Hydrothermal alteration and magnetic properties of rocks in the Carolina de Michilla stratabound copper district, northern Chile

Abstract

In the Carolina de Michilla district, northern Chile, stratabound copper mineralization is hosted by Jurassic volcanic rocks along the trace of the Atacama fault system. In this study, we present the overall effects of hydrothermal alteration on the magnetic properties of rocks in this district. Two types of metasomatic alteration associations occur, one of regional extent and the other of local hydrothermal alteration associated with copper mineralization (e.g., Lince–Estefanía–Susana). Regional alteration is interpreted as a low-grade “propylitic association” characterized by an epidote–chlorite–smectite–titanite–albite–quartz–calcite association. The local hydrothermal alteration is characterized broadly by a quartz–albite–epidote–chlorite–calcite mineral assemblage. The most pervasive alteration mineral is albite, followed by epidote and, locally, actinolite. These minerals contrast sharply against host rock minerals such as chlorite, calcite, zeolite, prehnite, and pumpellyite, but alteration is constrained to mineralized bodies as narrow and low contrast alteration halos that go outwards from actinolite–albite to epidote–albite, to epidote–chlorite, and finally to chlorite. Hydrothermal alteration minerals, compared to regional alteration minerals, show iron-rich epidotes, a lower chlorite content of the chlorite–smectite series, and a nearly total albite replacement of plagioclase in the mineralized zones. Opaque minerals associated with regional alteration are magnetite and maghemite, and those associated to hydrothermal alteration are magnetite, hematite, and copper sulphides. We present paleomagnetic results from nine sites in the Michilla district and from drill cores from two mines. Local effects of hydrothermal alteration on the original magnetic mineralogy indicate similar characteristics and mineralogy, except for an increase of hematite that is spatially associated with the Cu–sulphide breccias with low magnetic susceptibilities. Results indicate that it is impossible to magnetically differentiate mineralized bodies from unmineralized lavas, except for pyrite-rich hydrothermal breccias. In conclusion, for stratabound copper deposits of the Michilla type, the overall effect of hydrothermal alteration on the paleomagnetic properties of rocks is of low contrast, not clearly discernable even at a small scale. From an exploration point of view, magnetic exploration surveys should not discern mineralized bodies of Cu–sulphide breccias except in detailed ground surveys due to the small size of contrasting bodies. Unoriented drill cores with primary ore mineralization record a characteristic remanent magnetization of reverse polarity. Taking into account the azimuth and dip of the drill cores, we were able to compare the magnetization of the mineralized bodies with the characteristic directions from sites drilled in situ from Late Jurassic–Early Cretaceous intrusives mostly. The characteristic direction recorded by the Pluton Viera is similar to the magnetization of the ore bodies of the Estefania mine. If copper mineralization mostly postdates the tilt of the volcanic flows, the low paleomagnetic inclinations suggest an age for the mineralization near 145 Ma, the time of the lowest paleolatitude for the South American plate during the Mesozoic.