Copper Deposits in 

Sedimentary and 

Volcanogenic Rocks 

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY PROFESSIONAL PAPER 907-C 
COVER PHOTOGRAPHS 

1 2 3 4 

5 6 

7 8 

9 10 

11 12 13 14 

1 . Asbestos ore 

2. Lead ore. Balmat mine, N. Y. 

3. Chromite-chromium ore, Washington 

4. Zinc ore, Friedensville, Pa. 

5. Banded iron-formation, Palmer, 

Mich. 

6. Ribbon asbestos ore, Quebec, Canada 

7. Manganese ore, banded 

rhodochrosite 

8. Aluminum ore, bauxite, Georgia 

9. Native copper ore, Keweenawan 

Peninsula, Mich. 

10. Porphyry molybdenum ore, Colorado 

11. Zinc ore, Edwards, N.Y. 

12. Manganese nodules, ocean floor 

13. Botryoidal fluorite ore, 

Poncha Springs, Colo. 

14. Tungsten ore, North Carolina 
Copper Deposits in 

Sedimentary and 

Volcanogenic Rocks 

By ELIZABETH B. TOURTELOT and JAMES D. VINE 

GEOLOGY AND RESOURCES OF COPPER DEPOSITS 

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY PROFESSIONAL PAPER 907-C 

A geologic appraisal of low-temperature 

copper deposits formed by syngenetic, 

diagenetic, and epigenetic processes 

UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE, WASHINGTON : 1976 
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

THOMAS S. KLEPPE, Secretary 

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 

V. E. McKelvey, Director 

First printing 1976 

Second printing 1976 

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data 

Tourtelot, Elizabeth B. 

Copper deposits in sedimentary and volcanogenic rocks. 

(Geology and resources of copper) (Geological Survey Professional Paper 907-C) 

Bibliography: p. 

Supt. of Docs. no.: I 19.16:907-C 

1. Copper ores. 2. Rocks, Sedimentary. 3. Rocks, Igneous. 

I. Vine, James David, 1921- joint author. II. Title. III. Series. IV. Series: United States Geological Survey Professional 

Paper 907-C. 

TN440.T68 553'.43 76-608039 

For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office 

Washington, D.C. 20402 

Stock Number 024-001-02791-7 
APPRAISAL OF MINERAL RESOURCES 

Continuing appraisal of the mineral resources of the United States is conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey in accordance with the provisions 

of the Mining and Minerals Policy Act of 1970 (Public Law 91-631, 

Dec. 31, 1970). Total resources for purposes of these appraisal estimates include currently minable resources (reserves) as well as those resources 

not yet discovered or not currently profitable to mine. 

The mining of mineral deposits, once discovered, depends on geologic, economic, 

and technologic factors; however, identification of many deposits yet to be discovered, owing to incomplete knowledge of their distribution in the Earth's crust, 

depends greatly on geologic availability and man's ingenuity. Consequently, 

appraisal of mineral resources results in approximations, subject to constant 

change as known deposits are depleted, new deposits are found, new extractive 

technology and uses are developed, and new geologic knowledge and theories indicate new areas favorable for exploration. 

This Professional Paper discusses aspects of the geology of copper as a 

framework for appraising resources of this commodity in the light of today's technology, economics, and geologic knowledge. 

Other Geological Survey publications relating to the appraisal of resources of specific mineral commodities include the following: 

Professional Paper 820-"United States Mineral Resources" 

Professional Paper 926-"Geology and Resources of Vanadium Deposits" 

Professional Paper 933-"Geology and Resources of Fluorine in the United States" 

Professional Paper 959-"Geology and Resources of Titanium in the United States" 

CONTENTS 

Abstract ........................................................................................... . 

In traduction .................................................................................... . 

Acknowledgments .................................................................... . 

Concepts of genesis .................................................................. . 

Definition of terms .................................................................. . 

Geochemistry ........................................................................... . 

Problems of genesis of copper deposits .................................. . 

Copper deposits forming now ........................................................ . 

Modern bog and lake deposits ................................................ . 

Copper from runoff .......................................................... . 

Copper from ground water .............................................. . 

Deposits from copper-rich brines ............................................ . 

Salton Sea ......................................................................... . 

Red Sea ............................................................................. . 

Cheleken Peninsula .......................................................... . 

New Britain and the Solomon Islands ............................ . 

Copper deposits related to the present cycle of weathering ... . 

Colorado Plateau .............................................................. . 

Copper-sulfide deposits related to crustal-plate boundaries .......... . 

Plate tectonic theory reviewed ................................................. . 

Island-arc environment. ........................................................... . 

Divergent-plate-boundary deposits .......................................... . 

Cenozoic disseminated copper deposits .......................................... . 

Tertiary .................................................................................... . 

Boleo, Mexico ................................................................... . 

Corocoro, Bolivia ............................................................. . 

Mesozoic disseminated copper deposits .......................................... . 

Jurassic(?) and Triassic(?) ........................................................ . 

Wyoming fold belt ........................................................... . 

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Mesozoic disseminated copper deposits-Continued 

Triassic. .................................................................................... . 

Connecticut Valley and southeastern Pennsylvania ........ . 

Nacimiento, N. Mex ......................................................... . 

Guadalupe County, N. Mex ............................................. . 

Paleozoic disseminated copper deposits ......................................... . 

Permian ......................................................•.............................. 

Kupferschiefer, from England through Poland ............... . 

West Ural foreland, U.S.S.R ............................................ . 

Creta, Okla ....................................................................... . 

Garvin County, Okla ....................................................... . 

Guadalupe County, N.Mex ............................................. . 

Southern Colorado and northern New Mexico ............... . 

Carboniferous .......................................................................... . 

Dzhezkazgan, Kazakh S.S.R .............................................. . 

Precambrian disseminated copper deposits .................................... . 

African Copperbelt, Zambia and Zaire .................................... . 

Udokan, Siberia ....................................................................... . 

Northwestern Montana ............................................................ . 

South Australia ........................................................................ . 

White Pine, Mich .................................................................... . 

Diagenesis and metamorphism affect copper ................................ . 

Summary: metallogenic provinces and the copper cycle ............... . 

Copper deposits and brines ..................................................... . 

Brines as diagenetic agents ............................................... . 

Brines as syngenetic agents .............................................. . 

Ground water, copper, and red beds ................................ . 

Targets for prospecting ........................................................... . 

References cited ............................................................................... . 

ILLUSTRATIONS 

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FIGURE l. Map of the world showing major lithospheric plates and Cenozoic disseminated copper deposits......................................... C5 

2-4. Photomicrographs 

2. Dolomite filling of voids in Nugget Sandstone............................................................................................................. 7 

3. Navajo Sandstone cemented by malachite and with remaining pores filled with cuprite and chrysocolla................. 7 

4. Spicular limestone from the Kaibab Limestone replaced by chalcedony, malachite, and chrysocolla ........................ 8 

5. Diagram of plate tectonic hypothesis and its relation to copper deposits................................................................................. 9 

6. Map of the western United States showing areas of stratabound copper deposits in rocks of Mesozoic and Paleozoic 

ages........................................................................................................................................................................................ 12 

7. Photomicrograph of Nugget Sandstone showing chalcopyrite associated with bituminous material..................................... 13 

8. Photomicrograph of sulfide replacement of fossil wood from the Chinle Formation.............................................................. 13 

9. Photograph of fossil wood replaced by massive chalcocite........................................................................................................ 14 

10. Map of the world showing areas of disseminated stratabound copper deposits in rocks of Paleozoic and Precambrian 

ages........................................................................................................................................................................................ 15 

ll. Photograph of a sample of the Kupferschiefer showing fossil fish remains............................................................................. 16 

v 
VI CONTENTS 

Page 

FIGURE 12--'14. Photomicrographs: 

12. Chalcocite bleb in carbonate-cemented Garber Sandstone of Permian age.................................................................. CIS 

13. Chalcocite disseminated in arkosic siltstone from the Artesia Group of marine Permian rocks................................. 19 

14. Chalcocite and bornite interlocked with quartz and feldspar grains, and chalcopyrite and bornite in a feldspathic 

matrix. Quartzite from the Revett Formation........................................................................................................ 22 

15. Photograph of a sample of quartzite from the Revett Formation showing weathered rind and rich sulfide ore.................... 23 

16. Photograph and photomicrograph of a cupriferous drill core of Upper Callanna Beds of Precambrian age......................... 23 

17-20. Photomicrographs: 

17. Native copper associated with carbonaceous films in the Nonesuch Shale of Precambrian age................................. 24 

18. Native copper associated with opaque bituminous matter in the Copper Harbor Conglomerate of Precambrian 

age............................................................................................................................................................................ 24 

19. Quartzite from the Revett Formation, showing impermeable nature of feldspathic quartzite as a result of lowgrade metamorphism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. .. . . . . . . . 25 

20. Argillite from the Revett Formation, showing quartz veinlet in a sericite-biotite rock............................................... 25 
GEOLOGYANDRESOURCESOFCOPPERDEPOSITS 

COPPER DEPOSITS IN SEDIMENTARY AND VOLCANOGENIC ROCKS 

By ELIZABETH B. TouRTELOT and jAMES D. VINE 

ABSTRACT 

Copper deposits occur in sedimentary and volcanogenic rocks within 

a wide variety of geologic environments where there may be little or 

no evidence of hydrothermal alteration. Some deposits may be hypogene and have a deep-seated source for the ore fluids, but because 

of rapid cooling and dilution during syngenetic deposition on the 

ocean floor, the resulting deposits are not associated with hydrothermal 

alteration. Many of these deposits are formed at or near major tectonic 

features on the Earth's crust, including plate boundaries, rift valleys, 

and island arcs. The resulting ore bodies may be stratabound and 

either massive or disseminated. 

Other deposits form in rocks deposited in shallow-marine, deltaic, 

and nonmarine environments by the movement and reaction of interstratal brines whose metal content is derived from buried sedimentary 

and volcanic rocks. Some of the world's largest copper deposits were 

probably formed in this manner. This process we regard as diagenetic, 

but some would regard it as syngenetic, if the ore metals are derived 

from disseminated metal in the host-rock sequence, and others would 

regard the process as epigenetic, if there is demonstrable evidence of 

ore cutting across bedding. Because the oxidation associated with 

diagenetic red beds releases copper to ground-water solutions, red rocks 

and copper deposits are commonly associated. However, the ultimate 

size, shape, and mineral zoning of a deposit result from local conditions at the site of deposition-a logjam in fluvial channel sandstone 

may result in an irregular tabular body of limited size; a petroleumwater interface in an oil pool may result in a copper deposit limited 

by the size and shape of the petroleum reservoir; a persistent thin 

bed of black shale may result in a copper deposit the size and shape 

of that single bed. 

The process of supergene enrichment has been largely overlooked 

in descriptions of copper deposits in sedimentary rocks. However, 

supergene processes may be involved during erosion of any primary 

ore body and its ultimate displacement and redeposition as a secondary 

deposit. Bleached sandstone at the surface may indicate significant 

ore deposits near the water table. 

INTRODUCTION 

Copper is one of the earliest discovered and most widely 

used metals. However, our knowledge of the distribution 

and origin of economically workable deposits is incomplete and fragmentary despite long familiarity with the 

metal. This report will examine the great variety of copper 

deposits in sedimentary rocks and discuss the similarities 

and differences between deposits. To facilitate and clarify 

discussion, some words commonly used in economic 

geology are redefined here and other terms are intentionally avoided because their meaning has become 

blurred through the years. The main thrust of this paper is 

to explain the occurrence and genesis of sedimentary 

copper deposits, therefore resource and reserve data are not 

tabulated in this report. The reader interested in precise 

reserve data is referred to McMahon (1965), Kinkel and 

Peterson (1962), Cox and others (1973), and Pelissonnier 

and Michel (1972). 

Concepts of genesis definitely influence exploration for 

and development of copper deposits; the size, shape, and 

tenor of an ore deposit are controlled by its mode of formation. In developing a mine, the geologist needs to know 

whether a deposit is likely to be large or small, spotty or 

persistent, whether it is associated with a ground-water 

table or a petroleum-brine interface, and whether the 

primary control of the deposit is lithologic, stratigraphic, 

or structural. The size and primary controls of a deposit 

are influenced by its genesis-Is it syngenetic, diagenetic, 

or epigenetic? Is it supergene or hypogene? What are the 

permeabilities of the associated strata? Are the associated 

strata marine or nonmarine? What is the structural setting 

of the associated rocks-Are they related to a plate margin 

or a stable craton? The answers to all of these questions are 

important in suggesting new prospecting areas as well as 

in developing known mineralized areas. Therefore this 

paper will emphasize theories of genesis and consider 

these many factors that influence ore deposits. 

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 

We have benefited greatly from discussions with our colleagues, who generously shared their knowledge of the 

various copper deposits of the world. While the opinions 

expressed here are our own, we deeply appreciate the 

helpful suggestions, references, and criticisms received 

during the writing of this report. We also thank Richard B. 

Taylor and Louise Hedricks for their help in preparing 

the photographs and photomicrographs used in this 

report. 

CONCEPTS OF GENESIS 

Development of concepts of genesis during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries (see Stanton, 1972, p. 7-35, 

for a concise history of genetic theories) culminated in the 

Cl 
C2 GEOLOGY AND RESOURCES OF COPPER DEPOSITS 

domination of the epigenetic hydrothermal hypothesis for 

the origin of most major ore deposits. Although the veins 

at Butte, Mont., and Cornwall, England, are classic 

localities of hydrothermal ore deposition, the modern 

concept of a hydrothermal deposit is best illustrated by 

porphyry copper deposits. In a porphyry copper deposit, 

mineralization is irrefutably related to magmatic intrusion; concentric zones of hydrothermal alteration center in 

the upper part of the intrusion and extend outward into 

country rock (Lowell and Guilbert, 1970, fig. 3; Sillitoe, 

1973 ). The igneous body is generally regarded as the source 

of heat, metals, and volatile constituents responsible for 

alteration and mineralization. Ore minerals are precipitated in veins or disseminated grains in a porous or 

chemically reactive rock by a decrease in temperature and 

pressure and a loss of volatiles. This hydrothermal-magmatic hypothesis has served well in the exploration and 

development of many major mining districts throughout 

western North and South America (Sawkins, 1972; Sillitoe, l972b, c). However, recent oxygen isotope studies, 

such as those described by Taylor (1973, 1974), show that a 

large proportion of meteoric water is involved in the processes of alteration and mineralization of some hydrothermal deposits. This raises the question of whether the 

other constituents of porphyry copper deposits and of 

other epigenetic hydrothermal ore deposits are derived 

from the magma or whether they are leached from 

intruded country rock, or more simply, which constituents originate where and in what proportions? The 

answer to this question may suggest new exploration 

targets. Many ore deposits, among them some of the 

world's largest, show no relation to igneous intrusion and 

no hydrothermal alteration of country rock. They cannot 

be explained by conventional hydrothermal theories. 

The epigenetic-hydrothermal hypotheses have tended 

to dominate discussions of the genesis of ore deposits until 

recently. This predominance occurred even though a 

leading advocate of the hydrothermal hypothesis, 

Waldemar Lindgren (1933), included several chapters in 

his textbook "Mineral Deposits" on nonhydrothermal 

types of ore deposits, including one entitled, "Deposits 

Formed by Concentration of Substances Contained in the 

Surrounding Rocks by Means of Circulating Waters.'' 

This is essentially what older workers called "lateral secretion," but the term. and concept have been so discredited that they are now rarely used. Instead, we have 

people writing in the following terms, "The * * * 

orebody is a massive hydrothermal cupriferous pyrite 

deposit, averaging 4 percent copper. It is of some interest 

in that hydrothermal wallrock alteration is almost entirely 

absent* * *" (John, 1963, p. 107). 

A period of uranium exploration, mostly by small independent companies or petroleum companies, beginning 

in the early 1950's and still active, employed petroleum 

geologists for uranium exploration-individuals who had 

no personal commitment to the hydrothermal hypothesis 

but who were familiar with concepts of migration of fluids 

and diagenesis in sedimentary rocks. The success of the 

application of concepts developed by petroleum geologists to the search for uranium in sedimentary rocks 

suggests that the same concepts might be equally useful in 

the search for other metals that are mobile under conditions of low temperature and pressure, including 

copper. 

DEFINITION OF TERMS 

Many copper deposits in sedimentary rocks show no 

evidence of hydrothermal alteration. If the deposits have 

lateral persistence and are concordant with the stratification of other sedimentary rocks, they are generally 

called stratiform. If they are confined to specific stratigraphic horizons on a large scale but are discordant on a 

small scale, or if they gradually cut across local bedding 

planes, they are generally called stratabound. (These 

definitions, modified slightly, are from Stanton, 1972, p. 

541.) In some districts stratiform deposits occur at several 

different horizons and in other districts stratabound 

deposits may occur in rocks of several different lithologies. 

One of our problems is to find unifying themes among the 

great variety of deposits that exist in sedimentary rocks. 

(See Dunham, 1969, for further discussion.) 

In this paper the terms "stratiform" and "stratabound" 

will be used for copper deposits in sedimentary rocks, 

instead of "red-bed" copper deposit. Red-bed copper 

deposit implies that the copper deposits in sedimentary 

rocks are in intimate association with red-colored rocks. 

Because this i.s not always so, the term "red-bed type" has 

been stretched in many instances to the point that it is 

meaningless. For clarity, the other terms that we will be 

using frequently are defined: 

Syngenetic.-Minerals deposited or formed simultaneously with the 

enclosing sediment. 

Diagenetic.-Postdepositional formation of new minerals by equilibrium reactions between the original sedimentary rock constituents, 

both detrital and chemical, and interstitial fluids and gases from within 

the sequence. By implication, the elements making up the new minerals were present in the sedimentary sequence at the time of deposition. 

Epigenetic.-Postdepositional formation of new minerals, especially 

ore minerals, by chemical reactions between the original sedimentary 

rock constituents and solutions from an external source. Historically 

the term has implied hydrothermal solutions of magmatic origin, but 

in recent years it has been extended to ground waters of meteoric origin, 

which might have been introduced into aquifers after tectonic uplift 

and truncation. 

Hypogene.-Describes ascending solutions, generally in the form 

of volcanic exhalations or hydrothermal waters. May produce syngenetic deposits on the sea floor or epigenetic deposits in preexisting 

rock. 

Supergene.-Describes descending solutions, generally meteoric 

waters entering ground water systems. Applied inost frequently to the 

oxidative destruction of a preexisting ore body and the formation of 

an enriched mineralized zone at greater depth, but it could be applied 

to the mobilization of disseminated ore minerals and redeposition of 

an ore body. 

Diplogenetic.-A term proposed by Lovering ~(1963) for 
SEDIMENTARY AND VOLCANOGENIC ROCKS C3 

mineral deposits whose elements are in part syngenetic and in part 

epigenetic. A possible example is the White Pine copper deposit 

in Ontonagon County, Mich., where several authors, including 

White and Wright (1966) and Ensign and others (1968), 

have suggested that the iron in preexisting pyrite was replaced by 

copper from copper-bearing solutions. 

Hydrothermal.-Means hot water. It can be either deeply 

circulating ground water in an area of high temperature gradient or 

water with components of juvenile water from igneous activity. 

Tons.-All tonnages in this report are in metric tons. Most 

of the figures quoted are rounded and (or) estimates and the percent difference between short tons, metric tons, and long tons is less 

than the margin of error. 

GEOCHEMISTRY 

Copper is not included within the crystal structure of 

common rock-forming minerals; it most commonly 

occurs as minute grains of chalcopyrite in crystalline rocks 

(Goldschmidt, 1954, p. 182). Turekian and Wedepohl 

(1961, table 2) estimated that granitic rocks contain an 

average of 10-30 ppm copper and that basaltic rocks 

contain an average of 87 ppm. Some mafic rocks are 

reported to contain as much as 1,000 ppm copper 

(Dunham, 1972). Samples of biotite separated from felsic 

intrusive rock associated with porphyry copper deposits 

contain as much as 1 percent copper (Lovering, 1972, p. 

Dll), probably as minute sulfide inclusions. 

In the zone of oxidation and weathering, copper sulfide 

minerals are unstable, releasing copper ions which are 

carried in solution with any of the common anions, such 

as carbonate, sulfate, or chloride (chloride probably being 

the most effective under many conditions). In sedimentary environments, copper tends to stay in solution 

where oxygen amounts are sufficient to maintain a 

positive Eh and a low pH exists. At a pH greater than 6.3, 

the copper combines with carbonate or sulfate to form 

compounds of low solubility, which are then transported 

as suspended material (Strakhov, 1961). Very early in the 

evolution of the Earth's atmosphere, before free oxygen 

began to accumulate as a result of photosynthesis (Cloud, 

1971 ), copper sulfides, like other heavy minerals, were 

probably stable enough to be transported and deposited in 

placer deposits. In later Precambrian time enough free 

oxygen existed to oxidize the copper sulfides, but a high 

concentration of C02 in the atmosphere caused a low pH 

of river water (Strakhov, 1962) and copper remained in 

solution much longer and traveled farther than it does 

today. Evolution of the Precambrian atmosphere may be 

an important factor in the occurrence of major copper 

deposits in association with sedimentary rocks of middle 

to late Precambrian age. Some Precambrian iron deposits, 

such as on the Keweenaw Peninsula of Michigan (James 

and others, 1968; Lougheed and Mancuso, 1973), contain 

evidence of Precambrian organisms and are older than the 

copper deposits in the same region (Ensign and others, 

1968; White, 1968). Bakun, Volodin, and Krendelev (1964) 

have actually suggested the older "Archean" iron deposits 

in the Aldan shield as the source of copper found in the 

Precambrian Udokan copper deposit in Siberia. 

Ordinarily, during the geologic cycle of weathering, 

transport, and sedimentation, copper is dispersed rather 

than concentrated. Copper carried to the sea in streams is 

usually dispersed throughout a very large quantity of 

marine sediment, although it may be adsorbed on clay 

minerals, organic matter, or manganese nodules, and 

somewhat concentrated. Manganese nodules studied by 

Mero (1962) contained an average of 0.8 but as much as 2.9 

percent copper. For average sedimentary rocks, Turekian 

and Wedepohl (1961, table 2) listed the copper contents as 

shale, 45 ppm; sandstone, X ppm [1-9 ppm]; and limestone, 4 ppm. In black shale the mean copper content was 

found to be 70ppm (Vine and Tourtelot, 1970, p. 265-267); 

the higher copper content suggests some association with 

organic matter. Armands (1972, p. 20) found that 

uranium-rich Cambrian alum shales (which are generally 

organic-rich, too) from the Billingen area, Sweden, 

contain 180-190 ppm copper. Samples of pyrite separated 

from these shales contained five times as much copper as 

the enclosing shale (Armands, 1972, p. 58-62). In contrast, 

the Meade Peak Phosphatic Shale Member of the Phosphoria Formation of Permian age in western Wyoming 

and eastern Idaho, which contains local concentrations of 

vanadium (McKelvey and Strobell, 1955) and uranium 

(Sheldon, 1959) and averages about 5 percent organic 

carbon, contains a mean of only 100 ppm copper, 

although it is enriched (compared to other black shales) in 

chromium, lanthanum, molybdenum, yttrium, ytterbium, and zinc (Vine, 1969, p. G14; Vine and Tourtelot, 

1970). The suite of elements enriched in the Meade Peak 

appears to represent the elements most likely to be concentrated in a marine environment by normal marine 

processes, and suggests that special circumstances would 

be required to form a purely syngenetic marine copper 

deposit. 

PROBLEMS OF GENESIS OF COPPER DEPOSITS 

It is important to consider what special circumstances 

might produce an economic deposit of copper in sedimentary rocks. In many cases, there are intriguing hints 

about factors important in the formation of deposits that 

we do not completely understand. We do know that no one 

theory of genesis will explain all ore deposits. Because we 

suspect that many copper deposits result from many 

different processes acting on sedimentary and volcanic 

rocks throughout their geologic history, and because 

many of these processes are obscured by later events and are 

difficult to decipher, we wish to avoid any classification 

scheme that carries connotations of genesis with it. In this 

paper, we will discuss first copper deposits forming today 

or recently formed, then massive sulfide deposits, and then 

generally older deposits starting with the youngest and 

concluding with the most ancient. Some discussion of 
C4 GEOLOGY AND RESOURCES OF COPPER DEPOSITS 

genesis will be included in the deposit descriptions, and 

finally we will try to sum up unifying factors. The main 

emphasis is on stratiform and stratabound deposits of syngenetic and diagenetic origin. For this reason, discussion 

of vein deposits in sedimentary rocks and replacement 

deposits in limestones and dolomites has been omitted. 

The deposits discussed were selected on the basis of 

economic importance, and (or) the availability of 

information.about them, and (or) their capabilities for 

illustrating important factors in ore formation. We hope 

to show the potential economic importance of stratabound copper deposits and to stimulate research and 

exploration for them. 

COPPER DEPOSITS FORMING NOW 

MODERN BOG AND LAKE DEPOSITS 

COPPER FROM RUNOFF 

T. S. Lovering (1927) described the occurrence and 

genesis of spongy masses of native copper in a peat bog in 

the Beartooth Mountains near Cooke City, Mont. (fig. 1). 

The copper occurs in thin beds of black muck, but not in 

the interbedded layers of sand and gravel. Several bodies of 

cupriferous pyrite occur in the Precambrian crystalline 

terrane of the surrounding mountains, and Lovering 

suggested that the copper is transported in solution in 

surface waters from the older deposits as cupric sulfate. In 

the bog, the biochemical action of bacteria at least partly 

causes the precipitation of the native copper. Near Jefferson City, Mont., (fig. 1), a similar deposit of native 

copper occurs in a peat bog downstream from coppersulfide-bearing veins in the Boulder batholith (Forrester, 

1942). However, there the copper is associated with 

limonitic bog iron which may be the precipitating agent 

for copper. In both of these instances, the deposits of native 

copper are small, but are clearly the result of weathering, 

transport, and deposition under surface conditions. 

COPPER FROM GROUND WATER 

Another copper-rich peat deposit, in southeastern New 

Brunswick, Canada (fig. 1 ), is slightly different from the 

two just discussed. Fraser (196la, b) said that although the 

forest peat contains as much as 10 percent copper (dry 

weight), no copper minerals were visible in the peat. He 

thought that the copper is organically bound, possibly as a 

chelate, and furthermore, rather than being brought in by 

surface water, the copper probably entered the swamp in 

ground water that picked up copper from the underlying 

nonmarine Pennsylvanian sandstones known to contain 

disseminated cupriferous pyrite. 

In the southern Ural Mountains, U.S.S.R., there is a 

pond that is colored blue by the large amount of copper it 

contains. As described by Igoshin (1966), spring waters 

feeding the pond, which are also blue, contain as much as 

38 ppm copper as well as other metals. Geophysical and 

geochemical data are purported to indicate a local source 

of the spring water and its metals. The rocks near the 

spring are enriched in metals, and Igoshin interpreted that 

to mean that the metals are brought to the surface from 

depth. The geology of the area is diverse and the exact 

source of the metals is uncertain. 

These examples of copper-rich bogs and lakes reflect the 

mobility of copper in the zone of weathering and in any 

porous rock with oxidizing ground water flow. Conversely, they also illustrate ways in which copper can 

accumulate, and they may be analogous to some ancient 

copper deposits. 

DEPOSITS FROM COPPER-RICH BRINES 

Besides surface waters or meteroic ground waters 

enriched in copper from the leaching of older copper 

deposits or copper-rich sedimentary rocks, other copperrich brines are known that involve varying proportions of 

meteoric, connate, metamorphic, and magmatic waters. 

Brines enriched in metals have been discovered and 

stuqied along the East Pacific Rise (Corliss and others, 

1972; Dymond and others, 1972; Bostrom and Peterson, 

1966). Corliss (1971) suggested that the brines along midoceanic ridges become enriched in several elements in the 

following way-as· the basalts that have been extruded 

along the ridges cool, they develop contraction cracks, and 

the chloride complexes in seawater mobilize the elements 

as seawater moves in and through these cracks. Moore and 

Calk ( 1971) identified microscopic spherules of iron, 

copper, and nickel sulfides in the glassy margins of pillow 

basalts. They suggested that the constituents in the 

sulfides are derived by diffusion from the cooling basalt. 

SALTON SEA 

The East Pacific Rise continues northward from the 

Pacific Ocean into the Gulf of California and then inland 

under the Imperial Valley of California. A well drilled for 

geothermal power near the Salton Sea (fig. 1) tapped a 

saline brine with an extremely high heavy-metal content 

(White and others, 1963). The brine from the well 

deposited siliceous scale at the rate of 2-3 tons per month 

containing an average of 20 percent copper and as much as 

6 percent silver (Skinner and others, 1967). The brine is a 

Na-Ca-Cl brine and contains 500 ppm Zn, 90 ppm Pb, and 

6 ppm Cu, but only 15-30 ppm total sulfide (D. E. White, 

1968, p. 313). White (1968) decided that the major component of the brine was from meteoric water and that the 

high salinity was from the dissolution of evaporites at 

depth. Helgeson (1968) suggested that the high salinity 

was, instead, the result of evaporative concentration of 

connate water. Heat from magmatic activity at depth 

caused convective circulation of the ground water which 

leached the metals from the enclasing sediments 

(Helgeson, 1968). If undisturbed, the brines might or 

might not eventually form an ore deposit. 
ASIA 

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EXPLANATION 

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nature and (or) 

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EUROPE 

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motion 

FIGURE I.-Major lithospheric plates and Cenozoic disseminated copper deposits in theworld. Base showing major lithospheric plates supplied by Philip W. Guild. See Guild 

(1973) for maps showing massive sulfide deposits plotted on the same base. 1, Cooke City, Mont. 2, Jefferson City, Mont. 3, New Brunswick, Canada. 4, Ural Mountains, 

U.S.S.R. 5, Salton Sea, Calif. 6, Red Sea, showing approximate location of Atlantis II Deep. 7, Cheleken Peninsula, U.S.S.R. 8, New Britain and the Solomon Islands. 

9, Colorado Plateau, United States. l 0, Boleo, Mexico. 11, Corocoro, Bolivia. 

IJj 

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C6 GEOLOGY AND RESOURCES OF COPPER DEPOSITS 

RED SEA 

Although anomalously high temperatures were first 

suspected near the bottom of the Rea Sea in 1948, the hot 

dense saline waters in the deeps of the Red Sea were recognized and measured during the years 1963-65 (Brewer 

and others, 1965; Degens and Ross, 1969). In 1965 the sediments in these deeps were cored and the high metal content 

was discovered (Miller and others, 1966; Degens and Ross, 

1969). Structurally, the Red Sea is similar to the Gulf of 

California (fig. 1 ); it is a rift zone and is the site of sea-floor 

spreading. The brine is a Na-Ca-Cl brine quite different 

from seawater. The metal content of the brine is much 

lower than that of the Salton Sea brine, but is two to four 

orders of magnitude greater than that of seawater (D. E. 

White, 1968). Most likely the brines are ground waters that 

have dissolved evaporites and picked up the heavy metals 

from sediments at depth (D. E. White, 1968; Emery and 

others, 1969). The sediments cored in the Atlantis II Deep 

in the Red Sea are highly metal rich (Ross, 1972; Ross and 

others, 1973; Bischoff, 1973), containing an average of 1.3 

percent Cu, 3.4 percent Zn, and 29 percent Fe in the top 33 

ft (10 m) (Bischoff and Manheim, 1969). At 1967 prices, 

Bischoff and Manheim calculated that the total value of 

the metals in the top 33ft (10m) of the Atlantis II Deep was 

$2.5 billion. Clearly this represents a modern syngenetic 

ore deposit. In the Degens and Ross (1969) volume, several 

authors have speculated on what might happen to this 

deposit in the geologic future. James (1969) pointed out 

that the Red Sea brines are associated with evaporites as are 

many of the older stratabound base-metal deposits, and 

that, with diagenesis, the metal-rich brines might be displaced laterally until the metals were precipitated as 

sulfides in some favorable host rock. Ross and others 

( 1973) have suggested similarities in the trace element 

content of the black-shale facies under the Red Sea with 

that of the Kupferschiefer. 

CHELEKEN PENINSULA 

Another metal-rich brine area occurs on the Cheleken 

Peninsula on the southeast coast of the Caspian Sea (fig. 

1 ). Although the structural and tectonic settings may not 

be analogous to those in the Salton Sea area, the brines at 

Cheleken have been compared to those at the Salton Sea 

(Lebedev, 1967a, b; Vinogradovandothers, 1969).Agroup 

of wells in the Cheleken area produce iodine and bromine 

from 12 different aquifers in the upper 3,300 ft (1,000 m) of 

red beds within a thick sequence of upper Pliocene strata. 

Large quantities of lead, zinc, copper, and other metals are 

recovered from the pipes and holding tanks used for 

recovery of halides from the hot brines. 

NEW BRITAIN AND THE SOLOMON ISLANDS 

Stanton and Baas Becking (1962) observed the accumulation of sedimentary sulfides associated with geothermal 

activity in nearshore environments along the coasts of 

New Britain and the Solomon Islands (fig. 1). Ferguson 

and Lambert ( 1972) have studied this accumulation in 

detail in Matupi Harbour at the east end of New Britain 

where volcanic activity has occurred relatively recently. 

They concluded that the thermal exhalations represent 

seawater circulated through hot Quaternary volcanic 

rocks from which large quantities of metals have been 

leached and carried to the surface to be precipitated and 

deposited with the detrital minerals in the harbor. Although the deposits forming there today are not of ore 

grade, the mechanisms involved have great significance in 

the studies of older deposits. In this case, the thermal 

activity is related to an island-arc tectonic setting, and 

there are no evaporites or sediments to be leached, but the 

principles involved appear to be similar to what is happening in the Salton Sea area and the Red Sea. That is, 

heat from igneous activity drives the circulation of 

brines-formed by meteoric water leaching evaporites, or 

by seawater-which then leach metals from the enclosing 

rocks. When these brines reach the surface or some special 

environment, the metals they carry are precipitated. 

COPPER DEPOSITS RELATED TO THE 

PRESENT CYCLE OF WEATHERING 

The expression "supergene enrichment" generally suggests the erosion, weathering, and oxidation of a sulfide 

ore body and the concentration of secondary sulfides, 

sulfates, carbonates, and other minerals near the water 

table. Typically, there is a zone of enrichment, overlain by 

a leached zone or gossan composed of the residue from the 

weathered part of the ore body. The leached zone contains 

quartz, iron oxides, and, possibly, a kaolinitic 

day-minerals that are relatively insoluble in the acid environment produced by the oxidation of sulfides. A gossan 

is usually conspicuous over a massive sulfide body, replacement body, or sulfide-rich veins, but a similar phenomenon may be unobtrusive where sulfide minerals are 

disseminated through a resistant sedimentary rock such as 

sandstone or a quartzite. The Nacimiento deposit near 

Cuba, N.Mex., to bediscussedlater(p. Cl3), may include a 

leached zone and a zone of supergene enrichment. The 

Nugget Sandstone in western Wyoming has small voids or 

cavities filled with limonite or dolomite (fig. 2) that may 

represent formerly existing sulfide minerals. Similar 

features were observed in outcrops of copper-bearing 

quartzite in the Revett Formation of Precambrian age in 

western Montana. Conspicuous secondary copper 

minerals such as azurite and malachite were not seen in 

either instance. Thus, a leached zone associated with 

copper mineralization in sandstone may be inconspicuous, but should be suspected where sandstone or 

quartzite contains voids or cavities filled with secondary 

minerals, especially in areas favorable for the occurrence 

of disseminated copper. 

COLORADO PLATEAU 

Deposits resulting from supergene processes are known 

in several areas of the Colorado Plateau. Except for minor 
SEDIMENTARY AND VOLCANOGENIC ROCKS C7 

FIGURE 2.-Dolomite (D) filling of voids 1-3 mm across in Nugget 

Sandstone of Jurassic(?) and Triassic(?) age from Lincoln County, 

Wyo. Crossed polars; sample CU-28D. 

occurrences of sulfide nodules or veinlets, these deposits 

have no known association with a primary ore body. They 

are characterized by colorful secondary copper minerals 

such as azurite, malachite, and chrysocolla at or near the 

surface. These secondary minerals were probably 

deposited by supergene processes some distance from a 

primary ore body that has since been completely destroyed by continued erosion. Although most of these 

deposits are small, they illustrate one of the processes that 

can form ore deposits, and there may be more as yet undiscovered large deposits of this type, similar to the 

Nacimiento, New Mex. deposit. 

The White Mesa copper district, also known as the 

Copper Mine Trading Post, on the Navajo Reservation 

about 20 mi (32 km) south of Page, Ariz. (Mayo, 1956), 

probably represents such a supergene deposit. Secondary 

copper minerals (fig. 3) are locally disseminated in the 

pore spaces of the Navajo Sandstone of Jurrasic and 

Triassic(?) age, an eolian quartz sandstone as much as 

1,500 ft ( 460 m) thick. Detailed geologic mapping by C. B. 

Read, R. D. Sample, and H. H. Sullwood, Jr. (written 

commun., 1943) indicated that the deposit occurs along the 

flank of a monoclinal fold and that the copper minerals 

are localized on a small scale along faults and joints, some 

FIGURE 3.- Navajo Sandstone of Jurassic and Triassic(?) age from the 

Copper Mine Trading Post, Coconino County, Ariz. Sandstone 

cemented by malachite (rna) ·and with remaining pores filled with 

cuprite (cr) and chrysocolla (cy). Exposures by reflected light and 

by light transmitted through crossed polars; sample CU- llA. 

of which are filled with chalcedony. Samples collected in 

1972 show that the copper mineralization is younger than 

the fractures and the chalcedony. Therefore, the mineralization is probably related to the present cycle of erosion. 

Secondary copper minerals also replace sandy, 

phosphatic limestone and dolomite (fig. 4) of the Kaibab 

Limestone of Permian age, located 1-2 mi (1.6-3.2 km) 

west of Jacob Lake Post Office, about 44 mi (71 km) by 

road north of the North Rim Lodge in Grand Canyon National Park. Karst topography characterizes the area, and 

several copper prospects are near the road that winds 

around the sinkholes named Jacob Lake and Lambs Lake. 

In addition to copper-;' some samples from this area 

contained anomalous amounts of zinc, silver, nickel, 

cadmium, chromium, arsenic, and antimony. Waesche 

(1933, 1934) described similar mineralization at the Anita 

mine in Kaibab Limestone on the south side of Grand 

Canyon and at the Grandview copper mine in a breccia 

zone of the Redwall Limestone of Mississippian age within the present boundary of Grand Canyon National Park. 

In each area, the present deposits appear to have formed 

by supergene processes that reworked former primary ore 

bodies during the present cycle of erosion, as was suggested by Jennings (1904). 
C8 GEOLOGY AND RESOURCES OF COPPER DEPOSITS 

Figure 4.- Spicular limestone from the Kaibab Limestone of Permian 

age replaced by chalcedony (cd), malachite (ma), and chrysocolla 

(cy) near the sink hole at Lambs Lake, Coconino County, Ariz. 

Exposures by reflected light and by light transmitted through crossed 

polars; sample CU- 15C. 

In the Cumberland-Pictou lowlands of New Brunswick 

and Nova Scotia, Brummer (1958) has described deposits 

formed by supergene enrichment, which are similar to 

deposits of the Colorado Plateau. In Nova Scotia, the enriched zone of copper and uranium is restricted to a distance of 20-50 ft (6-1.5 m) down the dip of the beds, which 

coincides with the present position of the water table at 

25-60 ft (7.6- 18 m) below the surface. Chalcocite does not 

occur below the water table but slightly cupriferous pyrite 

does (Brummer, 1958, p. 322-323). 

COPPER-SULFIDE DEPOSITS RELATED TO 

CRUSTAL-PLATE BOUNDARIES 

The relationship between some stratabound copper-sulfide deposits and volcanism has been recognized for some 

time (Ohashi, 1919; Stanton, 1959; Watanabe, 1957; 

Hutchinson, 1965; Kinkel, 1966; Skripchenko, 1967; 

Anderson, 1969; Matsukuma and Horikoshi, 1970; see 

Hutchinson, 1973, for a more complete review). However, 

recent theories on the relationship between ore deposits 

and plate tectonics (Bird and Dewey, 1970; Guild, 1971, 

1972a, b, 1973; Sawkins, 1972; Sillitoe, l972a, b, c, 1973; 

Dunham, 1972; Dixon, 1973; Gabelman and Krusiewski, 

1972; Upadhyay and Strong, 1973; Hutchinson, 1973) may 

further explain the existence of these deposits and may 

disclose a more complete pattern of occurrence for these 

deposits. While the ultimate cause of the deposits or source 

of the metals still may not be completely explained, the 

plate tectonic model gives us new ideas on how an ore body 

could be emplaced tectonically after being formed syngenetically and suggests possible exploration targets for 

massive copper-sulfide deposits. Data on past production 

and (or) reserves, taken from Laznicka and Wilson (1972), 

show that 18 percent of the world's copper is in coppersulfide deposits related to volcanism. 

PLATE TECTONIC THEORY REVIEWED 

Massive stratabound sulfide deposits can form at the 

sites of either diverging or colliding plates (fig. 5 ). Disseminated stratabound copper deposits, in addition to 

forming along plate boundaries, may form at the sites of 

tensional rifting within plates or they may form by sedimentary and diagenetic processes within stable platform 

environments. A brief introduction to plate tectonics will 

be followed by a discussion of copper deposits in sedimentary and volcanogenic rocks whose origins appear to 

be closely related to the plate tectonic hypothesis. 

New material is added to plate margins where plates 

diverge-that is, at the site of sea-floor spreading, which is 

often typified by a midoceanic ridge. Sulfide deposits associated with ophiolite sequences may form along spreading 

centers as described in detail by Sillitoe (l972a, c). The new 

material is gradually rafted away from the spreading 

center until it encounters another plate. Several authors 

have described the structural deformation caused by the 

collision of two plates (Bird and Dewey, 1970; Dewey and 

Bird, 1970; Warren Hamilton, 1969, 1970; Dietz and 

Holden, 1970; Dickinson, 1971). When two plates collide, 

one plate generally slides under the other along a zone of 

subduction (Benioff zone) and is consumed by melting 

at depth (Sillitoe, l972c). If a plate carrying a continent 

collides with an oceanic plate, the oceanic plate, being 

made of denser material, is the one to subduct. Some of the 

upper layers of the oceanic plate, including possible ore 

deposits, can be added to the continental plate, producing 

a melange of tectonically contorted deep-sea sediments 

and volcanic rocks classically described as eugeosynclinal 

facies. Slices of the mantle may even be included. When an 

island arc and a continent collide, the buoyancy of the continental rocks formed in the arc prevents underthrusting of 

either plate (McKenzie, 1969) and so the arc is welded to the 

continent and breaks off from the oceanic part of the plate. 

The oceanic part begins to pass under the combined 

continent-island arc and a new Benioff zone forms on the 

oceanic side of the arc (Dewey and Bird, 1970). The 

igneous, volcanic, and sedimentary island-arc rocks, and 

any enclosed sulfide deposits, are further metamorphosed during the collision and welding process. In 
SEDIMENTARY AND VOLCANOGENIC ROCKS C9 

Continent ~ 

--------t-.1\ o\'\O / 

Combination of oceanic 

and continental crust 

Q) 

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·~ .~ co "' E o Q. 

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a.-o 

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from spreading center 

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magma generation 

FIGURE 5~-Diagram of plate tectonic hypothesis and its relation to copper deposits. Modified from Warren Hamilton (1969), Dewey and 

Bird (1970), Guild (l972a, b), and Sillitoe (1972a). 

either case-continent-oceanic plate collision, or continent-island arc collision-where massive sulfide deposits are present, they may be incorporated into the 

continental crust as part of a eugeosynclinal facies. The 

metamorphism that accompanies these processes may 

make it difficult to distinguish between those deposits that 

originated at a spreading center and those that formed in 

an island arc. Regardless of origin, eugeosynclinal facies 

commonly contain massive sulfide deposits, and plate 

boundaries are commonly the site of mineral deposits 

(figs. 1, 5). Guild (1973) published a map (shown in fig. 1) 

showing many of the massive sulfide deposits that may be 

associated with plate boundaries. Therefore, instead of 

completely cluttering his map, on figure 1 weare showing 

only the disseminated deposits that we discuss in some 

detail. 

ISLAND-ARC ENVIRONMENT 

Stratiform and stratabound copper deposits that occur 

in an island-arc environment may be massive and interbedded with calc-alkalic lavas, or they may be disseminated through rhyolitic tuff or through lagoonal 

facies shale and mar Is tone. Some of the ore deposits associated with volcanic arcs are syngenetic, formed by 

fumarolic activity that causes metal-rich solutions to pour 

out onto the ocean or lagoon floor. We have already 

discussed a possible modern example of this along the 

coasts of New Britain and the Solomon Islands (p. C6). 

Other deposits are epigenetic, formed by the alteration of 

volcanic rock and sediment as the solutions ascend to the 

surface. Many deposits, such as the Miocene Kuroko in 

Japan (Watanabe, 1957; MatsukumaandHorikoshi, 1970; 

Sato, 1971; L. A. Clark, 1971), may show complete 

gradation from epigenetic to syngenetic. The epigenetic 

part of the deposit may consist of pipelike alterations 

around ascending solutions. The syngenetic part of the 

deposit is represented by the sulfides precipitated with seafloor mud and volcanic ash as the metal-rich solutions 

reacted with seawater. 

The range of deposits possible in an island-arc environment is represented by the deposits that occur in the 

Tasman orogenic zone of Australia, such as Rosebery 

(Brathwaite, 1974) and Mount Lyell in Tasmania; Mount 

Morgan, Queensland; and Bathhurst and Captains Flat, 

New South Wales (Solomon and others, 1972). Kuroko 

and similar deposits in Japan (L.A. Clark, 1971; Ishikawa 

and others, 1962) are classic examples of island-arc 

deposits. Other probable island-arc deposits include many 

of the massive sulfide deposits of Ordovician age in the 

Appalachian region (Heyl and Bozion, 1971), including 

some of the deposits in Newfoundland (Baird, 1960), 

Stirling, Nova Scotia (Keating, 1960), Caribou (Davis, 

1972), St. Stephen, Bathhurst, Newcastle (McAllister, 

1960), and Brunswick Mining and Smelting ore bodies 

(Stanton, 1959), all in New Brunswick, and Elizabeth, Vt. 

