Latest Cretaceous-early Paleogene “boom” of porphyry Cu mineralization
associated with the Laramide magmatic arc of Mexico

Martı́n Valencia-Moreno, Antoni Camprubı́, Lucas Ochoa-Landı́n, Thierry

Calmus, Héctor Mendı́vil-Quijada

PII: S0169-1368(16)30251-7
DOI: doi: 10.1016/j.oregeorev.2016.05.005
Reference: OREGEO 1805

To appear in: Ore Geology Reviews

Received date: 24 July 2015

Revised date: 5 May 2016
Accepted date: 8 May 2016

Please cite this article as: Valencia-Moreno, Martı́n, Camprubı́, Antoni, Ochoa-Landı́n,
Lucas, Calmus, Thierry, Mendı́vil-Quijada, Héctor, Latest Cretaceous-early Paleogene
“boom” of porphyry Cu mineralization associated with the Laramide magmatic arc of
Mexico, Ore Geology Reviews (2016), doi: 10.1016/j.oregeorev.2016.05.005

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Latest Cretaceous-early Paleogene “boom” of porphyry Cu

mineralization associated with the Laramide magmatic arc of Mexico

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Martín Valencia-Morenoa*, Antoni Camprubíb, Lucas Ochoa-Landínc, Thierry Calmusa,

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Héctor Mendívil-Quijadad

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a

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Estación Regional del Noroeste, Instituto de Geología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México.

Luis Donaldo Colosio y Madrid S/N, A.P. 1039, 83000 Hermosillo, Sonora (México)
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b
Instituto de Geología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. Ciudad Universitaria, 04510 México,

D.F. (México)

c
Departamento de Geología, Universidad de Sonora. Luis Donaldo Colosio y Madrid s/n, 83000
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Hermosillo, Sonora (México)

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d
GEO Digital Imaging de México, S.A. de C.V., Hermosillo, Sonora (México)
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* corresponding author: martin.valencia@unam.mx

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Abstract

Porphyry copper and associated deposits are widespread through most

northwestern Mexico, particularly in Sonora and Sinaloa, in the northwestern part of the

country. These deposits belong to a NW-SE trending copper belt that extends from

southwestern USA to southern Mexico. The copper mineralization is clearly linked to

subduction-related calc-alkaline plutons formed during the eastward migration of the

Cordilleran magmatic arc, largely coincident in time and space with the Laramide

Orogeny (80-40 Ma). The economically most important porphyry copper deposits were
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emplaced in the southwest margin of the North American craton. The porphyry copper

mineralization was formed during the latest Cretaceous to early Paleogene, between ~75

and 52.4 Ma, but it was particularly fertile between ~69 and 54 Ma, when the larger

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copper concentrations were deposited to form the famous copper cluster of Arizona,

New Mexico and Sonora. During this time, more than half of the total porphyry copper-

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related metals of the entire Cordillera was deposited. This large copper accumulation

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developed south of the classical flat-slab Laramide province, characterized by uplift of

large crustal blocks and mostly amagmatic conditions. An inferred slab tear zone

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separated this zone from a slab segment, above which, asthenospheric magma flux
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favored copper concentration. The Mexican porphyry copper belt accounts for ~30

deposits, out of which, the Buenavista del Cobre (~30 Mt Cu) and the La Caridad (~8

Mt Cu) are the most relevant. More to the south, close to the boundary between Sonora
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and Sinaloa, the porphyry copper deposits are smaller (<1 Mt Cu), usually containing
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gold as a locally important commodity. This fact is coincident with the ending of the

North American cratonic crust, and the beginning of a basement dominated by a more
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primitive crust, characterized by the Late Jurassic-Early Cretaceous Guerrero island arc
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terrane.

Key words: Porphyry copper, Laramide orogeny, slab geometry, western Mexico,

copper cluster

Introduction

According to Coney and Reynolds (1977), during the late Mesozoic and early

Cenozoic, the Cordilleran igneous activity migrated over 1000 km inland, a fact that

was interpreted as a result of a gradual flattening of the descending slab. Prior to this
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migration, a stage of relatively static arc magmatic activity developed between ~140 to

102 Ma along western Baja California and Sinaloa, in northwestern Mexico (Silver and

Chapell, 1988; Henry et al., 2003). After that, the magmatic axis started to move to the

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east, reaching the actual Sonoran coast at ~90 Ma (Damon et al., 1983a,b). Also, Ar-Ar

geochronology suggests that the magmatic activity left the Sonoran coast ~77 Ma ago at

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an eastward migration rate of ~8.5 km/Ma, reaching the Sonora-Chihuahua State

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boundary at ~59 Ma (Valencia-Moreno et al., 2006a).

Unexpectedly old volcanic and plutonic rocks exposed in central-eastern Sonora,

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with U-Pb zircon ages between ~91 and 89 Ma (McDowell et al., 2001; Pérez-Segura et
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al., 2009), suggest that the Cordilleran tectono-magmatic scenario for southwestern

North America is more complex than traditionally assumed (e.g., Coney and Reynolds,

1977; Damon et al., 1983a,b). Figure 1 shows that the older plutons, with ages of ~140-
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100 Ma, lay close to the Mexican paleo-coast (Silver and Chappell, 1988; Henry et al.,
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2003). However, for younger time slices, the data largely overlap, and although an

overall eastward migration is observed, particularly in the northern part of the belt, it is
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difficult to trace well-defined time contours. Ages between ~70 and 80 Ma for intrusive
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rocks in the region of Concepción del Oro, Zacatecas (Sosa-Valdés et al., 2011) and

85.7 Ma in the area of Nazas, Durango (Aguirre-Díaz and McDowell, 1991), lay quite

far into the continent, and do not fit in a simple eastward migrating model.

The faster period of inland migration apparently coincides with the Laramide

Orogeny defined between 80 and 40 Ma (Coney and Reynolds, 1977). The most

important stage for production of porphyry copper mineralization in southwestern North

America is clearly associated with this tectonic stage. This type of mineralization is

remarkable in terms of number of deposits, size and economic importance; however, a

variety of other intrusion-related metallic and non-metallic deposits were also formed
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during this time, including the tungsten skarn province of Sonora, which partially

overlaps the porphyry copper belt (Mead et al., 1988), and the orogenic gold province of

northwestern Sonora (Izaguirre et al., 2015). Compiled age data suggest that the

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magmatic activity in the Cordillera got back toward the trench once the Laramide

orogeny finished (Coney and Reynolds, 1977). Magmatic activity resumed after a hiatus

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of ~6 Ma (Valencia-Moreno et al., 2001), with a vast volcanic activity dominated by

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ash-flow eruptions and cauldron subsidence, which apparently precluded formation of

porphyry copper systems (Damon et al., 1983b).

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The Cordilleran porphyry copper mineralization is recognized from northwestern
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Canada to southern Mexico (Valencia-Moreno et al., 2006b, 2007). However, the most

important occurrences lay in the so-called “great Laramide porphyry copper cluster of

Arizona, Sonora, and New Mexico” (Keith and Swan, 1996). Nearly contemporaneous
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ages for pre-mineralizing and mineralizing plutons obtained in some porphyry copper
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systems of northwestern Mexico, suggest that ore-related intrusive bodies represent

small (~1-3 km in diameter) magma pulses generated during the cooling of deeper calk-
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alkaline plutons (Damon, 1986). This is supported by available Sr and Nd radiogenic

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isotopic data, which confirm a strong consanguinity between both intrusive phases (e.g.,

Valencia-Moreno et al., 2006b, 2007).

Productive stocks are envisioned as magma columns connecting to 8-10 km deep-

seated magma source (Berger et al., 2008) with the ~1-3 km deep subvolcanic porphyry

copper environment (Titley, 1982). Estimations based on magma inputs and background

copper contents suggest that subduction-related calc-alkaline basaltic magmas may

supply the whole amount of copper needed to form large porphyry copper deposits

(Cline, 2003). According to Cline (2003) and Harris et al. (2003), copper progressively

concentrates in a gas chamber at the top of the magma column. Fluid overpressure due
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to continued recharges to the hydrothermal system induced fracture failure of the roof

rocks, and associated decompression forced copper to exsolve and precipitate as Cu-Fe

sulfides.

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Metallogenic review

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Most of the porphyry copper deposits in Mexico were emplaced during a

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relatively short time span between ~75 and 52.4 Ma (Table 1). The purpose of this

section is to summarize the geologic and metallogenic aspects of these deposits,

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grouping them according to the type of intruded basement, under the premise that the
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type of crust may have played an important role in regulating the final magma

composition, including the characteristics of the porphyry copper systems. Most

information provided in this review comes from data in Table 1, whereas the localities
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mentioned within the text are referred to Figure 2.

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As shown in Figure 2, in western Mexico, the Cordilleran magmatic arcs were

emplaced in various tectonic blocks, which are delimited by major structures. In

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northern Mexico, along the Late Paleozoic Ouachita-Marathon-Sonora thrust belt,

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strongly folded deep-marine rocks of Paleozoic age overthrust the North American

Neoproterozoic and Paleozoic platform and underlying cratonic rocks. Isotopic

signatures of the old North American basement are recognized beneath the Paleozoic

oceanic sedimentary rocks, but they disappear near the Sonora-Sinaloa State limit

(Valencia-Moreno et al., 2001).

The basement of most western Mexico comprises the mid to late Mesozoic island

arc rocks of the Guerrero Terrane and its depositional basement. This terrane was

accreted to the continental margin in the Late Cretaceous (Centeno-García et al., 1991),

but the limit is largely inferred, since most of it is covered beneath the Sierra Madre
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Occidental volcanic province. Similar sequences have been documented for the Alisitos

oceanic arc terrane, which fringed the continental margin along what is now western

Baja California (Busby et al., 2006).

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Based on these major basement variations, we grouped the porphyry copper

deposits in terms of the nature of the intruded crust. Table 1 summarizes the

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characteristics of 29 most important Mexican deposits, although, in some cases, the

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available information is incomplete. These deposits follow a nearly NW-SE trend that

are parallel to the position of the trench (Fig. 1). They form a relatively narrow belt that

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is notably wider in the northern part, and extends by most western Mexico up to the
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southern States of Michoacán, Guerrero and San Luis Potosí. The location of the

deposits listed in Table 1 is shown in Figure 3.

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Northern domain
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The northern domain is characterized by a Precambrian basement of North

American affinity. This domain contains the most important store of metals in the
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Mexican porphyry copper belt. The older occurrences correspond to three deposits
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located in northern Sonora, which are the El Pilar, Los Humos, and Fortuna del Cobre.

The El Pilar deposit is located ~44 km northwest of the town of Cananea, and contains

estimated resources of ~0.78 Mt Cu. The mineralization is associated with a quartz

monzonite pluton, and yielded a Re-Os molybdenite age of 73.9 ± 0.3 Ma (Del Rio-

Salas et al., 2015). The copper mineralization occurs within unconsolidated clastic

sediments, and is considered to be derived from erosion of a highly silicified

mineralized breccia (Broch, 2012). The other two deposits lay to the west of the main

porphyry copper belt. The Los Humos prospect is located ~250 km N-NW of the city of

Hermosillo and ~45 km N-NE of Caborca, with estimated resources of ~0.90 Mt Cu.
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Mineralization is characterized by stockwork quartz veinlets and breccia zones

centered on a quartz monzonite stock, and yielded a Re-Os molybdenite age of 73.5

± 0.2 Ma (Barra and Valencia, 2014). The westernmost and older deposit is the Fortuna

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de Cobre, which is located ~180 km northwest of Hermosillo and ~25 km northeast of

Puerto Libertad. The mineralization is characterized by stockwork quartz veinlets with

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chalcopyrite and molybdenite, averaging 0.5% Cu and 0.026% Mo, and a small zone of

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supergene enriched copper as chalcocite (Salvatierra-Domínguez, 2000), with combined

resources of ~0.23 Mt Cu. The timing of the hydrothermal event has been constrained

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by Re-Os molybdenite ages between 74.6 ± 1.3 and 75.0 ± 1.4 Ma (Barra and
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Valencia, 2014).

The Buenavista del Cobre mine is the core of one of the larger porphyry copper
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districts in the world (Bushnell, 1988), referred to as the Cananea district. It includes

Milpillas, Lucy, Mariquita, María, Capote Basin and the El Alacrán as the most
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significant deposits. The district geology evolved on a ~1.4 Ga granitic basement

overlain by Paleozoic quartzite and limestone (Anderson and Silver, 1977). These rocks
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are unconformably overlain by tuffs and volcanic lavas of Triassic (?) and Jurassic age
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of the Elenita and Henrietta Formations (Valentine, 1936), which are capped by the

Laramide volcanic rocks of the Mariquita and Mesa Formations (Meinert, 1982;

Bushnell, 1988). These rocks were intruded by the Cuitaca and Tinaja plutons, dated by

U-Pb zircon ages at 64 ± 3 and 69 ± 1 Ma, respectively (Anderson and Silver, 1977),

and a series of porphyritic stocks with U-Pb zircon ages between 63.9 ± 1.3 and 58.9 ±

1.4 (Valencia et al., 2006; Del Rio-Salas, 2011; Del Rio-Salas et al., 2015).

The mining activity at the Buenavista del Cobre mine is centered on a

supergene-enriched blanket of chalcocite. However, ~7 Mt of ore grading 6% Cu, 0.4%

Mo, over 30 g/t Ag and 1-2 g/t Au were extracted from the high-grade breccia pipe of
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La Colorada during the initial times of the mine in the late 1920s (Perry, 1933; Bushnell,

1988). Total resources for the Buenavista del Cobre deposit are estimated in ~30 Mt of

contained Cu and ~0.6 Mt Mo. The Milpillas mine, located ~18 km northwest of the

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Cananea town, started underground mining operations in 2006 to extract copper under a

cover of Cenozoic gravels. The ore deposit, whose resources are estimated in ~2 Mt Cu,

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is centered on a quartz monzonite porphyry plug that yielded an age of 63.9 ± 1.3 Ma,

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while a Re-Os molybdenite date indicates a nearly synchronous age of 63.1 ± 0.4 Ma

(Valencia et al., 2006). About 7 km to the south, supergene-enriched copper was mined

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between 1980 and 2014 from the Mariquita deposit, which contains estimated resources
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of ~0.48 Mt Cu. The copper ore at Mariquita formed from leaching of hypogene sulfide

mineralization centered on a quartz feldspar porphyry (Aponte-Barrera, 2009), which

yielded U-Pb zircon ages between 62.7 ± 1.3 and 60.4 ± 1.1 Ma (Del Rio-Salas et al.,
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2013). The timing of the mineralization is constrained by a Re-Os molybdenite age of

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59.3 ± 0.3 Ma (Del Rio-Salas, 2011; Del Rio-Salas, 2015). The María mine, located ~7

km southeast of Mariquita, consists of a relatively small but rich orebody that was
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mined until 1996, when metal resources were exhausted. The mineralization consisted
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on a stockwork of chalcopyrite and molybdenite plus a sulfide-rich pegmatite breccia

(Wodzicki, 2001), which together reached a total of ~0.15 Mt Cu and ~0.001 Mt Mo.

About 5 km northwest of the Mariquita mine, there is another small Cu-Mo deposit

named Lucy, which was intermittently mined in the last decade to produce ~9 Mt of ore

with chalcopyrite and molybdenite grading 0.8% Cu and 0.1% Mo (González-Partida et

al., 2009). The mineralization at Lucy is mainly hypogene and disseminated in the

Cuitaca granodiorite, dated by U-Pb zircon at 63.8 ± 1.1 Ma (Del Rio-Salas et al., 2013).

Re-Os molybdenite dating constrained the age of the mineralizing event at 61.6 ± 0.3

and 61.8 ± 0.3 Ma (Del Rio-Salas et al., this issue). The El Alacrán prospect is another
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small occurrence of porphyry copper mineralization exposed ~18 km southeast of the

town of Cananea. It consists of a stockwork with disseminated chalcopyrite and

molybdenite mineralization, which has been estimated to be around 24 Mt at 0.35% Cu

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(Pérez-Segura, 1985; Arellano-Morales, 2004), yielding Re-Os molybdenite ages of

60.9 ± 0.2 and 60.8 ± 0.2 Ma (Barra et al., 2005).

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The second largest Mexican porphyry copper district corresponds to Nacozari,

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which is located ~70 km southeast, following the NW-SE Cananea lineament (Hollister,

1978). It includes the La Caridad mine, the presently inactive Pilares mine, and the Los

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Alisos, and Florida-Barrigón prospects. The oldest rocks are exposed to the west of the
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town of Nacozari, in the Sierra la Cobriza and Sierra la Púrica, and consist of a

Proterozoic granite and volcanic and plutonic rocks of Jurassic age (Anderson et al.,

2005). These rocks are largely covered by Laramide volcanic lavas and tuffs of
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intermediate composition, which are intruded by a series of plutonic phases. The La

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Caridad mine, located ~14 km E-SE of Nacozari, represents the most important locality

within the district, with resources of ~8.13 Mt Cu and 0.43 Mt Mo. The geology
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consists of granodiorite and diorite plutons dated by U-Pb zircon at 55.5 ± 1.9 and 58 ±
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2.0 Ma, respectively, which intrude an andesitic sequence with a U-Pb zircon age of

64.2 ± 2.5 Ma (Valencia et al., 2005). The mineralization in the La Caridad mine is

characterized by hypogene chalcopyrite and molybdenite mineralization hosted in

stockworks, disseminations and breccia zones associated with quartz monzonite

porphyritic stocks dated by U-Pb zircon at 55.0 ± 1.7 and 54.3 ± 1.7 Ma (Barra et al.,

2005; Valencia et al., 2008). The age for the mineralization is constrained by Re-Os in

molybdenite ages between 53.6 ± 0.2 and 54.0 ± 0.2 Ma (Barra et al., 2005).

The Pilares mine, located ~7 km west of the La Caridad mine, comprises a Cu-

Mo breccia pipe, with estimated resources of ~1.53 Mt Cu, and a past production of 16
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Mt at 3.1 Cu (Long, 1995). The mineralization has not been dated, but it is assumed to

be closely related to a granite porphyry that yielded a U-Pb zircon age of 53.6 ± 1.1 Ma

(Gómez-Landa, 2014). The main ore mineralogy consists of chalcocite, chalcopyrite,

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galena, pyrite, scheelite, sphalerite, hosted in a complex of andesitic and latitic rocks,

which yielded nearly equal U-Pb zircon ages of 64.3 ± 0.8 and 64.2 ± 0.8 Ma,

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respectively (Rascón-Heimpel et al., 2012).

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The Los Alisos prospect, located ~10 km northeast of the La Caridad mine, is a

currently undeveloped deposit, which is hosted by andesitic volcanic rocks intruded by

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a quartz feldspar porphyry, which yielded U-Pb zircon ages of 73.6 ± 1.0 and 60.2 ± 0.8
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Ma, respectively (Rascón-Heimpel et al., 2012). The mineralization consists of

hypogene pyrite and less chalcopyrite in quartz veins and veinlets, spread-out in a

highly oxidized zone. About 3 km west of the Nacozari town, the Florida-Barrigón is
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another prospect with porphyry copper mineralization style, which is hosted in

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Laramide volcanic rocks, underlain by volcanic sequences of Jurassic age (Anderson et

al., 2005). The mineralization is apparently associated with a dacite porphyry, whose
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age is constrained by a K-Ar sericite age of 52.4 ± 1.1 Ma (Damon et al., 1983b). It is
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characterized by chalcopyrite, molybdenite, pyrite, chrysocolla, malachite, and

sphalerite, containing ~0.45 Mt Cu (Singer et al., 2008).

