Journal of Santh American Earth Sciences,Vol. I. No. 1, pp. 89-108, 1988 0895-9811/88 $3.00+ 0.

00
Printed in Great Britain PergamonJournalsLtd

Epochs of intrusion-related copper mineralization in

the Andes
R. H. SILLITOE
8 West Hill Park, Highgate Village, London N6 6ND, England
(Received for publication M a y 1987)

Abstract---Seventy-fourcopper deposits and prospects related intimately to intrusive activity in the Andes
have been dated radiometrically during the last 18 years by many different investigators, most of whom
used the K-Ar method. The results are summarized and some of their local and regional implications are
reviewed. A number of copper deposits, mainly of the porphyry type, were emplaced in, or near to, pre-
mineral volcanic sequences and (or)equigranular plutons. Such precursor volcanism lasted for as long as 9
Ma, and preceded mineralization by intervalsof from lessthan I M a to as much as 9 Ma. Precursor plntons
were emplaced no more than 2 to 3 M a prior to mineralization at several localitiesin Chile, but possibly as
long as 10 to 30 M a earlierin parts of Colombia and Peru. The time separating emplacement of progenitor
stocks and hydrothermal alteration and accompanying copper mineralization, and the duration of
alteration-mineralization sequences generally are both less than the analytical uncertainty of the K-Ar
method. However, on the basis of a detailed study of the Julcani vein system in Peru and less clearcut
evidence from elsewhere, it m a y be concluded that alteration and copper mineralization followed stock or
dome emplacement by substantially lessthan I M a and lasted for 0.5 to 2 M a and, locally,possibly as long
as 3 Ma. At several localities,post-mineral magmatic activitycould not be separated by the K-Ar method
from the preceding alteration-mineralization events. As many as nine epochs of copper mineralization,
ranging in age from late Paleozoic to late Pliocene-Pleistecene,are recognizable in the central Andes of
Chile, Peru, Bolivia,and Argentina, and at leastfour somewhat differentepochs characterize the northern
Andes of Colombia. Each epoch coincides with a discrete linear sub-belt,some of which extend for more
than 2000 k m along the length of the orogen. More than 90% of Andean copper resources, mainly as
porphyry deposits, are confined to three Cenozoic sub-belts of Paleocene-early Eocene (66-52 Ma), late
Eocene-early Oligocene (42-31 Ma), and middle Miocene-early Pliocene (16-5 Ma) ages in southern Peru
and Chile. The scarcity of porphyry copper deposits and the increase of plutsn-related copper veins in
Jurassic and Cretaceous sub-beltsfarther west in the central Andes isbelieved to be due to deeper levelsof
erosion. In the central Andes, copper sub-belts became progressively younger eastward in response to the
effectsofa compressional tectonicregime imposed on the overriding South American plate,following mid-
Cretaceous opening of the South Atlantic Ocean basin. A marked eastward breakout of middle Miocene-
early Pliocene copper mineralization up to 300 k m into western Argentina and Bolivia isattributed to rapid
subduction of young buoyant oceanic lithosphere during the Miocene. A contrasting migration pattern of
copper sub-beltscharacterized the northern Andes, where an early Cretaceous to early Eocene trenchward
shiftisthought to have been caused by accretion of oceanic terranes to the continental edge. The observed
distributionof copper sub-belts reflectsthe tectonicsegmentation of the Andes. Three first-ordersegments
are defined by the well-known Huancabamba and Abancay Deflections, at latitudes 5~S and 14S,
respectively. Each first-ordersegment is characterized by a profoundly differentdistribution,timing and,
in part, style of copper mineralization, and by distinctcopper endowments. Anomalous patterns of sub-
belts abut both deflections. Several second-order boundaries appear to have caused more subtle changes
along individual copper sub-belts. Additional programs of radiometric dating, on both local and regional
scales, are required before the migration and segmentation of copper (and associated metallogenic) sub-
belts in the Andes are properly defined and understood.
R e s u m e n w s e e p. 108

INTRODUCTION Peru skarn-type and enargite-bearing replacement

THE A N D E A N countries account for 2 6 % of the
western world's production, and approximately 40%
of its resources, of metallic copper. Although nearly
all Andean copper production and some 95% of the
metal's resources are restricted to Chile and Peru,
major unworked deposits also are present in Argen-
tina, Ecuador, and Colombia (Figs. 1 and 2). Ninety-
seven percent of Andean copper production to date
plus reserves are contributed by deposits related
directly to intrusive activity. The copper and any
associated metals in these deposits are believed to
have been precipitated from hydrothermal fluids of
direct magmatic parentage. Pre-eminent throughout
the Andes are porphyry copper deposits, although in
89
copper deposits also possess economic importance
(see Sillitoe,in press). Intrusion-related veins and
breccia pipes are widespread but contain relatively
small tonnages of copper. The other principal types
of copper deposits in the Andes -- manto, red bed and
Kuroko types -- are considered to lack a direct rela-
tionship with intrusive rocks (Sillitoe,in press), and
therefore are not included in this review.
Hypogene copper mineralization at 74 localitiesin
the Andes is known to this writer to have been dated
radiometrically by a number of different investiga-
tors during the past 18 years. Since the firstdeposits,
Michiquillay, Toquepala, and Yauricocha in Peru,
were dated by Gilettiand Day (1968) and Laughlin et
al. (1968), radiometric ages have been furnished for
90 R. t-l. SH Lrl'Ol<:

'1. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
70+
/
PANAMA ~\
"\ VENEZUELA
!

o 500 krn 3 (55)

t J
I":1 Medellln

_ 5
-g
Q.
pl Bogot6
Q.

"10 "0

COLOMBIA

uitoE]
tE . ~.~-.,"
"~,
Porphyry copper 0
Skarn copper Z ~ A
Enargite-bearing replacement O e
(. Vein copper
Carnegie // ECUADOR ~"
Ridge Guoyaquil .,,." Number in Table 1 16
Approx. radiometricage (m.y.) (78)
{11) . +/~"
/
W
AGES OF COPPER MINERALISATION
(./~" ~ ./" _ h a m b o
Late Riocene-Pleistocene
_ 5
Middle Miocene-Early Pliocene
Late Eocene-Early Oligocene
I
Early-Middle Eocene R
P++j Paleocene-EarlyEocene I:: ":i !I
PER U Early Cretaceous
Jurassic
] ] (75)

_10
131
'14(
\
"\
X
i

~ 2 1 1
22(33) / ") 0
15

Arequipa

[ La Paz

t L

8o~ 75- ~ ~l CHILE

I J , +

Fig. 1. Ages of copper mineralization in the Andes of Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. The numbers denoting copper deposits and
prospects are keyed to names in Table 1. Mineralization ages are approximated from data in Table 1. Positions of age sub-belts
influenced by interpretations of Sillitoe et aL (1982) and Petersen and Vidal (1983). Also shown are the approximate locations of the
Huancabamba and Abancay Deflections.
 Epochs of intrusion-related copper mineralization in the Andes
most of the region's major copper deposits as well as
for a representative selection of small deposits,
prospects, and occurrences (Figs. 1 and 2; Table 1).
Although most of the ages available are for
mineralized centers of porphyry type, all other types
of intrusion-related copper deposits in the Andes also
have been dated (Figs. 1 and 2), including some
(Colqui, San Cristhbal, Julcani, Huar6n) in which
copper is not the principal contained metal. More
than 10 radiometric ages are now available for the
major porphyry copper deposits and their associated
magmatic rocks at Chuquicamata, Rio Blanco-Los
Bronces, and El Teniente, as well as for the copper-
bearing base- and precious-metal vein deposit at
Julcani (Table 1). Most of the dating work has
utilized the K-Ar method, but results determined
using this technique have been confirmed by Rb-Sr
isochron ages at El Salvador (Gustafson and Hunt,
19755 and Toquepala (Beckinsale et al., 1985), and a
U-Pb age on zircons at Cerro Verde-Santa Rosa
(Mukasa and Tilton, 1985).
The ages assigned to deposits were obtained on
minerals (or,rarely, whole rocks) from ore-related in-
trusive rocks or on hydrothermal alteration minerals
associated closely with copper ore (or protore). Ore-
related intrusions may have pre-dated ore formation
and acted as progenitors, or may have been emplaced
during (inter-mineral) or after (post-mineral) the
alteration and mineralization. The hydrothermal al-
teration types dated most commonly are K-silicate,
sericitic, and advanced argillic. For a few deposits,
ages for equigranular intrusive rocks and (or) vol-
canic rocks that pre-dated stock emplacement and
ore formation also are considered. In Table 1, radio-
metric ages are allotted to these various volcanic,
intrusive, and alteration categories. All ages deter-
mined prior to 1977 have been recalculated using the
constants recommended by Steiger and J~ger (1977).
In the text, ages are related to the time-scale of the
Geological Society of America (1983).
Andesitic volcanic rocks generally were dated
using hornblende concentrates, whereas both horn-
blende and (or) biotite were utilized to date plutons,
stocks, domes, and dikes. Hydrothermal biotite and
sericite (muscovite) were the minerals most com-
monly separated for the K-Ar dating of hydrothermal
alteration, although K-feldspar and alunite also have
been used successfully. The minerals dated are not
specified in Table 1 but may be determined by refer-
ence to the original sources listed for each minera-
lized center. In many cases, these sources also pro-
vide analytical data and details of the laboratory
procedures employed.
From Table 1 it may be appreciated that the radio-
metric ages obtained for individual mineralized
centers generally are internally consistent and are
taken to approximate the ages of volcanism, intru-
sion, and (or) alteration-mineralization. This consis-
tency is illustrated best by the deposits for which the
largest number of ages is available, especially if the
work was undertaken by different investigators (e.g.,
E1 Abra, Chuquicamata, Rio Blanco-Los Bronces, El
91
Teniente). Furthermore, the general concordance
between the results obtained for mineral pairs dated
by the K-Ar method and b e t w e e n the r e s u l t s
obtained by different dating techniques confirms a
relatively shallow (epizonal) emplacement level for
the intrusions and associated copper deposits and an
absence of subsequent heating events. Even when
the ages assigned to mineralized centers are based on
only one or two radiometric determinations, confi-
dence is instilled in most of the data by the coherent
regional time/space patterns that have e m e r g e d
(Figs. 1 and 2).
Notwithstanding the apparent overall reliability
of the radiometric ages obtained for Andean copper
deposits, a few localities have yielded results that are
of doubtful validity or are, at best, difficult to inter-
pret unambiguously. Most noteworthy among these
are: Michiquillay, for which both Laughlin et al.
(1968) and Shibata and Uchida (19765 obtained dis-
cordant ages and the emplacement age of the por-
phyry copper deposit remains in doubt; and Quella-
veco, for which Zimmermann and Kihien Collado
(1983) presented an unacceptably large spread of late
Cretaceous-early Tertiary ages for volcanic, intru-
sive, and altered rocks, although their mean age for
the deposit is eminently reasonable and accords well
with that given by Estrada (1975).
LOCAL IMPLICATIONS
Volcanic precursors
Several copper deposits in the Andes have been
shown by radiometric dating to be associated spa-
tially with, and commonly to be hosted by, volcanic
precursors. At E1 Salvador, El Indio, Los Pelambres,
E1 Teniente, and Rio de Las Vacas, copper minera-
lization was the culmination of extended periods of
subaerial volcanism, which lasted for at least 5 to 9
Ma (Table 15. In central Chile and the contiguous
parts of Argentina, emplacement of the porphyry
copper deposits at Los Pelambres (and El PachSn),
Rio Blanco-Los Bronces, El Teniente, and Rio de Las
Vacas concluded an interval of widespread, pre-
dominantly andesitic volcanism that constructed the
regionally extensive Farellones Formation (cf.,
Munizaga and Vicente, 19825. The Cerro de Las
TSrtolas Formation that preceded epithermal vein
formation at E1 Indio is likely to have been a north-
ward c o n t i n u a t i o n of the s a m e volcanic belt
(Maksaev et al., 1984). In the Farall6n Negro dis-
trict, however, volcanic activity preceding porphyry
copper emplacement constructed an isolated com-
posite stratovolcano and probably was substantially
shorter-lived (Table 1, nos. 56, 57, and 585.
On the basis of the data available in Table 1,
volcanism in the general region of the Los Pelambres
deposit was active during stock emplacement and
associated mineralization, whereas elsewhere it
ceased from less than I M a (El Indio) to as much as 9
M a (Rio Blanco-Los Bronces) earlier. It should be
 T a b l e 1. C o m p i l a t i o n of r a d i o m e t r i c a g e s for i n t r u s i o n - r e l a t e d c o p p e r d e p o s i t s a n d a s s o c i a t e d r o c k s f r o m t h e A n d e s ~:~
( a g e s in Ma by K - A r m e t h o d u n l e s s s t a t e d o t h e r w i s e ) .

N o . in Precursor Inter-
Figs. Volcanic Precursor Ore-Related K-Silicate Sericitic Mineral Post-Mineral
1 &2 Deposit Rocks Pluton Intrusion Alteration Alteration Intrusion Intrusion D a t a Source(s)

COLOMBIA:
1 Acandi 48.1 +- 1.0 Sillitoe et al., 1982
2 California 200 7 to 144 3 Goldsmith et al., 1971;
176 6 Sillitoe et al., 1982
3 Murind5 54.7 1.3 Sillitoe et al., 1982
4 Pantanos- 42.7 + 0.9 Sillitoe etal., 1982
Pegadorcito
5 Infierno-Chili 151 4 to 146 3; ~ Barrero and Vesga,
145 4; 131 + 2 1976; Sillitoe et al.,
146 9; 1982; McCourt et al.,
146 5; 1984
145 9
6 Dolores 166 4 Sillitoe et al., 1982
7 Piedrasentada 17.4 0.4 Sillitoe et al., 1982
8 Mocoa 210 :t: 4; 183 + 3 to Jaramillo et al., 1980;
198 4 170 2; Sillitoe et al., 1982
166 4

ECUADOR:
Chaucha 12.8 1; Mifller-Kahle and
Damon, 1970; Snelting, H
10.0 + 0.3 0
1970

PERU:
10 Miehiquillay 47.5 1.8 28.9 4.9; 19.2 1.4 L a u g h l i n et al., 1968;
21.1 0.6 Shibata and Uchida,
1976
11 Pashpap 14.7 0.2 D. C. Noble and E. H.
McKee, written
commun., 1985
12 Antamina ~ 1 0 . 4 + 0.4 to 9.1 0 . 4 ~ MeKee et al., 1979
13 Cerro de Pasco 15.2 + 0.22; 15.6 0.2 Silberman and Noble,
14.8 0.42; 1977
14.6 + 0.42
14 Colquijirca 11.5 0.4 z 13.0 0.4~; Vidal et al., 1984
11.0 + 0.33;
10.6 + 0.35
14a HuarSn 10.3 1.0 Thouvenin, 1984
15 Colqui 10.9 0.5; Kamilli and Ohmoto,
10.3 0.5 1977
16 Toro Mocho 8.5 0.3; 7.4 0.3 Eyzaguirre et al., 1975
8.4 0.2
17 San Crist6bal 5.4 Bartlett and Field, 1984
18 Yauricocha 7.9 0.4 Giletti and Day, 1968
 19 Julcani 10.13 + 0.032 9.83 0.08; s 10.10 0.4 9.67 + 0.05 Noble and Silberman,
9.46 + 0.28; * 1984
9.39 0.28 ~
20 Ccarhuarso 1.8 to 2.2 1.2 0.13 D. C. Noble, E. H.
McKee, and C. Vidal,
pers. commun., 1985
21 Chalcobamba 32.6 1.0 Noble et al., 1984
22 Tintaya 33.4 -I- 1.0; 34.7 + 1.0; Noble et al., 1984
32.5 1.0 33.7 1.0;
32.5 1.0
23a Quechua 58 (?) 38 Yoshikawa et al., 1976
23b Coroccohuayco 54 (?) 31 Yoshikawa et al., 1976 t}
o
24 Cerro Verde- 60.4 3.0 67 1" s 60 I s 59.7 2.4; Estrada, 1969, 1975,
Santa Rosa 62 21~ 58.3 1.9 1977; Bellon and
60.3 2.0; Lei~vre, 1976; -p
58.2 + 2.0 Beekinsale et al., 1985;
Mukasa and Tilton, rJ~
1985 3"
,=
25a Cuajone 59.3 + 2.0 52.2 1.6 McBride, 1977; Sebrier
et al., 1983
~0
25b Quellaveco 55.1 2.3 53.6 11.6 Estrada, 1975;
55.4 + 2.1 Zimmermann and
Kihien Collado, 1983 t~
26 Toquepala 61 4; 6 57.5 56 Laughlin et al., 1968; ~o
60.1 1.8; McBride, 1977;
58.6 =[: 1.9 Beckinsah et al., 1985

CHILE:
D
27 Mocha 58.0 + 2.6; Sillitoe, 19817
57.8 0.9
28 Queen Elizabeth 37.1 0.6 Sillitoe, 1981 c-P
29 La Planada 31.9 -I- 0.7 Sillitoe, 1981
30 Quebrada Blanca - - 38 -I- 2 Hunt et al., 1983
31a Puntillas 132 8 Munizaga et al., 1985
:3"
D
31b Gatico 167 7 a Bori~ et al., 1985
~>
(continued)

1. Hybrid sample that yielded age of precursor pluton (Sillitoe et al., 1982).
2. Volcanic domes not subvolcanic stocks.
3. Alunite-bearing advanced argillic alteration.
4. Late-stage adularia alteration.
5. Zircon U-Pb age.
6. Rb-Sr isochron age.
7. Most ages presented by Sillitoe (1981) were first reported without geologic context by Quirt et al. (1971).
8. Hydrothermal amphibole from vein filling. tD
 j~
Table 1 (continued)

No. in Precursor Ore- Inter- Post-

Figs. Volcanic Precursor Related K-Silicate Sericitic Mineral Mineral
l&2 Deposit Rocks Pluton Intrusion Alteration Alteration Intrusion Intrusion Data Source(s)

C H I L E (cont):
32 El A b r a 35.3 0.5 36.3 to 34.3; 36.8 0.7 A m b r u s , 1977;
34.0 0.5 Sillitoe, 1981

