Escolar Documentos
Profissional Documentos
Cultura Documentos
J. KEITH GLOVER*
Glover Consulting Ltd., 146 Simcoe St., Victoria, B.C., Canada V8V 1K4
Abstract
Antamina, located at latitude 9 32' S and longitude 77 03' W in the Ancash Department of north-central
Peru, is the largest known Cu-Zn skarn ore deposit. It incorporates a mineral reserve of 561 Mt, which has an
average grade of 1.24 percent Cu, 1.03 percent Zn, 13.71 g/t Ag and 0.029 percent Mo, calculated at a 0.7 percent Cu equiv cutoff grade. The grandite-dominated calcic skarn formed in and around an upper Miocene porphyritic monzogranite stock emplaced into Upper Cretaceous carbonate strata that had experienced thinskinned, northeast-verging thrusting and folding in the late Eocene Incaic orogeny. The exoskarn Cu-Zn ore is
discordant to the strata of the Jumasha and overlying Celendn Formations, which comprise, respectively, massive to thick-bedded, relatively pure limestones and thin-bedded, predominantly marly limestones. The Jumasha Formation, the upper contact of which is locally defined as the top of the uppermost thick-bedded limestone or marble unit, hosts approximately three-quarters of the known exoskarn. Approximately the same
fraction of the contiguous endoskarn Cu ore occurs adjacent to this formation. The overlying Celendn Formation is less extensively mineralized but, because it is widely metamorphosed to hornfels and locally converted to diopsidic skarnoid, may have inhibited the upward and outward migration of hydrothermal fluids,
thereby promoting the development of the unusually large endoskarn ore zone. Ore also occurs in late hydrothermal breccias emplaced during the formation of mineralized endoskarn.
The preskarn thermal metamorphic aureole around the ore deposit is expressed differently in the two host
formations. Jumasha Formation limestone is coarsened and bleached to banded gray marble and locally to
white marble peripheral to the intrusion and skarn. Minor scapolite occurs in dark gray bands in marble, concentrated in a discontinuous halo tens of meters wide and commonly separated from the skarn by tens of meters. Three facies of calc-hornfels are recognized in the marl beds of the Celendn Formation adjacent to the
intrusion extending hundreds of meters beyond sulfide-bearing skarn: a peripheral, very fine grained, light
brown phlogopitic facies; an intermediate, fine-grained, gray tremolitic facies; and a proximal, medium-grained,
light green diopsidic facies. At an XCO2 of 0.1 to 0.9 and P = 100 MPa, these zones reflect temperatures increasing to circa 495C adjacent to the intrusion. In addition, in nodular beds of the Celendn Formation that
have been metamorphosed to hornfels, diagenetic calcite nodules are selectively replaced by diopside for distances of tens of meters beyond the skarn front. Such calc-silicate formation through both metamorphism and
metasomatism, together with a 9 km2 cluster of Pb-Zn-Ag vein deposits, provides district-scale vectors to ore.
The Antamina deposit lies on a newly recognized cross-strike structural discontinuity in the segmented Incaic Maran thrust and fold belt, the northeast-trending Querococha arch. Southeast of the arch, Incaic folds
and thrust faults strike north-northwest, but northwest of the arch they strike northerly. The plunge of fold axes
concomitantly changes from south-southeast to north. Stratigraphic relationships indicate that the arch was a
paleohigh, at least in the Jurassic and possibly throughout the late Paleozoic-early Mesozoic interval. The middle Miocene Carhuish pluton is exposed on the arch 30 km southwest of Antamina, whereas coeval Calipuy Supergroup volcanic units lie at similar altitudes to the north and south. Only scattered hydrothermal centers of
late Miocene age are known in the Cordillera Negra, but an apparent swarm of intrusions, including the Antamina stock, occurs along the Querococha arch.
Antamina is situated where the locus of changes in the strike of folds and faults and the plunge of folds steps
left along the arch. At Antamina, a pair of fault-bend folds above frontal thrust ramps show approximately 500
m of dextral apparent offset across the deposit and are inferred to have been separated by a northeast-striking transfer fault or lateral ramp, itself localized by a left-stepping jog in the Valley fault, an underlying, similarly oriented transverse structure. The jog in the Valley fault is inferred to have also controlled intrusion and
skarn development. This local-scale jog in the Valley fault mimics the regional step along the arch. The arch
may reflect a transform segment of the originally jagged, rifted continental margin, which persisted as a transverse basement weakness. Northeast-striking, originally sinistral, basement structures affected regional-scale
sedimentation and structural patterns, including articulation of the thrust and fold belt. At a local scale, they
Corresponding
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influenced lateral ramp formation and related fracture development in the overlying thrust sheets. In the proposed model, they also localized later uplift and the rapid transit of small volumes of productive melt into a
shallow crustal setting, conditions favorable for formation of a giant magmatic-hydrothermal ore deposit.
Introduction
DESPITE their potential ore genetic and metallogenic importance, the lithologic, stratigraphic, and structural settings of
skarn mineralization have rarely been comprehensively documented. It is therefore difficult to assess their influence on
the localization of skarn-generating hydrothermal systems
and, in particular, to envisage the specific environments in
which exceptional deposits have developed. In this paper, we
describe the host rocks and structural relationships of the Antamina Cu-Zn(-Ag-Mo) deposit, north-central Peru, and propose a model for the stratigraphic and tectonic environment
in which this largest known Cu-Zn skarn orebody formed.
These aspects are controversial, in part because of the poorly
defined local stratigraphic succession and because of the deformation, metamorphism, and metasomatism imposed on
the ore-hosting strata. Following a brief summary of the geology of the deposit, we document the regional-scale (ca. 5,000
km2) geologic and geodynamic setting of the mineralization
before focusing on the district scale (ca. 120 km2).
Copper mineralization was known at Antamina (anta: copper in Quechua) in pre-Colonial times, but only modest
amounts of Pb and Ag are known to have been produced in
the district prior to 2001 (Redwood, 1999). The skarn contains proven and probable reserves of 561 Mt with an average
grade of 1.24 percent Cu, 1.03 percent Zn, 13.71 g/t Ag, and
0.029 percent Mo (calculated at a 0.7% Cu equiv cutoff
grade). Compaa Minera Antamina S.A., which operates the
Antamina open-pit mine, is owned by BHP Billiton (33.75%),
Noranda (33.75%), Teck Cominco (22.5%), and Mitsubishi
(10%). Production of copper-silver and zinc concentrates, as
well as lead, molybdenum, and bismuth byproducts, began in
July 2001 (Zuzunaga, 2003).
The Antamina mine is located at approximately 9 32' S and
77 03' W, 270 km north of Lima and 130 km from the Pacific
coast, in Ancash Department in north-central Peru (Fig. 1). It
lies in the eastern part of the Cordillera Occidental, east of
the Cordillera Blanca and west of the Ro Maran valley.
The skarn is exposed between approximately 4,200 and 4,800
m a.s.l., at the head of a southwest-draining glacial valley, but
prior to mining much of the orebody was covered by Lago
Antamina, a glacial tarn (Fig. 2). The history of exploration at
Antamina and the general geology of the deposit are summarized by Redwood (1998, 1999). OConnor (2000) reviewed
the geologic and geophysical approaches that delineated the
ore and outlined the development of the mine, metallurgical
testing, and resource calculations. Both authors generally
supported previous geologic descriptions and interpretations
(e.g., Petersen, 1965).
The Antamina deposit formed at 9.86 to 10.18 Ma
(40Ar/39Ar step-heating data of Love et al., 2003) around a
small monzogranitic porphyry intrusion. It is hosted by Upper
Cretaceous carbonate strata within the Maran thrust and
fold belt, formed by the late Eocene Incaic orogeny (Fig. 1;
Noble et al., 1979; Mgard, 1984). The western Andes of
Peru were the site of episodic arc magmatism from the Late
Triassic to the late Miocene (Cobbing et al., 1981). However,
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Pasto Bueno
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(Yungay & Fortaleza Fms.)
Fig. 6
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ra
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Antamina
Fig. 5
10S
Huarmey
78 W
77 W
MTFB
FIG. 1. Location map of the Antamina deposit and general geology of part of Ancash and La Libertad Departments, Peru.
Compiled and modified after Egeler and De Booy (1956), Cosso (1964), Wilson and Reyes (1964), Cosso and Jan (1967),
Wilson et al. (1967, 1995), Myers (1976, 1980), Reyes (1980), Snchez (1995), Allende (1996), Cobbing et al. (1996), Jacay
(1996), Snchez et al. (1998), INGEMMET (1999), and Strusievicz et al. (2000). The Tapacocha axis delineates the western
edge of the Cretaceous shelf (Myers, 1974, 1975). Other deposits (Pierina and Pasto Bueno) and prospects (Magistral) mentioned in the text are shown, as are the areas illustrated in Figs. 5 and 6. MTFB = Maran thrust and fold belt.
exoskarn comprising the copper-zinc ore. Molybdenite is disseminated in irregular zones within and at the margin of the
intrusion. Chalcopyrite is the dominant copper mineral except at shallow depths in the southwestern part of the deposit,
where bornite predominates in wollastonitic exoskarn, which
forms an enclave in green garnet Cu-Zn exoskarn.
Hydrothermal breccia is common at or near the endoskarnexoskarn contacts along the northwest and southeast sides of
the deposit. Breccia also cuts the porphyry core as anastomosing sheets and pipes that are commonly enveloped by
fine-grained maroon garnet endoskarn (Fig. 3). The breccia
zones contain minor chlorite and were originally described by
Petersen (1965) as chlorite skarn. The breccias are generally
poorly sorted and comprise angular to rounded fragments of
the skarn and metallic minerals supported in a sand-sized
matrix of similar composition. As in skarn, sphalerite and
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FIG. 2. Premine physiography of the Antamina area, with place names referred to in the text, illustrating the clustering of Ag-bearing Pb-Zn vein deposits around Lago Antamina documented by Bodenlos and Ericksen (1955).
Also indicated are the Contonga Pb-Zn-Cu-Ag mine 5 km to the north-northwest of Lago Antamina and veins about 500 m northeast of Contonga. B =
Barrn, C = Casualidad, Cc = Condorcoccha, F = Fortuna, JE = Julia Eloisa,
P = Poderosa, Pp = Putapuquio, R = Recompensa, RdO = Rosita de Oro, SF
= San Francisco, SR = Santa Rosa, UP = Usu Pallares. The viewpoints for
photographs in Figures 7, 8, 12, and 15 are shown as eyes. (Contour interval is 200 m.)
Stratigraphic relationships
The host Machay Group (Figs. 1 and 4) includes all Albian
to mid-Campanian carbonate rocks south of 9 S and east of
the Tapacocha axis in north-central Peru. Szekely (1967) introduced the Machay Group in central Peru and SamamBoggio (1980) applied it throughout Peru. These rocks also
have been referred to informally as the middle Cretaceous
limestone series (Harrison, 1940), the upper Cretaceous
and Albian carbonate series (Mgard, 1984), and the upper
carbonate sequence (Manrique, 1998). The group is underlain by a predominantly siliciclastic sequence comprising
Upper Jurassic marine black shales of the Chicama Group
and Lower Cretaceous (Berriasian to Aptian) continental to
shelf sandstones, shales, and minor limestones of the Goyllarisquisga Group (Fig. 4). It is widely overlain, conformably or
slightly unconformably, by red beds (Wilson, 1963), which are
mainly Campanian to Paleocene but as old as Santonian in
central Peru (Jaillard, 1987). Not preserved in the immediate
Antamina area, these nonmarine, coarse clastic rocks have
been variously described as the Pocabamba Formation, 25
km southeast of Antamina at La Unin (Wilson, 1963, after
McLaughlin, 1924), the Chota Formation, 20 km north of Antamina (Benavides, 1956: after Broggi, 1942), and the Casapalca Group, 25 km southwest of Antamina in the Cordillera
Huayhuash (Coney, 1971, after McLaughlin, 1924).
The Machay Group contains two transgressive sequences
separated by a disconformity ascribed to late-middle Albian
uplift and erosion related to the Mochica orogeny (Mgard,
1984). In the lower part of the group, the successive Pariahuanca, Chulec, and Pariatambo Formations (Fig. 4) record
a transition from near-shore, calcareous sandstone and massive, shelly limestone, through thin-bedded limestone and
marl, to deep-water, thin-bedded, bituminous, dark gray marl
and limestone (Benavides, 1956, 1999; Wilson, 1963; Jaillard,
1987). Following the late-middle Albian hiatus, carbonate
sedimentation on the platform resumed with the deposition
of the shallow-water, upper Albian to upper Turonian Jumasha Formation (Jaillard, 1987), originally defined by
McLaughlin (1924) in central Peru. This formation is overlain
by the muddier, deeper-water Celendn Formation (Benavides, 1956), largely Coniacian to Santonian in age (Jaillard,
1987) but attaining the mid-Campanian in northern Peru
(Mourier et al., 1988). The upper part of the group, comprising the Jumasha and Celendn Formations (Fig. 4), thus represents a second major transgressive sequence. The lower to
middle Albian carbonate strata (the first transgressive sequence)
are similar in lithology and thickness in both northern and
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FIG. 3. Simplified cross sections (a) and projected surface geology map (b) of the Antamina deposit, illustrating the
crudely elliptical, vertical zones of endoskarn and exoskarn developed between a core of largely skarn-free porphyry and the
limestone host rocks. Simplified surface geology map is based on drill-hole geology projected to surface and on surface mapping by D.A.L. and J.K.G., combined with that by L. Hathaway (Inmet) and M. Wunder (Noranda). Prominent northweststriking Incaic folds and the left-stepping, transverse Valley fault (VF) are indicated. The location of the proposed Valley lateral ramp (VLR), inferred to be responsible for the apparent dextral offset of the Antamina anticline (AA), is also shown.
