Mineral. Deposita (Berl.

) 14, 161-174 (1979)

MINERALIUM
DEPOSITA
by Springer-Verlag 1979

Some Thoughts on Gold-Rich Porphyry

Copper Deposits
R. H. Sillitoe
Department of Mining Geology, Royal School of Mines, Imperial College of Science and Technology,
Prince Consort Road, London SW7 2BP, England

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

INTRODUCTION Au:Cu and Mo:Cu ratios in porphyry

During the last few years it has become copper deposits. This discussion,
prompted by the writer's recent studies
generally accepted that most porphyry
copper deposits may be divided into two of the Saindak, Pakistan, and Bajo de
categories depending on whether they La Alumbrera, Argentina, porphyry cop-
carry byproduct gold or byproduct mol- per deposits and examinations of deposits
ybdenum (Kesler, 1973). The economic in the Philippines and Sabah, suggests
importance of the gold-rich type has in- that local factors related to the internal
creased markedly since 1972 because of evolution of porphyry copper systems
the higher market value for gold. Not- may account rather better for the gold-
withstanding the occurrence of significant rich nature of certain deposits.
molybdenum values in some island arc Kesler (1973) represented the copper,
porphyry coppers (Titley, 1978), it seems molybdenum and gold contents of por-
generally to be true that deposits gener- phyry copper deposits on triangular dia-
ated in island arcs tend to be richer in grams, but the zonal distribution of
gold and poorer in molybdenum than molybdenum around copper-gold cores
those in continental-margin orogens. at both Saindak and Bajo de La Alumbre-
But important exceptions to this gener- ra precludes the rigorous application of
alisation suggest that geotectonic setting this method here. Instead, gold is plot-
is not the critical factor controlling ted directly against copper, and molyb-

0026-4598/79/0014/0161/$02.80
162 R.H. Sillitoe

denum is omitted (Fig. I). Kesler's gold- defined as those containing +0.4 gin/ton
rich category was made up mainly of gold, irrespective of whether or not they
porphyry copper deposits with low total are molybdenum-bearing. In fact, of the
gold contents and minor or no molybden- deposits considered, only Saindak and
um, although a few, such as Panguna, Bajo de La Alumbrera, with molybdenum
Bougainville Island, were substantially present in peripheral annuli, and Ok Tedi,
richer in gold. Here attention is con- Papua New Guinea, are reported to pos-
fined to recently documented gold-rich sess significant molybdenum values
porphyry copper deposits, arbitrarily (more than about 30 ppm). Gold-rich
contact-metasomatic deposits in cal-
careous rocks adjoining weakly mineral-
I. BAJODE LA ALUMBRERA, Argentina. ized stocks, as for example at Ertsberg,
2. SAINDAK{South Body), PQkiston. Irian Jaya, and Battle Mountain, Nevada,
3. CARIBOO-BELL, B.C. IO. MOUNTAINMINES,Phifippines
4. AFTON,B.C. 11. BONENG, ,,
U.S.A., are excluded from consideration
5. GALORECREEK,B.C. 12. AMACAN, " although they are sometimes assigned to
6. FISH LAKE, B.C. 13. MAMUT, Sabah the porphyry copper category.
7. SANTOTOMASIf, Philippines t4. PANGUNA,Bou(Jo(nvillels.
8. DIZON, 15. CABANG KIRI, Sulgwes(
9. MARIAN, - 16. OK TEOI, PQpua-NewGuinea

50 106 tons + CHARACTERISTICS OF GOLD-RICH

S O -1(30 . 0 PORPHYRY COPPER DEPOSITS
IO0-1SO .
ZC 5 +4 iSO-200 ,, @
BaJo de. La Alumbrera, Arg.entina
> 200 .
At Bajo de La Alumbrera in the Faral-
16n Negro district, Catamarca province,
016 northwest Argentina, an oval dacite por-
0.8 phyry stock of late Miocene age emplaced
% in comagmatic andesitic volcanic rocks
+9 representing an eroded stratovolcano has
been shown to contain a copper-gold ore-
06 01 +10 body. Although the mineralized stock is
quartz-bearing, volcanic rocks in the Fa-
rall6n Negro district have been assigned
liF3 7e
to the shoshonitic suite (Dostal et al.,
14
2 @13 8o 1977). Geological work (Sillitoe, 1973 -
0.4
|20 "t"11 unpub, rept. ; Gonz~lez, 1975) has reveal-
ed a near-perfect zonal arrangement of
+6 alteration-mineralization, with propy -
litic and sericitic-argillic zones dis-
0.2 posed around a potassium silicate core,
0.3 0.S 0.7 0.9 900 x 600 m in surface dimensions
GOLD gin/ton
(Fig. 2). Most of the ore, which assays
Fig. I. Gold and copper contents and 0.58 % Cu and 0.63 gm/tonAu, is con-
tonnage of selected gold-rich porphyry fined to the potassium silicate facies,
copper deposits. Copper grades are much of which lies within the stock.
hypogene except at Ok Tedi (16) where Potassium silicate alteration is charac-
important supergene enrichment has terized by biotite, quartz, anhydrite,
taken place. Supergene alteration has magnetite and subordinate K-feldspar,
also occurred at Alton (4) and, to a but irregular patches, the largest 300 x
lesser extent, at Cariboo-Bell (3) but 150 m in diameter, in the central part
hypogene and supergene copper grades of the potassium silicate zone exhibit
are essentially the same. The data for intensive veining and replacement by
Cabang Kiri (15) are only rough approxi- quartz and magnetite (commonly I0 vol. %),
mations based on exploration drilling accompanied by lesser coarse-grained
Gold-Rich Porphyry Copper Deposits 163