33 Chuquicamata 38.0 0.3; 33.8 1.3 34.4 + 0.9; 31.0 :t: 1.2; A m b r u s , 1977;
37.8 0.6; 32.6 0.9; 29.9 0.5; Alvarez et al., 1980;
36.2 1.4; 31.2 1.3 28.0 1.1 Silltoe, 1981
35.9 0.1
34 Imilac 255; 9 292; 9 Halpern, 1978
2419 281 g
35 La Escondida 34.6 1.8; 31.6 Alpers, 1986;Ojeda,
33.7; 31.0 1986
33.6 1.7;
- 32.8;
31.9 1.2
31.8 1.2
36 El Salvador 49.3 _+ 2.8; 6 43.1 1.3; 41.8 _+_ 1.3 41.8 0.5 43.1 2.8; 41.9 ~ 0.5 Gustafson and HunL
44.4 +_ 1.46 41.5 1.9; 40.1 0.6 1975; Silltoe, 1981
40.6 0.4; 6
40.6 0.6
37 Potrerillos 38.6 +_ 0.6 34.9 0.5 Silltoe, 1981
t"
38 S a n Pedro de 66.5 1.0 Silltoe, 1981
Cachiyuyo
O
39 Caehiyuyo de 62.1 1.0 F a r r a r et al., 1970
Llampos
40 Cabeza de Vaca 63.5 7.0 Silltoe et al., 1968
41 Domeyko 106 10; M u n i z a g a et al., 1985
97 20
42 Pajonales 971 97 20 M u n i z a g a et al., 1985
43 Los Loros 91.1 0.6 Silltoe, 1981
44 El Indio 16.6 0.7 to 12.6 0.6 10.7 0.71 8.6 0.4 A r a n e d a , 1982;
11.0 0.5 M a k s a e v et al., 1984
45 Andacollo 105 3 112 10 M u n i z a g a et al., 1985
46 La Loica 35.3 0.5 Silltoe, 1981
47 Llamuco 63.5 1.0 Silltoe, 1981
48 Los Pelambres 17to8 10.2 0.2; Silltoe, 1981; M u n i z a g a
9.9 0.2 a n d Vicente, 1982;
V e r g a r a et al., 1985
49 Rio Blanco-Los 22 to 16 2 0 . 1 2.0 to 5.15 0.2 5.2 0.3 4.6 O.i 5.0 0.2 Lo D r a k e et al., 1976;
Bronces 8.609' 3.9 0.112 V e r g a r a a n d Drake,
7.4 0~1 ~ 1979; Blondel, 1980;
Silltoe, 198_13V e r g a r a
et al., 1985; W a r n a a r s
el al., 1985
 50 El Teniente 14 to 7.4 7.4 + 1.5; : 5 4.8 + 0.2; 5.7 + 0.2;1 3.8 + 0.3 Charrier and Munizaga,
(10.9 + 0.4, 7.1 + 1.0:3 4.7 + 0.2; 4.7 + 0.3;1 1979; Silltoe, 1981;
10.2 + 0.5 4.7 + 0.2; 4.7 + 0.2;1 Clark et al., 1983;
nearby) 4.7 + 0.2; 4.5 + 0.21~ Vergara et al., 1985;
4.6 + 0.3; Cuadra, 1986
4.6 + 0.3;
4.4 + 0.4;
4.0 + 0.4
51 Estero San Jos~ 85.4 + 5.2; Alfaro, 1980
83.9 3.8
52 Galletud 85.1 3.0; 90.4 + 3.6; Alfaro, 1980
80.7 + 1.3; 73.0 + 1.8
77.5 + 2.3;
77.2 + 1.1

ARGENTINA: D"

53 Pancho Arias 15.8 ~- 0.3 o

Silltoe, 1977
54 Taca Taca 329 + 5 Silltoe, 1977
55 Inca Viejo 15.4 + 0.2 Silltoe, 1977 C
58 Bajo del Durazno 8.1 + 0.1 Caelles et al., 1971
57 Bajo de Pampitas 11.0 + 0.3 7.9 + 0.3
=,
McBHde, 1972
58 Bsjo de San Lucas 7.3 + 0.1 Caelles et aL, 1971
59 Mi Vida 7.0 0.4 McBride, 1972
60 Los Bayos 5.8 + 0.2 McBride, 1972
o
61 Arroyo Chita 12.0 + 0.3 Silltoe, 1977
62 Alcaparrosa o
272 + 4 Silltoe, 1977
63 Cerro Mercedario 13.3 + 0.3 Silltoe, 1977
64 San Jorge, 275 + 4 Silltoe, 1977
Yalguaraz
65 Paramillos Norte 16.4 + 0.3 Silltoe, 1977
66 Rio de Las Vacas 15.8 + 2.2 to 8.7 + 0.2 Silltoe, 1977; Ramos
9.6 + 2.2 et al., 1985 o
(9.8 + 0.7)
67 Campana 76.0 + 1.4 Silltoe, 1977
t=~
Mahuida ~r
68 La Voluntad 287 + 4 Silltoe, 1977
>
BOLIVIA:
69 Laurani 8.2 + 0.3 McBride, 1977
70 La Joya 14.3 + 0.4 15.7 + 0.5 Redwood, 1986

9. Very approximate Rb-Sr age.

10. Propylitic alteration.
11. Warnaars et al. (1985) concluded that magmatic biotite dated by Vergara and Drake (1979) from this sample was reset by hydrothermal activity.
12. La Copa Formation (Stambuk et al., 1982): a post-mineral diatreme.
13. AgeofK-silicate alteration linked genetically with precursor intrusion (Cuadra, 1986).
14. Age ofsericitic alteration associated with emplacement of Braden pipe: a late-mineral diatreme.
96 )~.[! ~ILLFrO~:

PERU "a%
.',, Arequip
~(.s9 .. ~{~,~),,/ ."
~ ~
Lo Paz
- - = 69(8)"~
\ . ----70(14)I
\ |
BOLIVIA
k
20 ~ 281~7)
k ~9(32)

I i '~or.
"\
38) - -
I l

I 3~o11,! 3~Ib__ '~'~,_. /'"

/ 31U16~ 33(32)
:~ # Y
~/
I ~. ~ :--~'-
:"~="i-"-
Antofag( !
f

4= Salta
~ I ~,~
~1 i~3 'L
San Miguel de
I i37(35) Tucum6n
+

~ 5 8

AGES OF
L~ 41~ 60 COPPER MINERALIZATION
30 J 42 Middle Miocene-Early P/iocene
U.. J 43 ( 91!,~
o Late Eocene-Early Oligocene
45(112~
Paleocene - Early Eocene
Late Cretaceous
Early Cretaceous
1,65 (~6)
Late Carboniferous - Early Permian
j ~' ' Mendoza
) SantiagoH
/ // 5o(5~ Major porphyry copper deposit Q
35 / Minor porphyry copper deposit or prospect 0
C H I L E "{~------'t Major tourmaline breccia copper deposit
~;-! Minor tourmaline breccia copper deposit or prospect A
Concepci6n~L . ~ ~ Vein copper deposit

'NJ 68(287) Approx. rodiometric age (my.)

67

(6;)

