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Hydrothermal fluid evolution in the Escondida porphyry copper deposit, northern Chile: evidence from SEM-CL imaging of quartz veins and LA-ICP-MS of fluid inclusions

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Abstract

The origin of hypogene alteration and mineralization features in the Escondida porphyry Cu deposit resulted from intense overprinting related to three main hydrothermal stages. The beginning of each stage is recorded by deposition of bright quartz crystals on vein walls that precipitated from high-temperature fluids. In the deepest zones of the deposit, the earliest stage started with exsolution of intermediate-density fluids, which transported high concentrations of Cu, whereas Mo was not detected. However, in the shallow zones, the early stage began with depressurization and unmixing of intermediate-density fluids, which generated both a hypersaline and vapour-rich fluid phase, producing an important geochemical segregation between both phases. The transitional stage also started with circulation of intermediate-density fluids but never experienced unmixing. These fluids transported the highest Mo concentrations in the deposit; however, Cu displays lower concentrations relative to intermediate-density fluids from the early stage. The beginning of the late stage was also associated with intermediate-density fluids; however, Cu and Mo were below the detection limits in most of the analysed fluids. During the evolution of the three stages, the fluids experienced gradual cooling, which promoted the precipitation of euhedral and zoned quartz crystals that overgrew the early high-luminescence quartz generations. Sometimes, sulfide minerals display euhedral crystal boundaries with zoned quartz, suggesting that mineralization started during these phases. The latest events detected in each main stage are linked to cooler and low-salinity fluids, from which dark quartz and hypogene sulfides precipitated along microfractures and interstitial spaces developed in the earlier quartz generations.

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modified from Mpodozis et al. 1993)

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Acknowledgements

We thank Minera Escondida Ltd. for providing technical and logistical support during field and sampling activities. Analyses and interpretation of X-ray diffraction data were provided by Mr. F. Álvarez and Dr. N. Guerra, respectively. We are grateful to the Imaging and Analysis Centre at the Natural History Museum for supporting the SEM-CL and LA-ICP-MS work. We thank Brian Rusk and Thomas Bissig for their constructive comments that greatly improved the manuscript.

Funding

This research was funded by projects UCN-MEL 25.02.02/31.10.10.99, MECESUP 0711, and CONICYT 78092009.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Geología, Facultad de Ingeniería, Universidad de Atacama, Copayapu 485, Copiapó, Chile

    Karl Riveros Jensen & Gustavo Miranda-Díaz

  2. Departamento de Ciencias Geológicas, Facultad de Ingeniería Y Ciencias Geológicas, Universidad Católica del Norte, Avenida Angamos 0610, Antofagasta, Chile

    Eduardo Campos

  3. Department of Earth Sciences, LODE, Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London, SW7 5BD, UK

    Jamie J. Wilkinson & Clara C. Wilkinson

  4. Department of Earth Science and Engineering, Imperial College London, Exhibition Road, London, SW7 2AZ, UK

    Jamie J. Wilkinson

  5. Core Research Laboratories, Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London, SW7 5BD, UK

    Anton Kearsley

  6. Institut Für Mineralogie, Technische Universität Bergakademie Freiberg, Brennhausgasse 14, 09599, Freiberg, Germany

    Gustavo Miranda-Díaz

  7. Minera Escondida Ltda, Avenida de la Minera 501, 501, Antofagasta, Chile

    Walter Véliz

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Jensen, K.R., Campos, E., Wilkinson, J.J. et al. Hydrothermal fluid evolution in the Escondida porphyry copper deposit, northern Chile: evidence from SEM-CL imaging of quartz veins and LA-ICP-MS of fluid inclusions. Miner Deposita 57, 279–300 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00126-021-01058-z

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