(White, 1943). Sillitoe (1972a) suggested that Rio Tinto 

and similar deposits in Spain and Portugal are of islandarc origin. Most likely, the deposits of the Folldal district 

of Norway (Waltham, 1968), some of the deposits in the , Caucasus (Tvalchrelidze and Buadze, 1964), the 19th 

Party Congress deposit in the southern Ural Mountains 

(Boriskov, 1966), and Altai in Kazakhstan:(Shcherba, 1971) 

are all examples of island-arc deposits. This is by no means 

a complete list of possible island-arc massive sulfide 

deposits. 

DIVERGENT-PLATE-BOUNDARY DEPOSITS 

There appear to be two types of stratiform deposits 

formed at the sites of spreading centers or rifting. The. first 

type, generally a massive sulfide deposit, is that found in 
ClO GEOLOGY AND RESOURCES OF COPPER DEPOSITS 

ophiolite sequences and described in detail by Sillitoe 

(l972a). The second type is disseminated. The massive 

sulfide deposits are generally associated with extrusive 

tholeiitic basalt and probably "formed initially as 

accumulations of brine-soaked sulphide mud in depressions on the sea floor" (Sillitoe, l972a, p. Bl42). The 

Troodos Massif in Cyprus is the best known example of 

this type of deposit because it has not been greatly metamorphosed (Corliss and others, 1972; Elderfield and 

others, 1972; L. A. Clark, 1971; Hutchinson and Searle, 

1971; Constantinou and Govett, 1973). Similar deposits 

are found in southeastern Turkey (Borchert, 1957), 

especially at Kiire (Suffel and Hutchinson, 1973) and 

Ergani-Maden (Griffitts and others, 1972; Sirel, 1950). 

Other examples are Betts Cove and Tilt Cove, Newfoundland (Upadhyay and Strong, 1973); Balabac Island, Philippines (John, 1963); Mugodzhar Hills in the southern 

Ural Mountains (Ivanov, 1965); the Amasia-Akerin deposits in the Trans-Caucasian region (Tvalchrelidze and 

Buadze, 1964); West and East Shasta, Calif. (Kinkel and 

others, 1956), and some of the Appalachian deposits 

(Kinkel, 1967; Heyl and Bozion, 1971). (The preceding 

authors are cited for their descriptions of the deposits; they 

would not necessarily agree with our interpretation of 

genesis.) In many areas, such as the Appalachian Mountains, Scandinavia, the Ural Mountains, and the Philippines, both spreading-center and island-arc deposits may 

occur. 

Many of the Precambrian and also many of the younger 

deposits are too metamorphosed for their origins to be 

certain. Commonly they are associated with eugeosynclinal rocks and may have been tectonically emplaced after 

they were formed. Also, we cannot be sure that the plate 

tectonic regime was the same in Precambrian time as it 

appears today (Burke and Dewey, 1972; Sillitoe, 1972a; 

Hutchinson, 1973). Therefore, this pattern cannot be used 

to classify many massive sulfide deposits of Precambrian 

age, such as Otokumpu, Finland (Peltola, 1960); Mogador 

(Geoffroy and Koulomzine, 1960), Mattagami (Mackay 

and Paterson, 1960), and Noranda (Sinclair, 1971) in 

Quebec; Encampment, Wyo. (Spencer, 1904); Ducktown, 

Tenn. (Mauger, 1972); and Jerome, Ariz. (Anderson and 

Nash, 1972). For many other deposits, the published descriptions are such that classification is ambiguous. Also, 

various advocates of the theory of the relation of plate 

tectonics and ore deposits may classify the same ore deposit 

differently. However, thinking of these deposits as essentially syngenetic rather than as replacement deposits may 

suggest new areas and a more systematic approach for 

exploration. 

Thus, at the site of spreading centers or at island arcs, 

ore may form syngenetically-that is, the metals precipitate at the surface because of some change in Eh or pH 

and are deposited with the enclosing sediments-or the ore 

may form diagenetically or epigenetically if the metals are 

precipitated as the brine moves upward through already 

deposited sediments and tuffs. Both syngenetic and diagenetic or epigenetic components can be present in the 

same deposit. D. E. White (1968) pointed out that many 

brines are sulfur deficient in comparison to their metal 

contents. Sulfur may be syngenetically deposited with iron 

by the action of anaerobic bacteria and metals, such as 

copper, added later by circulating brines; together, they 

result in the formation of deposits termed "diplogenetic" 

by Lovering (1963). White (1968) and also Helgeson (1968) 

suggested that the metals are not necessarily a juvenile 

contribution of the mantle or subsurface magmas but that 

they may have been leached from the rocks through which 

the brine is flowing. Although volcanism is associated 

with spreading centers, periods of quiescence are observed, 

such as in the Red Sea and Gulf of California areas today. 

Therefore, the deposits formed at the sites of spreading 

centers are not necessarily closely associated with volcanic 

rocks. Many of the same factors producing an ore deposit 

at a spreading center can operate at the site of tensional 

rifting within plates. Sites of rifting are sites of high heat 

flow. The rifting also produces grabenlike basins that restrict circulation of water and may enhance the formation 

of evaporites, and thus saline brines. (For example, see 

Baker and others, 1972, for a detailed account of the rifting of eastern Africa.) The combination of high heat flow 

and saline brines can result in a mineralizing solution 

that can precipitate an ore deposit in a suitable environment. In fact, the high heat flow and saline brines are 

the most pertinent factors in producing an ore deposit. 

CENOZOIC DISSEMINATED COPPER DEPOSITS 

TERTIARY 

BOLEO, MEXICO 

The Boleo copper district adjacent to the Gulf of 

California in Baja California Sur, Mexico (fig. 1) appears 

to be an excellent example of a disseminated copper 

deposit related to diverging plates. Sillitoe (1972c) suggested that this deposit is related to the East Pacific Rise, 

and Nishihara ( 195 7) suggested a syngenetic origin. As described by Wilson ( 1955 ), the copper ore occurs at five different horizons in soft dark beds of altered tuff in the Boleo 

Formation of Pliocene age. The Boleo Formation was 

deposited unconformably as a delta over the Comondu 

volcanic rocks of Miocene age. Although the district is 

almost mined out now, the ore mined during 1886-1947 

averaged 4.8 percent copper, and about 500,000 tons of 

copper were produced to June 1947 (Wilson, 1955). The 

principal ore mineral is chalcocite; gangue minerals 

include montmorillonite, gypsum, calcite, chalcedony, 

and jasper. The ore occurs in bands, lenses, and nodules 

(boleos) in the tuff beds, each above a conglomerate bed. 

The copper deposits partly overlap the Lucifer manga-
SEDIMENTARY AND VOLCANOGENIC ROCKS Cll 

nese deposits (Wilson and Veytia, 1949) to the northwest. 

In the Boleo deposit, again there is the combination of 

high heat flow (the East Pacific Rise), evaporite beds (the 

gypsum), and reactive host rocks (the tuff beds). Interestingly, manganese deposits have also been found in 

the Afar depression, Ethiopia, in Miocene sediments 

(Bonatti and others, 1972) associated with the rifting of the 

Red Sea. 

COROCORO, BOLIVIA 

The Corocoro basin forms the western part of the 

Altiplano between the East and West Andes in Bolivia (fig. 

1 ). Throughout this basin there has been extensive copper 

mineralization; Pellisonnier and Michel ( 1972, table 25) 

estimated that the basin contained more than 425,000 tons 

of copper. According to Ljunggren and Meyer (1964), the 

copper occurs in a thick sequence of first-cycle Tertiary 

sandstones and conglomerates, in a basin 31-50 mi (50-80 

km) across that received sediments from mountains on 

both sides of the basin. The Tertiary rocks have been 

deformed by diapiric folds in the underlying Cretaceous 

.evaporite sequence; evaporites also occur in the Tertiary 

sequence. Ljunggren and Meyer went on to say that the 

copper minerals always occur in sandy or conglomeratic 

layers, usually as elongate lenses, are always stratabound, 

and are generally associated with fossil plants. They 

recognized two types of ore bodies-one with chalcocite 

associated with plant material in structural lows, and the 

other with chalcocite or native copper in structural highs 

where the copper minerals replace cement in sandstones 

and conglomerates. The first type is regarded as 

syngenetic-it is lower grade (as much as a few percent 

chalcocite replacing fossil plant material) and is found 

throughout a stratigraphic interval of 16,000-26,000 ft 

(5,000-8,000 m). The copper probably was derived from 

the erosion of porphyry copper deposits in the western 

Andes and (or) the erosion of copper-rich basalt flows of 

the Altiplano. The second type of deposit is higher grade 

(as much as 20 percent copper) and occurs on the flanks of 

anticlines. The second type appears to result from 

dissolving the disseminated copper in ground water. The 

copper in the ground water is then precipitated by fossil 

plant remains (perhaps with the aid of reducing bacteria) 

or iron minerals on the flanks of anticlines. 

Many copper deposits in other parts of the world may 

have received their copper from the erosion of porphyry 

copper deposits. Sillitoe ( 1972c) has emphasized that 

porphyry copper deposits are usually emplaced at very 

shallow depths and hence many pre-Mesozoic porphyry 

copper deposits have probably been eroded away (Sillitoe, 

l972c, p. 190- 191 ). Thus, eroded porphyries could be the 

source of anomalous copper contents in many sedimentary sequences, particularly first-cycle sandstone 

and conglomerate sequences. At least one such deposit, in 

Arizona, in basin fill assocdted with porphyry copper has 

been described by Throop and Buseck (1971). There may 

be others. 

MESOZOIC DISSEMINATED COPPER DEPOSITS 

JURASSIC(?) AND TRIASSIC(?) 

WYOMING FOLD BELT 

Copper deposits occur in the upper part of the Nugget 

Sandstone of Jurassic(?) and Triassic(?) age along much of 

the length of the southwestern Wyoming fold belt (fig. 6). 

Although mining was never systematically developed, at 

least several tens of thousands of tons of ore were shipped 

to smelters in Utah from the Griggs mine in the Lake Alice 

district, Lincoln County, Wyo., about 30 mi (48 km) 

north-northeast of Cokeville (Love and Antweiler, 1973). 

In their samples from the Griggs mine, Love and 

Antweiler (1973, p. 143) reported maximum values of 6.7 

percent copper, 0.12 percent silver, and 3.2 percent zinc. 

Areas of copper minerals in Pennsylvanian and Triassic 

rocks of the fold belt were described in early reports 

(Veatch, 1907; Gale, 1910; Schultz, 1914), but the mineralization that occurred in the Nugget seems to be the most important. The Nugget Sandstone in this area consists of as 

much as 2,000 ft (600 m) of pink to white quartzose sandstone with very little matrix or cement except quartz overgrowths and a little kaolinite or calcite or dolomite. Most 

of the formation is crossbedded eolian sandstone that 

contains no fossils by which its age might be more 

precisely determined. Some of the upper part of the 

Nugget is horizontally bedded, suggesting aqueous reworking of the eolian sands, perhaps in a marine environment. The Nugget is overlain by the Gypsum Spring 

Member of the Twin Creek Limestone of Middle Jurassic 

age. The Gypsum Spring Member contains gypsum and 

anhydrite as well as dolomite and dolomitic siltstone 

(Love and Antweiler, 1973). Copper minerals occur in the 

upper 50ft (15m) of the Nugget at approximately the same 

stratigraphic position throughout the length of the fold 

belt (Love and Antweiler, 1973). About 23-24 mi (37-38.6 

km) east of the Griggs mine, petroleum is produced from a 

fractured anticline in the Nugget at the Tip Top field, 

Sublette County, Wyo. (Wyoming Geological 

Association, 1957, p . 456- 457). Samples of ore from the 

Griggs mine have dark-gray streaks that may represent 

petroleum residue (fig. 7). Thus, the copper 

mineralization may have followed some persistent feature 

such as a petroleum-water interface and the anomalously 

high metal contents were probably concentrated from the 

section of eolian sands and red beds of Jurassic and 

Triassic age in the area. Love and Antweiler (1973) also 

have pointed out the possible relation between the 

petroleum, the sulfate minerals of the overlying Gypsum 

Spring Member, and the copper mineralization. 
Cl2 

.. 

GEOLOGY AND RESOURCES OF COPPER DEPOSITS 

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"' EXPLANATION .... 

Specific locality 

General area of copper mineralization 

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FIGURE 6.-Areas of stratabound copper deposits in the Western Un ited States in rocks of Mesozoic and Paleozoic ages. 

TRIASSIC 

CONNECTICUT VALLEY AND SOUTHEASTERN 

PENNSYLVANIA 

The Connecticut Valley and southeastern Pennsylvania deposits of copper in arkosic sandstone and shale 

of the Newark Group and equivalent rocks of Triassic age 

have been locally mined since colonial times (Lewis, 1907; 

Wherry, 1908; Black, 1922; Bateman, 1923; Miller, 1924,p. 

31-36; Stose, 1925; Cornwall, 1945). Someofthesedeposits 

appear to be diagenetic concentrations of disseminated 

copper similar to many of the deposits in nonmarine rocks 

of the southwestern United States. Other deposits in this 

area appear to be structurally controlled and genetically 
SEDIMENTARY AND VOLCANOGENIC ROCKS Cl3 

FIGURE 7.- Nugget Sandstone of Jurassic(?) and Triassic(?) age from 

Lincoln County, Wyo., showing chalcopyrite (cp) associated with 

bituminous material (B). Ore minerals may follow a fossil oil-water 

contact. Exposures by reflected light and by light transmitted 

through crossed polars; sample CU-28D. 

associated with intrusive and extrusive basalt or diabase 

"trap rock." A map and list of 55 copper localities in 

southeastern Pennsylvania (Wherry, 1908) and a map of 

copper deposits in New Jersey (Lewis, 1907) show many 

deposits in a zone of low-grade metamorphism adjacent to 

the igneous rocks in which the sedimentary rocks are described as "baked." Other deposits,. such as the Bristol 

mine in Connecticut as described by Bateman (1923), lie 

along the fault contact between Triassic sedimentary rocks 

and older crystalline rocks. Lewis (1907) saw both chalcopyrite and native copper in traprock and suggested that 

the igneous rocks were the source of the copper. In light of 

the modern hypotheses on the relationship between plate 

tectonics and metallogenic provinces (for instance, Guild, 

1971, l972a, 1973; Sillitoe, 1972a, b, c), rifting and 

separation of the North American plate from the 

European plate was accompanied by igneous activity that 

produced the traprock (Bird and Dewey, 1970); possibly 

associated volcanic exhalations formed hypogene copper 

deposits. Thus, the copper deposits in the Triassic basins 

of the eastern United States may be of different types-one 

type formed by ground-water concentration of disseminated copper, and one type formed by hypogene 

solutions comparable to the deposits now forming in the 

Red Sea area and in the Salton Sea-Gulf of California area. 

NACIMIENTO, NEW MEXICO 

In the southwestern United States, many copper 

deposits are found in nonmarine arkosic sandstone 

composed of debris shed from mountains uplifted in late 

Paleozoic and in early Tertiary time. (Soule, 1956). A 

typical example, currently being mined, is theN acimiento 

copper deposit near Cuba, N. Mex. (fig. 6) (Kaufman and 

others, 1972; Woodward and others, 1973, 1974). 

Scartaccini (1973, p. 52) reported that 11 million tons of 

ore assaying 0.65 percent copper had been developed for 

open-pit mining as of January 1973. Chalcocite, bornite, 

other copper minerals, and small amounts of native silver 

replace large fossil carbonaceous logs, as shown in figure 

8, and are also disseminated through sandstone of the 

Agua Zarca Member of the Chinle Formation of Triassic 

age. The Agua Zarca is at the same stratigraphic horizon, 

at the base of the Chinle, as the uranium-rich conglomerate, the Shinarump Member in Utah. The 

Nacimiento ore body, as exposed by mining, lies at and 

above the water table on the west flank of the Nacimiento 

uplift. An erosional remnant of the Agua Zarca, consisting of sandstone that is bleached and altered to nearly 

pure quartz by weathering, forms Eureka Mesa. This 

remnant extends for several miles up the flank of the 

F IGURE 8.-Sulfidc replacement of fossil wood from the Agua Zarca 

Member of the Chinle Formation, at the Nacimiento mine, Sandoval 

County, N. Mex. Reflected light; sample CU-10]. 
Cl4 GEOLOGY AND RESOURCES OF COPPER DEPOSITS 

mountain east of the mine. In this weathered sandstone, 

evidence of the former existence of fossil wood is found as 

empty molds, except for a few places along the cliff margin 

of the mesa where chalcocite-bearing fossil wood has been 

exposed in long-abandoned prospect pits. Small deposits 

of COJ?per probably existed throughout the Agua Zarca 

before the area was eroded to its present level. Most of the 

copper present updip from the Nacimiento mine may have 

been flushed down to the mine area, which now represents part of a dynamic interface between oxidized and 

unoxidized sandstone, similar to the Wyoming roll-front 

type of uranium deposits. Moreover, the massive chalcocite replacements of fossil wood, as shown in figure 9, 

suggest a possible zone of supergene enrichment similar in 

occurrence and mode of origin to the zones of supergene 

enrichment associated with various hydrothermal 

porphyry, vein, and replacement deposits. At the Nacimiento mine, bleached and altered quartz sandstone 

overlies the main ore body. Similar bleached sandstone 

may overlie other ore bodies and might be an aid in prospecting. 

FIGURE 9.-Fossil wood replaced by massive chalcocite at the 

Nacimiento mine, Sandoval County, N. Mex. Massive replacement 

may be evidence of supergene enrichment near the water table. 

Sample provided through the courtesy of Lyle Talbott, Geologist, 

Earth Resources Co. 

GUADALUPE COUNTY, NEW MEXICO 

Near the town of Santa Rosa, Guadalupe County, N. 

Mex., a tributary of the Pecos River cuts through the 

copper-bearing Santa Rosa Sandstone of Late Triassic age 

and exposes a section of rocks of the Artesia Group of 

Guadalupian Permian age that includes a basal gypsum 

bed overlain by a fine-grained marine sandstone that has 

been mined for copper at the Pintada mine (fig. 6), as will 

be described later (p. CIS). On the south side of the canyon, 

copper has been mined from fluvial deltaic sandstones of 

Late Triassic age at the Stauber mine (Harley, 1940; Holmquist, 1947; Soule, 1956, p. 24-28). The Triasic deposit 

forms a tabular ore body about 1,500 by 320 ft (520 by 

110 m) that C. B. Read, R. D. Sample, and J. S. Sheldon 

(written commun., 1943) described as a fossil sinkhole in 

the Triassic rocks, once the site of a bog containing 

abundant organic matter. They further suggested that the 

copper sulfides were precipitated from epigenetic copperbearing solutions that flowed through the surrounding 

permeable sandstones. The Triassic deposit may also 

represent a syngenetic deposit formed in a manner similar 

to the formation of the copper-rich forest peat bog in New 

Brunswick, mentioned before (p. C4) and described by 

Fraser (l96la, b); this peat bog formed by ground water 

rising from the underlying copper-rich Permian rocks. 

The Permian marine rocks across the canyon contain irregular patches or streaks of chalcocite disseminated 

through the matrix of fine -grained sandstone or siltstone 

that contains very little organic matter and is cemented 

chiefly by gypsum and dolomite. Possibly the same 

solutions flowed through both deposits, but because the 

chemical environment of precipitation in each was different, the resulting deposits differ in general form and 

appearance. 

PALEOZOIC DISSEMINATED COPPER DEPOSITS 

Small (containing less than 10,000 tons) stratabound 

deposits of copper occur in sandstone and shale in nonmarine strata containing red beds in the Appalachian 

Plateau, the Appalachian fold belt, and the basins formed 

by Triassic block-faulting in the eastern United States 

(Kinkel and Peterson, 1962). Many old prospects in the 

Catskill Formation of Devonian age were examined 

during the search for uranium (McCauley, 1957; Klemic, 

1962; Klemic and others, 1963), along with similar 

prospects in the Mauch Chunk Formation of Mississippian and Pennsylvanian age and the Pottsville Formation of Pennsylvanian age. None of the prospects were 

found to contain economically valuable amounts of either 

copper or uranium, but they do demonstrate the mobility 

of copper in the red-bed environment. In eastern Canada, 

copper deposits in rocks of Carboniferous age were mined 

locally in the late 19th century (Papenfus, 1931 ). Mineralization in the Pictou Formation of Late Pennsylvanian age 

occurs over an area of 500 mi2 (1,300 km2) in northern 

Nova Scotia. Although individual samples may contain as 

much as 67.7 percent copper (as logs replaced by chalcocite), not enough copper occurs in any one locality to make 

mining economical (Brummer, 1958). Figure 10 shows the 

general location of Paleozoic and Precambrian disseminated stratabound copper deposits. 
30° 

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EXPLANATION 

x5 Specific locality 

@) 7 General area of disseminated 

copper deposits 

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FJGURIC 10.-Areas of disseminated copper deposits in rocks of Paleozoic and Precambrian ages. I, Kupferschiefer, England through Poland. 2, West Ural foreland, U.S.S.R. 3, 

Creta, Okla. 4, Colorado Plateau. 4a, Northern Nova Scotia. 5, Dzhezkazgan, Kazakh S.S.R. 6, African Copperbelt, Zambia and Zaire. 7, Udokan, Siberia. 8, Belt deposits, 

Montana. 9, Adelaidean deposits, South Australia. 10, White Pine, Mich. 

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Cl6 GEOLOGY AND RESOURCES OF COPPER DEPOSITS 

PERMIAN 

KUPFERSCHIEFER, ENGLAND THROUGH POLAND 

Probably the world's best known copper-rich shale is 

the Kupferschiefer of Late Permian age, which has been 

mined at Mansfeld, German Democratic Republic, for 

almost 1,000 years. The Kupferschiefer underlies an 

estimated area of 231,000 mi2 (600,000 km2) in Germany, 

Poland, Holland, and England (fig. 10). Copper concentrations greater than 0.3 percent occur in about 1 

percent, and zinc concentrations greater than 0.3 percent 

in about 5 percent of this area. The productive mining 

<:reas account for 0.2 percent of the area and the mass of 

metals in areas of economic value is in the range of 30- 300 

million tons of copper and greater amounts of lead and 

zinc (data from Wedepohl, 1971 ). It also carries 

anomalously high amounts of many other metals 

(Haranczyk, 1964). In spite of the long-time knowledge of 

the Kupferschiefer, it was only during and after World 

War II that exploration in the Fore-Sudetian monocline 

of Lower Silesia (southwestern Poland) outlined copper 

deposits extensive enough to place Poland first in copper 

reserves in Europe (Krason, 1967; Haranczyk, 1970). 

Many geologists regard the Kupferschiefer as the classic 

example of a syngenetic ore deposit. The most impressive 

argument for a syngenetic hypothesis is the persistence of 

this thin ( 1.6-3.3 ft (0.5-1 m), distinctive bed. Also, sulfur-, 

carbon-, and oxygen-isotope work (Marowsky, 1969) 

support a syngenetic hypothesis. The rock contains 

abundant organic matter, including fish remains, which 

gives it a characteristic dark-gray to black color. The 

copper and other metals are disseminated throughout the 

matrix of the rock as fine-grained sulfides (fig. II). Some of 

the sulfides show a colloform morphology that has been 

compared to the framboidal texture of iron sulfides formed 

by bacterial action in modern anaerobic environments 

(Love, 1962; Temple, 1964). The Kupferschiefer is the first 

marine transgressive unit overlying the nonmarine Lower Permian Rotliegendes, a red sandstone sequence. The 

Kupferschiefer is overlain by the rest of the Zechstein 

sequence of marine evaporites, which includes halite and 

potash minerals. Friedman (1972) compared and contrasted the general environment of deposition of the 

Kupferschiefer and the Zechstein to the modern environment of the Red Sea, and Glennie (1972) compared the 

depositional environment of the Rotliegendes to modern 

coastal deserts. Both authors found many similarities. In 

southwestern Poland, the upper Rotliegendes began with 

a windswept desert surface (hammada) formed on an 

underlying metamorphic terrane. The hammada was 

followed by a pebble- and sand-strewn desert plain (serir) 

as the topographic hollows were filled (Krason, 1967, p. 

144). Possibly the Kupferschiefer and evaporites of 

the Zechstein represent a tidal marsh (sabkha) environment which developed as the sea began to transgress over 

the desert sands (Friedman, 1972; Renfro, 1974). 

FIGURE !I.-Hand sample of the Kupferschiefer from Mansfeld, 

Germany, showing fossil fish remains. Ore minerals are too fine 

grained to be visible. Sample supplied through the courtesy of A.V. 

Hey I. 

If the metals in the Kupferschiefer were deposited simultaneously with the enclosing sediment, several possible 

sources for the metals can be considered-the metals could 

have been derived from (I) upwelling nutrient-rich seawater (Brongersma-Sanders, 1968, 1969); (2) hydrothermal solutions that reached the surface of the Harz 

Mountains and drained into the sea (Ekiert, 1958); (3) 

erosion of older mineral deposits (Richter, 1941 ); ( 4) submarine metal-rich springs (Dunham, 1961, 1964; Hirst and 

Dunham, 1963); or (5) the underlying nonmarine red beds 

(Deans, 1950; Wedepohl, 1964, 1971; Lur'ye and Gablina, 

1972; Renfro, 1974). In the Fore-Sudetian monocline of 

Poland, Haranczyk (1970) found copper-bearing shales 

separated from lead-bearing shales by a narrow zone of 

mineralized sandstone. He related the lead mineralization 

to a more restricted part of a lagoonal margin and the 

copper to l'<lgoonal inflow ami outflow areas. He, too, 

favored a syngenetic hypothesis and suggested that 

bacterial action was highest in the marginal parts of the 

lagoon. The vertical and horizontal zoning of the copper, 

lead, and zinc sulfides (Wedepohl, 1971) and the 

abnormally high contents of many other trace elements 

have also been used to support the syngenetic hypothesis. 

A group of Russian geologists who studied the ForeSudetian deposit (Narkelyun and others, 1970) emphasized the mineralization in sandstones underlying the 

copper-bearing shale and also in the overlying dolomite 

and anhydrite. They favored a sedimentary origin for the 
SEDIMENTARY AND VOLCANOGENIC ROCKS C17 

metals with postdepositional or diagenetic concentration. Oberc and Serkies (1968) also described the 

Fore-Sudetian as a diagenetically differentiated deposit. 

Davidson ( 1964, 1965) suggest~d that the metals were 

introduced into the Kupferschiefer from deep circulating 

brines derived from the overlying evaporite sequence (see 

also Ridge, 1968). Many of these hypotheses are equally 

attractive, and debate on the genesis of the ore deposits in 

the Kupferschiefer is sure to continue for many more years. 

WEST URAL FORELAND, U.S.S.R. 

In Late Permian time, the environment of the eastern 

part of the Russian platform (West Ural foreland) was 

very similar to that of the two Germanies and Poland 

where. equivalent Zechstein sediments were being 

deposited. Three belts of copper deposits occur in the 

Russian Permian rocks (fig. 10). (The following description is from Lur'ye and Gablina (1972).) The trend of 

the copper mineralized zone is subparallel to the Ural 

Mountains. One belt, in the Perm region, is 280 mi (450 

km) long and 75 mi (120 km) wide; the second is in the 

Orenburg region and is 370 by 62 mi (600 by 100 km); and 

the third, in the valley of the Zay River, is 250 by 50 mi (400 

by 80 km). More than 7,500 mines were located on these 

deposits in the 18th and 19th centuries. Although the ages 

of the host rocks range through three stages of the Late 

Permian, most of the deposits are related to marine transgressions over continental sediments. Individual copper 

deposits are confined to a small stratigraphic range, but 

they are not confined to a single bed. Mineral zoning in 

these deposits is described as being similar to that in the 

Kupferschiefer and in the African Copperbelt. The major 

factor controlling mineralization appears to be the physiochemical conditions at the time of depositjon-not 

lithology. The copper deposits occur at a sharp boundary 

between oxidizing and reducing conditions, but not where 

either reducing or oxidizing conditions lasted for a long 

time. Lur'ye and Gablina ( 1972) suggested that the copper 

was originally eroded from massive sulfide deposits in the 

Urals and deposited in the continental red-bed sediments. 

Then ground water flowing through the continental sediments concentrated the copper which was precipitated 

from ground-water springs as they discharged into 

reducing areas of the sea following marine transgression. 

The same explanation can account for the areal and vertical zonation of the ore minerals. Some copper deposits 

are found in ancient river channels, and the more porous 

sediments of the channels may have been ground-water 

channels after burial (Lur'ye and Gablina, 1972). 

CRETA, OKLAHOMA 

The descriptions of the copper mineralization in the 

Permian rocks of Europe indicate similarities between 

those rocks and the Permian rocks of Oklahoma, Texas, 

and Kansas. Both areas have red-bed sequences that 

include evaporites and transgressive marine shales. The 

paleoenvironment appears to have been similar. A 

thorough study of the Russian literature might provide 

valuable concepts for exploration and development of 

copper deposits in marine and deltaic rocks in the United 

States. Krason (1974) has also pointed out the similarities 

between the setting of the Kupferschiefer and that of some 

of the Permian of the south-central United States. While 

none of the deposits in the Permian of the United States, 

with the exception of Creta, Okla., have proven to be 

economic, we will describe some areas of copper deposits, 

as their geology may reveal some modes of origin and 

suggest localities where larger deposits might be looked 

for. 

Several examples of copper deposits in marine sandstone and shale occur in Permian strata of northeastern 

New Mexico, northern Texas, and southwestern 

Oklahoma (fig. 6). Copper deposits in the Flowerpot Shale 

near Creta and Mangum, Okla., south and west of the 

Wichita Mountains granitic uplift, are currently being 

mined or explored. The following discussion is taken 

from reports by Ham and Johnson (Ham and Johnson, 

1964; Johnson and Ham, 1972) and from conversations 

with D. C. Brockie, Chief Geologist for Eagle-Picher 

Industries, Inc. (oral commun., 1973). The copper 

mineralization has occurred in two greenish-gray silty 

shale beds in the upper part of the Flowerpot Shale. Individual mineralization areas in the Creta area cover several 

tens of square miles. The main ore bed ranges in thickness 

from 6 to 18 in (15-46 em) and lies about 10ft (3m) below 

the Kiser Dolomite Bed of the Flowerpot. A similar 4-inchthick (10 em) bed occurs about 5 ft (1.5 m) below the Kiser 

but cannot be mined economically. As mined, the main 

bed has an average thickness of about 7 in (18 em) and an 

average grade of about 2.3 percent (Johnson, 1974). No 

zonation of the sulfide minerals has yet been reported in 

detail. Chalcocite is the most important ore mineral 

(Gann and Hagni, 1974; Kidwell and Bower, 1974). It 

occurs as octahedral crystals 1-25 microns in diameter, in 

pellets and aggregates as much as 200 microns in diameter, 

and as fillings in pore spaces in sandy laminae (Kidwell 

and Bower, 1974). Chalcopyrite occurs in the shales overlying the richest chalcocite. Pyrite is the next most 

abundant sulfide after chalcocite (Gann and Hagni, 1974). 