75 {I ) 70o 65
I |. I c

Fig. 2. Ages of copper mineralization in the Andes of Chile, Bolivia, and Argentina. The numbers denoting copper deposits and
prospects are keyed to names in Table I. Mineralization ages are approximated from data in Table I. Positions of age sub-belts
modified after Sillitoe(1981 ).
 Epochs of intrusion-related copper mineralization in the Andes
emphasized, however, that available radiometric
ages are few in number and the youngest portions of
the volcanic sequences may have been removed by
erosion.
Apparently similar volcanic precursors are sug-
gested by limited K-Ar dating to exist as the
Toquepala Group in the vicinities of the Paleocene-
early Eocene porphyry copper deposits of southern
Peru (Bellon and Lef~vre, 1976; Sebrier et aL, 1983;
Zimmermann and Kihien Collado, 1983; Table 1),
and on the basis of stratigraphic relations as the
Saldafia (Post-Payand~) Formation near the Mocoa
deposit in southern Colombia (Sillitoeeta[., 1982).
In the case of many other copper deposits, nearby
volcanic sequences remain undated, whereas
elsewhere (e.g., the late Eocene-early Oligocene
porphyry copper deposits of northern Chile; Fig. 2)
volcanic rocks that might possess a temporal
relationship with copper mineralization either are
absent or, at best, are poorly preserved.
Plutonic precursors
Equigranular plutons of intermediate composi-
tion are located near, and commonly act as host rocks
for, copper-bearing stocks in various parts of Colom-
bia, Peru, and Chile and have been dated radio-
metrically from the vicinities of 14 deposits. The
results (Table 1) show that these plutons were era-
placed over different time intervals, and preceded
stock emplacement and associated copper minera-
lization by various amounts.
In Colombia, the very limited data suggest that
significant time gaps, of the order of 10 to 30 Ma,
separated the emplacement of precursor plutons from
the generation of porphyry copper deposits (Sillitoe et
m - - .-,. K - SILICATE A L T E R A T I O N . . . . .
.I
ORE - RELATED
"INTRUSION .--D.-
l 0
PREMINERAL PLUTON
-~e . . . . ( FORTUNA )-- -- --J~-
. J
40 38 3 34
Fig. 3. Plot of individual K-Ar ages (double dots) and corresponding analytical uncertainties (bars) for the pre-mineral (precursor)
Fortuna granodiorite, ore-related intrusion, K-silicate and sericitic alteration at the Chuquicamata porphyry copper deposit, Chile.
Data t a k e n from Table 1.
SAF.~ I / I ~
97
al., 1982; Table I); however, Rb-Sr ages are required
before any firm conclusions can be drawn In con-
trast, the more abundant data available for Peru and
Chile suggest that pluton emplacement took place no
more than about 2 to 3 M a prior to porphyry copper
formation at Cerro Verde-Santa Rosa, Toquepala,
Chuquicamata, Rio Blanco-Los Bronces, and El Ten-
iente and, at El Abra, cannot be separated in time
from the mineralizing event (Table 1). At Chuquica-
mata, a difference of about 3 M a between the ages of
the Fortuna granodiorite and stock emplacement-
mineralization is compelling (Fig 3), especially as
the data were generated in at least three different
laboratories. At El Teniente, about 2.5 M a separated
K-silicate alteration of the precursor Sewell diorite
and the main phase of K-silicate alteration and
copper mineralization associated with intrusion of
the Teniente porphyry (Cuadra, 1986; Table 1). In
the case of Toquepala, this conclusion derives
additional support from the available Rb-Sr isochron
ages (Beckinsale et al., 1985; Table 1). In the case of
Cerro Verde-Santa Rosa, however, a U-Pb age on
zircons suggests a time gap of about 7 M a between
emplacement of the precursor Yarabamba grano-
diorite and the porphyry copper stock (Mukasa and
Tilton, 1985), whereas an interval of approximately 2
to 3 M a is suggested by the K-Ar and Rb-Sr results
(Beckinsale et al.,1985). It remains to be determined
whether the hydrothermal system responsible for
porphyry copper generation was capable of resetting
the Rb-Sr isochron ages of the precursor plutons at
Cerro Verde-Santa Rosa and elsewhere At the
Michiquillay and Quechua porphyry copper prospects
and at the Coroccohuayco copper skarn, precursor
plutons may pre-date copper mineralization by
appreciable amounts (-20 Ma; Table 1),but published
-.~ . . . . . SERICITIC A L T E R A T I O N - - - - - - D , -
! 0 I
D.~
; ,
!
I
32 3 28 2 m.y.
98
ages for these deposits are inconsistent and some-
what equivocal.
Most of the ages determined for precursor plutons
in Peru and Chile demonstrate emplacement during
very short time intervals. However, the San Fran-
cisco batholith in the vicinity of the Rio Blanco-Los
Bronces porphyry copper deposit is an obvious excep-
tion: it was emplaced during a period of about 12 Ma
(Warnaars et aI., 1985; Table 1) and appears to be
coeval, at least in part, with volcanic rocks of the
Farellones Formation. It is likely, however, that
many of the dated precursor plutons were only the
final phases of more extended periods of igneous
intrusion.
The more restricted time intervals between pre-
cursor plutons and emplacement of several porphyry
copper deposits in Peru and Chile add support to the
notion that copper-bearing fluids were supplied from
batholiths b e n e a t h the m i n e r a l i z e d centers, as
modeled recently by Damon (1986). If correctly
dated, the precursor plutons in Colombia could not
have acted in this capacity, although the existence
(say, at depth) of additional intrusions more closely
related in time to the porphyry copper mineralization
cannot be ruled out.
Stock emplacement and alteration-mineralization
On the basis of the limited data available from
Andean deposits (Table 1), it is generally impossible
to distinguish between the times of emplacement of
porphyry stocks and the porphyry- or skarn-type
alteration and copper mineralization for which they
acted as progenitors. Radiometric ages for these two
events generally either overlap each other or are
essentially coincident. Even where careful studies
supported by a detailed geologic framework have
been carried out, as at E1 Salvador, the time dif-
ferences, if any, between stock intrusion and por-
phyry copper generation were within the limits of
uncertainty of the age determinations. Measurable
time gaps b e t w e e n stock e m p l a c e m e n t and al-
teration-mineralization are suggested, however, at
Potrerillos and E1 Indio (Table 1), but the number of
i
5 j..
0 III m - - mm
CENTRALANDES: NORTHERNAND CENTRALCHILE.SOUTHERNPERU.ARGENTINAAND BOLIVIA
i,u
e~ CENTRALANDES: SOUTHERNECUADORAND NORTHERNAND CENTRALPERU
5
o -m-n-
z NORTHERN ANDES: COLOMBIA
3
0 m m.
4~
Fig. 4. H i s t o g r a m of a p p r o x i m a t e a g e s of c o p p e r mineralization in the northern a n d central A n d e s . A g e data taken from Table I and
approximated as in Figs. I and 2.
R.H. SILLITOE
age determinations is clearly too small to be able to
draw any firm conclusions.
A comparable difficulty in deciphering the time
relations of m a g m a t i s m and alteration-minera.~
lization also is evident for copper deposits exposed at
very shallow crustal levels and a s s o c i a t e d with
volcanic domes, as at Colquijirca (Vidal et al., 1984),
where overlap occurs between the ages determined
for magmatic biotite and sanidine from volcanic
domes and for hydrothermal alunite (Table l). At
Julcani, however, Noble and Silberman (1984) deter-
mined a time difference of 0.30_+ 0.16 Ma (at the 90%
confidence level) between the mean ages of dome
emplacement and quartz-alunite-pyrite alteration.
It may be reasonably concluded t h a t hydro-
thermal a l t e r a t i o n and m i n e r a l i z a t i o n in most
porphyry-, skarn-, replacement-, and vein-type cop-
per deposits in the Andes took place during the
cooling histories of their p r o g e n i t o r stocks (cf.,
Damon and Mauger, 1966) and followed s t o c k
emplacement by very short time intervals, probably
substantially less than 1 Ma, in accord with K-At
studies undertaken on porphyry copper d e p o s i t s
elsewhere in the world (e.g., Warnaars et ai., 1978)
In view of such small time differences, it is not
significant for regional metallogenic studies (see
below) whether magmatic minerals from a porphyry
stock, hydrothermal alteration products, or a mix-
ture of both are separated for age determination. In
fact, as recently emphasized by Skewes (1985), bio-
tite extracted for K-Ar dating from porphyry copper
deposits is very likely to be a composite of magmatic
and hydrothermal products. However, her choice of
Los Pelambres as an example of a deposit in which a
mixture of several types of magmatic and hydro-
thermal biotite had been concentrated to yield the
two published K-At ages (Table 1) was unfortunate.
Those ages are not a v e r a g e s for m a g m a t i c and
hydrothermal events, as asserted by Skewes (1985),
but accurately represent an early phase of K-silicate
alteration because they were determined on coarse
(several cm) flakes of biotite hand-picked from
pegmatitic veinlets and pods (Sillitoe, 198 l)
!
l mm m ml
280 ' 3~0
, m m
m i
do ~2o
AGE OF COPPERMINERALIZATION, m.y.
 Epochs of intrusion-relatedcopper mineralization in the Andes
Alteration-mineralization sequences
Most A n d e a n p o r p h y r y copper deposits a r e
characterized by both K-silicate and sericitic altera-
tion, and several of them also contain advanced
argillic alteration. All three alteration types may be
associated with copper mineralization. At a few
deposits, two or more of these alteration types have
been dated radiometrically (Table 1). However, as
with stock e m p l a c e m e n t and a l t e r a t i o n - m i n e r a -
l i z a t i o n (see above), the t i m e gaps b e t w e e n
generation of the alteration types commonly are
irresolvable with the K-Ar method. Ages for K-
silicate, sericitic, and advanced argillic alteration at
E1 Salvador were considered by Gustafson and Hunt
(1975) to be essentially the same within the limits of
experimental error, as are those for selected samples
of K-silicate and sericitic alteration at Rio Blanco-
Los Bronces and E1Teniente (Table 1). However, the
existing radiometric d a t a for E1 Salvador were
reinterpreted by Silberman (1985) to show that the
hydrothermal system there was active for about 2
Ma. This estimate is not dissimilar to that of at least
2.5 Ma made on the basis of the data summarized in
Table 1 by Warnaars et al. (1985) for the duration of
hydrothermal activity at the Rio Blanco-Los Bronces
porphyry copper deposit. At Chuquicamata, a time
difference of about 3 Ma is discernable between the
mean ages of K-silicate and sericitic events (Table 1;
Fig. 3).
In the case of the vein-type copper mineralization
of Julcani, pre-ore quartz-alunite-pyrite alteration
and post-ore adularia alteration bracket a time in-
terval of 0.42_+0.18 Ma, and the h y d r o t h e r m a l
system is thought to have been active for at least 0.4
Ma and possibly about 0.7 Ma (Noble and Silberman,
1984). On the basis of two K-Ar age determinations,
some 2 Ma could have separated sericitization associ-
ated with epithermal gold-silver-copper vein forma-
tion and earlier propylitic alteration at E1 Indio
(Araneda, 1982), but further work is required before
any firm conclusions can be drawn.
Although the database is limited, it may be
inferred that the alteration sequences associated
with individual Andean copper deposits, like those
elsewhere in the world (see Noble and Silberman,
1984; Silberman, 1985), generally required about 2
Ma or less for their development. It remains a pos-
sibility, however, that hydrothermal activity lasted
somewhat longer at C h u q u i c a m a t a , the world's
largest copper deposit.
Post-mineral intrusions
At 7 copper deposits, essentially barren magma-
tic rocks, emplaced after most of the alteration and
mineralization were completed, have been dated
radiometrically. At three of these localities - - Cerro
de Pasco, E1 Abra, and Rio Blanco-Los Bronces - - at
least some of the resulting K-Ar ages are slightly
older t h a n those yielded by n e a r b y alteration
minerals (Table 1). The reason for this anomaly
99
remains uncertain, although at Cerro de Pasco it was
explained by assuming incorporation of a m i n o r
amount of extraneous 40Ar (Silberman and Noble,
1977).
The tendency for pest-mineral intrusions to yield
anomalously old ages is not shared by: E1 Salvador
and La Escondida (Table 1), where post-mineral
intrusion was essentially the same age as, or very
slightly younger than, the alteration events; Julcani
(Table 1), where Noble and Silberman (1984) cal-
culated a time gap of 0.25_+0.18 Ma between ad-
vanced argillic alteration and post-ore intrusion; or
E1 Teniente (Table 1), where a barren lamprophyre
dike is about 1 Ma younger t h a n the alteration-
mineralization event (Cuadra, 1986).
REGIONAL IMPLICATIONS
Time~space relations
On the basis of the data summarized in Table 1, an
approximate mineralization age is assigned to each
dated copper deposit and prospect. These ages are
plotted on Figs. 1 and 2 and used to construct the
histogram presented as Fig. 4.
In the central Andes, the mineralization a g e s
define three epochs of copper mineralization during
the Cenozoic and suggest the existence of at least six
more from the late Paleozoic onward (Fig. 4). In the
northern Andes of Colombia, four epochs of copper
mineralization are s u g g e s t e d d u r i n g the Meso-
Cenozoic (Fig. 4). The three reasonably well-defined
Cenozoic epochs of copper m i n e r a l i z a t i o n in the
central Andes lasted for 11 to 14 Ma and were sepa-
rated by quiescent i n t e r v a l s of about the s a m e
duration (Fig. 4).
