Hydrothermal alteration and its effects on the magnetic properties of Los Pelambres, a large multistage porphyry copper deposit

Abstract

The Los Pelambres porphyry copper deposit is located 190 km north of Santiago, Chile. A paleomagnetic and mineralogical study was conducted at this deposit to determine the effects of hydrothermal alteration on the magnetic properties and minerals of rocks within the deposit when compared to the surrounding country rock. In the Los Pelambres deposit, magnetic properties of rocks are carried by titano-hematite and titano-magnetite solid solution minerals, where the former commonly indicates the exsolution of rutile. Magnetic minerals of intrusive rocks from the greater Los Pelambres region show that magmatic titano-magnetites and magnetites are the main magnetization carriers. The hydrothermal fluid associated with rutile exsolution textures could have played an important role in the mineralization of Cu in this deposit. The paleomagnetic properties in the Los Pelambres deposit can be divided in three main groups: (i) HMRG (high magnetic remanence group), (ii) HMSG (high magnetic susceptibility group), and (iii) LMSG (low magnetic susceptibility/remanence group). In-situ magnetic properties of the HMSG and LMSG are similar to the formations and units present regionally, however HRMG samples clearly differ from the country rocks. The high variability of in-situ magnetic properties presented in the Los Pelambres deposit has also been characteristic of other porphyry copper deposits in Chile (e.g., Chuquicamata and El Teniente). Regarding the field of exploration geophysics and porphyry copper deposits, this study suggests that phyllic, chloritic, and potassic alterations are related to low, intermediate, and high in-situ NRM, respectively, suggesting that geophysical methods must target a noisy magnetic signal depending on the scale of the study. The knowledge and results obtained are especially meaningful because magnetic surveys conducted for exploration do not commonly allow for the detection of ore mineralization. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.