green biotite, chlorite and K-feldspar

(Fig. 2). Copper occurs as chalcopyrite
and is accompanied by pyrite to give a
py:cp ratio of about 2:1. Much gold is
native, fine-grained (i0 to 20 ~) and only
very uncommonly intergrown with sul-
phides (Gonz~lez, 1975). Gold grades are
directly proportional to those of copper
and the highest grades of both metals
occur in the quartz-magnetite type of
potassium silicate alteration giving rise
to a high-grade cope. M o l y b d e n u m grades
tend to increase outward in the potassium
silicate zone and attain m o r e titan 0.01%
IV[o.
T h e Farall6n Negro district is the only
area in the central Andes which is known
to the writer in which porphyry copper
deposits contain m o r e than 0.4 gm/ton
gold. This continental-margin orogen is
characterized by n u m e r o u s copper-mol-
y b d e n u m porphyry deposits and prospects,
two m o l y b d e n u m - r i c h examples of which
are located near the Farall6n Negro dis- ROCK TYPE ALTERATION
trict, on the eastern limit of the A n d e a n EUI DACITE~0~P,YRY ]Upp,P ~ PROPYLIT,C
orogen (Sillitoe, unpub, data).
I i ANDESITICPYROCLASTICs~'Hicene~ SERICI/IC
I I *SILLS* DYKES J ~ POTASSIUMSILICATE/
~/~ Wl'l]i SILICIRCATION
*MAGNETITE
Saindak, Pakistan
At Saindak, in extreme northwestern Fig. 2. Generalized geology and alter-
Pakistani Baluchistan, three porphyry ation pattern at Bajo de La Alumbrera
copper deposits, denominated the east, porphyry copper-gold deposit, Faral-
north and south bodies, were emplaced 16n Negro district, northwest Argentina.
in association with earliest Miocene Taken from Sillitoe (unpub. rept., 1973)
tonalite porphyry stocks within an alter- and Gonz~lez (1975)
ation zone 7 km long and 2.3 km wide
(Fig. 3). As described by Sillitoe and
Khan (1977), each stock possesses its per-gold mineralization occurs in an
own alteration pattern with concentric 850 x 2 5 0 - m zone of potassium silicate
potassium silicate, sericitic and pro- alteration rich in biotite and anhydrite,
pylitic zones present outward from and accompanied by minor epidote,
core to rim. Potassium silicate alter- chlorite, magnetite and K-feldspar.
ation is largely restricted to the stocks Aetinolite occurs at depths of about
and enclosed roof-pendants but locally 300 m (cf. M a m u t and T a n a m a , below).
transgresses the contact with wall-rock T h e best copper and gold grades, how-
siltstones of Oligocene (?) age. ever, are found in rock characterized
The south body contains 110 million by veinlets, coarse-grained patches and
tons at 0.42 % Cu and 0.46 gin/ton Au; irregular replacement of massive quartz
30 to 40 million tons assay more than and magnetite, the latter mineral c o m -
0.6 gin/ton Au. A partly overlapping monly accounting for 5 to i0 vol. % of
halo to the copper-gold orebody contains the rock. T h e py:cp ratio is less than
30 million tons of 0~024% Mo. The cop- i:I and the gold content is directly pro-
164 R.H. Sillitoe

in retrograde sericitization that affects

the uppermost 200 m of the stock; the
latter superimposed pyrite mineraliza-
tion on the orebody but had only a minor
influence on its copper and gold grades.
o ~: o.s . . . . "~ The major difference between the south
and east bodies is the complete absence
in the latter of the quartz-magnetite
facies of alteration which hosts the
k high-grade gold mineralization in the
former. The contrast in magnetite con-
7. ~ + + + + ~ ~--_~-~ .t tents between the east and south bodies
is highlighted by the magnetic response:
a strong positive anomaly of up to
3000 gammas over the latter but only
scattered readings exceeding I00 gam-
mas over the former.
The geotectonic setting of the Saindak
deposits, like that of porphyry copper
deposits in Iran, is an Andean-type con-
tinental margin underlain by Precam-
brian basement rocks, which outcrop
'i.i: ,, ~...~'~" i~ .... tj locally in the same magmatic belt some
420 km to the east and, more widely,
further northeast in Afghanistan.
~ ' < ~ Owtl~rlimit of
~ " PROPYLITIC ~ TONALITE PORPHYRY
POTASSIUNSILICATE I 1 Lar(jely SEDINENTARY
+ ( SERICITIC Deposits of the Intermontane zone,
Fig. 3. Generalized geology and al~er- British Columbia
ation pattern of the Saindak porphyry
A number of workers have recently em-
copper-gold-molybdenum deposits,
phasized the high gold content and lack
northwest Pakistan. Extension of the
of molybdenum in small porphyry cop-
alteration zone north of the Saindak
per deposits associated with late Tri-
fault omitted. Taken from Sillitoe and
assic-early Jurassic, quartz-poor, al-
Khan (1977)
kalic or shoshonitic intrusive rocks rang-
ing compositionally from diorite to sy-
enite in the Intermontane zone, particu-
portional to that of copper. Two low- larly the Quesnel trough, of southern
grade cores within the potassium sili- and central British Columbia (Suther-
cate zone possess a similar mineralogy land Brown, 1969; Hollister, 1975; Barr
but lower total sulphide (and gold) con- et al., 1976). The stocks intrude coeval
tents. volcanic rocks and are interpreted to
In contrast, the east body at Saindak~ have been generated in an early Mesozoic
as little as only i00 m east of the south island arc. The gold values in these de-
body (Fig. 3), possesses 170 million posits are rather variable: the highest
tons of 0.37 % Cu accompanied by only grade deposits are Alton with 0.58 gin/ton,
0.001 gin/ton Au. As in the south body, Cariboo-Bell with 0.56 gin/ton and the
potassium silicate alteration is dominat- larger Galore Creek with 0.4 gin/ton
ed by biotite and anhydrite, and molyb- (Drummond and Godwin, 1976) (Fig. i).
denite occurs as a partially developed Copper-gold ore in all these deposits is
halo to the chalcopyrite-gold mineral- part of pyrite- and quartz-deficient feld-
ization. Copper mineralization occurs spar-stable alteration types in which
in the potassium silicate alteration and biotite, K-feldspar and the propylitic
Gold-Rich Porphyry Copper Deposits 185

assemblage are c o m m o n and a c c o m p a n - let and breccia fillings and subordinate

