The Montecristo mining district, northern Chile: the relationship between vein-like magnetite-(apatite) and iron oxide-copper-gold deposits.

ABSTRACT: The Montecristo district, northern Chile, is one of the few places worldwide where there is a direct relationship between magnetite-(apatite) (MtAp) mineralization and iron oxide-copper-gold (IOCG) mineralization. The MtAp mineralization includes Ti-poor magnetite, fluorapatite, and actinolite and is crosscut and partially replaced by a younger IOCG mineralization that includes a second generation of actinolite and magnetite with quartz, chalcopyrite, pyrite, and molybdenite. The MtAp stage at Montecristo is interpreted as the crystallized iron-rich melts that used the pre-existing structures of the Atacama Fault System as conduits. These rocks later acted as a trap for hydrothermal IOCG mineralization. Geochronology data at Montecristo indicate that the host diorite (U-Pb zircon 153.3 ± 1

SUBMITTER: Mateo L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10329088 | biostudies-literature | 2023

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature