Porphyry Copper Deposits – Chuquicamata
Monday, December 5, 2005 11:03:05 AM
The mineralisation is related to faulting, folding and igneous activity in late Mesozoic and early Tertiary.
Several factors have contributed to the concentration of the Chuquicamata ores, but batholith emplacement plays a central role. I shall not go into a definition of Porphyry Copper Deposits, but only say that they are low grade copper deposits (only) worth mining because they are (very) large.
About visiting the mine: read From a gaping hole in the earth: China-bound copper, tonne after tonne at Yahoo News of 4 December 2005 http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20051204/sc_afp/chilecopperchina_051204051717
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