-Mo Late to post-
mineral
None Present Porphyry Cu-Mo Late to post-
mineral
None Unknown Cu-Au pyritic re- Postmineral
placement
Richard and Courtright
(1958)
Gustafson and Hunt
(1975)
Cornelius (1967)
at Bisbee (Bryant, 1968). Dikes range in thickness
from 1 cm to 10 m and commonly tend to pinch and
swell both vertically and horizontally. They are con-
tinuous in a vertical sense for at least 600 m (e.g.,
Tintic, Morris and Lovering, 1979; E1 Salvador, Gus-
tarson and Hunt, 1975) and possess strike extents as
great as 1 km at E1 Salvador (Gustarson and Hunt,
1975) and 0.75 km at Mt. Emmons (Thomas and
Galey, 1982). Pebble dikes may occur singly (e.g.,
Mt. Emmons) or in swarms. Sill-like bodies have sim-
ilar thicknesses but are generally less extensive. Pipe-
like bodies are up to 150 m in diameter at Bisbee
(Bryant, 1968). All bodies possess abrupt contacts
with wall rocks (Fig. 17). Faults and fractures of well-
defined strike appear to have localized breccia dikes
at the majority of deposits (Tintic, Bisbee, Cuajone,
E1 Salvador, and Mt. Morgan). At E1 Salvador, pebble
dikes become less numerous downward and die out
completely some 600 m beneath the surface (Gustaf-
son and Hunt, 1975).
The breccia dikes and associated bodies all contain
angular to rounded clasts of a variety of rock types in
1494 IICH.4,D H. SILLITOE
FIG. 17. Pebble dike. Rio Blanco porphyry copper deposit,
Chile.
a sand- to silt-size rock flour matrix (Fig. 17). The
matrix comprises from about 30 to nearly 100 percent
of a breccia. Fragments become progressively more
rounded upward at Tintic (Farmin, 1937; Morris and
Lovering, 1979) and El Salvador (Gustafson and Hunt,
1975).' Exceptionally well rounded fragments (Fig.
17), some exhibiting hypogene exfoliation, are com-
mon, as at Tintic (Farmin, 1934, 1937) and Bisbee
(Bryant, 1968). Flow-banding is present in the rock
flour matrix of some dikes. Comparison of clast lith-
ologies with the local geology has enabled determi-
nation of an appreciable upward transport of some
fragments in most pebble dikes: 500 m at Mr. Emmons
(Thomas and Galey, 1982), >1,000 m at Bisbee
(Bryant, 1968), and at least 1,800 m at Tintic (Farmin,
1934).
A close spatial (and probably temporal) relationship
is commonly apparent between breccia dikes and
specific phases of intrusion, which are commonly late
to postmineral in age and dikelike in form. This close
relationship is manifested by the occupancy of fattits
or 'fractures by both igneous and pebble dikes and by
the local occurrence of an igneous rock as an un-
brecciated matrix to breccia dikes. Pebble dikes give
way downward to monzonite porphyry dikes at Tintic
(Farmin, 1934; Morris and Lovering, 1979) and
quartz latite porphyry at Butte (Meyer et al., 1968).
Availability of magma at the time of pebble dike em-
placement is shown by mutually crosscutting rela-
tionships between latite porphyry and ebble dikes
at El Salvador (Gustarson and Hunt, 1975).
Alteration and mineralization: Both types of brec-
cias discussed in this section, except for those at Tintic
and Central City, were emplaced !ate in their re-
spective mineralization sequences. Breccia dikes were
characteristically the last additions and postdated all
mineralization (and other brecciation) in many .dis-
tricts. At Red Mountain (Urad), the breccias postdated
the Urad molybdenum orebody and only constitute
ore locally because of high concentrations of molyb-
denitc-bearing clasts (Wallace et al., 1978). The Mo-
doe breccias at Butte carry clasts of Pre-Main Stage
(i.e., porphyry type) mineralization but were cut by
Main Stage rhodochrosite veinlets and locally ce-
mented by minor amounts of base metal sulfides (Mi-
nervini, 1975).
Breccia dikes are generally unaltered, or only
slightly altered (Table 6), and carry sulfides mainly
as components of fragments. At Bisbee, for example,
pebble breccias locally make ore on account of high
concentrations of fragmental sulfides, especially
where they abut replacement copper orebodies
(Bryant, 1983). Ore-bearing fragments are also pres-
ent, albeit in lesser concentrations, at Leadville, El
Salvador, Mt. Morgan, and Mt. Emmons, with molyb-
denum-bearing fragments having ascended at least
500 m at the. last locality (Thomas and Galey, 1982).
In contrast to the majority of pebble dikes, those'at
El Salvador were emplaced while sericitic and ad-
vanced argillic alteration was active at shallow levels
of the porphyry system,. although ore-related altera-
tion events had ceased at depth (Gustarson and Hunt,
1975). The pebble dikes at Tintic only locally make
ore but were interpreted by Lovering 6t al. (1949)
and Morris and Lovering (1979) to have been em-
placed prior to mineralization.
Although the nature of the fluids responsible for
this weak alteration and mineralization has not been
determined, a meteoric-hydrothermal origin is not
inconsistent with field relationships.
Origin: Many of these breccias were empiaced in
close association with poorly mineralized and frac-
tured intrusive rocks after much of the associated al-
teration and mineralization had ceased. These rela-
tionships suggest that brecciation may have been in-
duced by meteoric fluids under the influence of heat
from an igneous intrusion (cf. Gustarson and Hunt,
1975; Morris and Lovering, 1979).
It is possible that thermal expansion of meteoric
fluids in the wall rocks of stocks or dikes, as proposed
by McBirney (1963) and modeled by Knapp and
Knight (1977) and Delaney (1982), could provide a
suitable mechanism for the generation of both little-
moved monolithologic breccias around or above por-
phyry stocks or dikes, as at Urad, Butte, and Central
City, and heterolithologic breccia dikes.
Application of the mechanism assumes that wall
rocks were saturated with relatively cool meteoric
water or had become recharged with meteoric water
following completion of the main stages of magmatic-
hydrothermal mineralization--as they certainly had
at E1 Salvador, where a shallow hot spring system was
shown to have operated during pebble dike formation
(Gustarson and Hunt, 1975). Delaney's (1982) cal-
culations showed that pressurization and expansion
of ground waters are most effective during rapid em-
placement of magma into relatively impermeable
rocks at shallow depths (1 km). Late-stage dike em-
placement into hydrothermally healed rocks in the
upper parts of porphyry systems would therefore
provide a suitable environment. Brittle failure and
brecciation would result from rapid increases of pore
fluid pressure sufficient to exceed the lithostatic load
plus tensile strength of the rock. If water approached
the boiling point curve for a given depth, then it is
likely to have flashed to steam during dike intrusion,
as envisaged for the E1 Salvador pebble dikes by Gus-
tarson and Hunt (1975). Violently expanding steam
could then have opened fractures above the dikes and
perhaps caused their propagation to the paleosurface.
Repeated steam production during intrusion would
have resulted in shattering, entrainment, and upward
transport of material along the walls of fractures above
the dikes. A high proportion of steam in the upfiowing
fluid-rock mixture would have given rise to the ex-
treme mobility suggested by the transport of material
over large vertical distances and its injection along
tortuous pathways. Decompressive events consequent
upon repeated opening of fractures could have caused
the widespread hypogene exfoliation of fragments and
would have favored localized ascent and penetration
of magma into still-mobile breccia.
Kuroko-type massive sulfide deposits
General remarks: Kuroko-type deposits were gen-
erated at and immediately beneath the sea floor in a
physically unstable environment characterized by
volcanic, hydrothermal, and mechanical activity. It is
not surprising therefore that a variety of fragmental
accumulations and textures characterize both Kuroko-
type deposits and their immediate host rocks (Clark,
1971, 1983; Eldridge et al., 1983). Selected examples
ofbreccias associated with Kuroko-type deposits from
Archean to mid-Miocene in age are considered in this
section.
Characteristics: Most of the sulfide-bearing breccias
considered here (Table 7) are located on the flanks
of, or as aprons around, felsic lava domes and overlie
felsic lava or fragmental volcanic rocks (Fig. 18). The
breccias occur as lateral extensions of bodies of mas-
sive ore or, less commonly, overlie them. Most of the
breccias generally are not underlain by stockwork
mineralization. It is clear that many of these breccia
bodies are allochthonous distal accumulations of sul-
fide-bearing fragmental material. The geometry of the
breccia bodies ranges from lenses through elongate
tabular bodies to sheets, with thicknesses up to a
maximum of about 25 m (Fig. 18). The linear breccia
body that constitutes the Maclean orebody at Buchans
is 870 m long (Thurlow and Swanson, 1981). Com-
monly the breccias occupy paleotopographic depres-
sions which in places, as at Buchans, have been de-
fined as elongate troughs (Thurlow et al., 1975).
Many of these sulfide-bearing breccias are hetero-
lithologic and comprise variable amounts of felsic to
basic volcanic rocks, argillaceous rocks, massive sul-
fide, and barite. Clasts of gypsum or siliceous stock-
work are also present, as are pieces of earlier breccias.
The clasts, up to > 10 m in size, are generally angular
to subrounded in outline, but well-rounded fragments
have also been described (e.g., Kurosawa; Motegi,
1974). At Buchans, for example, sulfide-poor "breccia
conglomerate" and "granite conglomerate" were de-
scribed by Thurlow et al. (1975) and Thurlow and
Swanson (1981), names that reflect the spheroidal
form of many of the fragments. The granite breccia
contains spheroidal granite fragments up to 6 m in
size of an unknown, but presumably a deeper level,
source (Thurlow and Swanson, 1981), which appear
to have gained their form through hypogene exfo-
liation. At Buchans (Thurlow and Swanson, 1981),
Ainai (Ishikawa and Yanagisawa, 1974), and else-
where, some of the massive sulfide clasts exhibit bent,
wispy outlines interpreted to result from fragmenta-
tion and incorporation while still in a semilithified
state. The breccias range from clast to matrix sup-
ported. Matrix is generally fine-grained clastic ma-
terial, which may be dominated by comminuted lith-
ics, sulfides, and/or barite. The breccias range from
chaotic, unbedded aggregates, as at Buchans and
Vauze, to well-bedded accumulations characterized
by graded bedding and other sedimentary structures,
as at several Japanese localities (Table 7).
There is some evidence for the existence of a spec-
trum ofbreccia types in the Kuroko environment that
range from those composed entirely of massive sulfide
clasts (e.g., Ainai) through breccias with both massive
sulfide and lithic clasts (Table 7) to several end-mem-
ber types dominated by lithic clasts. The breccias
composed mainly of sulfide clasts generally constitute
ore (Table 7). Lithic breccias pre- and postdate ore
formation; the preore variety includes the Motoyama-
type breccias of Horikoshi (1969), which commonly
underlie massive sulfide ore.
The crosscutting breccia summarized in Table 7
.0..* BEDDED FRAGMENTAL ORE MUDSTONE
MASSIVE ORE ''] RHYOLITIC BRECCIA
: STOCKWORK ORE +J'+-J FELSIC LAVA DOME
FIG. 18. Schematic section through a Kuroko-type massive
sulfide deposit to show relationships of fragmental ore. Based on
Lee et al.'s (1974) interpretation of the Kamikita deposit, Japan.
from Mt. Chalmers is distinctly different from those
breccias described above. It occurs as a siliceous,
chimneylike body and is flanked by polymetallic mas-
sive sulfide deposits (Large and Both, 1980). The
chimney comprises angular to subrounded fragments
of chalcedony and jasper recemented by chalcedony
and minor barite and sericite. The breccia carries 2
to 10 wt percent disseminated pyrite and was ex-
ploited for its gold content (Large and Both, 1980).
The Mt. Chalmers breccia is similar in many ways to
the silicified breccias associated with many epithermal
precious metal deposits generated in subaerial settings
(see above).
Origin: Horikoshi (1969) proposed an origin by
phreatic steam explosions for the Motoyama-type
breccias associated with many Japanese Kuroko de-
posits. He envisaged explosive activity to have been
triggered by ingress of cool seawater to consolidated
but still hot felsic lava domes on the sea floor. A similar
mechanism has been applied by several workers, in-
cluding Clark (1971, 1983), Ishikawa and Yanagisawa
(1974), Spence (1975), Thurlow et al. (1975), Walker
et al. (1975), Henley and Thornley (1979, 1981), and
Thurlow and Swanson (1981), to the massive sulfide-
bearing breccias that constitute parts of some Kuroko-
type deposits. By analogy with near-surface breccia-
tion in subaerial geothermal systems (see above),
Henley and Thornley (1979, 1981) attributed gen-
eration of the massive sulfide-bearing breccias to hy-
drothermal eruptions triggered by separation of vol-
atiles (including CO2) from ascending fluids, with ac-
cumulation of the volatiles beneath semipermeable
cap rocks. A decrease in permeability could be caused
by silicification of the subsea-floor conduit (as at Mt.
Chalmers) or capping of the conduit by massive sul-
fide. Rapid rupture of the cap rock would have been
accompanied by fragmentation of massive sulfides
with or without underlying mineralized and/or un-
mineralized rocks and by their ejection on to the sea
floor. As noted by Henley and Thornley (1979), the
process is potentially repetitive, thereby explaining
the formation of the Motoyama-type and other preore
breccias, synore breccias carrying plastically de-
formed sulfides, and postore breccias.
In most cases, the ejected fragmental material ap-
pears to have been transported variable distances
downslope away from the eruption site, presumably
because fragments came to rest on a steep slope or,
alternatively, because fragment accumulation caused
oversteepening of an existing slope. Earthquake ac-
tivity or continued or renewed dome emplacement
could also have caused landsliding of near-vent brec-
cia accumulations. In the case of poorly sorted brec-
cias lacking internal structure, either transport was
limited, as at Vauze where the breccia resembles a
talus-covered slope (Spence, 1975), or over greater
distances, as at Buchans, transport is inferred to have
taken place as density flows (Thurlow and Swanson,
1981; Walker and Barbour, 1981). Mass flowage ap-
pears to have been transitional to turbidity currents,
which were probably the main transporting agents
for well-bedded breccias that exhibit a variety of sed-
imentary structures.
The presence of a variety of fragment lithologies,
including argillized and chloritized volcanic rocks,
stockwork ore, and previously formed breccias, is
strong evidence for the origin of heterolithologic
breccias by hydrothermal eruption. It must be ad-
mitted, however, that some breccias, especially those
composed essentially of massive sulfide fragments,
could have formed simply by fragmentation during
slumping and landsliding.