On maps of the Andes, the mineralization ages
combine to define a series of longitudinal metallo-
genic sub-belts that are roughly p a r a l l e l to the
continental margin and the Peru-Chile trench (Figs.
1 and 2). Each epoch of copper mineralization is seen
to have occupied a specific sub-belt, and only a
limited amount of overlap is apparent between the
Meso-Cenozoic sub-belts (Figs. 1 and 2). Sub-belts
range in approximate width from 25 to 350 k m as
drawn on Figs. 1 and 2, but no precise measurements
of their actual widths or of any gaps between sub-
belts can be made because of the limited number of
radiometric ages available. Sub-belts are markedly
linear, and some apparently are continuous for more
than 2000 km (Figs. 1 and 2).
The epochs and corresponding sub-belts of copper
mineralization, especially those in Chile-Argentina,
are reminiscent of the intrusion epochs and sub-belts
defined in parts of the region by F a r r a r et al. (1970)
and many subsequent investigators. However, intru-
sion epochs and sub-belts t e n d to be of l o n g e r
duration and greater width, respectively, than their
cupriferous counterparts (cf,, Drake et al., 1982; Borid
et al., 1985; Parada et al., 1985). In part this un-
doubtedly is due to the greater abundance of intru-
100 R. It. SmLl'r()~:
sion ages than mineralization ages, but it could also
indicate that copper mineralization (in particular,
porphyry copper emplacement) was both spatially
and temporally more restricted than intrusive acti-
vity.
In the central Andes, nearly all major copper
deposits, p r i n c i p a l l y of p o r p h y r y type but also
including skarns and enargite-bearing replacements
in Peru, are restricted to the three well defined
Cenozoic sub-belts: Paleocene-early Eocene (66-52
Ms), late Eocene-early Oligoeene (42-31 Ma), and
middle Miocene-early Pliocene (16-5 Ms). These
three sub-belts account for more than 90 % of Andean
copper resources. The five largest copper deposits in
the Andes (Sillitoe, in press) are components of the
late Eocene-early Oligocene ( C h u q u i e a m a t a , La
Escondida) and middle Miocene-early Pliocene (Los
Pelambres, Rio Blanco-Los Bronces, El Teniente)
sub-belts (Fig. 2). These last three large porphyry
copper deposits, as well as the El Indio bonanza Au-
Ag-Cu vein deposit, are located along the western
boundary of the middle Miocene-early Pliocene sub-
belt. Copper mineralization up to 350 km farther
east in this sub-belt (Fig. 2) is generally minor, and
only the Bajo de La Alumbrera porphyry copper (in
the Farall6n Negro district along with nos. 56, 57,
and 58 in Table 1) constitutes a significant deposit.
This eastward diminution in the size of copper
deposits could be attributed to a parallel reduction in
the quantity of volatiles generated on the subdueted
slab and available to flux partial melting in the
overlying mantle wedge.
However, in central and northern Peru, no such
eastward decrease in the size of middle Mioeene-
early Pliocene copper deposits is discernable, al-
though the width of the entire sub-belt is also much
less than that farther south (Fig. 1). Moreover, the
middle Miocene-early Pliocene sub-belt in central
Peru (and Bolivia) is notably more polymetallic in
character and is richer in lead, zinc, and silver than
its c o u n t e r p a r t in A r g e n t i n a and c o n t i g u o u s
e a s t e r n m o s t Chile or, for t h a t m a t t e r , its con-
tinuation in northern Peru. A continuous middle
Miocene-early Pliocene metallogenic sub-belt is
considered to extend from northwestern Argentina
through western Bolivia and southeastern Peru into
eentral Peru. Its central part, in southeastern Peru,
is not depicted on Figs. 1 and 2 because none of the
very few intrusion-related copper deposits has been
d a t e d r a d i o m e t r i c a l l y ; in fact, m e t a l l o g e n y is
dominated by silver.
Some n o r t h - s o u t h c h a n g e s in the s t y l e s of
mineralization along individual sub-belts may be
attributed, at least in part, to an increase in the
depth of erosion. A good example is provided by the
western boundary zone of the middle Miocene-early
Pliocene sub-belt along the Chile-Argentina frontier.
At approximately latitude 31S, a southward de-
crease in the amount of shallow-level, epithermal
gold-silver mineralization of E1 Indio type is ap-
parent (Fig. 2) as the effects of glaeial erosion during
the P~io-Pleistocene become more profound. The
change along the Paleocene-early Eocene sub-belt
from mainly porphyry copper.-type mineralization in
southern Peru and northern Chile to a dominance of
swarms of tourmaline breccia pipes f a r t h e r south
(Fig 2) could also be due to an increase of erosion
level; however, this change may also be ascribed to
differences in magmatic and (or) ore formational
processes, as is the polymetallic character of the
central Peruvian part of the middle Miocene-early
Pliocene copper sub-belt. The process(es) responsible
for changes in metallogenie character along indi-
vidual sub-belts remains to be determined, but it is
suggested that variation in magma chemistry due Uo
changes in subduction style is a prime factor i n
flueneing metallogenie change (see below).
The present writer considers that the paucity of
major intrusion-related copper deposits of Mesozoic
age in coastal Chile and Peru (Figs. i and 2) is a
consequence of the overall westward increase in
erosion level (Sillitoe, 1972 and in press). Cenozoic
sub-belts underwent variable, but relatively minor
(say, 3 kin j, erosion so that many porphyry-type
deposits were unroofed and are still preserved In
contrast, Mesozoic sub-belts farther wesL generally
were more deeply eroded, which resulted in removal
of major porphyry copper deposits (except a~, An-
dacollo; Fig. 2) and exposure of many small-tonnage,
pluton-related vein copper deposits Only one of
these, at Gatieo (Table 1), has been dated radio-
m e t r i c a l l y - as late middle Jurassic, but~ many more
are believed to be early Mesozoic in age. When radio-
metric ages become available, it is predicted t h a t
these vein-type deposits will help to define Jurassic
through Early Cretaceous mineralization epochs
coincident with one or more sub-belts west of" the
Late Cretaceous (112-73 Ma) sub-belt depicted on
Fig. 2. It should be noted, however, that some wor~
kers prefer a geotectonic rather than an erosional
explanation for the paucity in coastal Chile and Peru
of pro-Late Cretaceous porphyry copper deposits,
which they feel were not widely generated because of
the existence of an e x t e n s i o n a l and not a com~
pressional stress regime at the plate edge (Munizaga
et al., 1985).
Andean copper deposits less than about 4 Ma old
generally are absent because they are yet to be
unroofed. An exception to this generalization is
known from southern Peru, where a s h o r t iate
Pliocene-Pleistocene sub-belt associated with andesi-
tic volcanism contains enargite-bearing vein minera-
lization (Petersen and Vidal, 1983; F i g !
Pre-Mesozoic copper prospects are known only
from western Argentina and contiguous Chile. A
Late Carboniferous-Early P e r m i a n (287-272 Ma)
epoch of mineralization is reasonably well defined
(Table 1; Fig. 2), but only a single K-Ar minimum
age of 329 + 5 Ma from Taca Taca (no. 54, Fig. 2) is
available to support the presence of an Early Car-
boniferous epoch. An Ordovician Rb-Sr isochron age
was determined recently from the vicinity of Taca
Taca (J. Viramonte and 3. Salfity, pers comm.,
1985), but it is still uncertain - - given ~he complex
 Epochs of intrusion-related copper mineralization in the Andes
magmatic relationships in the area - - whether the
early Carboniferous age correctly represents the time
of emplacement of the copper-bearing intrusion at
Taca Taca or is merely the result of a subsequent
heating event. Although the scarcity of pre-Mesozoic
copper mineralization in the Andes may be attri-
buted to removal by erosion or concealment beneath
Meso-Cenozoic rocks, this writer prefers a more fun-
damental explanation based on the different magma
chemistry of the Paleozoic intrusions (Sillitoe, in
press), which commonly appear to be characterized
by lower Fe203/Fe0 ratios (Ishihara et al., 1984) and
apparently higher initial 87Sr/86Sr ratios (e.g.,
Parada et al., 1985).
In the n o r t h e r n Andes, north of the Gulf of
Guayaquil, copper mineralization has been dated
radiometrically only in Colombia (and contiguous
Panama) and southern Ecuador; no data are known
to be available from Venezuela or much of Ecuador
(Fig. 1). Of the four epochs and corresponding sub-
belts of copper mineralization distinguished ten-
tatively in Colombia (Figs. 1 and 4), an early-middle
Eocene (55-43 Ma) sub-belt along the Cordillera
Occidental and a Jurassic sub-belt that includes the
country's principal porphyry copper deposit at Mocoa
in the southern part of the Cordillera Oriental con-
tain most of the known copper resources (Sillitoe et
al., 1982).
The Mesozoic copper sub-belts of Colombia appear
to extend northeastward into the Andes of western
Venezuela, where minor copper occurrences of pos-
sible porphyry type have been discovered recently
(S. E. Rodriguez, pers. comm., 1985). The early-
middle Eocene sub-belt possesses present-day con-
tinuity with the eastern isthmus of Panama (Sillitoe
et al., 1982; Fig. 1). Intrusive sub-belts of Jurassic
and Miocene ages in northern Ecuador (Hall and
Calle, 1982) appear to be the southward continua-
tions of their copper-bearing Colombian counter-
parts.
Migration of sub-belts
The loci of intrusion-related copper mineralization
in the Andes shifted with time, although the migra-
tion patterns varied along the length of the orogc;~
(Figs. 1, 2, and 5). In the central Andes of Chile and
Argentina, an episodic eastward progression of
copper sub-belts during the Meso-Cenozoic is appar-
ent (Figs. 2 and 5), which is comparable to the east-
ward migration of post-Paleozoic intrusive activity in
the same region (Farrar et al., 1970; and subsequent
workers).
This pattern of eastward migrations may be
ascribed to the poorly constrained consequences of
the westward motion of the South American plate, a
process that was initiated during the mid-Cretaceous
onset of sea-floor spreading to produce the South
Atlantic Ocean basin. At that time, the Andean
margin changed in character from extensional to
compressional, or Mariana-type to Chilean-type
using the scheme of Uyeda and Kanamori (1979), and
101
the subduction zone is inferred to have flattened
(Pilger, 1981). More specifically, the initiation of a
compressive stress regime in the overriding South
American plate may have been triggered by an
increase in the length of the South A t l a n t i c
spreading center (Kominz, 1984) and a concomitant
increase in subduction rates at the Peru-Chile trench
(Larson and Pitman, 1972) about 110 Ma ago (see
Dalziel, 1985). Episodic flattening of the underthrust
plate, tectonic erosion of the leading edge of the
overriding plate (Rutland, 1971), transform displace-
ment of lithospheric slivers from the leading edge of
the overriding plate during intervals of oblique
subduction (Karig, 1974), and pulses of compressive
tectonism within the overriding plate (e.g., Dalziel,
1985) all may have contributed to the e a s t w a r d
migrations of the copper sub-belts. Indeed some sort
of connection between copper mineralization and
compressive tectonism is suggested by the broad
coincidence between the late Eocene-early Oligocene
(42-31 Ma) and middle Miocene-early Pliocene (16-5
Ma) sub-belts of the central Andes and the Incaic (~44
Ma) and Quechua 2 (~9.5 Ma)-Quechua 3 (~6 Ma)
orogenic phases defined by McKee and Noble (e.g.,
1985). Nevertheless, the specific factor(s) responsible
for the cessation of copper mineralization in any
particular central Andean sub-belt, the ensuing ~ 10
Ma of metallogenic quiescence, and the recrudes-
cence of mineralization at sites farther east (Figs. 2
and 4) are not always evident.
tlowever, the eastward jump to produce the
extremely wide (up to 350 km) middle Miocene-early
Pliocene copper sub-belt (Figs. 2 and 5) may be attri-
buted to further flattening of the underthrust slab in
response to plate reorganization in the eastern Paci-
fic and a concomitant increase in subduction rate
(Clark et al., 1976; Sillitoe, 1976). Pilger (1984)
calculated that during the period from 25 to 10 Ma
and, to a lesser extent, until 5 Ma, the convergence
rate normal to the Chilean portion of the trench axis
was extraordinarily high, attaining 14 cm yr -1. In
contrast, the convergence r a t e n o r m a l to the
Peruvian portion of the trench showed only a slight
increase during that time, which may provide an
explanation for the much reduced width of the middle
Miocene-early Pliocene copper sub-belt in central
and northern Peru (Figs. 1 and 5; cf., Pilger, 1984).
Wortel and Vlaar (1978) have proposed, however,
that flattening of the slab during the Miocene was
due largely to the greater buoyancy of a progres-
sively younger and warmer descending plate rather
than to the rate of descent. In marked contrast,
Jarrard (1986) concluded from a global survey of
subduction zones that shallow slab dips are a product
of extended durations of subduction (at least 200 Ma
in the Andes) and seem to be unrelated to either slab
age (and temperature) or convergence rate.
It should be mentioned that intrusive rocks
emplaced during the 26 to 16 Ma interval are found
in several parts of the central Andes within, or near
to the western boundary of, the 16 to 5 Ma copper
sub-belt (e.g., Drake et al., 1982; McKee and Noble,
102 R.H. SILLITOE