ied by one or m o r e of diopside, garnet disseminations (Fountain, 1972; Baumer
and scapolite. At Cariboo-Bell, native and Fraser, 1975; Baldwin et al., 1978).
gold is associated with chalcopyrite and Sericitic alteration was superimposed
4 to 8 % magnetite (Hodgson et al., 1976). on the central part of the deposit and
Gold occurs in veinlet and disseminated coincides with patches of protore (Ford,
chalcopyrite-bornite-magnetite ore with- 1978).
in an 800 x 300 m zone of magnetite
Gold values, largely as submicro-
flanked by pyritic rock at Afton (Carr
scopic particles of the native metal,
and Reed, 1976), and at Galore Creek,
vary sympathetically with the copper
magnetite as veinlets and breccia mat-
values (Baumer and Fraser, 1975) and
rix (2 to 10% according to Barr et al.,
are highest in bornite-rich areas (Bald-
1976) accompanies gold-bearing ehal-
win et ai.,1978). The average magnetite
copyrite-bornite ore (Allen et al., 1976).
content is 2.7 % but this rises to 7 to
In contrast, the Ingerbelle deposits are
10% in places (Baldwin et al., 1978).
of the same age and type as those sum-
Quartz veining is most intense in the
marized above but contain only 0.18 gin/
area of highest copper grades (Foun-
ton Au in combination with a markedly
tain, 1972).
lower magnetite content of up to 1%
(Barr et al., 1976).
O k Tedi (Fubilan), Papua N e w Guinea
On the basis of published data, most
T h e O k Tedi deposit is related to a
other porphyry copper deposits in Bri-
latite porphyry stock of calc-alkaline
tish Columbia carry molybdenum but
affinity, which was emplaced during the
low gold values, except for the Fish Lake
Plio-Pleistocene into the leading edge
occurrence. It is centred on an Upper
of the Australian continental plate (Barn-
Cretaceous potassium silicate-altered
quartz diorite stock (Wolfard, 1976), bor- ford, 1972). Wall rocks comprise Upper
Cretaceous to Miocene sedimentary
dered by sericitic and propylitic zones.
rocks, predominantly siltstone, sand-
Several tens of million tons of 0.5 gin/
stone and limestone. Ore-grade por-
ton Au are related to chaleopyrite in the
feldspar-stable core, in which magnetite phyry-style mineralization occurs as
was an important component during the part of a potassium silicate alteration
assemblage characterized by quartz,
early mineralization stages. At the
biotite, K-feldspar, chalcopyrite, pyrite,
time of mineralization, British Colum-
marcasite and molybdenite. Magnetite
bia represented a continental-margin
is scarce except in skarn ore peripheral
setting.
to the stock. A massive quartz stock-
w o r k is present as a low-grade core in
Panguna, Bougainville Island, Papua the upper part of the stock, and minor
New Guinea sericitic alteration is observed in its
vicinity (Bamford, 1972).
The largest gold,rich (i. e.,+0.4 gin/ton)
porphyry copper deposit known is Pan- T h e 265-million-ton orebody occurs
guna in the Solomon Islands, part of a as a zone of supergene enrichment assay-
late Cenozoic island arc. The deposit ing 0.82% Cu, 0.011% M o and 0.65 gm/ton
is centred on a series of Pliocene dior- A u (Howell et ai.,1978). T h e hypogene
itic to granodioritic intrusives emplaced protore beneath the enrichment blanket
in andesitic wall rocks. The bulk of the possesses only 0.2 to 0.4 % C u (Howell
900 million tons of copper-gold ore is et al., 1978), althoughpre-enrichrnent
contained in potassium silicate alter- hypogene grades in the upper, central
ation dominated by quartz and biotite parts of the deposit are calculated to have
but including lesser K-feldspar, chlor- been as high as I to 1.5 % C u (Bamford,
ite and anhydrite, and carrying chalco- 1972). T h e gold content of hypogene min-
pyrite, bornite and magnetite as vein- eralization is only reported f r o m i m m e d i -
166
ately beneath the enrichment blanket,
where grades exceed 0.5 gin/ton. Al-
though the high gold content of the super-
gene enriched ore probably reflects its
original hypogene grade, some super-
gene concentration of gold seems possible
in the leached capping, where 30 million
tons assay 3 gin/ton Au (Howell et al.,
1978).
Deposits of the Philippines
Many of the porphyry copper deposits
and prospects in the Philippines would
qualify for inclusion in Kesler's (1973)
gold-rich category but only six of them -
Santo Tomas II (Philex), Dizon, Boneng,
Mountain Mines, Marian and Amacan - potassium
are known to the writer to contain more
than 0.4 gm/tonAu (Fig. l). A few de-
posits are, however, gold-poor and mol-
ybdenum-rich, as at Sipalay. All the de-
posits occupy an island-arc setting.
With the exception of the Marian pro-
spect (see below), all these gold-rich
deposits are associated with quartz dior-
ite (tonalite) porphyry stocks of probable
Miocene age emplaced in andesitic vol-
canic or volcanoclastic rocks (Saegart
and Lewis, 1977). Their ore zones all
carry chalcopyrite and pyrite, with or
without bornite, as components of pot-
assium silicate alteration dominated by
biotite. Biotite is abundant at Santo To-
mas II but rather weakly developed at
Dizon. Stockworks of quartz veinlets,
with patches of intervening silicification,
and abundant magnetite typify the ore
zones. Magnetite also occurs alone in
veinlets and as disseminations. Copper
and gold grades vary sympathetically
and the highest grades are usually coin-
cident. At Santo Tomas II, the best gold
grades are located in the bornite-rich
core. The two richest deposits in gold
are Dizon with 0.93 gin/ton and Santo
Tomas II with 0.90 gin/ton (Fig. I). The
6 to 7 % magnetite at Santo Tomas II was
recovered from the flotation railings at
one time. Sericilic alteration is poorly
represented except at Dizon.
At Boneng, the potassium silicate-
altered tonalite porphyry body is heavily
R.H. Sillitoe
veined and replaced by transparent
quartz carrying up to 10% magnetite,
chalcopyrite, subordinate bornite and
pyrite, and 0.6 gin/ton Au. Many of the
quartz veinlets are subparallel and give
rise to a sheeted structure. The Lobo
deposit, only 1.5 km to the north, is
closely similar to Boneng except for its
larger size, the markedly lesser amount
of quartz and magnetite, the near ab-
sence of quartz replacement, and a gold
content of only 0.3 gin/ton.
The Marian prospect (Baquiran, 1975)
is centred on a monzonite porphyry stock
emplaced in a larger pluton of monzonite.
The small ore zone is associated with
silicate alteration character-
ized by biotite, actinolite, K-feldspar,
chalcopyrite and bornite, is heavily sil-
icified, carries from 3 to 5 % magnetite
and 0.6 gin/ton Au. A sericitic halo is
absent. Except for the presence of abun-
dant hydrothermal quartz, Marian com-
pares closely with the shoshonitic (al-
kalic) porphyry copper deposits of Bri-
tish Columbia.
Cabang Kiri, Sulawesi, Indonesia
The Cabang Kiri porphyry copper pro-
spect in northern Sulawesi occurs in a
mid- to late Tertiary island-arc setting
similar in many respects to the Philip-
pines. The prospect is centred on sever-
al closely spaced quartz diorite porphyry
stocks emplaced in andesitic and rhyolit-
ic volcanic rocks. Alteration at Cabang
Kiri is complex and rather unusual, with
advanced argillic and sericitic assem-
blages dominant (Lowder and Dow, 1978).
A sodic assemblage, which may substi-
tute for potassium silicate alteration, is
also present as isolated internal patches
and is characterized by sericite, albite
and magnetite, along with lesser mont-
morillonite, chlorite and biotite~ it
carries much of the better-grade miner-
alization although some also accompanies
the advanced argillic assemblage: quartz-
diaspore-pyrophyllite (Lowder and Dow,
1978).
T h e limited amount of drilling under-
taken at Cabang Kiri precludes a reliable
Gold-Rich Porphyry Copper Deposits 167