Phreatomagmatic (Hydromagmatic) Breccias
Porphyry-type and epithermal precious (_ base)
metal deposits
General remarks: The breccias in this section are
associated mainly with epithermal deposits and por-
phyry copper deposits and appear to be appreciably
less widespread than other varieties of breccia de-
scribed above from these two ore deposit types. These
breccias were first recognized as associates of ore de-
posits by Sillitoe and Bonham (1984), although they
would appear to include some of the "prehydro-
thermal" breccias of Bryner (1961) and to constitute
the breccia category addressed by Wolfe (1980).
The term diatreme is preferred to that of breccia
pipe for breccia-filled conduits of this type because
of their intrinsic differences and because they are be-
lieved to have been generated in a manner that com-
plies with Daubrfe's (1891) original definition of a
diatreme as a vent produced by volcanic explosion.
Characteristics: This category possesses a number
of unifying characteristics that help to distinguish it
from other types of breccia. Many examples of this
breccia type, especially those at Cripple Creek, Mon-
tana Tunnels (Fig. 19), Cerro de Pasco, E1 Teniente,
Guinaoang, Dizon, and Acupan (Table 8), are fine
FIG. 19. Highly sericitized, matrix-rich phreatomagmatic
breccia. Note polished subrounded clast near end of pocket knife.
Montana Tunnels, Montana.
grained and largely matrix supported; from 50 to 90
percent matrix material is usual. At Montana Tunnels,
matrix material is <2 mm in grain size but is deficient
in silt- and clay-size fractions (Sillitoe et al., 1985).
Many of the breccias have a juvenile tuffaeeous com-
ponent, besides rock flour, in their matrices. The tuff-
aceous material commonly approximates daeite in
composition and comprises both broken and unbroken
crystals of quartz, biotite, and feldspar. The tuffaeeous
component is often difficult to recognize where it is
intensely altered, as at Montana Tunnels (Fig. 19).
Breccias .with a wholly or partly tuffaceous matrix
were denominated "tuffisite" by Cloos (1941).
The abundant matrix material generally precludes
the.presence of significant open space in most brec-
cias, although large cavelike openings have been en-
countered at El Teniente and Dizon. Those at El Ten-
TABLE 8. Selected Phreatomagmatic Diatremes and
Probable
Locality Horizontal Vertical juvenile
(diatreme name) Host rocks Age (m.y.) dimensions dimensions component Other features
.
Montana Tunnels, Late Cretaceous vol- 45 to 50 2.1 X up to 0.6 >310 Quartz latitie Cut by quartz
Montana eanies, Eocene ig- tuff latite por-
nimbrites phyry dikes
Cripple Creek, Precambrian granite, 27.9to 29.3 5.9 X 2.7 >1,000 Latite-phonolite Cut by bodies
Colorado gneiss, schist tuff of alkaline
rock, basaltic
breccia
Bassick, Colorado Precambrian gneiss, Oligocene 1.3 x 0.85 >430 Andesitc tuff(?)
granite
Cerro de Pasco, Silurian-Devonian 14 to 15 2.7 X 2.3 >800 Felsic tuff Quartz latite
Peru (Rumial- phyllite, Permian porphyry
!ana Agglomer- red beds, Trias-]u- flow-dome
ate) rassic limestones complex,
dikes
Mi Vida, Argen- Late Precambrian 6.8 2.3 x 1.1 >500 Rhyolitic pyro-
tina (Carudo schists, migmatites, clastics
breceia) granite; Miocene
syenodiorite
El Teniente, Miocene andesitic 4 to 5 1.3 x 1.3 >1,600 Minor felsic Cut by daeite
Chile (Braden voleanies tuff(?) ' porphyry
"pipe") bodies
Guinaoang, Phil- Mesozoic(?) schist, 2.9 8.5 X 3.5 >400 Dacitic tuff Cut by daeite
ippines Mio-Plioeene an- porphyry
desitic volcanics dome
Acupan, Philip- Cretaceous-Paleogene Pleisto- 1.0 X 0.6 > 1,000 None
pines (Balatuc andesitic voleanics, cene(?)
"plug") Mioeene diorite
Dizon, Philip- Late Tertiary andes- Late Tertiary > 1.0 >300 Dacitic tuff Cut by dacite
pines (Pua dia- itic voltanits, porphyry
treme) microdiorite dikes,
dome(?)
Cut by domes,
dikes
Wau, Papua New Late Cretaceous-Pa- <4 to >2.4 1.4 X 1.4 >200 Dacitic pyro-
Guinea leogene phyllite, clastics
Pliocene ignimbrite
+ clastic sediments
iente were up to 8 m in diameter, filled with water,
and lined with crystals of gypsum, up to 3 m long,
and other hypogene minerals (A. Enrione, pers. com-
mum, 1983).
Clasts in these breccias are heterolithologic and
comprise all known wall rocks to the diatremes. In
addition to these accidental lithic clasts, some dia-
tremes also contain rhyolitic to dacitic (latitic-pho-
nolitic at Cripple Creek) clasts of apparently juvenile
origin (e.g., Fig. 20). Most of the clasts are poorly
vesiculated (cognate lithics), but dacitic pumice has
also been recognized at Dizon (Sillitoe and Gappe,
1984) and Guinaoang (Sillitoe and Angeles, 1985),
where the pumice is flattened parallel to the inclined
contact of the diatreme. Clasts range up to 10 or more
meters in diameter and are subangular to rounded in
form. Clasts, especially the more common smaller
ones, are polished. Large spheroidal clasts, some of
them displaying hypogene exfoliation features, are
present at several localities, including Mi Vida (Kouk-
harsky and Mirr, 1976) and Dizon (Malihan, 1982;
Fig. 21).
Several facies ofbreccia are recognized in a number
of diatremes. For example, at Guinaoang, an early
tuffaceous facies is cut by, and incorporated as frag-
ments in, coarse- and fine-grained lithic breccias (Sil-
litoe and Angeles, 1985). At Acupan, 95 percent of
the Balatoc diatreme is occupied by a late breccia
that becomes progressively finer grained inward. An
early, even finer grained breccia occurs as remnants
around the walls of the diatreme (Damasco and de
Guzman, 1977). At Cripple Creek, a distinctive late
phase of breccia with a basaltic tuff component in its
matrix constitutes the pipelike Cresson "Blowout"
Maars Associated with Precious and Base Metal Deposits
Alteration and
mineralization of Evidence for surface Ore deposit Location of Timing of
breccia connection type mineralization brecciation Reference
Sericite, siderite, Logs, base surge as Disseminated Within diatreme Pre- and inter-
manganocal- blocks Au-Ag-Zn- mineral
cite, pyrite Pb
Sericite, dolo- Logs, lacustrine sedi- Au veins, Mainly within Premineral
mite, pyrite ments, accretionary breccias diatreme
lapilli
Clays(?) Logs, base surge de- Au-Ag-Pb-Zn Within southern Premineral
posits(?) pipe part of dia-
treme
Propylitic, pyrite Base surge deposits Pb-Zn-Ag-Cu Mainly south- Premineral
veins, re- east edge of
placements diatreme
Advanced argil- None Porphyry Pipe in dia- Late mineral
lic, pyrite, co- Cu-Mo, treme
vellite, char- Cu-Pb-Zn-
gite Ag pipe
Weak sericite, Bedding of base(?) Porphyry Surrounds dia- Postmineral
tourmaline, py- surge origin Cu-Mo treme
rite
Weak chlorite, Base surge deposits,
calcite, clays, accretionary lapilli
pyrite
Chlorite, calcite, Logs
sericite, pyrite
Weak chlorite, Logs, base surge de-
calcite, clay, posits, accretionary
specularitc lapilli
Quartz, calcite, Lacustrine sediments,
clays, pyrite; base surge, accre-
kaolinte, alu- tionary lapilli
nite, pyrite
Porphyry Southeast of Postmineral
Cu-Au diatreme
Au in pipe- Annulus to dia- Intermineral(?)
like brec- treme
cias
Porphyry North of dia- Postmineral
Cu-Au treme
Au veins, In tuff ring near Premineral
stockwork maar ring
fault
Sillitoe et al. (1985)
Lindgren and Ransome
(1906), Loughlin and
Koschmann (1935),
Thompson et al.