1985; Parada et al., 1985}, but nowhere (except
possibly at Michiquillay; Table l, Fig. 1) are they
known to be the hosts for significant copper deposits.
Therefore, the first few million y e a r s of rapid
convergence during the late Oligocene-early Miocene
apparently were not conducive to generation of
copper mineralization.
Compared with the porphyry copper-rich part of
the late Eocene-early Oligocene sub-belt in northern
Chile, its skarn-rich continuation in southern Peru is
nearly twice as wide besides being located about 100
km farther from the Peru-Chile trench (Figs. 1 and
5). As proposed by Noble et al. (1984), these features
may be explained by a more gentle dip of at least the
near-trench portion of the slab that descended
beneath this part of southern Peru during the late
E o c e n e - e a r l y Oligocene, although the angle of
descent apparently was not as low across its full east-
west extent as that beneath Chile-Argentina in the
middle Miocene-early Pliocene. It should be noted,
however, that the extremely rapid ( 1 8 c m yr-~1)
subduction rate at the Peru-Chile trench from about
110 to 85 Ma (Larson and Pitman, 1972) apparently
did not cause the same degree of flattening of the
subducted slab as during the middle Miocene-early
Pliocene, to judge by the relatively narrow Late
Cretaceous sub-belt, except perhaps south of latitude
36S where the width could be even greater than
between the Early Cretaceous and the early Eocene
(Fig. 5), may be ascribed to accretion of allochthonous
oceanic terranes, which constitute the western side of
the Cordillera Central and the entire Cordillera
Occidental (Sillitoe et al., 1982; McCourt et al., 1984;
Aspden and McCourt, 1986). The landward shift
exhibited by the middle-late Miocene sub-belt pro-
bably was due to the same increase in convergence
rate that so profoundly affected the central Andes at
that time.
Segmentation of sub-belts
A tectonic, stratigraphic, magmatic, and metallo-
genic segmentation of the Andes, first proposed in
generalized form by Sillitoe (1974), has been con-
J~ ANDIESmc VOLCANIC BELT
COPPER SUB - BELT
5
0 NORTHERN CHILE
150-
\FI'D
100-
\
o
SO-

depicted (Fig. 2).

In western Bolivia and northwestern Argentina I ! I
0 , i i
(north of lat. 28S), the main locus of magmatism 200

retreated westward during the Pliocene, possibly in Krn. East of Trench

response to a decrease of convergence rate (Pilger,

1981, 1984; Pollitz, 1986), and gave rise to a narrow
linear belt of andesitic volcanism (Fig. 5). However, SOUTHERN PERU

farther south, between latitudes 28 and 33S, the 100

slab continued to flatten (to -5), possibly because of
the increased buoyancy of the underthrust J u a n
50
Fernandez seamount chain (Pilger, 1981, 1984), and " "'"-r-q
all magmatism and any associated copper minera- /
lization ceased 5 to 6 Ma ago (Fig. 2; cf., Kay and i/ i - ! T - - -
200 400
Gordillo, 1985). Therefore, there is no intrusion-
Kin. East of Trench
related copper mineralization younger than ~5 Ma
anywhere in western Argentina (Fig. 2). A similar
argument may be applied to northern and central ?00" COLOMBIA
Peru (lat. 2-15S), where the apparent extinction of
copper mineralization at about the same time (Table []
150-
1; Fig. 1) could be ascribed to the onset of ultra- d
shallow subduction (Barazangi and Isacks, 1976),
possibly because of the influence of the aseismic
Nazca Ridge (Pilger, 1981, 1984; Fig. 1).
In the northern Andes of Colombia (and probably
100-

50- [3
/
also of Ecuador north of the Gulf of Guayaquil}, the \
migration pattern of copper sub-belts is markedly
different from that in the central Andes (Figs. 1 and 2OO 600

5). From the d urassic to the early Eocene, the loci of INFERRED
EARLY MIE,~ZOIC
Km East of Trench

intrusion-related copper mineralization shifted west- TRENCH AXIS

ward, whereas from the middle Eocene to the Pleisto-
cene there was an e a s t w a r d p r o g r e s s i o n c o m p a r a b l e
to that w h i c h c h a r a c t e r i z e d m u c h o f C h i l e - A r g e n t i n a
during the Mesa-Cenozoic. The trenchward migra-
tion of the copper sub-belts, at least the major jump
Fig. 5. Generalized representation of the migration patterns of
copper sub-belts in northern Chile, southern Peru, and Colombia.
Pile-Pleistocene andesitic volcanic belts, within which copper
deposits are believed to be in the process of formation or still
largely concealed, also are depicted.
 Epochs of intrusion-related copper mineralization in the Andes
firmed but somewhat modified by s u b s e q u e n t
detailed studies (e.g., Barazangi and Isacks, 1976;
Cobbing et al., 1977; Jordan et al., 1983; Soler et al.,
1986).
It is clear from Figs. 1 and 2 that the distribution,
character, and timing of intrusion-related copper
deposits, and overall copper endowment were in-
fluenced by segmentation of the Andean orogen.
Certain terminations of copper sub-belts and changes
in style or timing of mineralization along individual
sub-belts are believed to be controlled by transverse
boundaries between tectonic segments.
The two most important boundaries from the
standpoint of intrusion-related copper mineralization
appear to be in the general vicinities of the Huanca-
bamba and Abancay Deflections (Fig. 1). These two
boundaries subdivide the Andean copper belt into
three first-order segments: (i) between latitudes 14
and 35S, where the majority of copper resources
occur largely as porphyry deposits in four eastward-
younging, Late Cretaceous to middle Miocene-early
Pliocene sub-belts; (ii) between latitudes 5 and 14S,
where a much smaller tonnage of copper metal is
present in a variety of largely polymetallic deposits
restricted to the middle Miocene-early Pliocene sub-
belt; and (iii) between latitudes 7N and 5S, where a
minor percentage of Andean copper resources is con-
tained in at least four sub-belts that exhibit a more
complex space/time pattern.
Both of the first-order boundaries are difficult to
position unambiguously through the Meso-Cenozoic
and appear to be associated spatially with short
segments in which sub-belts are characterized by
anomalous space/time patterns. Thus, the Abancay
Deflection, although acting as the southern boundary
of the middle Miocene-early Pliocene copper sub-belt
and the northern boundary of both the late Eocene-
early Oligocene and late Pliocene-Pleistocene sub-
belts (Fig. 1), is adjoined to the south, between lati-
tudes 14 and 16S, by a pattern of sub-belts that
differs from, albeit is akin to, that farther south in
Chile-Argentina. In this anomalous segment south
of the deflection, the Paleocene-early Eocene sub-belt
either is absent or poorly mineralized; the late
Eocene-early Oligocene sub-belt is dominated by
skarn deposits, is abnormally wide and is displaced
eastward; and the late Pliocene-Pleistocene sub-belt
is displaced westward (Figs. 1 and 5).
In the case of the Huancabamba Deflection, it is
more difficult to pinpoint the first-order metallogenic
boundary because of the paucity of dated copper
mineralization. However, based on the information
shown on Fig. 1 and the radiometric ages available
for magamtic rocks in Ecuador (Hall and Calle,
1982), the boundary is drawn near the Peru-Ecuador
frontier and is thought to be followed northward,
between approximately latitudes 3 and 5S, by an
anomalous pattern of sub-belts. At this early stage of
understanding, it is unclear whether the middle Mio-
cene Chaucha porphyry copper prospect (no. 9, Fig. 1}
and associated intrusive rocks are the southward
continuation of the middle-late Miocene sub-belt of
103
Colombia, the northward continuation of the middle
Miocene-early Pliocene sub-belt of Peru, or a short
separate sub-belt in the anomalous segment associ-
ated with the Huancabamba Deflection; the first
alternative is favored at present.
In addition to the control exerted by the two major
segment boundaries, a number of second-order boun-
daries also may be recognized tentatively on the
basis of evidence from individual sub-belts. Ex-
amples (Figs. I and 2) include: (i) the southward
change in position (farther east), orientation (from
north to northwest), and age (112-91 to 85-73 Ma) of
the Late Cretaceous sub-belt somewhere between
latitudes 32 and 36S (cf., Munizaga et a[., 1985);
(ii)the southward termination of the late Eocene-
early Oligocene sub-belt at about latitude 3130S, in
accord with an absence of intrusive rocks of that age
between at least latitudes 31030 and 36S (Drake et
a/., 1982; Munizaga and Vicente, 1982); (iii)the
southward change in the predominant style of copper
mineralization (porphyry to breccia pipes; see above)
and possibly age (59-52 to 66-62 Ma) of the
Paleocene-early Eocene sub-belt somewhere between
latitudes 21 and 27S; (iv)the apparent northward
termination, or possibly eastward offset (Noble et al.,
1984), of the Paleocene-early Eocene sub-belt at
latitude 16S (cf., Soler et al., 1986); and (v)the
northward reduction in the polymetallic character of
the middle Miocene-early Pliocene sub-belt at about
latitude 9S (cf.,Soler et al., 1986).
It is concluded that the first-orderboundaries were
long-lived (at least 60 Ma), although not necessarily
continuously active, divisions between the principal
segments of the orogen. Each segment was charac-
terized by a different subduction history and, con-
sequently, a different space/time pattern of intrusion
and copper mineralization. The longevity of these
major boundaries would seem to require that the
continental lithosphere was capable of influencing
profoundly the style of subduction beneath it (cf.,
M~gard, 1978; Jordan et al., 1983; Noble et al., 1984).
The short, anomalous segments that adjoin the first-
order boundaries are of uncertain significance but
may, in part, be due to geometrical constraints im-
posed on the descending plate by the changes in
strike of the orogen that are associated with the
deflections. The second-order boundaries appear to
have been shorter-lived (say, 10 Ma) and perhaps
more diffuse, and possibly could have reflected dis-
continuities, such as transform faults, that origin-
ated in the descending plate. It might be speculated
that the southward termination of the late Eocene-
early Oligocene sub-belt about latitude 3130'S was
due to the presence south of that latitude of a very
shallowly dipping u n d e r t h r u s t slab, like t h a t
beneath the Andes from latitudes 28 to 33S today.
In this regard, it is instructive to note that only
some of the possible second-order boundaries coincide
with segment boundaries defined using other para-
meters, such as the geometry of the currently
descending slab (Barazangi and Isacks, 1978), or the
distribution of super-units in the Late Cretaceous-
104 R.H. SII,LITOE
early Tertiary Coastal Batholith of Peru (Cobbing et
al., 1977). Examples of second-order boundaries that
coincide approximately with segment boundaries
defined previously include: the possible northern
termination or offset of the Paleocene-early Eocene
copper sub-belt with the b o u n d a r y b e t w e e n the
Arequipa and Toquepala segments of the Coastal
Batholith and the southern limit of the flat slab in
northern and central Peru; and the change in char-
acter of the Late Cretaceous copper sub-belt at the
southern limit of the flat slab in north-central Chile.
SUGGESTIONS FOR FUTURE WORK
Local studies
An effort should be made w h e n e v e r Andean
magmatic rocks are sampled for radiometric dating
to collect material that will provide an age for any
associated copper (or other metallic) mineralization.
When the radiometric ages are reported, all analy-
tical data, including the constants employed, should
be listed. The following specific geochronologic
studies are recommended:
1) Carry out additional radiometric dating, by both
K-Ar and Rb-Sr methods, at the Chuquicamata
porphyry copper deposit to confirm the reality of
the time differences shown in Fig. 3 between pre-
cursor pluton emplacement, stock intrusion, and
K-silicate and sericitic alteration.
2) Select one or more porphyry copper deposits for
detailed K-Ar (and 40Ar/39Ar) dating studies, in
the manner adopted for the Julcani vein system by
Noble and Silberman (1984), with a view to deter-
mining the duration of hydrothermal activity. A
middle Miocene-early Pliocene rather than an
older deposit is preferred because of the smaller
analytical uncertainties that will be attached to
the K-Ar results. A well-documented deposit, such
as E1 Teniente, Rio Blanco-Los Bronces, or Los
Pelambres-E1 Pach6n (Fig. 2), would be ideal.
3) Using K-Ar, Rb-Sr, and U-Pb methods, attempt to
distinguish the time differences between emplace-
ment of precursor plutons and progenitor stocks.
Many localities appear to be suitable geologically,
including Infierno-Chili, Chaucha, Tintaya, Cerro
Verde-Santa Rosa, Toquepala, Quebrada Blanca,
El Abra, Chuquicamata, Rio Blanco-Los Bronces,
and El Teniente (Table 1; Figs. I and 2).
4) Map and sample comprehensively precursor vol-
canic sequences from the vicinities of porphyry
copper deposits with a view to determining the
duration of volcanism and any time gap between
the cessation of volcanism and stock emplacement.
Deposits in the middle Miocene-early Pliocene
sub-belt, such as Bajo de La A l u m b r e r a , Rio
Blanco-Los Bronces, and E1 Teniente, would be
ideal, although further study of the Toquepala
Group in the Paleocene-early Eocene sub-belt of
southern Peru also is recommended because of the
substantial amount of radiometric dating already
completed there (Table 1).
5) Collect material such as h y d r o t h e r m a l horn-
blende, actinolite, or phlogopite for K-Ar dating of
the Cobriza copper skarn deposit located on the
eastern boundary of the middle Miocene-early
Pliocene sub-belt of central Peru, some 125 kin
east of Yauricocha (Fig. l). Although spatially
associated with the middle Miocene-early Pliocene
copper sub-belt, there is no firm evidence that
copper mineralization is of that age: nor is the
mineralization evidently related to known intru-
sive rocks, namely a pluton 1 km distant which
was considered on stratigraphic grounds to be of
late Cretaceous age (M6gard, 1978) but is possibly
older on the basis of a K-At minimum age of 256
Ma (Stewart et al., 1974) for a similar nearby
pluton.
6) Conduct further radiometric studies of the main
porphyry copper deposits in northern Peru in order
to resolve the conflicting K-Ar ages available for
Michiquillay (Table l; Fig. 1) and to provide ages
for the La Granja and Cafiariaco deposits 100 to
150 km farther north-northwest.
7) Date the newly discovered porphyry-type occur-
rences of possible early Mesozoic age in the Vene-
zuelan Andes.
Regional studies
In order to complete the geochronologic coverage of
intrusion-related copper deposits in the Andes, the
following work is required:
l) Select and date representative copper prospects
and occurrences in Ecuador; these are most abun-
dant in the anomalous segment immediately north
of the It uancabamba Deflection.
2) Attempt to obtain more age determinations from
small intrusion-related copper deposits in coastal
Peru and Chile in order to better understand the
Mesozoic epochs of copper mineralization.
3) Select and date copper prospects and occurrences
in southern Chile and contiguous A r g e n t i n a to
determine w h e t h e r the epochs and s u b - b e l t s
defined for northern and central Chile (Fig. 2) can
be extrapolated southward, or whether the change
in strike and position of the Late Cretaceous sub-
belt between latitudes 32 and 36S signifies the
transition to a separate poorly mineralized copper
province.
4) Check late Paleozoic and Mesozoic K-Ar ages
a v a i l a b l e for Andean copper m i n e r a l i z a t i o n
against Rb-Sr isochrons and, wherever possible,
U-Pb ages on zircons, because of the increased
likelihood of subsequent reheating and consequent
argon loss from pre-Cenozoic rocks. For example,
it was noted above that an Ordovician Rb-Sr iso-
chron was determined on intrusive rocks near (but
not from) the Taca Taca porphyry copper prospect,
which was dated as early Carboniferous using the
K-Ar method (Table 1). Similarly, it was reported
 Epochs of intrusion-related copper mineralization in the Andes
recently that the Ibagu6 Batholith, a precursor
pluton cut by the Infierno-Chili porphyry copper
system, yielded a whole-rock Rb-Sr age of about
170 Ma (Restrepo et al., 1985), compared with K-
Ar ages of 145 to 150 Ma (Table 1); however, the
location of the samples and the quality of the Rb-
Sr determinations were not specified.
One of the principal aims of the suggested local
and regional studies is to augment the geochrono-
logic database for intrusion-related copper minera-
lization in the Andes. In conjunction with contribu-
tions from other multidisciplinary studies, a more
complete geochronologic database should throw fur-
ther light on the reasons for the migration and seg-
mentation of metallogenic sub-belts in the Andean
and other orogens.
Acknowledgments--Gratitude is expressed to the Organizing
Committee of the Final Symposium of IGCP Project 120, Magmatic
Evolution of the Andes, for the invitation to prepare this review
paper for presentation at the sessions held during November 1985,
in Santiago, Chile. Attendance at the symposium was facilitated
by funds made available by the Circum-Pacific Council for Energy
and Mineral Resources. A valuable review of the manuscript was
contributed by Marcus Zentilli, and assistance with the Spanish
version of the abstract was provided by Francisco Camus.
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] 08 R. It. SILLITO[';