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Antamina Mine Area
Uchupata Type-Sections
Upper Sequence
Campanian
Lower Sequence
Impure limestone interbedded near the top:
rare, medium to thick beds (20-50 cm), very dark gray to
black, silty limestone, weathers medium gray
Predominantly thick-bedded, relatively pure limestone:
dark gray, medium- to very thick-bedded, ranges in grain size
from mudstone to wackestone, weathers light to pale gray
Locally fossiliferous bioclastic wackestone:
with broken pelecypods and gastropods, but no apparent
diagnostic fauna
Turonian
Limestone: medium gray, thick bedded,
weathering dark dove gray,
Foraminifera-bearing
S
K
A
R
N
100
Calipuy Supergroup
Campanian - Paleocene
Casapalca Group
-?---?---?-
200 m
Albian - U Cretaceous
Coniacian - Santonian
U Albian - Turonian
M Albian
L - M Albian
L Albian
Machay Group
L Cretaceous
(Berriasian - Aptian)
U Jurassic
Goyllarisquisga Group
U Triassic - L Jurassic
Pucar Group
L Permian - L Triassic
Mitu Group
Mississippian
Ambo Group
Limestone: argillaceous
Limestone: medium gray, massive, thick
bedded, weathering dark-brownish gray
Dolostone: thin bedded, brown
Celendn Formation
Jumasha Formation
Pariatambo Formation
Chulec Formation
Pariahuanca Formation
Cenomanian
Chicama Group
Upper Albian
Dolostone: silty, medium gray, somewhat nodular
FIG. 4. Inferred stratigraphic column in the mine area compared with that for the Jumasha and Celendn Formations,
compiled from observations (Benavides, 1956) on the measured sections in the Ro Puchca valley, approximately 20 km north
of Antamina. The contact between the Jumasha and Celendn Formations coincides with the boundary between the Turonian and Coniacian stages and is indicated with a solid line; unknown stage boundary locations have been approximated and
indicated with dashed lines and question marks. The stratigraphic interval interpreted to host the skarn is shown. Inset shows
an outline of the regional stratigraphic section.
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hc
c
Pu
ANTAMINA
Nevado
Ro M
osna
930'S
Huantsn
Cordillera
Blanca
Pampa
940'S
Junin
Carhuish
Laguna
Querococha
Pluton
jn
lle
Ca
de
Hu
las
ay
Cordillera
Huayhuash
7710'W
7720'W
7700'W
12
16
20 km
anticline
syncline
9S
19i
plunge direction
19j
thrust fault
normal fault
strike-slip fault
20i
7730'W
20j
10S
7630'W
FIG. 5. Structural geology of the Maran thrust and fold belt in the vicinity of Antamina, illustrating the marked change
in the orientations of thrust faults and fold axes across a northeast-trending zone through Antamina (after Egeler and de
Booy, 1956; Wilson et al., 1967, 1995; Cobbing et al., 1996; Jacay, 1996; and Strusievicz et al., 2000). The northeast-southwesttrending loci of these changes in structural attitude is indicated by the heavy dashed line, which is offset in a left-stepping sense in the vicinity of Antamina. This area is the location of the proposed cross-strike structural discontinuity discussed
in the text. Inset shows the location of the map area relative to the Huari (19-i), Singa (19-j), Requay (20-i) and La Unin
(20-j) quadrangles. No attempt has been made to establish continuity between the map units of Wilson et al. (1967, 1995)
north of 9 30' S and those of Cobbing et al. (1996) to the south. The undated volcanic rocks of Pampa Junn have been assigned to the Calipuy Supergroup (see text for discussion).
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77 W
N
900' S
Llamelln
D
CS
Nevado
Huantsan
ANTAMINA
930' S
Pampa
Junin
Laguna
Querococha
Carhuish
pluton
Cordillera
Huayhuash
Structures
faults
fold axes
Rock types
20 km
FIG. 6. Simplified geology of approximately 8,000 km2 of the Maran thrust and fold belt in the region around Antamina; the dominantly upper Miocene Cordillera Blanca batholith is removed (cf. Figs. 1 and 5), reflecting the geology at the
time of intrusion and mineralization in the late Miocene. The northeast-southwest trending cross-strike structural discontinuity that passes through Antamina is delimited by heavy dashed lines. Mississippian to Lower Jurassic sedimentary rocks
are absent beneath the Cretaceous Goyllarisquisga Group northeast of Antamina along the cross-strike structural discontinuity but are present north and southeast of the cross-strike structural discontinuity, except where cut out by faulting. An unusual abundance of igneous bodies intrudes the Maran Belt along the cross-strike structural discontinuity, compared to
transects to the north and south. After Egeler and de Booy (1956), Wilson et al. (1967, 1995), Cobbing et al. (1996), Jacay
(1996), and Strusievicz et al. (2000).
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plate boundary, and comprises structures that predominantly verge northeast (Mgard, 1984; Fig. 5). However,
southeast of the cross-strike structural discontinuity, folds
and thrust faults strike north-northwest, whereas to the
northwest of it, they strike northerly (Figs. 1, 5, and 6).
Moreover, fold plunges are reversed across this zone: to the
southeast, most major anticlines and synclines plunge to the
south-southeast, whereas to the northwest, they plunge
north (Fig. 5). The locus of changes in strike and plunge extends northeast from Laguna Querococha, but about 5 km
southwest of Antamina it steps 8 km to the north before continuing northeastward (Fig. 5). Faults with the same overall
northeast strike as the cross-strike structural discontinuity
control some present-day drainages, such as the northeasttrending Ro Puchca valley, 20 km north of Antamina, which
is discordant to the overall north to north-northwest grain of
the terrain (Fig. 5).
The deflection in the Antamina area is one of several that
articulate the Maran thrust and fold belt. Northerly strikes
continue to Llamalln, 50 km to the north of Antamina in the
eastern part of the belt (Fig. 1). Still farther north, the overall north-northwest regional strike of the Maran thrust and
fold belt resumes. A comparable sharp deflection to northsouth strikes occurs at the northern end of the Cordillera
Blanca (Fig. 1), 175 km to the north-northwest of Antamina,
where the Casma-Pasto Bueno fault zone intersects the regional north-northwest strikes (Rivera, 1996). Benavides
(1999) identified many segments in the fabric of the Maran
thrust and fold belt, including the two described above, although he proffered a different mechanism for their formation, as discussed below.