(1985)
Cross (1896), Emmons
(896)
Geologic staff of Cerro
de Pasco Corporation
(1950), Silberman
and Noble (1977)
Koukharsky and Mirr
(1976)
Lindgren and Bastin
(1922), Howell and
Molloy (1960)
Sillitoe and Angeles
(1985)
Worley (1967), Da-
masco and de Guz-
man (1977)
Mallhah (1982), Sillitoe
and Gappe (1984)
Sillitoe et al. (1984b)
FIG. 20. Heterolithologic (explosion) breccia from degraded
tuff ring around maar crater. Phyllite (black) and dacite porphyry
(white) clasts are prominent. Namie breccia from Wau, Papua
New Guinea.
(Loughlin and Koschmann, 1935). A coarser breccia
typically characterizes the marginal parts of some
diatremes, as exemplified by the pebble breccia at
Dizon and the coarse lithie breccia at Guinaoang.
Diatremes are typically larger than most breccia
pipes. With only one exception, the examples in Table
8 all occupy > 1 km 2 at surface. The two largest, Crip-
ple Creek and Guinaoang, have maximum surface di-
mensions of 5.9 and 8.5 km, respectively, and appear
to have formed by coalescence of several smaller dia-
tremes. The vertical extents of diatremes are also
large, with Cripple Creek, El Teniente, and Acupan
all exceeding 1,000 m. The Braden pipe at E1Teniente
possesses an irregular dogtooth contact with a post-
mineral dacite porphyry at a depth of about 1,600 m
and may not extend any deeper (A. Enrione, pers.
commun., 1983). Many of the diatremes possess in-
ward-dipping walls' and several of them are funnel
shaped, a form that is believed to typify their upper
parts. The contacts are generally abrupt and defined
by ring faults in which gouge and fault breccia are
common. The wall rocks abuting the ring faults are
shattered and, in some cases, brecciated. Discontin-
uous annuli of open-space breccia adjoin diatremes
at E1Teniente (Howell and Molloy, 1960) and Acupan
(Damasco and de Guzman, 1977; Fig. 22); they ap-
pear to predate diatreme eraplacement. Large blocks
of wall rock, up to several hundred meters long, be-
came detached from the walls of some diatremes and
are particularly widespread in the marginal parts of
the breccias; some of those at Montana Tunnels are
nearly vertical (Sillitoe et al., 1985).
At Wan, Sillitoe et al. (1984b) presented evidence
for partial preservation of a maar crater and encircling
tuff ring, which are inferred to be undedain by a
breccia-filled diatreme comparable to those described
above. Two varieties of breccia are present both
FIG. 21. Hypogene exfoliation exhibited by fragment from
the marginal part of the Pua diatreme, Dizon porphyry copper-
gold deposit, Philippines.
Diotreme Ixeccia
(ac,toc 'thug')
Diorite
vl Andesilk: volconics
v.l stri-tun
FIG. 22. Plan of the 1,500-m level of the Acupan gold mine,
Philippines, to show open-space breccia and the contained G.W.
orebodies as an annulus to the Balatoc diatreme ("plug"). Taken
from Damasco and de Guzman (1977).
within the maar crater and as the sole components of
the tuff ring. About 90 percent of the breccia is mas-
sive, unbedded, angular, heterolithologic and matrix
supported (Fig. 20). It is similar to the "explosion
breccia" defined by Wohletz and Sheridan (1983)
from basaltic tuff rings and tuff cones and is therefore
probably of ballistic fall origin. The remaining 10
percent is sand to pebble size and displays low-angle
crossbedding and dune forms. These finer grained
horizons, which are up to several meters thick, also
contain abundant accretionary lapilli. These charac-
teristics are typical of pyroclastic base surge deposits
(e.g., Moore, 1967; Fisher and Waters, 1970), which
are common constituents of maar volcanoes (e.g, Lor-
enz, 1973; Sheridan and Wohletz, 1983). Lacustrine
sediments, rich in plant remains, dominate the upper
parts of the intramaar sequence at Wau and are over-
lain by blocks of basement phyllite and its tuff ring
cover that slid into the maar following the cessation
of explosive activity (Sillitoe et al., 1984b).
Fine-grained, cross-stratified breccia similar in ap-
pearance to the base surge deposits at Wau, and ap-
parently of the same origin, has been observed in re-
stricted parts of the diatremes at Montana Tunnels
(Sillitoe et al., 1985), Cripple Creek (Lindgren and
Ransome, 1906), Cerro de Pasco (Silberman and No-
ble, 1977), E1Teniente (Lindgren and Bastin, 1922),
Guinaoang (Sillitoe and Angeles, 1985), Dizon (Sil-
litoe and Gappe, 1984), and possibly, Bassick (Cross,
1896). Accretionary lapilli are present in these base
surge deposits at Cripple Creek (Thompson et al.,
1985), Guinaoang, and Dizon. The base surge deposits
clearly constitute blocks at Montana Tunnels, Cripple
Creek, Guinaoang, and Dizon, but this is less certain
at Cerro de Pasco, Bassick, and El Teniente. These
base surge deposits are believed to have subsided into
the diatremes from subaerial tuff rings. The presence
of fiuviolacustrine sediments, characterized by ripple
marks and dessication cracks, to depths of >300 m
below the present surface at Cripple Creek is ex-
plained in the same manner (Thompson et al., 1985).
Further evidence that diatremes intersected the pa-
lcosurface is provided by the presence of pieces of
carbonized wood at Montana Tunnels, Bassick, Crip-
ple Creek, Acupan, and Dizon (Table 8).
Several diatremes were cut by dikes or irregular
bodies of intrusive rock, as at Montana Tunnels, Crip-
ple Creek, Cerro de Pasco, E1 Teniente, Dizon, and
Wau (Table 8). At Montana Tunnels and E1Teniente,
brecciation was still active during intrusion, as evi-
denced by the irregular, swirly, and mutually cross-
cutting contacts between breccia and intrusive rock
and, at the former locality, by chilled margins to
pieces of dike rock incorporated in the breccia (Sil-
litoe et al., 1985). At several localities where erosion
is minimal or not far advanced, endogenous domes
are recognizable, e.g., Cerro de Pasco (Silberman and
Noble, 1977), Guinaoang (Sillitoe and Angeles, 1985),
Wau (Sillitoe et al., 1984b), and possibly, Dizon (Sil-
litoe and Gappe, 1984). The dikes and bodies of por-
phyry encountered in a number of diatremes are likely
to have fed domes at higher, now-eroded levels.
A structural control of diatreme emplacement is
apparent at Montana Tunnels, Cerro de Pasco, and
Wau, which all lie on major regional faults.
Alteration and mineralization: It may be appre-
ciated from Table 8 that diatremes associated with
epithermal precious metal deposits were emplaced
either before mineralization commenced or, at Mon-
tana Tunnels and possibly also at Acupan, while it was
taking place. In contrast, the diatremes that accom-
pany porphyry copper deposits are commonly very
late or postmineral in age.
