Mineralium Deposita (2003) 38: 787-812, OT 10.1007/s00126-003-0379- LL _uoe i i#+}+== — Richard H, Sillitoe Iron oxide-copper-gold deposits: an Andean view Received: 3 March 2003 © Springer-Verlag 2003, Abstract Iron oxide-copper-gold (OCG) deposits, de- fined primarily by their elevated magnetite and/or hema- tite contents, constitute a broad, ill-defined clan rclated to variety of tectono-magmaticsettings. The youngestand, therefore, most readily undersiandable IOCG belt is lo- cated in the Coastal Cordillera of northern Chile and southern Peru, where it is part of a voleano-plutonic atc of Jurassic through Early Cretaceous age. The arc is, characterised by voluminous tholeiitic to cale-alkaline plutonic complexes of gabbro through granodiorite composition and. primitive, mantle-detived. parentage. Major are-parallel fault systems developed in response to extension and transtension induced by subduction roll- back at the retreating convergent margin. The arc crust was attenuated and subjected to high heat flow. IOCG. depositsshare thearc withmassivemagnetite deposits, the copper-deficient end-iembers of the IOCG clan, as well as with manto-type copper and small porphyry copper deposits to create a distinctive metallogenic signature. ‘The 1OCG deposits display close relations to the plutonic complexes and broadly coeval fault systems. Based on deposit morphology and dictated in part by lithological and structural parameters, they can be sep- arated into several styles: veins, hydrothermal breccias, replacement mantos, calcie skarns and composite deposits that combine all or many of the preceding types. The vein deposits tend to be hosted by intrusive rocks, especially equigranular gabbrodiorite and diorite, whereas the larger, composite deposits (e.g. Candelaria: Punta del Cobre) occur within voleano-sedimentary se- quences up to 2 km from pluton contacts and in int mate association with major orogen-parallel fault systems. Structurally localised IOCG deposits normally share faults and fractures with pre-mineral mafic dykes, many of dioritic composition, thereby further emphas- Eaitoral handling: B, Lehmann R. HL Sillitoe 27 West Hill Park, Highgate Village, London N6 6ND, UK E-maik: aucu@compuserve.com Accepted: 22 July 2003 Published online: 17 September 2003 ising the close connection with mafic magmatism. The deposits formed in association with sodic. calcic and potassic alteration, either alone or in some combination, reveal evidence of an upward and outward zonation from magnetite-actinolite-apatite to specular hematite- chlorite-sericite and possess a Cu-Au-Co-Ni-As-Mo-U- (LREE) (light rare carih element) signature reminiscent of some calcie iron skarns around diorite intrusions. Scant observations suggest that massive calcite veins and, at shallower palaeodepths, extensive zones of bar- ten pyritic feldspar-destructive alteration may be indi- cators of concealed 1OCG deposits. ‘The balance of evidence strongly Supports a genetic connection of the central-Andean IOCG deposits with gabbrodiotite to diorite magmas from which the ore fluid may have been channelled by major ductile to brittle fault systems for several kilometres vertically or perhaps even laterally, The large, composite IOCG deposits originated by ingress of the ore fluid to rela- lively permeable voleano-sedimentary sequences, ‘The mafic magma may form entire plutons or, alternatively, Inay underplate more felsi intrusions, as witnessed by the ore-related diorite dykes, but in either case the origin of the ore fluid at greater, unobserved depths may be inferred. It is concluded that external ‘basinal’ fluids were not a requirement for 1OCG formation in. the central Andes, although metamorphic, seawater, evap- otitic or meteoric fluids may have fortuitously contam- inated the magmatic ore fluid locally. The proposed linkage of central Andean and probably some olher 1OCG deposits to oxidised dioritic magmas may be compared with the well-documented dependency of several other magmatic-hydrothermal deposit types on igneous petrochemistry. The affiliation of a spectrum of base-metal poor gold-(Bi-W-Mo) deposit styles to rela- tively reduced monzogranite-granodiorite intrusions may be considered as a closely analogous example. Keywords Iron oxide-copper-gold deposits Metallogeny - Central Andes « Diorite - Extensional tectonics » Voleano-pluionic ares