Stratigraphic variations across the cross-strike structural
discontinuity: The contact relationships of the upper Paleozoic and Mesozoic strata (Fig. 4) to the lower Paleozoic
Maran metamorphic complex vary in accordance with the
segmentation of the thrust and fold belt. Figure 6 shows the
relationships along the western margin of the Maran complex throughout an area more extensive than that shown in
Figure 5. Mississippian to Lower Jurassic strata that normally
separate the pre-Ordovician metamorphic rocks from the
Cretaceous sedimentary rocks are absent near the proposed
cross-strike structural discontinuity. In the north-striking segment of the fold belt immediately north of the Antamina area,
the eastern limit of the Mississippian to Cretaceous succession is a subhorizontal unconformity that strikes north overall
but has an irregular surface trace owing to the incised topography (Figs. 5 and 6). In the north-northweststriking segments of the belt, however, the eastern extent of the Mesozoic rocks is generally delimited by north-northweststriking
faults (e.g., southeast of Antamina, and northwest of Llamalln; Fig. 6). Southeast of Antamina, the southwest margin of
the Maran metamorphic complex is largely defined by a series of major northeast-verging reverse faults that involved
basement, but the Mississippian to Lower Jurassic strata are
preserved between the pre-Ordovician metamorphic rocks
and the Cretaceous sedimentary rocks (Fig. 6). However, in
the north-northweststriking segment northwest of Llamalln, the Maran complex is backthrust over the Cretaceous
rocks and the thickness of the Mississippian to Lower Jurassic strata is only locally apparent (Fig. 6).
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a NE
Ce
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SE
b NW
Ce
skarn
Lago Antamina
FIG. 7. The two distinct host rock types of the Antamina skarn system: an upper sequence of thin-bedded, silty limestones,
here largely converted to calc-hornfelses, assigned to the Celendn Formation (Ce), and a lower sequence of thick-bedded,
relatively pure limestones that form marbles, interpreted as the Jumasha Formation (J). Locations from which the photographs were taken are indicated in Fig. 2. Photographs taken in 1997 through 1999; this ridge has now been largely removed by mine development. (a) The southeast side of Quebrada Antamina, looking southeast. The contact (long black
dashes) between the Jumasha and Celendn Formations is placed at the top of the uppermost massive thick-bedded limestone (pale gray band) deformed by the Antamina anticline. Note the irregular upper, southeastern contact of the skarn (long
white dashes), here largely confined to the Jumasha Formation. (b) Looking northeast at the head of Quebrada Antamina
showing the distinct control of bedding in the Celendn Formation on skarn development.
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of calcitic marble contains only subordinate intercalated diopside-rich units and grades outward into predominantly thickbedded, relatively pure limestone (Fig. 7).
The lower sequence (Figs. 4, 7a, and 8a) generally contains
more than 75 percent calcite and comprises calcitic, variably
FIG. 8. The Jumasha and Celendn Formations. (a) Cliff-forming thick beds of massive limestone on the southeast flank
of Quebrada Callapo (see Fig. 2 for location). (b) Massive limestone of the Jumasha Formation, showing fluted weathering
(south of Yanacancha area, Fig. 2). (c) Upper: massive (i.e., unlaminated and with no preferred orientation of fossils) pelecypod carbonate wackestone of the Jumasha Formation (DDH CMA-039, 155 m). Lower: sheared fossiliferous carbonate
wackestone, equivalent to upper piece, not marmorized, but with a strong preferred orientation (DDH CMA-039, 160 m).
(d) More recessive weathering, vegetated, thin-bedded limestones and marls of the Celendn Formation cropping out on the
southeast slopes of Quebrada Ayash near its intersection with Quebrada Tucush (see Fig. 2 for location). Photograph taken
in 1997; the lower half of this area is now obscured by construction of the tailings dam. (e) Nodular limestone of the Celendn Formation, consisting of light gray, coalescing, carbonate-rich nodules separated by wisps of dark gray calcareous siltstone (Fortuna Mine area, see Fig. 2; hammer for scale). (f) Upper: Celendn Formation nodular limestone (DDH CMAC3, 221 m). Lower: lenticular bedding interpreted as sheared nodular limestone of the Celendn Formation (DDH
CMA-C5, 87.5 m).
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(Figs. 4 and 7a). This sequence hosts ore at the surface and at
depth in the southwest part of the deposit, but only in the
subsurface in the northeast. Few whole fossils are preserved
(Fig. 8c) and no ammonites were observed in the mine area,
precluding biostratigraphic correlations. However, we assign
this sequence to the Jumasha Formation on lithologic
grounds. Sheared fossiliferous carbonate wackestone occurs
locally in this sequence (Fig. 8c). In north-central Peru, Benavides (1956) described the Jumasha Formation as dominated by massive, thick-bedded, light orange-brown to yellowish-brown and gray, fossil-poor dolostones and limestones
that weather dark yellowish-brown to brownish-gray. The formation has been further described as comprising topographically prominent, cliff-forming, light-gray limestones and yellowish dolostones that are characteristically bioclastic
(Wilson, 1963). In the Uchupata section (Fig. 4), the upper
437 m is limestone, and the lower 353 m is dolostone. Unlike
the overlying Celendn Formation, this formation only rarely
contains calcareous siltstones, although it incorporates marly
limestone beds near its top (Jaillard, 1987). The upper limit of
the Jumasha Formation was defined lithostratigraphically
where medium- or thick-bedded limestones pass upward into
thin-bedded marls and limestones (Wilson, 1963).
The upper sequence in the mine area (Figs. 4, 7, and 8d)
comprises thin- to thick-bedded impure limestone-marl that
varies in carbonate/silicate ratio from relatively calcite-rich
muddy limestone (generally 5075% carbonate) to calcareous
siltstone (less than 50% carbonate). Many units contain lightgray, calcitic nodules, composing 10 to 90 percent of the rock,
enclosed by dark, silty calcareous mudstone (Fig. 8e, f). No
limestone beds with siliceous nodules have been observed.
The nodular texture is interpreted to be diagenetic. Sheared
limestone with lenticular bedding exposed at the northeast
head of Quebrada Antamina represents deformed nodular
limestone in which the nodules have been flattened into
lenses during folding and faulting (Fig. 8f). The upper sequence lacks identifiable fossils but is assigned to the Celendn Formation on lithologic grounds. In the Uchupata section, 20 km north of the mine, the Celendn Formation
comprises very soft, friable, fossil-poor, light greenish-gray,
nodular, moderately silty marls and calcareous shales (Fig. 4;
Benavides, 1956). This formation is generally medium-bedded (0.30.8 m) and variably dolomitic, and it ranges from
fine-grained to pelletal (Wilson, 1963).