There is a tendency for precious (_ base) metal
mineralization to be concentrated around the edges
of diatremes, although their interiors may also be ore
bearing. Examples of marginal ore include: a huge
silica-pyrite body and associated Ag-Pb-Zn-Cu min-
eralization at Cerro de Pasco (Cerro de Pasco Cor-
poration, 1950), an annulus of gold-bearing open-
space breccia at Acupan (Fig. 22), and shallow gold
lodes and associated stockworks at Wau (Sillitoe et
al., 1984b). Gold telluride ore is also concentrated
around the Cresson Blowout, a late facies of the Crip-
ple Creek diatreme (Loughlin and Koschmann, 1935).
Enhanced permeability provided by ring faults and
associated shattering or brecciation of wall rocks is
the prime reason for ore deposition around the mar-
gins of diatremes. At Acupan, 11 principal lenslike
bodies of breccia parallel the diatreme contact over
vertical intervals of up to 600 m and are thought to
have been supplied with mineralizing fluids where
they are intersected by auriferous veins (Worley,
1967; Damasco and de Guzman, 1977; Fig. 22).
Precious metal mineralization is also present within
diatremes: gold-bearing veins and phreatic breccias
(see above) at Cripple Creek (Thompson et al., 1985),
a precious metal-bearing pipe at Bassick (Emmons,
1896), and a zone of largely disseminated Au-Ag-Zn-
Pb mineralization at Montana Tunnels (Sillitoe et al.,
1985). At Montana Tunnels, the presence of an ap-
preciable amount of clastic sulfides (including veinlet
fragments) in the breccia shows that mineralization
continued during the period of active brecciation,
probably during pauses in explosive activity.
In the case of the four porphyry copper deposits
in Table 8, ore is located beyond the limits of the
diatremes, although mineralized clasts are widespread
in the diatreme breccias themselves. At Mi Vida,
however, significant late-stage advanced argillic al-
teration affected much of the breccia and gave rise
to a zoned, pipelike body of copper and lead-zinc
mineralization in the diatreme's interior (Koukharsky
and Mirr, 1976).
Echo Crete, 1886 explosion crater '-'-': Pre-I kes. WAIMANGU
rt of su, . Ctou in
: 3 km inferr f crossi. 1 nt
--- ' ke levi.
FIG. 23. Volcanic explosion craters formed in 1886 along the Tarawera rift at Lake Rotomahana
and Waimangu, North Island, New Zealand. The main phreatomagmatic base surge deposit originated
from Great Crater basin. Pre-1886 and present lake levels shown. Taken from Nairn (1979).
The diatreme breccias are weakly but pervasively
altered irrespective of whether or not their emplace-
ment was pre- or postmineral. The alteration (except
for that at Montana Tunnels and Mi Vida) appears to
bear no direct relation to mineralization and is gen-
erally characterized by one or more of sericite, clays,
chlorite, carbonate, zeolites, specularite, and pyrite
(Table 8). However, part of the pyrite is invariably
clastic. This alteration is attributed to the high fluid
contents of the breccias at the times of their formation
(see below).
Modern analogs: Maar volcanoes are widespread
volcanic phenomena, although those involving mag-
mas of rhyolitic to dacitic composition appear to be
less common than their basic counterparts. This may
be in part due to their destruction during later dome
emplacement, as at Julcani, Peru (Shelnutt and Noble,
1985). From the standpoint of epithermal mineral-
ization, the 1886 eruption of Rotomahana in the
Taupo volcanic zone of North Island, New Zealand
(Fig. 16), is of some interest although it did not give
rise to a typical monogenetic maar volcano.
At the time of basaltic eruption from the Tarawera
rift (see above), basaltic magma ascending along the
southwestward continuation of the fissure is believed
to have interacted with meteoric fluids of the Roto-
mahana geothermal system to trigger a catastrophic
phreatomagmatic eruption (Nairn, 1979). Water-sat-
urated base surges traveled westward for at least 6
km from vents now 95 percent concealed beneath
Lake Rotomahana (Fig. 3) to produce the Rotoma-
hana mud. The explosions disintegrated two large hot
spring sinter aprons that capped part of the Roto-
mahana geothermal system, as well as a large volume
of altered rock from the system itself. Hydrothermal
activity took place after Rotomahana became quies-
cent, as shown by the hydrothermal eruptions at
nearby Waimangu some four years later (Figs. 16 and
23; see above).
Origin: Sheridan and Wohletz (1981, 1983) con-
cluded that the phreatomagmatic explosive activity
responsible for maar-diatreme generation may result
from a fuel-coolant type of interaction between
magma and an external water source. In the case of
the diatremes under discussion here, the source is
believed to have been an aquifer charged with ground
water at depths of 1 to km, or even more (e.g., E1
Teniente), beneath the paleosurface. Fault zones also
may have facilitated ground-water access in some
places. Lindgren and Bastin (1922) were the first to
propose the explosive interaction of magma and me-
teoric water as a mechanism for formation of one of
the diatremes discussed here--the Braden pipe at E1
Teniente.
It is clear that the diatremes (Table 8) were gen-
erated by multiple explosions, each involving expan-
sion and vaporization of ground water, and fragmen-
tation and entrainment of magma particles (Sheridan
and Wohletz, 1983). The essential (magmatic) and
accidental (wall-rock) components of the resulting
pyroclastic products are characterized by a high de-
gree of comminution (Self and Sparks, 1978; Sheridan
and Wohletz, 1983), as observed in many of the brec-
cias. Ascent of fragmented magma, rock, steam, and
water in diatremes gave rise to distinctive eruption
products (Wohletz and Sheridan, 1983), among which
pyroclastic base surge deposits and accretionary lapilli
are particularly diagnostic. However, eruption was
characterized by pyroclastic fall activity as well as by
laterally directed, water-saturated base surges, with
the former becoming dominant as the availability of
ground water was reduced (Sheridan and Wohletz,
1981). Erupted products constructed ejecta aprons,
which commonly have the form of tuff rings or tuff
cones (Wohletz and Sheridan, 1983).
Subsidence, as well as explosive activity, played a
major role in the construction of diatremes and the
maar craters that overlie them (Lorenz, 1973, 1975).
Subsidence of rocks enclosed within ring faults was
interspersed with and followed explosive activity.
Rock masses became detached from the ring faults at
depth by spalling (e.g., Montana Tunnels) and near
the surface by slumping and landsliding (e.g., Wau).
As a result of this gravity-controlled detachment of
rock masses, the walls of maar craters retreated until
they attained up to twice the diameter of the subjacent
subvertical diatremes. Landsliding and fiuviolacus-
trine sedimentation dominated maar craters after ex-
plosive activity waned (e.g., Wau).
Intrusion of magma as irregular or dikelike bodies
and its emplacement as endogenous domes at the pa-
leosurface took place during (probably interspersed
with) explosive activity but became dominant during
the final stages of diatreme emplacement, probably
due to a diminution of the meteoric water supply
(Lorenz, 1975).
Where mineralization was produced largely by
magmatic fluids, as with the case of porphyry copper
deposits, diatreme emplacement tended to be a late-
stage event. In contrast, where mineralization pro-
cesses were dominated by meteoric fluids, as with the
case of epithermal deposits, ore formation tended to
accompany or follow diatreme emplacement. It is
concluded therefore that significant quantities of
ground water could not gain ready access to deep (K
silicate-altered) levels of porphyry copper systems
during magmatic-hydrothermal activity. It is not until
late-stage collapse of convectively circulating mete-
oric fluids took place that external fluids had access
to residual bodies of magma and could instigate
phreatomagmatic activity. In epithermal settings, ore
deposition was either controlled by existing perme-
ability, such as ring faults, shattering and brecciation
around maars or diatremes (e.g., Acupan, Cerro de
Pasco, Wau), and by the poorly lithified nature of the
diatreme breccia itself (e.g., Montana Tunnels), or
accompanied generation of the required permeability
by phreatic brecciation (e.g., Cripple Creek, Wau).
