Apatite (U-Th)/He Thermochronology in the Central Andes (31°30’S), Main Cordillera San Juan, Argentina: Implications for porphyry type Cu (Au) mineralization

Abstract

The study region (31°30’ S, 70° 15’ W) is located in the southwestern sector of San Juan Province (Argentina), in the southern portion of the Pampean flat-slab segment and northeast end of the la Ramada fold and thrust belt of the Andes Main Cordillera. This region is a continuation of the Miocene and Pliocene porphyry copper belt of Chile that hosts three of the largest copper deposits in the world (El Teniente, Río Blanco - Los Bronces and Los Pelambres). Numerous Cu (Au) prospects with high mining potential have been discovered in this area. Some of them show the overlap between porphyry-type and high sulfidation epithermal deposits, indicating a high degree of uplift during their formation...