The contact between the Jumasha and Celendn Formations in the mine area is conformable and generally gradational throughout several meters and is marked by upward-increasing siltiness and decreasing bed thickness. This contact
is interpreted to be the top of the uppermost thick-bedded
limestone or marble unit on the basis of lithology and bedding
characteristics. This stratigraphic position is illustrated in Figure 7a for outcrops on the southeast wall of the Antamina valley. The contact is folded by the anticlines exposed on the valley walls adjacent to the southwestern part of the deposit, and
it dips northeast in the subsurface in the northeast part of the
deposit, as do the overlying strata exposed in that area. The
thin-bedded calc-hornfelses that predominate on the ridge
crests flanking Quebrada Antamina grade laterally away from
skarn into the marly, variably nodular sequence assigned to
the Celendn Formation, but they do not contain the shales
0361-0128/98/000/000-00 $6.00
898
899
Facies
Intermediate
Distal
Proximal
Common minerals
Minor minerals
Diopside
Diopside,
wollastonite,
phlogopite,
orthoclase, ferrosilite
Vesuvianite,
grossular,
hedenbergite
Common minerals
Calcite
Calcite
Calcite
Minor minerals
Colorless vitrinite,
wollastonite,
diopside
Jumasha Formation
Marble
1Determined by X-ray powder diffraction using a Philips PANalytical XPert PRO diffraction system with XPert Plus and XPert HighScore software for
peak matching and phase identification
2
Distal, intermediate, and proximal facies zones are broader in the Celendn Formation than in the Jumasha Formation
899
900
LOVE ET AL.
FIG. 9. Marmorized Jumasha Formation. (a) Subtle bedding, defined by porphyroblast abundance (outlined) in calcitic
marble, dips moderately southwest and is overprinted by a northeast-dipping planar fabric (looking northwest, portal of bulk
sample adit, 450 m southwest of west shore of Lago Antamina; hammer for scale). (b) Subtle bedding, defined by slight color
difference and differential erosion (outlined), reflecting cryptic difference in porphyroblast abundance in calcitic marble
(looking northwest, 350 m southwest of west shore of Lago Antamina; 20 cm notebook in foreground for scale). (c) Mediumbedded layer of light green, fine-grained, diopsidic calc-hornfels defines bedding within coarse-grained calcitic marble near
the top of the formation (looking northeast, 300 m southwest of the western shore of Lago Antamina; 15 cm ruler for scale).
(d) Upper: mottled gray calcitic Jumasha Formation marble with tightly folded, boudinaged, dark-gray silty laminae. Lower:
mottled white and gray marble with tightly folded buff garnet-rich layer, similar in shape to the silty layer in the upper core
(DDH CMA-086, 218 m). (e) Banded gray Jumasha Formation marble showing development of approximately 10 percent
black scapolite crystals within darker layers (DDH CMA-136, 232 m). (f) Upper: white marble in gray Jumasha Formation
marble both as patches throughout and locally around veinlets and stylolites (DDH CMA-136, 228 m). Lower: veinlet-controlled white marble in gray Jumasha Formation marble cut by irregular veinlets with chalky-white wollastonitic selvages
(DDH CMA-236, 441 m). Scale bars in centimeters.
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900
FIG. 10. Hornfels, skarnoid, and wrigglite developed in the Celendn Formation. (a) Irregular stockwork of sealed fractures controlling development of light-gray tremolitic calc-hornfels in light-brown phlogopitic calc-hornfels (on the southeast
ridge crest, center of Fig. 12c; 15 cm pencil for scale). (b) Calc-hornfels facies with distal, light-brown, very fine grained phlogopitic calc-hornfels at upper left, light-gray tremolitic in the center, and proximal, light-green medium-grained diopsidic
calc-hornfels at lower right. These facies are unusually closely spaced because they are on the margin of a narrow dike, approximately 350 m southeast of the main intrusion (same location as [a]; 55 mm lens cap for scale on the far left). (c) Sparse,
large, medium-green diopsidic nodules in pale gray calc-hornfels (base of cliffs, northeast of Lago Antamina; 10 cm knife for
scale). (d) Very abundant coalescing diopsidic nodules with calcite-bearing calc-hornfels matrix (base of cliffs, east of Lago
Antamina; 15 cm pencil for scale). (e) Irregular concentric banding, interpreted by Bodenlos and Ericksen (1955) to be of
algal origin, but reinterpreted as wrigglite texture of metasomatic replacement origin (base of cliffs, east of Lago Antamina;
15 cm pencil for scale). (f) Banding developed in calc-hornfels and apparently controlled by northeast striking fractures (on
the ridge crest southeast of Antamina valley, just east of the east end of Fig. 12c; 55 mm lens cap for scale).
0361-0128/98/000/000-00 $6.00
901
901
902
LOVE ET AL.
902
903
Os
ca
rin
at
hr
us
t
8948000N
Fortuna Mine
Q
b
ue
AT
da
ra
da
Ay
a
sh
sh
cu
Tu
Qu
FT
eb
ra
YBP
VF
ina
VF
am
Ant
8944000N
PT
YB
mina
Anta
ina
tam ne
An ticli
an
ad
br
e
Qu
thr
t
us
Yanacancha
272000E
276000E
Miocene
skarn
Machay Group
Upper Cretaceous
Celendn Fm. (thin-bedded marl, limestone & calcareous shale)
bedding traces
past-producing mine or prospect
Lower Cretaceous
Pariatambo Fm. (thin-bedded, dark-gray bituminous limestone & shale)
Chulec Fm. (thin-bedded, light-gray, carbonates, calcareous shale & calcareous sandstone)
Pariahuanca Fm. (medium- to thick-bedded limestone & calcareous sandstone)
Goyllarisquizga Group
Carhuaz Fm. (thin- to medium-bedded sandstone, siltstone & shale)
Santa Fm. (thin- to medium-bedded limestone, shale & sandstone)
Chimu Fm. (quartz sandstone)
kilometers
FIG. 11. Local geology of the Antamina area (modified after Cobbing et al.,1996; Glover, 1997, unpublished report to
Compana Minera Antamina S.A., Lima; Palomino, 1997, unpublished report to Compana Minera Antamina S.A., Lima; and
Love and Clark, 1998, unpublished report to Compana Minera Antamina S.A., Lima). The physiography of this area is
shown in Fig. 2. The areas depicted in Fig. 13 are indicated by the three diagonal rectangles. AT = Antamina thrust, FT =
Fortuna thrust, VF = left-stepping Valley fault, YBPT = Yaquirsh-Buque Punta thrust.
0361-0128/98/000/000-00 $6.00
903
904
LOVE ET AL.