The mechanism responsible for the brecciated an-
nuli around some diatremes, as at Acupan and E1 Ten-
iente, remains problematic. These breccias were
partly generated before diatreme emplacement (e.g.,
Howell and Molloy, 1960), to which they seem to
have been precursors. Could the annuli have been
localized by high magmatic and/or fluid pressures, in
the manner envisaged by Koide and Bhattacharji
(1975)?
Magmatie Breeeias
Porphyry-type and other base and precious
metal deposits
General remarks: This class ofbreccias is not widely
recognized in association with ore deposits and is
poorly documented, but it is believed to include the
examples summarized in Table 9. Although these
breccias are distinct from the phreatomagmatic brec-
cias described above, the term diatreme is also em-
ployed to describe the vents that contain them (cf.
Daubre, 1891).
Characteristics: These diatremes contain breccias
made up of angular to rounded clasts of juvenile and,
in subordinate amounts, accidental origins. From
available descriptions (Table 9), it appears that most
of the juvenile material comprises poorly vesiculated
cognate lithic clasts of dacitic to rhyolitic composition.
However, vesiculated material may be more abundant
than suggested in the literature: ignimbrite was
erupted at Rio Blanco-Los Bronces and is still partly
preserved (Stambuk et al., 1982; Vergara and Latorre,
1984; Warnaars et al., 1985) and rhyolitic tuffs at
Ashio are described as highly welded in the central
parts of the diatreme (Nakamura, 1970), suggesting
that they may be ignimbritic in character. Matrix-rich
breccias are not common, except at Casino (Godwin,
1976) and Ashio (Nakamura, 1970), where rhyolitic
tuffs are described. Matrix is generally tuffaceous, al-
though aphanitic rhyolite occurs at Redwell Basin and
Cave Peak. Residual open space is scarce. Patches of
breccia charged with large accidental lithic clasts are
found around the borders of the Casino (Godwin,
1976), Rio Blanco-Los Bronces (Stambuk et al., 1982),
and Ashio (Nakamura, 1970; Imai et al., 1975; Fig.
24) diatremes, with those at the first locality carrying
large spheroidal clasts.
The diatremes vary greatly in horizontal dimen-
sions. Those at Casino, Redwell Basin, and Moonmera
are comparable in size with large intrusion-related
breccia pipes, whereas the others are much larger
(Table 9). Observed vertical dimensions are mainly
in the 500- to 1,000-m range. The Redwell Basin dia-
treme bottoms at a depth of about 515 m at a thin
(30-120 m) hornfels horizon, which partially sepa-
rates it from an underlying rhyolite cupola (Sharp,
1978; Thomas and Galey, 1982). The diatremes range
from nearly vertical to upward flared in form, with
the most extreme case of the latter geometry being
provided by the open funnel shape at Ashio (Naka-
mura, 1970; Fig. 24). The breccia at Cave Peak is
hourglass shaped and is preserved as an annulus
around a quartz monzonite plug (Sharp, 1979).
Intrusive rocks are present in the diatremes. Felsitic
rhyolite occurs as a matrix to breccias at Redwell Basin
and Cave Peak and is steeply flow banded (Sharp,
1978, 1979). Larger masses of porphyry are also de-
TABLE 9. Selected Examples ofMagmatic Breccias
Vertical
Horizontal dimension Probable juvenile
Locality Host rocks Age (m.y.) dimensions (km) (m) component
Casino, Yukon, Cretaceous quartz 70.3 0.7 X 0.4 >360 Rhyolitic tuff
Canada monzonite + quartz + tuff breccia
monzonite porphyry
Redwell Basin, Mesozoic sedimentary 15.8 0.45 x 0.27 515 Rhyolitic breccia
Colorado rocks + flow-banded
rhyolite
Cave Peak, Cambrian-Permian 37.4 to 36.1 0.76 X 0.76 >750 Rhyolitic breccia
Texas sandstone + lime-
stone
Ortiz, New Cretaceous quartzite, Oligocene 2.5 X 0.9 >500 Latitic breccia
Mexico Oligocene monzo- + tuff
nite
Toquepala, Peru Paleogene felsic volca- 59 1.3 X 1.0 >500 Dacitic pyroclas-
nics tics
Ro Blanco-Los Miocene andesitic vol- 4 1.8 x 1.8 >600 Rhyolitic (ignim-
Bronces, canics + granodio- britic) + dacitic
Chile rite pyroclastics
Ashio, Japan Permo-Carboniferous Neogene 4.4 X 3.3 > 1,000 Rhyolitic tuff
sedimentary rocks + rhyolite
Moonmera, Permian quartz diorite 245 0.42 x 0.18
Queensland, + granodiorite por- + 0.12 x 0.06
Australia phyry
>500 Tuff
scribed by Sharp (1978) from the Redwell Basin dia-
treme and are also present at Toquepala (Richard and
Courtright, 1958), Rio Blanco-Los Bronces (Stambuk
et al., 1982), and Ashio (Nakamura, 1970). At Rio-
Blanco-Los Bronces, the early dacite porphyry may
constitute the roots of domes (Vergara and Latorre,
1984).
Alteration and mineralization: The diatremes in
Table 9 are divided between pre- (or early) mineral
and post- (or late) mineral examples. Premineral dia-
tremes are present in porphyry copper systems at
Casino (Godwin, 1976) and Moonmera (Dummett,
1978), where they constitute the foei of K silicate
alteration and associated eopper-molybdenum min-
eralization. The porphyry molybdenum mineraliza-
tion at Cave Peak is centered on a quartz monzonite
plug and only overlaps into the surrounding annulus
ofbreeeia (Sharp, 1979). In contrast, diatremes were
emplaeed late in the evolution of the Redwell Basin,
Toquepala, and Rio Blanco-Los Bronees porphyry
systems. The Redwell Basin breeeia overlies porphyry
molybdenum mineralization and carries only minor
lead-zinc mineralization in its upper parts (Sharp,
1978; Thomas and Galey, 1982). The Toquepala and
Rio Blanco-Los Bronces diatremes postdate all sig-
nificant mineralization.
The diatremes at Ortiz and Ashio are both pre-
mineral. Gold-bearing magmatic-hydrothermal brec-
cias were localized around the periphery of the
diatreme at Ortiz (see above) and massive sulfide re-
placements of chert are concentrated around the dia-
treme at Ashio, which is also cut by a swarm of Cu-,
Sn-, Bi-, and Zn-bearing veins (Nakamura, 1970; Imai
et al., 1975; Fig. 24).
Modern analogs: The probable surface expressions
of the ore-related, pyroclastic-filled vents discussed
in this section are widespread, but two examples suf-
fice: Novarupta basin in the Valley of Ten Thousand
Smokes, Katmai, Alaska, and La Soufrire, Guade-
loupe, French West Indies.