Malachite occurs as a weathering product of the copper 

sulfides. Detailed study by Kidwell and Bower (1974, p. 

110) with a scanning electron microscope indicated that 

"* * * most of the chalcocite is an early replacement of 

syngenetic pyrite." Thus, copper-bearing solutions 

flowed through the ore beds after the formation of pyrite, 

and these deposits could be termed "diplogenetic." Where 

exposed by mining, the ore bed is overlain by a bed of 

gypsum that facilitates selective removal of the overburden. The ore is underlain by barren gray clay that looks 

like the ore, but lacks chalcocite. The Permian rocks 

exposed in the area are dominated by reddish-brown silt-
CIS GEOLOGY AND RESOURCES OF COPPER DEPOSITS 

stone having thin interbeds of light-gray to white gypsum, 

dolomite, and clay beds. No coarsening of the sediments or 

thickening of the beds is evident as they approach the 

overlap onto the granitic knobs of the Wichita Mountains, although the mountains must have contributed 

debris at least locally in Permian time. Most of the sediments appear to be tidal-flat muds or very shallow water 

marine deposits. Smith (1974) decided that the equivalent 

Flowerpot in northern Texas had been deposited in a 

sabkha environment. 

North of the Wichita Mountains, the Flowerpot Shale is 

locally more than 400ft (122m) thick (MacLachlan, 1967, 

p. 88-89) and consists of red-brown mudstone with graygreen spots and interbedded gypsum, especially near the 

top of the formation. The Flowerpot also contains some 

thin bands of gray shaly mudstone and some very fine 

grained sandstone. It is underlain by evaporites, including 

anhydrite and salt in the Wellington Formation, and red 

mudstone, gypsum, and arkosic sandstone in the Hennessey Shale. The Flowerpot is conformably overlain by the 

Blaine Gypsum, which is locally more than 200 ft (60 m) 

thick. All these units were assigned to interval B of the 

Permian by MacLachlan (1967, p. 88-89). 

GARVIN COUNTY, OKLAHOMA 

South and east of the Wichita Mountains, the Garber 

Sandstone occurs between the Wellington Formation and 

the Hennessey Shale. The Garber Sandstone is a coarsegrained red sandstone and sandy mudstone that becomes 

coarser grained eastward and may be as much as 400ft (122 

m) thick. Copper deposits occur in this sandstone, 

especially at a locality about 6 mi (9.6 km) north of Pauls 

Valley (Stroud and others, 1970, p. 13). Pauls Valley is 

north of the Wichita-Arbuckle Mountain uplift in which a 

granitic core was exposed in Permian time. The granitic 

core contributed feldspathic debris to a delta. The high 

copper values, as much as several percent, are in greenishgray beds of fine-grained quartzose sandstone that are 

overlain by dolomite or ankerite-cemented sandstone (fig. 

12). Other beds in the sequence contain more feldspar, 

especially plagioclase, and more clay minerals, suggesting a possible difference in permeability and diagenetic alteration from the ore beds. Silver accompanies 

the copper, and reaches a maximum content of several 

hundredths of a percent at the base of the copper-bearing 

bed that overlies a red mudstone. In thin sections, quart?: 

grains are -seen to be locally corroded and p~rtly replaced 

by chalcocite and authigenic carbonates. This suggests an 

epigenetic or diagenetic origin for the mineralization. 

These deposits are stratabound, and although none have 

proved to be economic so far, there may be possibilities for 

future development of deposits in this area. 

GUADALUPE COUNTY, NEW MEXICO 

Copper deposits similar to those in the Flowerpot Shale 

in Oklahoma occur in the Artesia Group of Permian age 

FIGURE 12.-Chalcocite bleb (cc) in carbonate-cemented Garber Sandstone of Permian age, Garvin County, Okla. Exposures by reflected 

light and by light transmitted through crossed polars; sample 

WRM-73. 

in northeastern New Mexico, near the town of Santa Rosa, 

Guadalupe County (Kelley, 1972). The copper at the 

Pintada mine (Sandusky and Kaufman, 1972), across the 

canyon from the Stauber mine described previously (p. 

C 14 ), occurs as irregular patches and streaks of chalcocite 

disseminated through a matrix of fine-grained greenishgray sandstone otherwise cemented with gypsum and 

dolomite. Only minor amounts of carbonaceous matter 

and clay minerals are present. The deposit is confined to 

a section about 10 ft (3 m) thick, but the distribution of 

copper within this interval is erratic, ranging from a few 

parts per million to lO percent in hand samples that look 

similar (fig. 13). 

Copper in the Flowerpot Shale of Oklahoma and in the 

Artesia Group of New Mexico may have had similar 

origins. In both areas, the copper deposits are associated 

with rocks containing evaporites, including halite (see 

McKee and others, 1967, pl. 19). Therefore, copper could 

have been introduced into the rocks diagenetically by 

chloride brine shortly after deposition. The copper in both 

formations occurs in greenish-gray beds that are interbedded with barren reddish-brown mudstones, implying 

that copper mineralization occurred only where the rock 

was in a reduced state. Perhaps syngenetic pyrite was diagenetically replaced by copper sulfide. 
SEDIMENTARY AND VOLCANOGENIC ROCKS Cl9 

FIGURE 13.- Chalcocite disseminated in arkosic siltstone from the 

Artesia Group of marine Permian rocks near Santa Rosa, N. Mex. 

Locally the chalcocite.(Gc) has replaced parts of the framework grains. 

Exposures by reflected light and by light transmitted through crossed 

polars; sample CU-5D. 

SOUTHERN COLORADO AND NORTHERN NEW MEXICO 

Isolated lenses and nodules of copper minerals in association with uranium and other metals are characteristic 

of the Sangre de Cristo Formation of Pennsylvanian and 

Permian age in southern Colorado and northern New 

Mexico (Tschanz and others, 1958). Equivalent rocks in 

the subsurface of Texas are reported to contain nodules of 

metal-rich asphaltite that may be the source for helium 

in the Panhandle gas field of Texas (Pierce and others, 

1964, p. G40-G46). These and similar small deposits may 

be comparable to the Colorado Plateau type of uranium 

deposit described by Fischer ( 1970). 

CARBONIFEROUS 

DZHEZKAZGAN, KAZAKH S.S.R. 

Upper Paleozoic rocks in Kazakhstan in the southern 

U.S.S.R. (fig. 10) contain large stratiform copper deposits 

in the Dzhezkazgan area (Davidson, 1962; Druzhinin, 1973; 

also, written commun., 1967). The copper-bearing rocks 

of this area range in age from Devonian to Permian, but 

the most important deposits are in rocks of Carboniferous 

age. Popov (1959) noted that at least nine beds of 

commercial ore occur in the Variscan (late Paleozoic) fold 

belt, and possibly as many as 27 different zones of 

mineralized rock occur within 2,300 ft (700 m) of strata. 

Sutulov (1973, p. 138) estimated that Dzhezkazgan has the 

potential of producing 200,000-300,000 tons of copper per 

year. The ore beds are greenish gray, whereas the bulk of 

the strata is red or reddish brown. The ore occurs in 

elongated zones which form multistaged en echelon 

bodies. AI though copper is the principal product, lead and 

zinc are produced locally as byproducts. Popov (1959) 

related the distribution of ore to portions of the deltaic 

sequence where freshwater mixed with saltwater, but also 

noted the association of ore with carbonaceous matter, 

salt, and gypsum. Druzhinin (1973), who studied the 

Dzhezkazgan deposits in great detail, stated that the copper 

was deposited in the nearshore part of an inland sea in 

an arid climate. The beds containing copper mineralization are generally found in sandy to conglomeratic sediments deposited in the subaqueous part of the delta of 

a postulated major river draining into a restricted gulf. 

The mineralization is further related to regressive facies 

in a series of oscillations of sea level in Carboniferous 

time. Druzhinin ( 1973) compared the Dzhezkazgan copper 

deposits to those at Roan-Antelope in the African Copperbelt and suggested that only minor diagenetic redistribution and concentration occurred after deposition and 

that the beds were soon "sealed" with diagenetic calcite. 

Acid volcanic detritus is found in the ore-bearing section, 

but is not regarded as a source of the ore minerals. 

Germanov, Pante1eyev, and Golubovich (1970) suggested 

an association between ore and hydrocarbons or soluble 

organic matter, and they noted that some deposits are surrounded by a halo of ground water containing copperbearing soluble organic matter-a point that may be 

useful in exploration, but that may not clearly be related to 

the origin of the deposits. Vol'fson and Arkhangel'skaya 

( 1972), in a review article on copper-bearing sandstone 

deposits, refuted the syngenetic hypothesis for 

Dzhezkazgan and supported a hydrothermal-epigenetic 

origin, suggesting that the ore-bearing fluids came up 

along deep faults related to block-faulting in the area. 

At the time that the ore-bearing strata were being 

deposited in Kazakhstan, Russia and Siberia may have 

been two separate continents (Hamilton, 1970). Moreover, the copper-bearing rocks are close to structures and 

facies classed by K. A. W. Crook (oral commun., 1973) as 

the "Pacific" type geosyncline, meaning that the rocks are 

graywackes and arkoses composed of much volcanogenic 

material; they contain abundant reactive minerals and not 

much quartz. Together, these various observation-s may 

suggest a plate-boundary type of depositional environment. 

PRECAMBRIAN DISSEMINATED COPPER 

DEPOSITS 

AFRICAN COPPERBELT, ZAMBIA AND ZAIRE 

The African Copperbelt in Zambia and Zaire (fig. 10) 

produces nearly 20 percent of the world's copper. In 1970, 
C20 GEOLOGY AND RESOURCES OF COPPER DEPOSITS 

Zambia produced 686,000 tons of copper; the average grade 

of ore mined was 3.8 percent, and the estimated 

commercial reserves were 27.2 million tons of copper. 

Zaire, in 1970, produced 386,000 tons of copper; the 

average grade of ore mined was 4.2 percent copper and 

cobalt, and estimated commercial reserves were 18.1 

million tons of copper (de Vletter, 1972, p. 253 ). Almost all 

of the more than l million tons of copper mined in 1970 

was derived from sedimentary roc.ks. 

The host rocks for the copper deposits in the African 

Copperbelt are Precambrian sedimentary rocks-older 

than 840±40 m.y. and younger than 1,300±40 m.y. 

(Drysdall and others, 1972)-that have been folded and 

slightly to moderately metamorphosed. The primary 

control of mineralization appears to be stratigraphic, not 

structural or lithologic, although the control has been 

debated since modern exploration and mining began in 

the 1920's. The principal evidence for a syngenetic origin 

of the copper is given by Garlick (1961) and by 

Mendelsohn (1961), with more evidence and explanation 

presented in Garlick's later papers (Garlick, 1963, 1964, 

1969; Garlick and Fleischer, 1972). A preview of Garlick's 

ideas was presented by Davis (1954). Malan (1964) described primary sedimentary control of the mineralization 

associated with algal stromatolites, and Binda (1972) 

applied palynological methods to identify microfossils 

associated with the ore minerals. Voet and Freeman (1972) 

attempted to relate copper mineralization in the basal 

arenaceous members of the ore zone to lode deposits in 

paleoridges of older gneiss and schist, whereas Vink ( 1972) 

explained sulfide mineral zoning in terms of changing 

environments of deposition in shallow-water saline 

basins. Local redistribution of elements caused by 

regional metamorphism has been described by Jolly 

(I 972). Dechow and Jensen ( 1965) found that regional 

metamorphism had also affected sulfur isotopes and so 

sulfur isotope studies did not clearly confirm either a biogenetic or a magmatic source for the sulfur in the ore 

deposits, although they tended to suggest the biogenetic. 

Many of the copper deposits of the area occur in the 

lowest marine (or aqueous) transgressive unit; this unit 

overlies nonmarine, locally eolian, detritus derived from 

an older crystalline terrane of considerable relief consisting of granite, gneiss, and schist. In the copper 

deposits, the sulfide minerals show a consistent zonal 

pattern with respect to the strandline but the pattern is 

independent of lithologic changes. Garlick and Fleischer 

(1972, p. 283) proposed a paleogeographic setting where 

barren rock was present adjacent to the strandline near a 

highland of older rock from which streams delivered 

copper, cobalt, iron, and other metals. The barren zone 

represents the area covered by a surface layer of oxygenated water. Seaward, copper is the first element to be 

precipitated in the anoxic deeper water, followed by 

increasing amounts of iron to produce the following 

sequence-chalcocite, bornite, chalcopyrite, and pyrite. 

In contrast, from a detailed sedimentological study o( 

the Lower Roan sediments at Mufulira, Zambia, van Eden 

(1974) proposed that the crossbedded sandstones underlying the main ore-bearing beds are not of eolian origin, 

but were deposited in a subaqueous environment. He 

suggested a combination of syngenetic and diagenetic 

processes as having formed the Copperbelt deposits. Much 

of the ore occurs in fine-grained argillaceous wackes and 

carbonaceous wackes that were deposited in marine nearshore basins, protected from the open sea by shoals 

formed by hills in the basement. Restricted circulation 

may have produced an euxinic environment causing syngenetic precipitation of sulfides. Ore also occurs in the 

clean crossbedded underlying sandstones and its deposition may be related to their permeability. Van Eden 

suggested that the syngenetic deposits were enriched by 

early diagenetic processes, and that reducing pore waters 

were forced into the underlying sandstones during burial. 

The cleaner saHdstones allowed circulation of ground 

water, and the finer grained sediments containing organic 

carbon had the high reducing environment necessary for 

precipitation of sulfides. 

At Chibuluma, Zambia, layers consisting of as much as 

80 percent cobaltiferous pyrite occur in sharp contact with 

the underlying almost barren rock (Garlick and Fleischer, 

1972, p. 289). The massive sulfide tends to fill in scours and 

potholes in the underlying rock. Upwards, the massive 

sulfide grades into quartzite arenite (or albitized arkose) 

cemented by a felty matrix of tiny tourmaline crystals and 

containing chalcopyrite. In some areas, the quartzite 

arenite below the massive sulfide is also cemented by a 

dusting of tiny tourmaline grains, and potassium feldspar grains have been albitized. Garlick and Fleischer 

(1972, p. 291) suggested that boron-rich saline waters 

flowed over the scoured surfaces and that iron, cobalt, and, 

later, copper were precipitated out. Sun-cracked mud 

iayers thought to represent an extension of the scoured 

surfaces suggest a playa environment. Periodic flooding 

could have washed accumulated metal salts into the 

nearest standing body of water. Elsewhere, Garlick (1969, 

p. 121- 123) described sulfide-armored argillite slabs and 

mudcracks which are evidence of subaerial drying. This 

evidence, plus the presence of anhydrite lenses in barren 

argillite and the identification of algal structures, 

prompted Renfro (1973, 1974) to propose a sabkha-environment hypothesis to explain the origin of some 

copper deposits. 

Comparison of the sedimentary associations of the 

copper deposits in the African Copperbelt rocks of Precambrian Y age with those of the Kupferschiefer of 

Permian age reveals similarities that may pertain to the 

origin of many sedimentary copper deposits. Both 

deposits have lateral stratigraphic persistence involving 

copper-bearing rocks of several lithologic types, and a 

zonal arrangement of ore minerals that locally parallels 

individual lithologic facies but may crosscut on a 
SEDIMENTARY AND VOLCANOGENIC ROCKS C21 

regional scale. Both deposits occur in basal marine (or 

lacustrine) strata which contain evidence of fossil 

organisms and overlie arkosic or feldspathic sandstones 

deposited in a desert environment. In turn they are overlain by a carbonate or a carbonate-evaporite sequence. 