a
SW
YBPT
Cerro Yaquirsh
NE
AT
FT
Ce
OT
Ce
+
Ce
+
YBPT
VF
Lago Antamina
b
SW
Cerro
Buque
Punta
AT
YBPT
J
Ce
NE
Ce
Ce
+
OT
+
+
Ce
c
AT
NE
Ce
Ce
SW
Ce
Ce
Ce
Ce
YBPT
Ce
J
Ce
+
J
+
+
+
Lago Antamina
d
NE
Cerro Yaquirsh
YBPT
SW
Cerro Jatunpunta
J
FT
OT
Ce
Ce
AT
AT
Ce
Ce
FIG. 12. Photomosaics illustrating the structure and stratigraphy of the Antamina mine area. Locations from which the
photographs were taken are indicated in Fig. 2. The views in (a) and (b) look northwest, whereas those in (c) and (d) look
south. Photographs taken in 1997 through 1999; much of (a), (b), and (c) has now been removed by mine development, and
the skyline of (d) has been modified. (a) The northwest side of the Antamina valley; the irregular upper or northwestern contact of the skarn (long white dashes) cuts off the stratigraphic contact (long black dashes) of the Jumasha (J) and Celendn
(Ce) Formations. (b) The southeast flank of the ridge extending northeast of Cerro Buque Punta (i.e., the opposite side of
the ridge illustrated in [c]), viewed from the Yanacancha area. (c) The southeast side of the Antamina valley; the irregular
upper, southeastern contact of the skarn (long white dashes) cuts off the stratigraphic contact (long black dashes) of the Jumasha (J) and Celendn (Ce) Formations. (d) The northwest flank of the ridge extending northeast of Cerro Yaquirsh (i.e.,
the opposite side of the ridge illustrated in [a]). Faults and fold axes are shown by solid black lines, the stratigraphic contact
between the Jumasha (J) and Celendn (Ce) Formations by long black dashes, the contact of the skarn by long white dashes,
intrusive contacts by solid white lines, intrusions by crosses. AT = Antamina thrust, Ce = Celendn Formation, FT = Fortuna
thrust, J = Jumasha Formation, OT = Oscarina thrust, VF = surface expression of the northeastern segment of the Valley
fault, YBPT = Yaquirsh-Buque Punta thrust.
0361-0128/98/000/000-00 $6.00
904
905
OT
OT
C
AA
FT
C
AT
Ce
Ce
Ce
NE
FT
PT
YB
AT
Ce
Ce
V
AA
PT
YB
OT
Ce
e
C
OT
OT
J
J
V
LR
Ce
Ce
J
J
OT
AA
SW
NE
AT
J
C
Ce
J
AT
Ce
J
J
Ce
PT
YB
10
50
SW
00
FIG. 13. Schematic, isometric block diagram of the pre-Miocene geology of the Antamina area, looking north, summarizing the major Eocene Incaic folding and thrust faulting in the host Cretaceous strata. In the late Miocene, intrusion and
formation of the Antamina deposit occurred in the central block on this diagram, localized by the Valley lateral ramp (VLR)
and the step in the Valley fault (VF). The locations of the three blocks are indicated by rectangles in Fig. 11. The Jumasha
(J) and Celendn (Ce) Formations are indicated. Faults and fold axes are shown by solid black lines, bedding by black dashes.
Other features abbreviated as in Figures 11 and 12.
905
906
LOVE ET AL.
Future
Hanging-wall
Block
Future
Foot-wall
Block
Frontal Ramp
Foot-wall Block
Flat
mp
l Ra
era
Lat
Trace of Future Fault
transport
direction
Hangingwall Cutoff
Anticline
line
ntic
al A
ater
d
FIG. 14. Schematic diagram illustrating the lateral ramp model for the structural setting of the Antamina deposit. Looking south so that the face of the lateral ramp is exposed, showing offset anticlines produced in the hanging wall of a thrust
fault by two frontal ramps separated by a lateral ramp. (a) Geometry of the fault prior to movement. (b) Geometry of the
footwall (hanging-wall block removed), showing the southwest-dipping frontal ramps linked by a northeast-striking lateral
ramp or transfer fault. (c) After minor thrust movement, offset ramp-cutoff anticlines produced in the hanging wall of the
thrust fault, with more intense northeast-striking fracturing above the lateral ramp, represented by dashed lines. (d) Hanging-wall cutoff anticlines separated from fault-bend anticlines by additional thrust movement. Extensive fracturing developed
in the thrust sheet where it flexed over the lateral ramp.
Valley fault. The hydrothermal breccia sheets that are common at or near the endoskarn-exoskarn contact also have this
orientation. The irregular zones of breccia and endoskarn
within the intrusion are interpreted to strike predominantly
north-south (Fig. 3b) and may have been controlled by crosscutting structures. The western end of the main body of the
intrusion also generally strikes north-south, as does the skarn
front in that area (Fig. 3b). The parallelogram shape, in plan,
of the main body of the intrusion and the surrounding skarn
is complicated by the network of anastomosing dikes with envelopes of fine-grained garnet skarn extending to higher elevations to the east of Lago Antamina (Fig. 12c). At least one
of these dikes intrudes a normal fault on which movement occurred between the time of thrust faulting and folding and
that of intrusion and mineralization (Fig. 12c). Several other
dikes with skarn envelopes also extend beyond the main mass
of porphyry and most are controlled by Incaic structures.
Along the southern edge of the porphyry and skarn, minor peripheral rhyodacitic dikes and sills and their skarn envelopes
locally follow bedding and thrust faults. Several minor Pb-ZnAg veins (Fig. 2), some of which have been mined on a small
906
a
J
Ce
Ce
907
Fractures:
steep,
vertical
Ce
0361-0128/98/000/000-00 $6.00
907
908
Rio Maran
B-16
B-19
B-14,15
Huancavelica
11
20 22
14
Cajamarca
79
W
Bla
Cordillera
nca
Huaraz
Casma - Pasto
Querococha
Bueno zone PIERINA
Arch
17
KEY
7 Section
Intrusion
Anticline
Fault
Segment boundaries
discussed in text
Other segment boundaries
of Benavides (1999)
200 kms
Coastal Batholith
Trujillo
Chimbote
Huancayo
La Oroya
Hunuco
YANACOCHA
12
S
75
W
Cerro de Pasco
11
S
10
S
ANTAMINA
PASTO
BUENO
76
W
78
W
9S
8S
77
W
LOVE ET AL.
Casma
Huarmey
100
Lima
Pacific Ocean
0
100
200 miles
14
B-16
>1000m
>920m
ANTAMINA
B-19
11
>500m
Campanian and
younger (< 83 4 Ma)
KsP-Ch
>180m
163m
calcareous
sequence
Ks-Ce
558m
KsP-C
>200m
>150m
25m
174m
70m
122m
131m
433m
138m
oma
Ki-Cl
Cen n (97.0
Albia
(equivalent to
top 1/5 of Ks-J )
44m
600m
>250m
KsP-C
25m
115m
135m
443m
185m
52m
59m
337m
230m
44m
Ki-Pt ~50m
167m
280m
Ki-Cl ~280m
851m
Ki-G
~850m
39m
107m
232m
Ks-R (equivalent to
lowest 1/5 of Ks-J)
138m
>250m
Paleogene
~~~~~~~~~~
)
1
3.
Cretaceous
Upper
Otuzco Gp.
Quilquian Gp.
~~~~~~~~~~
Lower
Pulluicana Gp.
NORTH
(north of approx. 930' S)
NORTH-CENTRAL
(south of approx. 930' S)
CENTRAL
Celendn Fm.(Ks-Ce)
Celendn Fm.(Ks-Ce)
Chunumayo Fm.
Carcapuquio Fm.
Pucar Gp.