estimate of tonnage and grade, but re- prospect is somewhat similar to Mamut,
stricted volumes of rock are believed to with a copper-bearing biotite-chlorite
possess hypogene values of about 0.6 % shell enclosing a low-grade core char-
Cu and 0.7 gin/ton Au. The relation, if acterized by amphibole and magnetite,
any, between the distribution of magne- the latter present in quantities up to
tite and gold contents has not been re- i0 vol. % in veinlets with quartz and as
ported, although a close association of disseminations (Cox et al., 1975~ D.P.
gold and hypogene copper is apparent Cox, written comm., 1977). Although an
(Lowder and Dow, 1978). average gold grade for the Tanama de-
posit is not available, twelve drill-core
_Mamut, Sabah: Malaysia samples of magnetite-rich rock assay-
ing more than 0.3% Cu possess a mean
T h e M a m u t deposit is centred on an iso- gold content of 0.57 gin/ton, nearly
lated adamellite porphyry stock carry- twice that of the feldspar-destructive
ing large K-feldspar phenocrysts. It is altered rock, and available data confirm
late M i o c e n e - early Plioeene in age, that the highest gold values are associat-
assays 0.43% Cu and 0.63 gin/ton Au ed with the magnetite-rich, pyrite-poor
(K. Wakita, pers. comm., 1977), and oc- material (D.P. Cox, written comm., 1977).
cupies an island-arc setting. Most of
the ore occurs in an inclined and invert-
ed jar-shaped shell of quartz-biotite al- SYNTHES~
teration, with a central, low-grade core
being characterized by hydrothermal The above descriptions of gold-rich por-
tremolite and actinolite (Kosaka and Wa- phyry copper deposits highlight features
kita, 1975, 1978). Detailed information common to the deposits considered and
presented by Kosaka and Wakita (1975) emphasize a number of local and regional
demonstrates a close coincidence be- parameters, which, because they are
tween the distributions of chalcopyrite not consistent for all the gold-rich de-
and native gold in the ore shell, and vin- posits, are apparently not prerequisites
dicates the earlier conclusions of Kirk for their generation. Some of these par-
(1967). The chalcopyrite, accompanied ameters are summarized in Table I.
by pyrite and pyrrhotite, is largely dis-
seminated in a quartz stockwork and in Features characteristic of gold-rich
the widespread, transparent, fine-grain- deposits
ed quartz which replaces adamellite por-
phyry and siltstone and serpentinized The high gold values are mainly present
peridotite wall rocks between the quartz in feldspar-stable alteration, common-
veinlets. The sulphides are accompanied ly assignable to the potassium silicate
by an indeterminate quantity of very type. Biotite and, normally in subordi-
fine-grained magnetite, in places inter- nate amounts, K-feldspar are the char-
grown with actinolite. acteristic alteration minerals, although
an albite-sericite assemblage occurs
at Cabang Kiri and propylitic minerals
Tanama, Puerto Rico
accompany ore in the Iniermontane zone
At Tanama, porphyry copper-type min- deposits. Gold, although in lesser
eralization is associated with three amounts, also accompanies advanced
quartz diorite porphyry stocks of Eocene argillic alteration at Cabang Kiri, al-
age. They occur in an inactive island though it could be inherited from pre-
arc. Sericitic alteration largely overlies existing albite-sericite alteration. Gold
feldspar-stable assemblages in which is closely associated with chalcopyrite
quartz, chlorite, biotite, amphibole, (_+bornite) mineralization. For those de-
epidote, alkali feldspar, magnetite, posits from which appropriate information
chalcopyrite and bornite are dominant is available, gold is present, at least
(Cox et al., 1975). The North Tanama partly, in the native state and, in a crude
168 R.H. Sillitoe