Both deposits are worked primarily for copper but contain 

anomalous to ore-grade concentr;!tions of other metals. 

Sulfur-isotope studies and the framboidal forms of pyrite 

in these deposits suggest that the iron sulfides in these 

deposits are syngenetic-further, the isotope studies 

suggest, although they do not absolutely prove, that most 

of the sulfur in these deposits is of biogenetic origin. These 

two deposits as well as many others, such as the Flowerpot 

Shale of Oklahoma and Texas (Smith, 1974; Renfro, 1974), 

may have been deposited in what is now referred to as a 

sabkha-type environment. 

UDOKAN, SIBERIA 

One of the largest copper deposits in the world (Shank, 

1972) is at Udokan, a remote area in eastern Siberia (approximately 57° N., 117° E.) (fig. 10). Although not yet 

fully developed due to its remoteness and rigorous climate, 

Udokan has a potential of 300,000-400,000 tons of copper 

per year (Sutulov, 1973, p. 143). The principal ore zone is 

m the upper part of the 33,000-39,000-ft-thick 

(10,000- 12,000 m) Udokansk Series (Group), which is 

composed of slightly metamorphosed fine- to mediumgrained gray to pink quartzo-feldspathic sandstone (The 

description of the Udokan deposit is summarized from 

Bakun and others (1964). Cox and others (1973, p. 175) 

suggested a Precambrian X age for the Udokansk Series, 

but they indicated that the designation is uncertain. Both 

the ore and adjacent barren sandstones contain 42-60 

percent quartz, 20--' 30 percent feldspar, 5'--1 0 percent microquartzite, and 1-10 percent hematite, magnetite, 

tourmaline, zircon, rutile, apatite, sillimanite, epidote, 

and other accessory minerals in the quartz-sericite cement. 

The ore-bearing zone is as much as 1,000 ft (300m) thick 

and its top lies about 820 ft (250 m) below the top of the 

Sakukansk Suite (Formation). This zone has been mapped 

continuously along the Namingsk syncline, a large fold 

locally overturned. Data from drill holes show that the ore 

continues across the fold-the mineralized zone is 

apparently independent of structure and lithology, but is 

related to stratigraphy. Other mineralized zones occur in 

the Chitkandansk, Aleksandrovsk, Butunsk, and 

Namingsk Suites, all in the upper part of the Udokansk 

Series. The gra~e of ore appears to be related to several 

recognized facies of the deltaic sequences. Ore is in the 

marginal part of the subaerial delta of the principal river 

channel in the upper part of the deltaic succession. Diffuse 

copper minerals are associated with shallow-water littoral 

and beach sands, which are composed of well-sorted and 

rounded grains. One . copper-bearing siltstone is · associated with laminated silt and clay in which shrinkage 

cracks indicate a desiccating basin. The different sedimentary facies are characterized by different sulfidemineral facies. High-energy fluvial crossbedded sandstone and conglomerate contain pyrite-chalcopyrite and 

bornite-chalcopyrite, whereas low-energy fluvial finegrained sandstone and tidal lacustrine facies contain 

bornite-chalcocite and chalcocite. Some primary sedimentary structures are outlined, preserved, or emphasized 

by copper sulfides. Younger igneous rocks appear to have 

no relation to the ore, and most of the evidence strongly 

suggests a syngenetic or early diagenetic origin for the 

copper. Geochemical and sedimentary features suggest 

that the Archean rocks of the Aldan shield area to the 

northeast are a probable source for the sediments and 

minor elements, which include small amounts of lead, 

zinc, silver, molybdenum, and vanadium in addition to 

the copper. 

NORTHWESTERN MONTANA 

Major stratabound deposits of copper occur in rocks of 

the Belt Supergroup of Precambrian Y age in northwestern Montana (fig. 10). The geologic, mineralogic, and 

geochemical backgrounds of these rocks have been described by Harrison and Grimes (1970), Harrison and 

Hamilton (1971), and Harrison (1972). Although the 

copper deposits have only recently been explored, they are 

briefly described by Trammell ( 1970) and A. L. Clark 

(1971). J.D. Vine visited the area briefly in 1972 with Allan 

Griggs, Jack Harrison, and John Wells; each man 

showed the parts of the area with which he was familiar. 

Preliminary evidence indicates important similarities to 

as well as possible differences from the deposits in Udokan 

and the African Copperbelt just described. Because the 

deposits in northwestern Montana are still being explored 

and development is only beginning, they are not well 

known or understood. The copper ore appears to be unrelated to local structural features, igneous rocks, or alteration of host rocks, and the primary control may be stratigraphic. Anomalous concentrations of copper occur at 

many places in the Belt rocks, but concentrations of 

probable economic value are limited to the Revett Formation and equivalent units, and are characteristically 

confined to coarser grained quartzites and siltites-lithologies possibly comparable to the quartzo-feldspathic 

sandstones of Udokan or the quartzite arenite containing 

albitized feldspar in the African Copperbelt. Copper 

sulfides occur as disseminations, blebs, and bedding-plane 

concentrations, and locally as crosscutting veinlets (Allan 

Griggs, oral commun., 1972). The principal sulfide 

minerals are chalcocite, bornite, chalcopyrite, and pyrite. 

Whether they occur in zones related to primary sedimentary facies as in the African Copperbelt or whether 

they are related to some other features are questions as yet 

unanswered. Harrison ( 1972) has suggested that the 

principal mineralized area, centered on Spar Lake, is 

related to a post-Revett Precambrian structural high. Like 

the rocks in the Udokansk Series, rocks in the Belt 
C22 GEOLOGY AND RESOURCES OF COPPER DEPOSITS 

Supergroup are predominantly fine- to medium-grained 

clastic rocks interbedded with some argillites and carbonates. Abundant evidence such as shrinkage cracks, 

algal structures, and ripple marks suggest deposition in 

shallow-water to subaerial environments. The entire 

supergroup, as much as 67,000 ft (20,000 m) thick, has been 

slightly metamorphosed and so many of the original 

detrital grains are altered in shape or composition. Quartz 

and feldspar grains tend to be interlocked and the matrix 

minerals are probably mostly authigenic (fig. 14). Copper 

sulfides are locally associated with anomalous amounts of 

silver and molybdenum and possibly barium, zirconium, 

and boron. Concentrations of lead and zinc have also been 

identified locally, but generally not in association with the 

copper 

The mineralized Belt rocks are in a mountainous 

terrain of 3,000- to 4,000-ft (900- to I ,200-m) relief that has 

commercially valuable stands of timber on the lower 

slopes. Good exposures of bedrock are rare and secondary 

copper minerals are not visible on rock surfaces. Within 

the zone of mineralized Belt strata, a rock may vary from a 

yellowish-gray weathered surface showing no copper to 

greenish-gray fresh rock containing several percent copper 

within a few inches or centimetres (fig. 15). The copper 

occurs in small sulfide grains that are disseminated 

throughout the rock and which may not be immediately 

recognizable as ore minerals in hand specimen. Even areas 

uncovered by prospecting do not show a conspicuous 

copper bloom. For this reason, the most successful exploration is by geochemical techniques- that is, analysis of 

soil samples collected along traverses perpendicular ~o 

the strike of beds likely to contain copper. 

Speculation on the origin of the copper deposits in the 

Belt Supergroup is presently curtailed by insufficiently 

detailed knowledge of many aspects of the Belt. However, 

the small grain size and the disseminated character of the 

sulfide minerals suggest that they were formed before 

metamorphism so reduced the porosity of the rocks that 

fluids could not migrate freely through interstitial pores. 

Otherwise, the amount of ore in structures such as veins 

would far exceed the amount disseminated through the 

rocks, and the disseminated sulfides should show more 

relationship to structure-if they had been introduced 

late in the history of the rocks, the sulfides would not 

have had such a large areal extent. Lack of lithologic control by a chemically distinct rock type, such as a black 

shale, reduces the credibility of a syngenetic hypothesis, 

although the copper may prove to be related to facies 

similar to relationships suggested for the Udokansk Series. 

The ore in the Belt rocks is generally found in the coarser 

FIGURE 14.-Quartzite from the Revett Formation, Sanders County, Mont. Exposures by reflected light and by light transmitted through 

crossed polars. A, Chalcocite (cc) and bornite (bn) interlocked with quartz (Q) and feldspar grains; the relation between sulfide and 

framework grains probably is a result of low-grade metamorphism. Sample CU-32C; Beecher Peak area. B, Chalcopyrite (cp) and 

bornite (bn) in a fcldspathic matrix; a sericite seam loops through part of the sulfide. Sample CU-31B; Sex Ridge area. 
SEDIMENTARY AND VOLCANOGENIC ROCKS C23 

FIGURE 15.-Hand sample of quartzite from the Revett Formation 

showing weathered rind (without secondary copper minerals) and 

rich sulfide ore a few centimetres below the surface. Sample provided 

through the courtesy of J. E. Harrison. • 

grained beds, which suggests possible postdepositional 

redistribution of the copper. The concept of an ore fluid 

derived from water of compaction (Noble, 1963) may be 

the most tenable hypothesis for the Belt Supergroup. The 

Belt deposits could be diplogenetic, the copper having 

been brought in by circulating saline brines, but until 

detailed investigations of mineralogy, isotope compositions, and many other factors have been completed, we 

cannot dogmatically support any one theory of genesis. 

SOUTH AUSTRALIA 

Copper minerals occur throughout the Adelaidean 

System in South Australia, and Rowlands (1973) suggested 

that these rocks are similar in many other respects to the 

Belt Supergroup of Montana. The system consists of predominantly lagoonal and marginal-marine to marine 

sediments deposited in a shallow intracratonic epeiric 

basin between 1,400 and 600 m.y. ago (Rowlands, 1973). 

The rocks are relatively unmetamorphosed, but in places 

they have been weathered to depths of 660ft (200m) during 

the period of peneplanation in the late Tertiary-Quaternary. Much of the information about the rocks and 

mineralization has been obtained from drill cores. The 

rocks are varicolored but copper occurs only in green, 

gray, or black rocks. The most extensive copper mineralization is in the lower Willouran Series, the lowest series of 

the Adelaidean System. By analogy with the African 

Copperbelt, exploration for mineralized rock in the 

Adelaidean has been guided by the concept that the ore 

occurs directly seaward from paleostrandlines (Nigel 

Rowlands, oral commun., 1974). As reported by Rowlands 

(1973, p. 103): "Host rocks in the mineralized Willouran 

sediments are dolosiltites, carbonaceous dolosiltites, carbonaceous doloarenites, volcaniclastic arenites, and carbonaceous silty dolomites (some algal)* * *.The bulk of 

the primary copper mineralization * * * has been in 

medium to fine grained doloarenites." Pyrite and chalcopyrite are the primary sulfide minerals. Most commonly 

the chalcopyrite occurs as fine disseminated grains that are 

difficult to see with the naked eye (fig. 16). Chalcopyrite 

also occurs as coarsely recrystallized (as much as 2 mm) 

grains in quartz-carbonate veins (fig. 16). Except for the 

veins, which are diagenetic, Rowlands (1973, p. 105) stated 

that: "* * * bedding exercises a striking and precise 

control on sulphide distribution," and "The intimate 

association of sulphides with sedimentation processes 

leads me to conclude that the copper mineralization is a 

syn-sedimentary phenomenon." 

WHITE PINE, MICHIGAN 

A different type of copper deposit in marine rocks is 

found in the Precambrian strata at White Pine on the 

Keweenaw Peninsula of northern Michigan (fig. 10). This 

district supplies about 5 percent of the copper mined in the 

United States. The ore grade is about 1.2 percent copperas 

FIGURE 16.-Cupriferous drill core of Upper Callanna Beds of Precambrian age from South Flinders Range, South Australia. 

Specimen supplied by Nigel Rowlands of the Utah Development 

Company. A, Diagenetic calcite vein cuts the core; an arrow. points 

to the spot where the photomicrograph was taken. B, Photomicrograph shows chalcopyrite (C) grains disseminated through finegrained carbonaceous host rock. 
C24 GEOLOGY AND RESOURCES OF COPPER DEPOSITS 

chalcocite and native copper (Ensign and others, 1968). 

Both copper sulfide and native copper occur in the Nonesuch Shale, a dark-gray to black, laminated to massive 

shale and siltstone (fig. 17), deposited about 1 billion years 

ago (Barghoorn and others, 1965) in a shallow-water 

environment, perhaps lagoonal, and presumedly marine. 

Thoughts on the genesis of these copper deposits have 

evolved through a long series of papers (White, 1953, 1960, 

1968, 1971, 1972; White and Wright, 1954, 1960, 1966; 

Sales, 1959; Ensign and others, 1968; S. K. Hamilton, 1969; ' 

Brown, 1970, 1971; Burnie and others, 1972; Wiese, 1973). 

The original White Pine mine was located along the 

White Pine fault and produced copper from both the 

Nonesuch Shale and the underlying Copper Harbor Conglomerate (fig. 18). At first, because the mine was on a 

structural feature, the operators assumed that the ore was 

epigenetic and was related to hydrothermal solutions 

rising along the fault. The discovery that the ore persisted 

along the base of the Nonesuch over many tens of square 

miles led to a concept of a syngenetic origin for the core 

and expanded known reserves immensely. Further study 

showed that ore locally cut across bedding and led to a 

more sophisticated concept of genesis-that copperbearing solutions circulated through the shale that 

contained syngenetic pyrite and that the copper replaced 

the iron. Possibly the copper-bearing solutions arose from 

FIGURE 17.- Native copper (Cu) associated with carbonaceous films 

(C) in the Nonesuch Shale of Precambrian age, Ontonagon County, 

Mich. Exposures by reflected light and by light transmitted through 

crossed polars; sample CU- 53!. 

FIGURE 18.-Native copper (Cu) associated with opaque bituminous 

matter (B) in .the Copper Harbor Conglomerate of Precambrian age, 

Ontonagon County, Mich. Exposures by reflected and by plain 

transmitted light; sample CU-53B. 

the Portage Lake Volcanics, which underlie the Copper 

Harbor Conglomerate and contain native copper deposits 

associated with amygdaloidal flow tops and conglomerates (White, 1968). W. T.Jolly(1974)alsodiscussed 

in detail the mobility of copper, zinc, and nickel in the 

Portage Lake Volcanics during metamorphic dehydration. 

DIAGENESIS AND METAMORPHISM AFFECT 

COPPER 

Although much has been written on what happens to a 

massive sulfide deposit during metamorphism (see Vokes, 

1968, for a thorough review), data are meager on the fate of 

minor elements in ordinary sediments during diagenetic 

and metamorphic processes. Noble (1963) suggested that 

water of compaction may be an ore-forming fluid, and this 

idea has been expanded upon by Jolly (1974). Recent 

isotope studies suggest that meteoric and connate waters 

have been very important in the formation of many ore 

deposits (White, 1973; Addy and Ypma, 1973; Sakai and 

Matsubaya, 1973), even porphyry copper deposits (Taylor, 

1974; Hall and others, 1973; Sheppard and Taylor, 1973). 
SEDIMENTARY AND VOLCANOGENIC ROCKS C25 

James (1969, p. 531) speculated on what would happen 

after compaction and diagenesis of the modern deposits in 

the Red Sea; he thought that the metal-charged brines 

might move laterally and that the metals might be reprecipitated as sulfides in a favorable host rock such as the reef 

limestone of the Red Sea. Johnson (1972) discussed the 

relation of reefs, brine generation, and mineralization of 

nearby basin sediments. In a previous study of the geochemistry of lower Eocene sandstones in the Rocky Mountain region of the United States, we observed (Vine and 

Tourtelot, 1973, p. 25-32) that copper is one of the more 

mobile elements. Copper showed a significant regional 

variation not clearly related to any single source area, and 

it was among the elements enriched in a subset of green 

samples and depleted in a subset of red samples. Because of 

the mobility of copper during diagenesis, most syngenetic 

copper deposits will be altered through geologic time 

unless the host rock is impervious and chemically 

stable- conditions not usually found in sandstones. 