~700m
Machay Group
(north-central and central)
Ki-G
>516m
Ks-J ~340m
>280m
>413m
135m
D
KsP-P ~250m
266m
>485m
us 4.8
eo 14
ac (
et sic
Cr ras
u
J
22
>200m
Ki-Cr 190m
B-14, 15
clastic
sequence
20
>200m
617m
750m
Ks-J
Ks-Ca
800m
Ki-Cr
613m
17
KsP-Ch
Jatunhuasi
Basin,
S of La Oroya
& SW of
Huancayo
Pariahuanca Fm.
FIG. 16. Segmentation and articulation of the Maran thrust and fold belt and its effect on Cretaceous sedimentation.
(a) Simplified geology of the western Andes of central and north-central Peru, showing the major anticlinal axes, faults and
segment boundaries in the Maran thrust and fold belt (Benavides, 1999), the major plutonic centers of the Coastal
batholith and Cordillera Blanca batholith (Pitcher et al., 1985), and the numbered locations of the sections used in (b). The
major producing mines, Yanacocha, Pierina, Antamina and Cerro de Pasco are also shown. (b) Longitudinal fence diagram
of the Cretaceous stratigraphic section of central and north-central Peru along the eastern margin of the Maran belt. Sections B-14, B-15, B-16, and B-19 from Benavides (1956), sections 6, 9, 11, 14, 17, 20, and 22 from Wilson (1963), and section D from Manrique (1998). Antamina is located between sections 6 and B-19.
Miocene intrusion and formation of the orebody is summarized schematically in Figure 17. In this model, the marginparallel West Peruvian trough formed during the Middle or
Late Jurassic by extension on en echelon, northwest-striking
normal faults separated by northeast-striking transform faults
(Fig. 17a, b; Mgard, 1987). The normal faults on the western
margin of the basement are thus right-stepping, but the segments experienced no relative displacement and each northeast-striking transform fault experienced only sinistral movement. This distribution of growth faults in the Jurassic would
result in promontories and reentrants in the margin of the
West Peruvian trough, similar to those of the larger-scale
early Paleozoic eastern margin of North America (Thomas,
1977).
0361-0128/98/000/000-00 $6.00
The Querococha arch coincided with an intermittent topographic high that developed at least in the Middle Jurassic, or
even throughout the Mississippian to Middle Jurassic interval, and which also influenced the distribution of Cretaceous
carbonate rocks, Paleocene red beds, and Miocene igneous
rocks. It is apparent that the development of the northeaststriking basement structures predated Jurassic-Cretaceous
sedimentation. The Querococha arch apparently influenced
the distribution of Mississippian to Lower Jurassic rocks
northeast of Antamina, resulting in either local nondeposition
in the Mississippian to Early Jurassic or a Middle to Late
Jurassic erosional unconformity (Fig. 17b). Additional minor
extension at any angle discordant to the northeast-trending
faults could have resulted in reactivation of the originally
908
men
base
909
ssic
ra
le Ju
Midd
Q
CPB
us
eo
retac
te C
a
L
le
ne
Eoce
ocen
Pale
midd
ene
Mioc
A
Q
CPB
Miocene
intrusions
Paleocene
Casapalca Gp.
Albian - Upper Cretaceous
Machay Gp.
Upper Jurassic - Lower Cretaceous
Chicama & Goyllarisquizga Gps.
Upper Triassic - Lower Jurassic
Pucar Gp.
Mississippian - Lower Triassic
Ambo & Mitu Gps.
pre-Ordovician
Maran metamorphic complex
Faults
transform
normal
thrust
Fold axis, with regional plunge
Regional tectonic forces
FIG. 17. Regional-scale schematic diagrams, looking east, illustrating the proposed structural evolution of the Antamina
area. (a) In the Middle or early Late Jurassic, the West Peruvian trough started to develop through formation of an en echelon pattern of left-lateral growth faults on the western edge of the Maran metamorphic complex. The Mississippian to
Lower Jurassic sedimentary rocks that overlay the metamorphic complex are removed from the diagram for clarity (after Mgard, 1987). (b) Also in the Middle or Late Jurassic, minor extension at an angle to the transform faults segmented the continental basement, producing on the promontories structural highs parallel to the original offsets, such as the Querococha
arch, along which the Mississippian to Lower Jurassic sedimentary rocks were eroded. In the Late Jurassic the Chicama
Group was deposited in the western, deeper-water part of the basin, not illustrated. (c) Cretaceous clastic and carbonate
(Goyllarisquisga and Machay Groups) sedimentation on the Yauli shelf was not strongly controlled by the segmentation although carbonate facies may have extended farther seaward adjacent to promontories. (d) Latest Cretaceous to Paleocene
deposition of red beds (checkerboard patterned) was controlled by the segmentation, with depocenters in the reentrants. (e)
In the Eocene Incaic orogeny, major strike deflections and en echelon fold patterns that conform to the segmentation of the
basement developed in the Maran thrust and fold belt. Reentrants became structural salients, and promontories became
structural recesses. (f) In the Miocene, additional uplift of the Querococha arch reactivated basement structures, which allowed intrusions to extend farther inland along the arch and to reach shallow levels. A = Antamina mine, CPB = CasmaPasto Bueno zone, Q = Querococha arch.
In the Cretaceous, the Querococha arch and other transverse structures that segment the Maran thrust and fold
belt had little apparent effect on the thickness of clastic
(Goyllarisquisga Group) and carbonate (Machay Group) sedimentary rocks on the Yauli shelf (Figs. 16b and 17c), but it
appears to have affected the distribution of the carbonate
909
910
LOVE ET AL.
rocks. The Machay Group does not extend as far west to the
north of the arch as it does on the arch and to the south of it.
From the arch north the westernmost limit of outcrop of the
Machay Group therefore crosses the belt in a northeastsouthwest direction (Fig. 1). Thomas (1977) noted a similar
relationship between the extent of carbonate facies and the
locations of structural salients and recesses in the Appalachians. The distribution of latest Cretaceous and Paleocene red
beds has also been influenced by the transverse structures
(Fig. 17d). The red beds pinch out toward both the Querococha arch and the Casma-Pasto Bueno zone, and they attain their greatest thickness between these arches in a structural salient, which would have been a reentrant and
depocenter in the margin of the West Peruvian trough at the
time of sedimentation.
Shortening and variations in the regional attitudes of folds
and thrust faults generated in the Eocene Incaic orogeny are
represented in Figure 17e. The folds and thrusts in the Antamina region constitute an articulated structural recess in
the margin of the craton, which probably formed through deformation around a basement promontory, the northwestern
edge of which is now delineated by the Querococha arch.