More to the south, ~60 km southwest of the town of Nacozari and ~22 km

southwest of the town of Cumpas, the Cumobabi mine is the main locality of the

Cumobabi district, which developed mining activity between 1978 and 1989, achieving

a production of ~2.9 Mt of ore at 0.245% Mo and 0.165% Cu (Solano-Chávez, 1986;

Consejo de Recursos Minerales, 1992). The Cumobabi district comprises an E-W

elongated zone, containing about fifty mineralized breccia structures, locally reaching

up to 10% Mo, which are hosted by a monzonite pluton dated by K-Ar biotite at 63.1 ±
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1.6 Ma (Scherkenbach et al., 1985; Zúñiga-Hernández, 2010). Actual resources are

estimated in ~0.18 Mt Cu and 0.067 Mt Mo. The age of the mineralizing event is

constrained by Re-Os molybdenite dating at 58.7 ± 0.2 Ma (Barra et al., 2005). About

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10 km W-NW of the Cumobabi mine, the Washington mine, characterized by a breccia

pipe with 1.2 Mt of ore with 1.7% Cu, 0.14% W, 0.058% Mo, 0.172 g/t Au and ~16 g/t

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Ag (Simmons and Sawkins, 1983; Zúñiga-Hernández, 2010). About 60 km west of the

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Washington mine and ~94 km N-NE of Hermosillo, there is another noteworthy deposit

named El Crestón. This deposit consists of stockworks and breccia zones with

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molybdenite and chalcopyrite, which apparently represents the deep levels of a
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porphyry copper system (Valenzuela-Navarro et al., 2005). The mineralization is

associated with a quartz feldspar porphyry stock that intruded Paleoproterozoic

metamorphic rocks. The mineralization event is constrained by a Re-Os molybdenite

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age of 53.6 ± 0.2 Ma (Barra et al., 2005), and the resources are estimated in ~0.15 Mt
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Cu and ~0.13 Mt Mo (Starcore International Mines Ltd, Press Release, 2015).

In the central and eastern parts of Sonora, there are several porphyry copper
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occurrences, which comprise a mineralized district that extends along a ~E-W trend,
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from ~130 km east of Hermosillo to the limit with the Chihuahua State (Fig. 3). It

includes the San Antonio de la Huerta, Suaqui Verde, Cuatro Hermanos and Santa Rosa,

as the most significant. The older rocks exposed within the district consist of deformed

Paleozoic marine basin sedimentary units, which are unconformably overlain by Late

Triassic clastic-continental rocks of the Barranca Group, and a >2.5 km-thick pile of

Laramide volcanic lavas and tuffs of the Tarahumara Formation (McDowell et al.,

2001). The Suaqui Verde prospect, located ~7 km east of the town of Suaqui Grande, is

the most westerly locality. The mineralization is associated with a quartz feldspar

porphyry stock that yielded Re-Os molybdenite ages of 57.0 ± 0.2 and 56.8 ± 0.2 Ma
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(Barra et al., 2005). It consists of a stockwork with pyrite, chalcopyrite, and less

molybdenite, accounting for ~87 Mt at 0.43% Cu (Pérez-Segura, 1985; Barton et al.,

1995; Flores-Vázquez, 2006). About 23 km to the east, the Cuatro Hermanos prospect is

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a considerably larger deposit, with ~1 Mt Cu and 0.08 Mt Mo. The mineralization is

associated with breccia bodies and small supergene-enriched zones associated with a

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granodiorite porphyry intrusion (Zürcher, 2002), and yielded a Re-Os molybdenite age

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of 55.7 ± 0. 3 (Barra et al., 2005). The San Antonio de la Huerta deposit, also named

Luz del Cobre, is located ~27 km north of Cuatro Hermanos, and ~3 km west of the

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town of San Antonio de la Huerta. The age of the mineralization is not known, but can
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be approximated to a K-Ar age of 57.4 ± 1.4 Ma obtained for a microdiorite (Damon et

al., 1983b). The mineralization consists of hypogene copper sulfides in stockwork,

skarn and breccia zones, from which a past production of ~0.1 Mt Cu and resources
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exceeding 0.28 million oz Au has been reported (Red Tiger Inc., 2016).
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More to the east, ~80 km from Suaqui Grande, the Santa Rosa deposit (also

known as the Tres Piedras mine) consists of a breccia structure containing pyrite,
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chalcopyrite, bornite, molybdenite, wolframite, and scheelite mineralization. Indicated

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resources account for ~1.1 Mt at 0.524% Cu and 0.121% Mo (SGM, 2008). Its age is
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approximately constrained by a Ar/39Ar muscovite date of ~55.7 Ma (Mead et al.,
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1988), which is close to the Ar/39Ar hornblende date of 56.7 ± 0.40 Ma reported by

Gans (1997) for a large granodiorite pluton that outcrops elsewhere in this region.

Southern domain

The southern domain is defined by a crust that lacks the North American

cratonic rocks. The basement is mostly comprised of accreted mid to late Mesozoic

oceanic sequences of the Guerrero terrane, which underlies most of western Mexico. It
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is a composite terrane characterized by submarine and subaerial volcanic and

sedimentary successions, ranging in age from Late Jurassic to middle–Late Cretaceous,

with scarce exposures of older rocks (Centeno-García et al., 1993, 2008). The limit

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between the northern and southern domains (Figure 2) is largely schematic and drawn

on the basis of geologic constraints. However, contacts along overthrust tectonic

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terranes use to be transitional. In the case of the Piedras Verdes porphyry copper deposit,

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located ~280 km S-SE of Hermosillo, radiogenic Sr and Nd isotope signatures recorded

in Laramide plutons suggest an influence from both domains (Espinosa-Perea, 2000;

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Valencia-Moreno et al., 2001). The Piedras Verdes deposit is hosted in a folded
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sequence of deep-marine Paleozoic sediments, and consists of stockwork veinlets with

pyrite, chalcopyrite, molybdenite, with episodic supergene enriched copper zones

(Dreier and Braun, 1995), accomplishing resources of ~1.27 Mt Cu (Cobre del Mayo,
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S.A. de C.V., 2015). The hypogene mineralization was apparently introduced in two
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pulses; the first is related to the intrusion of a granodiorite porphyry stock dated by K-

Ar in biotite at 62.2 ± 1.6 Ma, and the second one is linked to a slightly younger quartz
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feldspar porphyry (Espinosa-Perea, 1999, 2000).

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More to the south, the porphyry copper deposits are smaller (usually <1 Mt Cu),

but commonly containing gold as a locally important commodity. Molybdenum is

common, but values are relatively low compared to porphyry copper deposits in the

northern domain. In northwestern Sinaloa, about 24 km north of the town of Choix, the

Santo Tomás deposit is composed of disseminated copper sulfides associated with a

quartz monzonite porphyry stock, hosted in Cretaceous limestone and metamorphosed

andesite (Bustamante-Yáñez, 1986; Clark et al., 1988). The size of the deposit is

estimated in ~1.36 Mt Cu with ~442,000 oz Au. The timing of the mineralizing event is

approximately constrained by a K-Ar sericite age at ~57.2 Ma (Damon et al., 1983b).

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The La Reforma mine is a nearby porphyry copper style deposit located ~30 km N-NE

of Choix (Fig. 3), which was operated between 1968 and 1980 by Industrias Peñoles

S.A. de C.V., producing 1.8 Mt of ore grading 91.62 g/t Ag, 1.90% Pb, 7.44% Zn and

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0.63% Cu (Victory Resources Corp., 2014). Within the same region, but in the State of

Chihuahua, ~40 km N-NE of Choix, there is another porphyry copper deposit called

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Bahuérachi, characterized by stockwork and skarn zones, with ~2.01 Mt Cu, 0.042 Mt

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Mo and ~507.581 oz Au. The associated intrusive rocks include a dacite porphyry with

an estimated age of ~65.7 Ma (Tyler Resource Inc., 2008); however, since no

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information regarding analytical details is provided, and considering the somewhat
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younger ages of the Santo Tomás and La Reforma deposits, this age may need to be

confirmed.

The Tameapa porphyry copper deposit is located in eastern Sinaloa, ~90 km

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north of the city of Culiacán, and accounts for resources estimated in ~1.5 Mt Cu and
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0.12 Mt Mo. The mineralization consists of stockworks and breccia zones associated

with a quartz monzonite pluton, from which molybdenite separates yielded Re-Os age
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between 57.4 ± 0.2 and 50.0 ± 0.3 Ma (Barra et al., 2005). About 30 km south of
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Tameapa, there is another porphyry Mo-Cu named Los Chicharrones prospect, from

which limited information is available. The deposit consists of a stockwork with quartz

and quartz-feldspar veinlets containing molybdenite with less pyrite, chalcopyrite and

sphalerite (Silva-Macedo and Gamiño-Ochoa, 1981). The mineralization is associated

with a quartz monzonite porphyry stock that yielded a K-Ar biotite age of 56.2 ± 1.2

(Damon et al., 1983b). The San José del Desierto deposit, is located in the Durango

State, ~10 km south of the Sinaloa-Chihuahua-Durango State junction. The

mineralization consists of breccia structures with Cu, Mo, and W related to quartz

diorite and quartz monzonite porphyry stocks (Clark et al., 1988; Bustamante-Yáñez,
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1986). The age of the mineralization is not known, but it is approximated by a K-Ar age

of 59.1 ± 1.2 Ma determined from biotite disseminated in the quartz monzonite stock

(Damon et al., 1983b).

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More to the south, ~44 N-NE of Mazatlán, the Azulitas porphyry copper-

molybdenum prospect is characterized by breccias and disseminations of Cu-Mo

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sulfides, with ~2.2 Moz Ag and 15,200 oz Au (Geoinformatics Exploration Inc., 2008).

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The deposit is hosted by a granodiorite pluton that yielded a K-Ar age of 59.5 ± 1.2 Ma

from secondary biotite (Damon et al., 1983b). Resources are estimated to be ~0.03 Mt

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Cu, ~0.0022 Mt Mo, ~2.2 Moz Ag and ~15,000 oz Au. The Malpica project is also
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located in southern Sinaloa, approximately 30 km east of Mazatlán and ~3 km south of

the town of Malpica. The deposit is characterized by several quartz-tourmaline breccia

pipes and stockwork zones with chalcopyrite, pyrite, bornite and molybdenite. The
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mineralization is estimated in ~0.39 Mt Cu, with ~141,000 oz Au, and is hosted in a

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granodiorite pluton that yielded a K-Ar biotite age of 57.3 ± 0.6 Ma (Henry, 1975). The

mineralizing event is constrained by a Re-Os molybdenite age of 54.1 ± 0.3 Ma (Barra

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et al., 2005). About 30 km more to the east, and close to the Durango-Sinaloa State
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boundary, there is another promising porphyry copper zone referred to as the Tango

property (Figure 2). The mineralization occurs in porphyritic monzodiorite and alkali

granite intrusions, and includes the El Cuervo, Sepultado, and La Guacamaya

porphyries. The age of these deposits is not known, but it is assumed to be equivalent to

the ~54 Ma age obtained for the Malpica deposit. The mineralization consists of

stockwork veinlets with Cu-Mo ± Ag, Pb and Zn sulfide. Limited analytical data from

chip-channel samples reveal values of up to 0.23% Cu and 0.14% Mo. Also,

contemporaneous epithermal high grade gold quartz veins including the San Agustín
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and La Cocolmeca veins are considered important exploration targets (Minera Camargo

S.A. de C.V., 2012).

In central Mexico, the Cerro San Pedro mine, located ~18 km E-NE of the City

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of San Luis Potosí, is a gold-silver porphyry deposit with lesser amounts of Zn and Pb,

which is operated by Minera San Xavier. The mineralization occurs as massive sulfides

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hosted in mantos and breccias, containing ~86 Mt of ore averaging 0.55 g/t Au and 22.5

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g/t Ag. The deposit is associated with a sill-like granodiorite porphyry that intrudes a

deformed sequence of Mesozoic carbonates. The hypogene mineralization is

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constrained by a 40Ar/39Ar sericite age of 64.56 ± 0.76 Ma (New Gold Inc., 2010).
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Laramide porphyry-style Cu-Au mineralization associated with porphyritic

granodioritic sills and stocks has been documented by Miranda-Gasca and Roldán-

Martínez (2003) in the Guerrero State (south of the area shown in Figure 2). They report
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K-Ar ages of 62.1 ± 1.6 and 64.9 ± 1.6 Ma for hydrothermal orthoclase and biotite,
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respectively, and noted that similar igneous and hydrothermal systems are seen at El

Bermejal and Nukay, in the Mezcala mining district. However, until further geological
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information is available, the Mezcala district deposits were herein considered as Au-Cu
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skarn deposits.

Discussion

As noted in this review, the porphyry copper deposits of western Mexico are

distributed along the entire Laramide magmatic arc. Nevertheless, the most important

localities occur in northern Sonora, in the so-called “great cluster” of the porphyry

copper deposits of Arizona-New Mexico-Sonora (Fig. 3). This fact suggests that the

Laramide magmatism in this region evolved under geologic conditions that enhanced
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formation of abnormally large accumulations of metal, particularly copper and

molybdenum.

An analysis of total copper versus time shown in Figure 4, shows various deposits

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laying in the categories of “giant” (>2.5 Mt Cu) and “supergiant” (>25 Mt Cu),

respectively (Laznicka, 1999). The Buenavista del Cobre, with ~30 Mt Cu, and the La

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Caridad, with >8 Mt Cu, belong to these groups. It is interesting to note from this figure

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that giant deposits were formed in a rather short period of time of ~18 Ma, between 72

and 54 Ma. Deposits with >8 Mt Cu formed in a shorter time span of ~14 Ma, between

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69 and 54 Ma, and the supergiant deposits formed in a really narrow time window
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between 63 and 56 Ma. This means that more than 40% of the copper of the entire

Laramide porphyry copper belt of southwestern North America was deposited in ~7 Ma.

The distribution of total molybdenum versus time of formation approximately

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correlates with copper (Fig. 5). According to the Laznika’s classification, giant and
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supergiant molybdenum deposits are considered for metal accumulations of >0.11 Mt

and >1.1 Mt Mo, respectively. No supergiant deposits are known in southwestern North
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America, including the region of the great cluster. However, some giant molybdenum
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deposits were emplaced between ~73 and 52.5 Ma, and all but one of the largest

occurrences, with sizes >0.2 Mt Mo, were formed in 6.8 Ma, between ~59.3 and 52.5

Ma. The Buenavista del Cobre and the La Caridad deposits account for almost 21% of

the total molybdenum estimated for the entire porphyry copper belt.

It is difficult to conceive that the giant and super-giant deposits in this copper

cluster do not share a common origin. Among the large number of existing occurrences

known along the North American Cordillera, apparently no Laramide porphyry copper

deposits this big exist outside this spatially restricted region. Furthermore, as noted in

Figure 4, the metal accumulation occurred within a relatively short time span (~5 Ma
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for deposits >24 Mt Cu and ~13 Ma for deposits >2.5 Mt Cu). It implies that there were

geotectonic controls that fixed the time-space conditions to develop important porphyry

copper mineralization, considering that the Laramide event lasted ~40 Ma, and the

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associated magmatic arc extended for over 5,000 km along the Cordillera. The largest

copper deposits formed just south of the region where the classical Laramide

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deformation took place (Fig. 3). The large crustal block uplifts and the nearly

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amagmatic conditions in that region is commonly explained by flat-slab subduction

tectonics, which inhibited subcrustal asthenospheric mantle melting (e.g., Saleeby,

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2003; English and Johnston, 2004). The angle of the Farallon slab must have increased
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to the south to allow production of the large amounts calc-alkaline magma required to

form the broad magmatic belt of Arizona, New Mexico and Sonora. Our interpretation

is that a tear zone formed south of the Colorado Plateau region, allowing the adjacent
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oceanic slab to penetrate at higher inclination (Fig. 6). This zone may coincide with the
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NE-SW tear that limits the Sonora slab segment proposed by Keith and Swan (1995). A

moderately inclined slab would have favored hydration and consequent melting in a
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section of the confined mantle wedge. Moreover, the window opened along the slab tear
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would have allowed an increasing asthenosphere magma flux to the melting zone. Thus,

the magmatic source may have been persistently recharged with fresh mantle, yielding a

mechanism to provide enough copper to form the great cluster.

The Mexican porphyry copper deposits are encompassed by the NW-SE trending

Laramide magmatic arc, which is partly concealed to the east beneath the western part

of the Sierra Madre Occidental volcanic province (Fig. 2). In the western part of the arc,

porphyry copper deposits are scarce; however, the Fortuna de Cobre and Los Humos

prospects, located in northwestern Sonora (Fig. 2), suggest that porphyry copper

mineralization formed during most of the eastward arc migration. As arc migration
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progressed, there was more time for uplifting and erosion in the western part, including

the mineralized bodies (Damon et al., 1983b). However, we consider very unlikely that

porphyry copper systems, if formed, have been erased without a trace.

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Epithermal correlative ore deposits were surely formed during inland migration of

the Laramide magmatism, but most of them were apparently eroded due to progressive

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uplifting of the region west of the active arc (Damon et al., 1983b). A link between

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porphyry copper and epithermal mineralization has been suggested (e.g., Sillitoe and

Hedenquist, 2003; Sillitoe, 2010), however, it is not known for the Laramide porphyry

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copper deposits of Mexico, because if epithermal deposits formed in the shallower parts
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of the Laramide porphyry copper systems, they were largely removed by erosion.

However, the La Caridad Vieja has been interpreted as a high-sulfidation epithermal

copper-gold deposit downthrown by normal faulting from the main part of the La
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Caridad porphyry copper deposit (Valencia et al., 2008). The preservation of the La
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Caridad Vieja deposit may be explained by its position within the hanging wall of the

La Caridad normal fault and the syn-tectonic volcanic and clastic cover, which
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preserved the deposit form erosion.

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Post-orogenic crustal extension apparently precluded formation of porphyry

copper deposits (see Damon et al., 1983b). However, it was critical to form the large

supergene enriched copper blankets, such as those of Buenavista del Cobre. The

Miocene extension that affected most of southwestern North America progressively

evolved to form the Basin and Range province. Extensional faulting caused either

exhumation or preservation of crustal blocks, frequently segmenting and rotating the

pre-existing mineralized bodies (e.g., Lowell and Guilbert, 1970), complicating

reconstruction of the original features. Commonly, the combined effect of tectonic uplift

and erosion caused total or partial removal of the copper ores. For instance, the El
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Crestón prospect, located ~90 km north of Hermosillo (Fig. 3), which is a relatively

small high-grade molybdenum deposit hosted by Proterozoic rocks, is considered a deep

remnant of a porphyry copper system (Valenzuela-Navarro et al., 2005; Valencia-

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Moreno et al., 2006b, 2007). Extension not only exhumed the mineralized bodies, but

also amplified the effective area of primary sulfide ores to the action of meteoric water,

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enhancing development of supergene-enriched copper, which have traditionally been a

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very important target for exploration.

The type of intruded crust may have also acted as an important parameter, as

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indicated by the abrupt variations in the size and type of porphyry copper deposits
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located south of the expected position of the southern edge of the old North American

crust in southern Sonora (Fig. 2). Nevertheless, the importance of these relative small

deposits lays on the common presence of gold values, such as in Bahuérachi and Cerro
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San Pedro (Table 1). Despite the nature of the crust, the rocks reacting with the plutons
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that generated the porphyry copper systems usually developed other type of ores,

particularly skarn and replacement deposits. These ores may be distal from the porphyry
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copper centers, and in many occasions where no links are observed, they are considered
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apart. This is the case of the Laramide tungsten skarn province of Sonora documented

by Mead et al. (1988), which partially overlaps the western portion of the porphyry

copper belt, and the Au-Cu skarn deposits of the Mezcala district in southern Mexico.

Conclusions

Despite the duration of the Laramide magmatism in the western North America

Cordillera (~40 Ma), the most important portion of metals associated with porphyry

copper mineralization was emplaced during a relatively narrow time window, between
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~68 and 54 Ma. Moreover, the largest deposits were formed in a narrower time window

between 63 and 56 Ma.

The largest deposits are clustered in a relatively restricted region south of the

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Colorado Plateau, in a region comprising southern Arizona, western New Mexico and

northern Sonora. This work proposes that this region developed south of the classical

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Laramide flat-slab zone, under moderate slab dipping and separated from it by a tear

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zone. The tectonic framework allowed abundant mantle-derived mantle melting and

feeding of more mantle from the asthenospheric window between both Farallon slab

segments.
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The largest Mexican deposits are the Buenavista del Cobre (~30 Mt Cu) and the

La Caridad (~8,13 Mt Cu) located in the northern domain, whose basement is

characterized by cratonic rocks of North American affinity. The southern domain,

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starting from southern Sonora, lacks the North American basement rocks, and contain
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smaller deposits (generally <1 Mt Cu), often including gold values as an important

commodity.
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The contained copper of the Laramide porphyry copper belt of Arizona, New
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Mexico and Mexico region reaches ~245.2 Mt, out of which the Mexican resources

account for ~20%. About 94% of the total Cu was deposited in a relatively short time

span of 16 Ma, between ~68.5 and 52.5 Ma. Moreover, the supergiant deposits (>24 Mt

Cu) of the great cluster contain ~223 Mt Cu, representing more than 91% of the copper

in the entire belt. It is interesting to note that the largest deposits, with sizes between 10

and 34 Mt Cu, were formed between 60.5 and 52.5 Ma, which means that more than

55% of the total copper of the southwestern North America porphyry copper belt was

deposited in just ~8 Ma.

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A similar analysis for molybdenum shows that the porphyry copper belt contains

~5 Mt Mo, of which ~26% corresponds to Mexican deposits. Almost all the

molybdenum resources were deposited between 71 and 52.5 Ma; however, the most

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important ones, with sizes >0.2 Mt Mo, were formed during the same time that the

largest copper ore deposits were formed.

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Acknowledgements

Authors want to thank financial support provided by Consejo Nacional de

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Ciencia y Tecnología (CONACYT) grant 49528-F and Universidad Nacional Autónoma
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de México (PAPIIT grant IN106603) to M. Valencia-Moreno, and CONACYT grant

155662 to A. Camprubí. Additional funding was received from internal annual research

budgets of the Instituto de Geología (UNAM). We thank H. Catchpole and an

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anonymous referee by thorough reviews and constructive comments, which

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significantly contributed to improving the quality of the former manuscript.

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discoveries in Mexico and Central America. Econ. Geol. Spec. Pub. 8, 243–263.

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Wong, M.S., Gans, P.B., Scheier, J., 2010. The Ar/39Ar thermochronology of core

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complexes and other basement rocks in Sonora, Mexico: Implications for Cenozoic

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tectonic evolution of northwestern Mexico. J. Geophys. Res. 115, B07414.

Zúñiga Hernández, L.G., 2010. Estudio Geológico, geoquímico y metalogenético del

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cuadrángulo Huépac-Moctezuma, centro-noroeste de Sonora, México. Unpub. M.S.

Thesis, Universidad de Sonora, 126 pp.

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Zürcher, L., 2002. Regional setting and magmatic evolution of Laramide por-phyry

copper systems in western Mexico. Unpub. Ph.D. Thesis, University of Arizona, 427
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pp.
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FIGURE CAPTIONS
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Figure 1. Map showing the the distribution of isotopic ages of magmatic rocks in

various time slices between 140 and 40 Ma. The employed database includes only U-

Pb zircon plus Ar-Ar and K-Ar hornblende ages which have a relatively close

approximation to the crystallization age. The Baja California peninsula was restored

to pre-Basin and Range extension time (prior to 30 Ma), and the effects of extension

were also restored to open the required space to accommodate it inside the paleo-

continental margin (heavy solid line). Data sources: Aguirre-Díaz and McDowell

(1991); Alsleben et al. (2014); Anderson and Silver (1979); Anderson et al. (1980);

Arvizu and Iriondo (2011); Barra and Valencia (2014); Clark et al. (1979); Cuellar-
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Cárdenas et al. (2012); Damon et al. (1983a,b); Del Río-Salas (2011); Del Río-Salas

et al. (2013, 2015); Duque-Trujillo et al. (2015); Enriquez-Castillo et al. (2009);

Ferrari et al, (2104); García-Martínez et al. (2014); Gans (1997); Gastil et al. (1976,

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1978, 2014); González-Becuar, 2011; González-León et al. (2000, 2011); Grove et al.

(2003); Henry et al. (2003); Iriondo et al. (2004, 2005); Izaguirre et al. (2015);

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Jacques-Ayala et al. (2009); Johnson et al. (2003); Krummenacher et al. (1975);

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Loza-Aguirre et al. (2012); McDowell and Mauger (1994); McDowell et al. (1988;

2001) Mead et al. (1988); NAVDAT, 2015; Nourse et al. (2005); Ortega-Rivera

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(2003); Ortega-Rivera et al. (1997); Paheco-Hoyos (2013); Pérez-Segura et al. (2009,
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2013); Pérez-Venzor (2013); Piñero-Lajas (2008); Poulsen et al. (2008); Ramos-

Velázquez et al. (2008); Rascón-Heimpel et al. (2012); Rodríguez-Castañeda et al.

(2015); Roldán-Quintana (2002); Roldán-Quintana et al. (2009); Schaaf et al.

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(1995); Sosa-Valdés et al. (2011); Solé et al. (2007); Valencia et al. (2005, 2006,
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2013); Valencia-Moreno et al. (2001, 2006); Vega-Granillo et al. (2012); Villanueva-

Lascurain (2012); Wodzicki (1995); Wong et al. (2010).