Table i. Characteristics of gold-rich porphyry copper deposits

Geotectonic Age of ltost Petrologic Wall - rock Sericitic Size of

Deposit setting emplacement intrusive suite composition alteration deposit
composition (million
tons)

as well -
B a j o de l a continental late dacite shoshonitic andesitic developed 200
Alumhrera margin Miocene porphyry affinity volcanics halo

Saindak continental early tonalite calc - siltstone as halo 110

(south body margin Miocene porphyry alkaline

late
Intermontane island arc diorite to shoshonitie andesitic absent 25 - 125
Triassic -
Zone~ B.C. syenite volcanics
early
Jurassic

Lake, continental U p p e r
quartz greywacke,
Fish cale - as halo several I0~
diorite shale,
B.C. margin Cretaceous alkaline
porphyry pyroelastics

diorite to
grano -
Panguna island arc Pliocene
diorite
calc - andesitic as central 900
alkaline volcanics patch
porphyry

Philippines andesitic
(except island a r c probably
quartz volcanics
calc - present 12- 210
Marian) Miocene
diorite + volcano-
porphyry
alkaline locally
clastics

Marian island arc probably monzonite shoshonitic monzonite absent

Miocene porphyry pluton

late
Miocene - siltstone,
adamellite calc - serpentinized
Mamut island arc early as cap 180
porphyry alkaline peridotite
Pliocene

quartz
talc - andesitic
Tanama island arc Eocene diorite as cap 140
alkaline volcanics
porphyry

quartz andesitie
Cabang island late calc - )resent at least
diorite + rhyolitic
Kiri arc Miocene alkaline sow, ral lO's
porphyry volcanies

Ok Todi continental Plio si ltstont,, minor as 265

- latil,, talc -
sands1 ono , central
margin Pleistocvm*, porphyry alkalim,
1 i mi,gl on, )a[(!ll

sense, in quantities proportional to the gold values than the associated potas-
copper grade. No direct relationship be- sium silicate alteration. T h e gold-rich
tween gold and pyrite exists, and in deposits tend to be poor in m o l y b d e n u m
some of the gold-rich ore zones pyrite but are far f r o m being devoid of it, es-
is uncommon. Where present, sericitic pecially at Saindak, Bajo de L a A l u m b r e -
alteration carries substantially lower ra and O k Tedi.
Gold-Rich Porphyry Copper Deposits 169

If the deposits described above are re- by granitic basement (Bajo de L a A l u m -

presentative, then an empirical factor brera, Saindak, Fish Lake) as in island
common to many gold-rich porphyry arcs constructed on a foundation of oce-
copper deposits is an abundance of mag- anic lithosphere (Panguna, Cabang Kiri,
netite, commonly accompanied by re- Philippines deposits). Therefore the pre-
placement quartz, in the gold-bearing sence of subjacent oceanic lithosphere
feldspar-stable assemblages. Although (Ney andHollister, 1976) or the absence
magnetite is a normal component of pot- of thick granitic basement (Hollister,
assium silicate alteration (Meyer and 1975) are not prerequisites for the de-
Hemley, 1967), its presence in quanti- velopment of high gold contents in p o r -
ties ranging from 3 to i0 vol. % of an phyry copper deposits.
altered rock is unusual. Magnetite in
these amounts accompanies replacement
A g e of emplacement:
quartz and occurs in veinlets - either
with quartz or alone - and as patches N o particular time interval is character-
and disseminations at all gold-rich de- ized by porphyry copper deposits with
posits considered, with the important elevated gold contents. Although mid-
exception of Ok Tedi and perhaps also to late Cenozoic gold-rich deposits are
of Mamut, where its fine grain-size c o m m o n e s t , early and late Mesozoic
hampers quantification in hand-speci- examples occur in British Columbia
men. Magnetite also is absent from a (Table i).
major zone of potassium silicate alter-
ation at Bingham in Utah, U.S.A. Composition of host intrusive:
(John, 1978), which possesses an anom-
alously high gold content (albeit apparent- Hollister (1975) proposed that gold-rich
ly less than 0.4 gin/ton) when compared porphyry copper deposits are character-
with other porphyry copper deposits in ized by quartz-poor host intrusives,
the western U. S.A. whereas Kesler et al. (1977) concluded
Abundant transparent quartz of replace- that both cale-alkaline intrusives of
ment origin is present in all deposits quartz dioritic composition and shosho-
cited, except those in the Intermontane nitie intrusives possess relatively high
gold contents in contrast to low-gold
zone in which hydrothermal quartz is
completely absent, Tanama, Fish Lake, deposits in calc-alkaline intrusives con-
raining significant K-feldspar.
and perhaps also Panguna. In thin-sec-
tion, the quartz consists of a mosaic of This compilation has shown high gold
interlocking grains. Massive quartz as contents in shoshonitic intrusives era-
a replacement of rock between stockwork placed in an island-arc setting in the
quartz veinlets throughout an appreciable Intermontane zone and at Marian and at
part of a zone of potassium silicate alter- the landward edge of a continental m a r -
ation is not a c o m m o n feature in porphy- gin at Bajo de L a Alumbrera, and in
ry copper deposits. ealc-alkaline host intrusives of quartz
dioritic composition elsewhere, except
at M a m u t and O k Tedi. There the host
Parameters not fundamental to generation stocks are K-feldspar-rich, calc-alka-
of gold-rich deposits line adamellite and latite porphyry, re-
spectively. Therefore the composition
Geotectonic setting:
of the host intrusive does not appear to
Geotectonic setting, per se, is not the be the critical factor controlling the
basic factor in localizing gold-rich por- gold eontents of porphyry copper deposits,
phyry copper deposits (cf.,Titley, 1978). although calc-alkaline hosts of grano-
Equally high gold contents may be present dioritic to adamellitic composition
in deposits emplaced above subduction would appear, on the basis of deposits
zones at continental margins underlain considered, to be least c o m m o n .
170 R.H. Sillitoe

