Porphyry copper deposit

Ore deposit

Fluids from a large magma chamber several kilometres down rise through dikes of porphyritic rock and spread copper sulfides through a huge volume of fractured rock, in hairline veins. Low grade but vast: they are worked from as little as 0.15 per cent copper.

Minerals

Chalcopyrite, Bornite, Chalcocite, Molybdenite, Pyrite, Quartz, Magnetite, Anhydrite, Gold, Silver, Tetrahedrite, Enargite, Covellite

Metals

Copper, Gold, Iron, Molybdenum, Silver

Worked

Since the industrial age

Examples

Bingham Canyon, Utah; Chuquicamata and Escondida, Chile; Ray Mine, Arizona

Sources

• Porphyry copper deposit. Wikipedia.
• D. A. John (editor) and others, Porphyry copper deposit model (Scientific Investigations Report 2010-5070-B). U.S. Geological Survey, 2010.

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