The 2-km-wide Novarupta basin formed in 1912
over a flared, funnel-shaped conduit by initial explo-
sive ejection of lithic debris, inward slumping of the
walls, and continued eruptive reaming of the widening
orifice (Hildreth, 1983). Pyroclastic flows were then
erupted and followed by emplacement of the Nova-
rupta rhyolite dome and accompanying ejecta apron
(Hildreth, 1983). Final activity at Novarupta was hy-
Associated with Porphyry and Other Deposits
Evidence for
Alteration of surface Ore deposit Location of Timing of
Other features breccia connection type mineralization brecciation Reference
Lithic-rich border K silicate, seri- None Porphyry Centered on dia- Premineral Godwin (1976)
phase citic Cu-Mo treme
Cut by phreatic Sericitic None Porphyry Mo Mo beneath brec- Late mineral Sharp (1978), Thomas
breccia dikes cia, Pb-Zn in and Galey (1982)
breccia
Breccia as annulus Biotitic
around quartz
monzonite plug
Cut by latite por- Weak sericitic,
phyry dikes argillic
Cut by latite por-
phyry + pebble
dikes
Cut by andes-
ite-dacite
+ phreatic
breccia dikes
Lithic breccia on
contacts, brec-
cia dikes paral-
lel contact
Minor
Weak sericitic
None Porphyry Mo Centered on plug, Premineral Sharp (1979)
overlaps brec-
None Au-bearing On diatreme con- Premineral
breccia tact
pipe
None Porphyry Southwest of dia- Late mineral
Cu-Mo treme
Ignimbrite flow Porphyry
Cu-Mo
Propylitic, pipe None
of advanced
argillic
Biotitic None
South ofdiatreme Postmineral
Lindquist (1980),
Wright (1983)
Richard and Courtright
(19S8)
Stambuk et al. (1982),
Vergara and Latorre
(1984), Warnaars et
al. (1985)
Cu, Sn, Zn in Within and sur- Premineral Nakamura (1970), Imai
veins + re- rounding dia- et al. (1975)
placements treme
Porphyry Centered on dia-
Cu-Mo treme
Early mineral Dummett (1978)
drothermal and gave rise to fumarolic activity (Fen-
ner, 1938).
During the late Pleistocene, formation of an explo-
sion crater, eruption of pyroclastic flows, and dome
emplacement took place as a similar series of events
at La Soufrire and, as noted above, phreatic eruptions
then occurred on the flanks of the dome (Heiken et
al., 1980).
Origin: These diatremes are believed to result from
energy release during crystallization and/or de-
compression of shallowly emplaced bodies of hydrous
magma, as discussed by Burnham (1985) and sum-
marized above under the section dealing with mag-
matic-hydrothermal breccias. Magmatic-hydrother-
mal brecciation of the outer carapaces and wall rocks
of stocks was ascribed to the exsolution of fluids by
the second boiling reaction followed by decompres-
sion. However, if the release of energy by these pro-
cesses is of sufficient magnitude, brittle failure can
attain the surface, cause disruption of the entire col-
umn of suprajacent rock, and trigger volcanic eruption
(Burnham, 1972, 1985). Weakening of the overlying
rocks by previous structural or brecciation events may
predispose them to catastrophic failure.
The decompression caused by disruption of a 1- to
3-km-high column of rock through to the palcosurface
could have triggered explosive fragmentation of ve-
siculating magma in the underlying chamber and the
consequent surface eruption of pyroclastic fall or flow
deposits. The magmatic diatremes discussed here are
believed to be the conduits through which fragmented
magma was erupted. As in the case of phreatomag-
matic diatremes, cessation of explosive activity was
commonly followed by passive ascent of magma to
give dikes, irregular bodies, and at surface, domes.
Intrusion Breccias
The term intrusion breccia was first proposed by
Harker (1908) and subsequently adopted by Wright
and Bowes (1963) for the products of the mechanical
fragmentation and incorporation of wall rocks by in-
trusive magma. Angular to subrounded fragments are
cemented by an igneous matrix and the resulting
breccialike material grades into both intrusive rock
(with or without wall-rock xenoliths) and unfractured
wall rocks. Intrusion breccias are common as irregular
patches near the walls and roofs of subvolcanic stocks,
as in porphyry-type deposits.
A
O RHYOLITIC PYROCLASTICS.
() RHYOLI?E. I REPLACEMENT ORE
( LI?HIC BRECCIA. VEINS
:::'i!O SANDS?ONE, CHER?, SLATE.
FIG. 24. Plan and section of a magmatic diatreme at Ashio,
Japan. Taken from Nakamura (1970).
Tectonic Breccias
Brittle fracture at high strain rates during move-
ment on faults of various types gives rise to the gen-
eration of breccias. Given the localization of many
ore deposits by faults (e.g., Newhouse, 1942), fault
breccias are common in close association with min-
eralization. In many places, tabular or lenslike bodies
of fault breccia are ore bearing.
Discussion
In this overview, a rigid categorization of ore-re-
lated breccias has been adopted in order to emphasize
a number of different possible mechanisms for brec-
ciation. In reality, however, ore-related breccias are
thought likely to constitute a continuum rather than
a series of discrete types. This conclusion is empha-
sized both by the occurrences of breccias with inter-
mediate characteristics irreconcilable with any single
category and by the combination of breccia types in
single pipes or diatremes. Some of the most likely
transitions (and confusions) are between the following
breccia types:
1. Magmatic-hydrothermal-phreatic. For example,
in porphyry copper systems a distinction between
well-mineralized magmatic-hydrothermal breccias
emplaced early in the deep, central parts of systems,
and barren phreatic breccias emplaced late and pe-
ripherally is relatively simple. However, in the case
of weakly mineralized intermineral breccias located
on the edges of porphyry copper ore zones, the role
of magmatic-hydrothermal vis-h-vis meteoric-hydro-
thermal fluids is less clear. Similarly, with present un-
derstanding, distinction between some pipelike brec-
cias listed as of phreatic (e.g., Red Mountain, Colo-
rado) and magmatic-hydrothermal (e.g., Golden
Sunlight) origins is, at best, difficult.
2. Phreatic-phreatomagmatic. The difficulty in this
case is to assess, often with limited exposures of a
breccia, whether an underlying magma body contrib-
uted only heat or heat plus a small volume of frag-
mented melt. For example, diatremes like that at Bal-
atoc (Acupan) are assigned a phreatomagmatic origin
even though no juvenile component has been iden-
tified with certainty. It is salutory to recall, however,
that the distinction is even difficult to make for historic
deposits: a phreatic (steam explosion) origin was
widely accepted for the Rotomahana mud, New Zea-
land, prior to Nairn's (1979) demonstration that ba-
saltic tephra were directly involved in the 1886 erup-
tion. All phreatomagmatic breccias summarized here
are confined to large diatremes, whereas all the epi-
thermal phreatic breccias occupy much smaller con-
duits. The possibility exists, however, that a phreato-
magmatic mechanism could account for some small
near-surface bodies of breccia given the evidence for
at least some phreatic (hydrothermal) eruptions being
caused by ascent of magma (e.g., Waimangu). An ex-
ample may be provided by a near-surface breccia at
McLaughlin, California, in which rhyolitic pumice was
tentatively identified by C. Nelson and the writer.
3. Phreatomagmatic-magmatic. Sheridan and
Wohletz (1981, 1983) have quantified the transition
from phreatomagmatic to magmatic explosive activity,
with the latter becoming dominant when the quantity
of ground water gaining access to a magma chamber
diminishes. It is therefore probable that some dia-
tremes acted as conduits for both types of products
during their active lives; those at Guinaoang and Rio
Blanco-Los Bronces might be examples.