Because the orientation of folds and thrust faults in thinskinned tectonic belts generally reflects the underlying
ramps rather than the translation direction of deformation
(Pohn, 2000), the strike and articulation of the Maran
thrust and fold belt mimic the geometry of the basement, despite variations in the Cenozoic plate convergence direction
and rate (Pardo-Casas and Molnar, 1987; Somoza, 1998;
Norabuena et al., 1999). Old transform faults in the margin
of the West Peruvian trough did not experience extensive
later strike-slip movement because the maximum shortening
direction was not parallel to the orientation of movement
during rifting. We propose that the sinuous configuration of
the mountain belt generally reproduces the original zig-zag
margin, although the articulation is pronounced on the eastern side of the belt, and shortening in the interior of the belt
had a smoothing effect on the segmentation. Thus, the regional strike at the western extent of the Cretaceous carbonate strata gradually changes throughout a distance of approximately 175 km along strike, from northerly near Antamina
to north-northwesterly at the northwest end of the Cordillera
Blanca (Fig. 1). As Thomas (1977) concluded in the context
of eastern North America, the Maran thrust and fold belt
has formed a best-fit curve around old promontories and
reentrants.
The persistence of Miocene igneous rocks farther from the
main axis of the magmatic arc into the foreland thrust and
fold belt along a proposed basement transverse structure
(Fig. 17f) is consistent with observations in other belts. Igneous intrusions have been documented directly over, and
elongated parallel to, three of the four lateral ramps in the
Appalachians analyzed in detail by Pohn (2000). Furthermore, the difference in exposure level of the Miocene igneous rocks on and adjacent to the southwest end of the arch
implies that post-Eocene uplift enhanced the plunge reversals of the Eocene folds across the arch (Love et al., 2001).
Thus, faults parallel to the arch may have accommodated its
uplift and furnished the structural anisotropies that provided
conduits for magma ascent in the late Miocene.
0361-0128/98/000/000-00 $6.00
910
to p
lel
ral am
pa ral r
res late
ctu d
fra lt an
fa u
Va
lley
u
Fa
lt
line
ntic
ina A
Antam end fold
b
fault
fault
cline
a Anti
fold
bend
in
fronta
Va
lley
mp
ral Ra
u
Fa
y Late
l ram
l ram
lt
rdsupwa g
in
n
n
fa
age
cleav
Antam
fronta
Valle
911
Anticline
Thrust fault
Normal fault
Fractures
Dike
Intrusion
911
912
LOVE ET AL.
intrusion (Fig. 18d). Development of northeast-striking breccia zones within skarn on the northwest and southeast margins of the intrusion and north-striking breccia and endoskarn
zones within the intrusion represent, in this model, structural
reactivation of the major transcurrent faults and the minor
north-south extensional faults, respectively.
Although the recrystallization of the host rocks during skarn
development obscured evidence of controls by preexisting
fractures or bedding, we deduce that the intersecting structures that locally control ore grades in skarn may have originated at substantially different times. Terrones (1958) reported higher exoskarn ore grades where a set of 100
mineralized sheeted veins intersects structures extending
from a northwest-striking anticlinal axis in marble, and which
we interpret as upward-fanning axial planar cleavages. The intersecting sheeted vein set differs in orientation from the
northeast-striking fracture system related to the lateral ramp
described above. We propose that these veins, which cut
skarn and were therefore late, formed in tension fractures associated with renewed east-west shortening (Fig. 18e) after
the brief episode of relaxation. Thus an Incaic axial planar
cleavage was intersected by Miocene tension veins and developed a permeable path for hydrothermal fluids.
VF
Ce
Ce
J
Ce
Ce
0
20
Ce
AA
Ce
VF
J
Ce
Ce
J
Ce
VF
VF
Plunging anticline
Thrust fault
Trace of Valley Fault
?
J
AA
Intrusion
J
Ce
VF
Ce
J
J
J
J
Ce
J
Celendn
Formation
Jumasha
Formation
FIG. 19. Schematic, exploded isometric block diagram of the Antamina deposit. Looking north, showing the major folds
and thrust faults, the Valley fault (VF), the extent of skarn development within and adjacent to the intrusion, the extensive calc-hornfels and skarnoid development in the Celendn Formation, and the restricted marmorization of the Jumasha
Formation. The offset Antamina anticline (AA) is indicated, but the inferred Valley lateral ramp is hidden from view in
this perspective.
0361-0128/98/000/000-00 $6.00
912
913
913
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LOVE ET AL.
locus for the main mass of intrusion and the associated skarn
ore. Renewed east-west shortening could have again induced
north-south extension and resulted in the late east-west vein
system. The original intrusive contact unambiguously controlled the location of the skarn, yet was itself controlled by
larger-scale structures.
The Antamina hydrothermal activity occurred in a regionalscale, northeast-trending, cross-strike structural discontinuity,
the Querococha arch, which articulates the Maran thrust
and fold belt. About 5 km southwest of Antamina, the locus of
this articulation steps left along strike, a feature mimicked on
a smaller scale by the Valley fault. The arch is inferred to have
affected sedimentary and magmatic processes at least from
the Jurassic to the Miocene and to have been controlled by a
basement structure, perhaps a transform segment of the original margin of the West Peruvian trough. The arch was the
northwestern edge of a promontory on which the Cretaceous
Machay Group carbonate rocks were deposited farther west
than elsewhere along the belt. It also allowed Miocene magmatism to extend toward the foreland and intrude the
Machay Group.
We envisage that the carbonate rocks of the Machay Group
provided both chemical and physical traps for ore-forming
fluids. Intense exoskarn developed in relatively pure Jumasha
Formation limestone, whereas the Celendn Formation hornfelses capped this system, promoting recirculation of hydrothermal fluids and extensive endoskarn development. The
Querococha arch provided a suitable structure for the intrusion to reach the Machay Group at the hypabyssal depths required for fertile fluid release.
Acknowledgments
We thank Inmet Mining Corporation and Rio Algom Ltd.,
and especially Frank Balint and Kelly OConnor, for initial
support of this project, a contribution to the Queens University Central Andean Metallogenetic Project (QCAMP),
and for repeatedly employing J.K.G. to examine various
structural aspects of Antamina during 1997 and 1998. A postdoctoral fellowship at Queens University for the senior author was funded in 1997 and 1998 by Inmet Mining Corporation and Rio Algom Ltd., and in 1998 through 2000 by Rio
Algom. James Macdonald of BHP Billiton, Bill Mercer of
Noranda, and John Thompson of Teck Cominco subsequently provided support and encouragement. This research
was also funded by Natural Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada Discovery Grants to A.H.C. We
also thank Ca. Minera Antamina S.A. for unstinting logistic
support and are grateful to the many geologists involved in
the mine development, including Leo Hathaway, Stewart
Redwood, Manuel Pacheco, Jose Sales, Richard Ct, Diane
Nicolson, Matt Wunder, Rick Schwarz, Jeff Hussey, Scott
Smith and, especially, Eric Lipten, for stimulating discussions of mine geology and ore genesis. We would also like to
thank the Economic Geology reviewers Gerry Ray, Greg
Dipple, Larry Meinert, and Andreas Mueller, associate editors Dave Cooke and Steve Garwin, and especially editor
Mark Hannington for their large contributions to the preparation of the final manuscript.
September 10, 2002; March 22, 2004
0361-0128/98/000/000-00 $6.00
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