The gradual alteration of sediments during lithification and burial under additional sediment is accompanied by loss of water of hydration from clay minerals, 

iron hydroxides, gypsum, zeolites, and other hydrous 

minerals. Garrels and Mackenzie (1971, p. 100) estimated 

FIGURE 19.-Quartzite from the Revett Formation, Chicago Peak area, 

Sanders County, Mont., showing impermeable nature of feldspathic 

quartzite as a result of low·grade metamorphism. Crossed polars; 

sample CU-'29A. 

that nearly one-fifth of the total mass of water on Earth is 

present in the pores of sedimentary rocks, thus providing 

amplt> water for diagenesis. However, by the time a rock 

has been altered to a low-rank metamorphic rock, such as 

the Revett quartzite, the hydrous clay minerals and iron 

oxides have been altered to mica and hematite, and the 

rock is nearly impervious and dry (figs. 19 and 20). 

Chlorite is about the only hydrous mineral that persists 

through the greenschist facies of metamorphism. The 

water lost during progressive diagenesis travels chiefly 

through pores in the rock, but that which is lost during 

metamorphism must travel through open joints and 

fissures in the rock. Thus, disseminated copper deposits 

may be formed during · diagenesis, but metamorphic 

processes tend only to form crosscutting fissure veinlets in 

a preexisting ore body, such as the veinlets described for the 

African Copperbelt by Jolly (1972, p. 329-331). Whether 

concentration of copper during metamorphism would be 

sufficient to form a major disseminated orebody is 

doubtful. Such major disseminated copper deposits as 

those in the African Copperbelt, Udokan, and the Belt 

Supergroup in Montana must have been formed prior to 

metamorphism and only minor redistribution occurred 

during metamorphism. 

FIGURE 20.- Argillite from the Revett Formation, Chicago Peak area, 

Sanders County, Mont., showing quartz veinlet in a sericite-biotite 

rock. Crossed polars; sample CU- 29F. 
C26 GEOLOGY AND RESOURCES OF COPPER DEPOSITS 

SUMMARY: METALLOGENIC PROVINCES AND 

THE COPPER CYCLE 

A variety of copper deposits are present in many kinds of 

sedimentary and volcanogenic rocks. They range from 

syngenetic hypogene deposits precipitated on the sea floor 

to epigenetic supergene replacement of fossil wood by 

chalcocite, and they include several different types 

commonly grouped together under the single heading, 

"red-bed copper deposits." Various types of copper 

deposits differ in size, shape, mineral zoning, and other 

parameters, and understanding of these different characteristics is crucial to the search for commercial orebodies. To distinguish among the various types of deposits 

requires critical evaluation of all data. An overly 

simplified classification blurs important distinctions 

among deposits, including such things as origin and mode 

of occurrence, thus hindering both the development of 

known deposits and the exploration and discovery of new 

deposits. As pointed out by Dunham (1971), multiple 

working hypotheses are unavoidable when studying 

stratabound deposits. 

The erosion of a porphyry copper deposit, or a copperrich basalt, to produce copper deposits in a nonmarine 

sandstone is a fairly obvious example of the recycling of 

copper from an igneous terrane into a sedimentary 

environment. Other segments of the geochemical cycle of 

copper are less obvious-even speculative or unknown. 

If massive sulfide deposits do form part of an ophiolite 

sequence at a divergent plate boundary and are rafted to 

the margin of a continent, and if some are carried under 

the continent along the Benioff zone by subduction, then 

these deposits can be melted and incorporated into a 

magmatic-hydrothermal system that forms new porphyry 

copper deposits, as postulated by Sillitoe (l972a, b, c) and 

Guild (1973). Garrels and Mackenzie (1971, p. 114) have 

estimated that the present rate of erosion could reduce the 

continents to sea level in about 10 million years. Thus, a 

continuous recycling of copper from the continents into 

the sea must occur at a rate sufficient to form new deposits 

frequently throughout geologic time. Moreover, many 

marine deposits are recycled into the magmatic realm 

through deep burial, metamorphism and melting, or subduction. Both dispersion and concentration processes are 

operating continuously and ore deposits will occur when 

and where the processes of concentration are dominant. 

COPPER DEPOSITS AND BRINES 

BRINES AS DIAGENETIC AGENTS 

The frequent occurrence of copper deposits in marine 

and deltaic sandstone and shale in basins that also contain 

evaporites and hydrocarbons may be no coincidence. The 

brines expelled from the evaporites and formed by connate 

and meteoric waters circulating through the evaporites, 

especially chloride brines, could extract and transport 

copper from a large volume of rock. The brines could then 

redistribute and locally concentrate the copper, wherever 

chemical, temperature, or pressure conditions were 

favorable for precipitation throughout the sedimentary 

section (Johnson, 1972). As D. E. White (1968) pointed 

out, at least seven different mechanisms exist for local 

formation of sulfide minerals from sulfide-deficient 

fluids. The mechanisms pertinent to the deposits 

discussed in this report are ( l) a temperature decrease or a 

pH increase; (2) the action of sulfate-reducing bacteria; (3) 

the breakdown of sulfur-bearing hydrocarbons; and (4) 

sulfide in previously existing pyrite. The common heavy 

metals generally precipitate in the following order: 

copper, zinc, lead, and silver. This precipitation order 

may explain the zoning seen in deposits such as the 

Kupferschiefer. Iron sulfide is relatively insoluble (the 

solubility constant for ferrous sulfide is 3. 7 x IQ-19) (Weast, 

1972, p. B232), but copper sulfide is extremely insoluble 

(for cuprous sulfide the solubility constant is 2xl0-47 ) 

(Weast, 1972, p. B232); so it is likely that copper would 

readily replace iron in the formation of sulfide minerals. 

Shimizaki and Clark (1970) found that copper would substitute extensively for iron in pyrite at low temperature (82 

percent at l00°C), but that the substitution decreases 

markedly with rising temperature (10 percent at 275°C). 

Chloride brines are common in oil fields. A recently 

published analysis of an oil-field brine from the Bartlesville sand, a Pennsylvanian oil sand in eastern Kansas 

(McClure, 1973), showed a copper content of 0.22 mg/ 1 in 

the brine. If we assume that 2 million tons of ore with an 

average grade of 2.5 percent (50,000 tons of metallic 

copper) is an economic deposit, which is particularly true 

if the bed can be strip mined, and if we assume that in a 

favorable environment an average of 50 percent of the 

copper in such a brine such as the Bartlesville brine would 

be precipitated, then it would take 2.3xl014 l of brine to 

make an ore deposit. If this hypothetical ore were in a bed 

3.3 ft (1 m) thick, it would have an area of about 0.32 mi2 

(832,000 m2). If, as D. E. White (1968) suggested for the 

Nonesuch Shale, the brine rose through the bed from 

below, we can make a rough estimate of the time needed to 

produce the ore deposit. We can use Darcy's law, Q=KIA, 

where Q is total flux through the bed, K is the hydraulic 

conductivity, I is the hydraulic gradient, and A is the area. 

If we assume that K is 100 gal day- 1 ft-2 or 4.1 m/ day (100 

gal day- 1/ft- 2 x0.04l), which is the value of K that Winter 

(1973, table 1) found for very fine sand, and that I is 0.001, 

which is small but reasonable for brines moving upward 

in the center of a basin, then Q=4.1 x0.00lx832,000 or 

-3,410 m3/ day. Thus it would take 183,000 years to form 

the ore deposit (2.3xl014 l.;-3.4lx106l.;-365 days).(E. B. 

Tourtelot was aided in these calculations by Gerald Feder 

of the U.S. Geological Survey). A much more detailed 

model for ground-water flow as a mineralizing solution 

was constructed by W. S. White (1971) for the Nonesuch 

Shale of Michigan. He considered the different K's of the 
SEDIMENTARY AND VOLCANOGENIC ROCKS C27 

formations involved, both lateral and vertical movement 

of fluids, and many other pertinent variables; we refer the 

reader to this paper for a thorough discussion of the 

complications in hydraulic mineralization. 

BRINES AS SYNGENETIC AGENTS 

In the hypothetical case just posed, the mineralization 

would be diagenetic or diplogenetic and could occur at 

any time before the porosity of the sediments became so 

small as to restrict the movement of fluids through the 

rock. However, Renfro ( 1973, 1974) and Smith ( 1974) have 

suggested a model in which brines carrying metals could 

form syngenetic or very early diagenetic deposits. Renfro's 

hypothesis would also explain the often observed association of red or oxidized terrestrial strata overlain by an 

organic-rich, sulfide-bearing bed, overlain in turn by a 

marine evaporite sequence. He has suggested a coastal 

sabkha environment. A sabkha is a salt flat or marsh 

occasionally inundated by seawater but generally just 

above the high tide level; it occurs in regions of high net 

evaporation and so salt-encrusted flats are developed 

(Kinsman, 1969).Generally, whether the sabkha is coastal 

or continental, the water table is only 3-6ft (1-2m) below 

the surface and water from the water table rises by capillary 

action. According to Renfro's (1973, 1974) hypothesis, 

mineralized terrestrial waters must rise through a decaying 

algal mat to reach the surface of evaporation during a 

regressive cycle and they precipitate metal sulfides as they 

pass through the algal mat. The succeeding transgressive 

cycle would cover the deposit with marine dolomite and 

evaporites. 

GROUND WATER, COPPER, AND RED BEDS 

Sandstone beds of nonmarine origin are known to 

contain copper in many parts of the world. Whereas the 

copper-rich strata are generally gray or greenish gray, they 

commonly are part of a rock sequence that is red, reddish 

brown, or brown, and hence these deposits are often called 

red-bed deposits. This designation fails to distinguish 

rocks that have inherited their red color from a previous 

red terrane from those that have been colored red by diagenetic alteration by oxidizing solutions. Furthermore, 

fluvial rocks of intermontane basins are not distinguished 

from marginal marine and deltaic rocks which also may 

contain red-colored strata. This section will emphasize 

nonmarine rocks, especially those whose color is of 

secondary origin. 

Syngenetic red strata-that is those strata whose color is 

inherited from an older, eroded red strata or from red soils 

developed on carbonate terrane such as was cited by Vine 

(1972)-are of little interest in the search for copper. 

Generally, a previous cycle of weathering has already 

removed the copper from the sediments making up such 

red rocks. 

In certain oxidizing environments, mafic materials, 

such as hornblende, in first-cycle arkosic sandstone are 

destroyed to yield iron oxides and hydroxides that 

gradually alter to form a red hematite cement (Walker, 

1967, p. 355-360; Walker and others, 1967). The 

destruction of hornblende in a desert environment, as 

observed by Walker and his colleagues in rocks of Pliocene and younger age in Baja California, is accompanied 

by the reorganization of silica and alumina to form 

authigenic clay minerals such as montmorillonite. The 

fate of the minor elements under these conditions has not 

been studied although previously we noted the apparent 

depletion of mobile minor elements from red Eocene sandstones (Vine and Tourtelot, 1973, p. 33). Chukhrov (1973) 

noted that the iron content of red strata is generally lower 

than that of sedimentary rocks of other colors. Presumably 

copper would be leached with the other mobile elements. 

The large number of small copper deposits associated 

with diagenetically altered red sandstone throughout the 

world attests to the effectiveness of the oxidizing 

environment in mobilizing copper from a low-grade disseminated source. The copper is concentrated when the 

oxidizing solutions move into a reducing environment 

and become reduc\ng themselves. Copper deposits of this 

type have been described by numerous people, including 

such eminent geologists as Emmons (1905), Lindgren 

(1908, 1911), Lindgren, Graton, and Gordon (1910, p. 

76-79), Weed (1911), and Fischer (1937). These 

descriptions are readily available in the American geological literature, and as they are as timely now as when 

they were written, there is little point in repeating their 

observations. 

When copper occurs in anomalous concentrations in 

nonmarine sandstone, it is generally accompanied by one 

or more other metals, including .silver (Proctor, 1953), 

uranium and vanadium (Finnell and others, 1963, p. 

49-66), or lead (Jerome and others, 1965). The common 

association with uranium is of particular interest because 

of the detailed studies of uranium deposits in recent years. 

Two main types of uranium deposits are now recognized 

(Fischer, 1970). The Wyoming roll-type uranium deposits 

form elongate crescent-shaped bodies scattered like widely 

spaced beads along a string. These bodies have been traced 

for miles along an interface that separates oxidized from 

unoxidized sandstone. The Colorado Plateau deposits 

form thin tabular layers nearly concordant to bedding, 

composed of discrete bodies enveloped in rock altered by 

reduction, like raisins in raisin bread. The Wyoming roll 

fronts are regarded as dynamic interfaces between 

oxidizing and reducing conditions moving downdip, like 

the zone of supergene enrichment in sulfide ores, whereas 

the Colorado Plateau deposits are seemingly formed as 

static bodies localized by patches of intense reduction in a 

generally reducing environment. Comparable types of 

sedimentary copper deposits may exist, but generally the 

distinctions have not been made. 
C28 GEOLOGY AND RESOURCES OF COPPER DEPOSITS 

TARGETS FOR PROSPECTING 

A sequence of geologic processes, including tectonic, 

igneous, hydrothermal, sedimentary, diagenetic, and, 

possibly, metamorphic processes, may combine to 

produce segments of the Earth's crust that are quite 

different in gross chemical and mineralogic composition 

from adjacent segments of the crust. These differences are 

superimposed on whatever original inhomogeneities 

existed in the primitive Earth. One manifestation of this 

crustal differentiation is the density difference between 

continental and oceanic crust and the further differentiation of continental crust into stable cratons, orogenic 

belts, island arcs, shelf areas, and intermontane basins. 

Not only are these areas distinguished by different 

chemical and physical properties, but also by different 

geologic processes which dominate each realm. The 

economic geologist should attempt to interpret these 

different properties and processes to help predict suitable 

target areas for new mineral exploration. 

Because porphyry copper deposits are generally 

emplaced high in the crust of mountainous areas (Sillitoe, 

1972c), they erode readily. Thus, basin sediments in areas 

of known porphyry copper deposits may contain syngenetic and diagenetic stratabound copper deposits like 

those of Corocoro, Bolivia. Basins that contain evaporite 

deposits, petroleum, and transgressive and regressive 

marine sediments, like the Permian basins of the southcentral United States, may have thin stratabound copper 

deposits analogous to the Kupferschiefer. Rift areas, such 

as the Gulf of Mexico-Salton Sea area, where high heat 

flow, abundant brines, and permeable sediments are 

present, are probable sites of copper deposits similar to 

Boleo. Fossil rift areas are also good targets. Although 

copper deposits in continental sandstones are generally 

small, remobilization of copper during weathering 

(supergene enrichment) can concentrate the copper to a 

minable deposit such as Nacimiento. Recent discoveries of 

major stratabound disseminated copper in Precambrian 

sedimentary rocks all over the world suggest that even 

more Precambrian deposits may exist. Areas of ancient 

and modern island arcs may contain both massive and disseminated sulfide deposits. Similarly, ophiolite 

sequences, denoting ancient spreading centers, are a good 

prospect for massive sulfide deposits. Thus, there are 

numerous prospective target areas for copper, and many of 

these areas remain to be tested. 

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SEDIMENTARY AND VOLCANOGENIC ROCKS C31 

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SEDIMENTARY AND VOLCANOGENIC ROCKS C33 

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-!>U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 1976-n7.034/7