The independence of intrusive com- poor east body at Saindak. This conclusion
position and gold content is further em- accords with that of Titley (1978), who
phasized by observations at Saindak, stated that the metal contents of porphyry
where the south and east bodies, both copper deposits in the west and south-
hosted by identical tonalite porphyry west Pacific are unrelated to wallrock
stocks, contain widely different gold type.
contents.
Erosion level:
Occurrence of sericitic alteration:
Although the gold in gold-rich porphyry Although it is inherently difficult to com-
copper deposits is commonly present in pare erosion level between different por-
a centrally located zone of feldspar- phyry copper districts or provinces, it
stable alteration, it does not appear to seems reasonable to assume that close-
be influenced by whether or not an en- ly spaced, contemporaneous deposits
veloping sericitic zone is developed. No possess approximately the same level.
defineable sericitic zone is present at Therefore differences in the level of
Santo Tomas II, Boneng, Marian, Ok erosion of deposits cannot be responsible
Tedi and the Intermontane zone deposits, for the widely different gold contents of
whereas a well-developed sericitic halo the south and east bodies at Saindak, as
is present at Bajo de La Alumbrera, a little as i00 m apart, or the Lobo and
sericitic core at Panguna, and sericitic Boneng deposits~ only 1.5 km apart.
caps at Marnut and Tanama. Therefore These observations cast serious doubt
absence of sericitic alteration (Hollister, on the general applicability of Titleyls
1975) is not a requirement for a high (1978) suggestion that the gold contents
gold content. of deposits in the west and southwest
Pacific are dependent on the erosion
Size of deposit: level exhibited by porphyry systems
vertically zoned with respect to hypo-
This parameter is clearly unrelated to gene gold.
gold content since gold-rich deposits,
as defined herein, range from 5 million
to 900 million tons (Fig. i), roughly the
extremes for all porphyry copper de-
posits. SPECULATIONS
Available evidence seems adequate to
Composition of wall rocks:
eliminate the seven parameters listed
Andesitic volcanic rocks commonly com- above as fundamental controls for the
prise the wall rocks for gold-rich de- development of gold-rich porphyry cop-
posits (Bajo de La Alumbrera, the Inter- per deposits. However, the mechan-
montane zone, the Philippines), as they ism(s) for gold enrichment is not yet
do for all porphyry copper deposits, but clear, although the fact that many known
other rock types also occur: Rhyolites gold-rich deposits are unusually rich in
are present at Cabang Kiri; siltstones magnetite might be taken to suggest that
at Saindak and Mamut, accompanied at the physicochemical conditions conducive
the latter deposit by serpentinized peri- to deposition of above-average amounts
dotite; siltstone, sandstone and limestone of this mineral under feldspar-stable
at Ok Tedi, greywacke and shale at Fish conditions also favour the introduction
Lake; and an earlier monzonite pluton and precipitation of large quantities of
at Marian. Therefore wall-rock compo- gold. These conditions would include an
sition is eliminated as a control of gold abnormally high fO~/fS~ ratio.
content, a point further emphasized by
the exactly similar siltstone wall rocks The high fluid temperatures and sal-
around the gold-rich south body and gold- inities indicated for gold-rich potassium
Gold-Rich Porphyry Copper Deposits
silicate alteration (e. g., Panguna - Eas-
toe, 1978; Santo Tomas II and Mamut
Takenouchi, 1976; Tanama - Cox et al.,
1975) support introduction of gold as a
component of magmatic, rather than
heated meteoric, fluids. Under these
conditions, the transport of gold and
magnetite, like copper, will be in the
form of chloride complexes (Henley,
1973; Chou and Eugster, 1977). However,
if magmatic environments possessing an
fO~/fS~ higher than normal are particu-
larly suitable for gold concentration,
what is their cause? Moreover, why
should gold-rich porphyry copper de-
posits and hence fO~/fS 2 conditions ap-
pear to have been more prevalent in is-
land-arc environments than in those at
continental margins? An answer to these
major questions is still pending but
might be related to conditions: (I) pre-
vailing in the vicinity of the underlying
subduction zone; (2) affecting magma
bodies during their ascent; or (3) influ-
encing the in situ differentiation and
crystallization of magma bodies and the
separation of a hydrothermal fluid phase.
If the second alternative is preferred,
then perhaps island-arc magmas would
have a greater chance of possessing a
higher oxygen fugacity than those era-
placed at continental margins because of
the reduced likelihood of their reaction
with carbon-bearing material of sedi-
mentary parentage during ascent through
thin island-arc crust (cf., Ishihara ~s
(1977) concept). This explanation, along
with any invoking the first alternative,
fail, however, to account for the four-
hundred-fold difference in gold content
between closely spaced, apparently co-
magmatic stocks at Saindak (Fig. 3).
This observation would seem to be com-
patible with only the third alternative -
distinct evolutions of the porphyry sys-
tems (magma body plus evolved fluid
phase) at or close to their present sites
within the upper continental crust. This
opinion concurs with Tilling et al., 's
(1973) conclusion for gold deposits in gen-
eral: that geochemical conditions of gold
transport and deposition are the major
factors controlling the concentration of
gold.
171
HINTS FOR EXPLORATION
-
The association of high magnetite con-
tents, generating magnetic responses of
up to 4500 gammas, with some of the
gold-rich porphyry copper deposits as-
sociated with feldspar-stable alteration
suggests ground-, or even airborne,
magnetic surveys as an effective means
of locating such deposits, although the
reduced magnetic response consequent
upon supergene martitization should be
borne in mind. Once the gold-rich char-
acter of a porphyry prospect has been
established, then drilling could be direct-
ed towards parts possessing the highest
magnetic response. Magnetite is normal-
ly easy to appreciate at outcrop although
locally intense supergene oxidation may
transform it to a distinctive, pulverulent,
red hematitic limonite, not unlike that
due to oxidation of chalcocite in the pre-
sence of pyrite. The transparent replace-
ment quartz which is a common accom-
paniment to the magnetite is also distinc-
tive.
In the case of porphyry copper pro-
spects where leached-capping appraisals
indicate only low-grade copper mineral-
ization, further work might well be war-
ranted if magnetite contents in feldspar-
stable alteration (or its supergene sili-
cate alteration products) are high, since
there seems to be no reason why copper-
poor porDhyry gold deposits should not
exist. Further assessment of such por-
phyry prospects could utilize gold geo-
chemistry: Learned and Boissen (1973),
Cox and Learned (1977) and Lowder and
Dow (1978) showed that soil geochemical
values for gold closely reflect the hypo-
gene gold content of underlying porphyry
copper mineralization. High geochemical
values for gold over prospects consider-
ed to show low-copper capping character-
istics might then merit exploration drill-
ing.
Interestingly, Lawrence (1978) suggest~
ed that copper-deficient, disseminated
gold mineralization in Pliocene shoshon-
itic volcanics at Vunda, Fiji, is of por-
phyry type. Several alteration types, in-
cluding potassium silicate and advanced
172
argillie, were identified in highly weath-
ered outcrop but no firm information on
their relation to gold mineralization or
on magnetite contents is yet available.
Acknowledgements. The writer's work at
Bajo de La Alumbrera was part of Plan
NOA- 1 Geol6gico-Minero of Argentina,
and at Saindak was part of an exploration
programme carried out with the assis-
tance of the United Nations by Resource
Development Corporation of Pakistan;
personnel of these organizations, es-
pecially O. Gonz~tlez and S. N. Khan re-
spectively, are thanked for their cooper-
ation. Gold Fields Asia Ltd., Benguet
Consolidated Ltd., Philex Mining, Vul-
can Industrial and Mineral Exploration
Corp., Western Minolco Corp., and
Overseas Mineral Resources Develop-
ment Sabah Bhd., and their personnel,
are thanked for assistance and hospitality;
the organizational support of R. A. Shakes-
by and J. P. McKibben in the Philippines
was particularly valuable. Reviews of
the original manuscript by D. P. Cox and
R. W. Henley and Cox's provision of un-
published data for Tanama resulted in
improvements and are gratefully acknow-
ledged.
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