4. Magmatic-hydrothermal-magmatic. Since
magmatic breccias are inferred to have been gener-
ated by a natural progression of the magmatic-hydro-
thermal brecciation mechanism, transitional examples
are inevitable. Although breccia pipes that were in-
truded by small volumes of magma may safely be con-
sidered as magmatic-hydrothermal, examples such as
Kidston that contain an abundance of felsite and rhy-
olite porphyry fragments and are cut by rhyolite por-
phyry dikes are probably transitional to magmatic
diatremes like those at Redwell Basin and Cave Peak.
5. Subsurface magmatic-subaerial volcanic. These
two categories are arbitrarily defined, with subsurface
breccias clearly being transitional to subaerial brec-
cias. The same transition is of course also the case
with phreatomagmatic breccias. Volcanic breccias,
assignable to auto (flow) breccia, pyroclastic fall, flow
and surge, and epiclastic types (Wright et al., 1980)
are not specifically dealt with here but may cause
considerable confusion in field situations, especially
if they have undergone pervasive hypogene and/or
supergene alteration and if exposure is poor. Confu-
sion is prevalent if the volcanic breccia is coarse,
poorly bedded, of appreciable thickness, and areally
restricted. Examples that come to mind include:
crumble (talus) breccias or pyroclastic block and ash
flows as aprons around domes, coignimbrite lag-fall
deposits marking the sites of collapse of eruption col-
umns at the proximal ends of pyroclastic (ignimbrite)
flows (Wright and Walker, 1977), the finer grained
portions of landslide breccias (mesobreccias) as
wedges around caldera walls (Lipman, 1976), and la-
haric (volcanic mud-flow) breccias.
6. Tectonic-other types. Because ikults are be-
lieved to have localized many types of nontectonic
brecciation, fault breccia may commonly be associated
with or transitional to other breccia varieties. This is
particularly the case with phreatic breccias because
faulting and hydraulic fracturing are commonly inti-
mately related events and tectonic displacements may
act as a trigger for hydraulic fracture. Fine-grained
cataclasites (gouge) and slickensides are indicators of
tectonic rather than hydrothermal origin.
7. Intrusion-other types. Small outcrops of intru-
sion breccia may be difficult to distinguish from mag-
matic-hydrothermal or phreatic breccias that under-
went limited invasion by magma during decompres-
sive events. However, a gradation to xenolith-rich
intrusive rock is indicative only of intrusion breccia.
A disappointment of this overview is the failure to
isolate diagnostic geometric, textural, or lithologic
criteria for most types of breccias. However, it has
proved possible to generalize a number of their char-
acteristics, as summarized in Table 10. A number of
features also are instructive from the standpoint of
genesis:
1. Exfoliated spheroidal fragments are character-
istic features of some magmatic-hydrothermal and
phreatic (especially pebble dike) breccias as well as
some phreatomagmatic and magmatic diatremes (Ta-
ble 10) and are taken as indicators of decompressive
events.
2. A juvenile component in breccia provides evi-
dence for a magmatic or phreatomagmatic origin.
3. Base surge deposits with or without accretionary
lapilli, either in subaerial aprons or as subsided blocks
in diatremes, confirm phreatomagmatic (or perhaps
also phreatic; e.g., Kawerau) explosive activity of the
base surge type.
4. Blocks of base surge deposits, fragments of car-
bonized wood, or pieces of hot spring sinter in breccia
pipes or diatremes confirm that brecciation breached
the palcosurface.
5. Restriction of alteration and/or mineralization
to individual clasts attests to an inter- or postmineral
timing of brecciation. Uncritical application of this
criteri. on can lead to pitfalls, however, because min-
eralized clasts are also known from subaerial volcanic
breccias. For example, Triassic laharic breccias at
Cariboo-Bell, Canada (Bailey and Hodgson, 1979),
and the 1982 pyroclastic fall breccias at E1 Chich6n,
Mexico (Luhr, 1983), contain porphyry copper frag-
ments.
This overview leads to a tentative statement on the
genetic connection between brecciation and ore de-
position. If the mechanisms proposed above for brec-
ciation are correct, then the fluids responsible for rock
fragmentation and subsequent mineralization are
likely, in many cases, to have been parts of the same
extended pulse, as exemplified by magmatic-hydro-
thermal breccias in intrusion-related pipes and por-
phyry copper systems and by phreatic breccias in
epithermal precious metal deposits. The connection
is more tenuous for some phreatomagmatic and mag-
matic diatremes, although in most cases it is reason-
able to conclude that the mineralization event(s) was
closely tied in time as well as space to brecciation.
Intrusion breccias and many tectonic breccias were
generated without fluid involvement, and if miner-
alized, were subjected to the passage of fluids at a
later time. All breccias, especially their contacts with
wall rocks and irrespective of their origins or geom-
etries, provide low-pressure locales conducive to the
focused flow of hydrothermal fluids. Ultimately it is
for this reason that breccias carry ore, commonly of
abnormally high grade.
Although the data base for ore-related breccias is
extensive, there is still a chronic shortage of careful,
detailed observations on the geometries, textures, and
lithologies of breccias. In particular, more documen-
tation is required of the upward and downward ter-
minations of all types of breccias. Theoretical and
modeling studies are also required in an effort to sim-
ulate both the various brecciation mechanisms dis-
cussed above and the specific features of breccias,
such as sheeted zones, shingle breccia, and exfoliated
fragments. By analogy with the methodology em-
ployed in the study of pyroclastic rocks, particle size
analysis (e.g., Walker, 1971) and SEM grain surface
analysis (e.g., Sheridan and Wohletz, 1983) ofbreccia
components may evolve criteria of use for determin-
ing formational mechanisms. The writer is confident
that the combination of observational data on breccias
with further fluid inclusion and, in particular, stable
TABLE 10. Generalized Characteristics of
Ore
deposit
Breccia category type Geometry Diameter (m) Fragment form Rock flour matrix
Magmatic-hydro- Isolated Single or multiple 50-300, locally Angular-subrounded, Locally present
thermal pipes pipes > 1,000 locally rounded (<30%)
Porphyry Single or multiple up to 2,000 Angular to rounded Commonly present
pipes, irregular (<50%)
bodies
Phreatic
Phreatomagmatic
Epithermal Pipelike but com- up to 500 Angular to rounded Commonly present
monly irregular (<50%)
Porphyry Pipes, pebble up to 500 Angular to rounded Commonly present
dikes (up to 100%)
Kuroko Sheets, lenses up to 1,000 Angular to rounded Present (<30%)
long
Porphyry Diatreme 1,000-3,000 Subrounded to Present (<90%)
rounded
Epithermal Diatreme 1,000-3,000 Subrounded to Present (<90%)
rounded
Magmatic Porphyry Diatreme 500-5,000 Subrounded to Present
rounded
Epithermal Diatreme 500-5,000 Subrounded to Present
rounded
Intrusion Intrusion-
related
deposits
Tectonic Any de-
posit
Irregular patches up to 100 Angular Absent
Steep tabular up to 50 Angular to rounded Present (up to
bodies wide 100%)
isotope studies of their contained alteration and min-
eralization will lead eventually to a fuller understand-
ing of brecciation mechanisms, and even a viable
breccia classification.
Acknowledgments
Many geologists have stood (and sat) with the writer
on breccia outcrops during discussions ofbrecciation
mechanisms; their ideas and patience are acknowl-
edged with gratitude. The manuscript was improved
by the comments ofW. C. Burnham and two Economic
Geology reviewers, and by discussions with F. J.
Sawkins; none of them necessarily agrees with my
interpretations.
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Economic Geology

Vol. 80, 1985, pp. 1467-1514

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