R e s u m e n - - D u r a n t e los 01timos 18 arios, diferentes i n v e s t i g a d o r e s h a n d a t a d o r a d i o m e t r i c a m e n t e ,

m a y o r m e n t e por el metodo K-Ar, 74 dep6sitos y prospectos de cobre e s t r e c h a m e n t e asoeiados a actividad
intrusiva en los Andes. Algunos de los depbsitos cupriferos, principalmente del tipo porfidos de cobre,
fueron emplazados en, o cerca de secuencias volca.nicas y (o) plutones e q u i g r a n u l a r e s de caracter pre.
mineral. Este volcanismo dur6 tanto como 9 M a y procedio a la mineralizaci6n en intervalos que van desde
menos de 1 Ma h a s t a por lo menos 9 Ma. Los plutones se emplazaron previo a la mineralizaci6n, en varias
localidades de Chile, en no m a s de 2 a 3 Ma, pero posiblemente en 10 a 30 Ma antes, en a l g u n a s partes de
Colombia y Perd. El tiempo que separa el emplazamiento de los intrusivos progenitores y la alteracion
h i d r o t e r m a l y m i n e r a l i z a c i 6 n de cobre asociada, y la duracion de las s e c u e n c i a s de a l t e r a c i o n
mineralizacion son en ambos casos menores que el error analitico del m6todo K-Ar. Sin embargo, en base al
estudio detallado del s i s t e m a de vetas de Julcani en PerLi y a evidencias no tan definidas de otros lugares, se
puede concluir que la alteraci6n y la mineralizacion de cobre sigui6 al emplazamiento de los intrusivos (o
los domos volc~micos) en una cifra substancialmente menor a 1 Ma, y dur6 entre 0.5 y 2 Ma, llegando
localmente a alcanzar h a s t a 3 Ma. En varias localidades, la actividad m a g m a t i c a post-mineral no puede
ser s e p a r a d a temporalmente de los eventos precedentes de alteraci6n-mineralizaci6n. U n total de por lo
menos 9 epocas de mineralizacibn de cobre se ban reconocido en los Andes Centrates de Peril, Chile, Bolivia
y Argentina, y por 1o menos 4 6pocas algo diferentes caracterizan los Andes de Colombia. La edad de estas
epocas va desde el Paleozoico tardio hasta el Plioceno tardio-Pleistoceno. Cada 6poea coincide con una
distinta sub-franja linear, alguna de las cuales se extienden por m a s de 2,000 km a lo largo de la longitud
del orogeno. Mils de190 porciento de los recursos andinos de cobre se concentran en el sur del Pertiy Chile,
principalmente en la forma de p6rfidos cupriferos, y estan confinados a t r e s sub-franjas Cenozoicas de
edades Paleoceno-Eoceno inferior (66-52 Ma), Eoceno Cardio-Oligoceno ilfferior (42-31 Ma) y Mioceno
medio-Plioceno inferior (16-5 Ma). l,a escasez de dep6sitos del tipo porfido cuprifero y el incremento en el
numero de vetas de cobre relacionadas a plutones en las sub-franjas de edad J u r a s i c a y CretAcica ubicadas
m'as hacia el oeste en los Andes Centrales, se creese debe a un nivel de erosi6n m a s profmldo. En los Andes
Centrales, las sub-franjas de cobre se hacen progresivamente m a s j6venes hacia el este eta respuesta a los
efectx)s de un regimen teetonico compresivo dentro de la placa Sudamerieana que sigui6 a la apertura,
durante el Cret~cico medio, de la cuenca oceanica del Atlantieo Sur. U n a mareada m i g r a c i 6 n de la
mineralizaci6n de cobre hacia el este durante el Mioceno medio-Plioceno inferior, por cerca de 300 k m en la
parte oeste de Argentina y Bolivia, se atribuye a una rapida subducci6n, durante el Mioceno, de una
lit6sfera oceanica joven. Un cuadro de migraci6n contrastante de sub-franjas cupriferas caracteriza a la
parte norte de los Andes. Ello se habrm debido a un cambio en la fosa, durante el Crekicico inferior a
Eoceno temprano, a causa del adosamiento de terrenos oceanicos al borde continental. La distribuci6n
observada de las sub-franjas cuprifcras refleja la segment.aci6n tect6nica de los Andes. Tres s e g m e n t o s de
primer orden se definen en base a l a s conocidas Deflexiones de t t u a n c a b a m b a y Abancay en las latitudes 5
y 14S respectivamente. Cada segmento de primer orden e s t a c a r a c t e r i z a d o por u n a d i s t r i b u c i 6 u
profundamente distinta, en tiempo y, en parte, eta estilos de mineralizaci6n, y por diferentes contenidos de
cobre. Cuadros anomalos de sub-franjas se adosan a ambas Deflexiones. Varios limites e s t r u e t u r a l e s de
segundo orden parecen haber catisado cambios m a s sutiles a io largo de las s u b - f r a n j a s e u p r i f e r a s
individuales. Sc requieren programas adicionales de dataciones radiometricas, a escala local y regional, a
fin de comprender y definir apropiadamente la migracibn y segmentacion de las sub-franjas cupriferas {y ta
metalogenesis asociada) de los A nde~.