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Figure 2. Map of distribution of the Mexican Laramide porphyry copper deposits

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summarized in Table 1, restored to pre-Cenozoic Basin and Range extension. The

figure in the inset shows the position of the Cerro San Pedro porphyry deposit, which

is the most southeastern locality. The dark gray areas represent outcrops of Late

Cretaceous to Eocene igneous rocks from SGM (2007). The sawtoot lines are major

thrust fronts that delineate different crustal domains: solid line corresponds to the late

Paleozoic Ouachita-Marathon-Sonora thrust front (adapted from Poole et al., 2005);

the dashed line represents the northern limit of the mid- to late Mesozoic the

Guerrero oceanic terrane (adapted from Centeno-García et al., 1993). The

continuation of this line through Baja California indicates the thrust front of the
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Alisitos oceanic arc terrane (adapted from Busby et al., 2006). The light shaded

region represents the Oligocene-Miocene Sierra Madre Occidental volcanic province

(adapted from Ferrari et al., 2007). Acronyms: Bahuérachi=B; Buenavista del

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Cobre=BC; Cuatro Hermanos=CH; Cumobabi=C; El Alacrán=EA; El Crestón=EC;

El Pilar=EP; Florida-Barrigón=FB; Fortuna del Cobre=FC; La Caridad=LC; La

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Reforma=LR; Las Azulitas=LA; Pilares=P; Los Chicharrones=LCh; Los

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Humos=LH; Lucy=L; Malpica=Ma; María=M; Mariquita=Mq; Milpillas=Mi; San

Antonio de la Huerta=SA; Suaqui Verde=SV; Santa Rosa=SR; Piedras Verdes=PV;

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Santo Tomás=ST; San José del Desierto=SJD; Cerro San Pedro=CSP; Tameapa=T;
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Washington=W. State names: BC=Baja California; BCS=Baja California Sur;

CHI=Chihuahua; DGO: Durango; SLP=San Luis Potosí; SON=Sonora; ZAC=

Zacatecas.
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Figure 3. Distribution of porphyry copper deposits in southwestern North America

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showing various categories according to their sizes, for copper (a) and

molybdenum (b). In both figures, the region of the great cluster of Arizona, New
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Mexico and Sonora is clearly delineated by the size of the deposits. B: Bagdad;
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BC: Buenavista del Cobre; C: Crestón; ES: Esperanza-Sierrita; LC: La Caridad; M:

Morenci; MI: Miami-Inspiration; R: Ray; S: Safford; SC: Santa Cruz; SM: San

Manuel; SR: Santa Rita; TB: Twin Buttes. Categories adapted from Laznicka (2006).

Figure 4. Diagram of copper contained versus emplacement age form Laramide (80-40

Ma) porphyry copper deposits of Arizona, New Mexico and Mexico. Data from data

in Table 1 and Singer et al. (2005, 2008). The dotted line encompasses the timing for

the Mexican deposits. The shaded region holds the giant and supergiant copper

deposits according to the classification of Laznicka (2006). Deposits above the

dashed line separated a group of deposits with sizes larger than 8 Mt Cu, which
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concentrates most of the copper deposited in the porphyry copper belt. B: Bagdad;

BC: Buenavista del Cobre; LC: La Caridad; M: Morenci; MI: Miami-Inspiration; R:

Ray; S: Safford; SC: Santa Cruz; SM: San Manuel; SR: Santa Rita.

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Figure 5. Diagram of molybdenum versus emplacement age form Laramide (80-40 Ma)

porphyry copper deposits of Arizona, New Mexico and Mexico. Data from data in

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Table 1 and Singer et al. (2005, 2008). The dotted line encompasses the timing for

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the Mexican deposits. The shaded region holds the giant molybdenum deposits

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according to the classification of Laznicka (2006). The dashed line separates a group

of major deposits with sizes larger than 0.2 Mt Mo, which concentrates most of the
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molybdenum of the porphyry copper belt. BC: Buenavista del Cobre; C: Crestón;

ES: Esperanza-Sierrita; LC: La Caridad; M: Morenci; MP: Mineral Park; S: Safford;

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SR: Santa Rita; TB: Twin Buttes.

Figure 6. Schematic tectonic model showing difference in slab dip between the
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segments below the region where the classic Laramide developed (flat slab) and
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the region of the great porphyry copper cluster of southwestern North America

(moderate dipping slab). Both segments are separated by a tear zone, which
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feeds more asthenospheric mantle to the mantle wedge trapped above the

southern slab segment. This mechanism may help to provide the abnormal

metal budget required to form the large deposits of the Arizona-New Mexico-

Sonora cluster. Away of the slab tear zone, normal calc-alkaline melting formed

smaller deposits.

TABLE CAPTIONS

Table 1
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Mineralization style: sw–stockwork and veins; sk–skarn; bx–breccia; d–dissemination;

m: manto; peg–pegmatite, r–replacement. Porphyry phase: qz-feld–quartz-feldespar;

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da–dacite; and–andesite; qz-lat–quartz latite; qz-di–quartz diorite; qz-mz–quartz

monzonite; gr–granite; gd–granodiorite; mz-di: monzodiorite. Dated materials: bi–

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biotite; gm-graoundmass; hb–hornblende; mo–molybdenite; mu–muscovite; ser–

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sericite; zr–zircon. Mineralogy: bn–bornite; cc–chalcocite; co–covellite; cpy–

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chalcopyrite; gn–galena; py–pyrite; sch–scheelite; sph–sphalerite; th–tetrahedrite.

References: 1. Aponte-Barrera, 2009; 2. Arellano-Morales, 2004; 3. Barra et al.,

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2005; 4. Barra and Valencia, 2014; 5. Barton et al., 1995; 6. Bustamante-Yáñez,

1986; 7. Carrasco-Centeno Cárdenas-Vargas, 1975; 8. Carrillo-Alcántara, 2013; 9.

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Clark et al., 1988; 10. Cobre del Mayo S.A. de C.V., 2015; 11. CODELCO, 2002; 12.

Damon et al., 1983; 13. Del Río-Salas 2015; 14. Dreier and Braun, 1995; 15.
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Espinosa-Perea, 1999; 16. Geoinformatics Exploration Inc., 2008; 17. Gómez-Landa,

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2014; 18. González-Partida et al., 2009; 19. Grupo México, 2015; 20. Mead et al.,

1988; 21. New Gold Inc., 2010; 22. Noguez-Alcántara et al., 2007; 23. Pérez-Segura,
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1985; 24. Rascón-Heimpel, 2011; 25. Red Tiger Mining Inc., 2013; 26. Salvatierra-

Domínguez, 2000; 27. Scherckenbach et al., 1985; 28. Servicio Geológico Mexicano,

2008; 29. Simons and Sawkins, 1983; 30. Silva-Macedo and Gamiño-Ochoa; 31.

Singer et al., 2008; 32. Starcore International Mines Ltd., 2015; 33. Tyler Resource

Inc., 2008; 34. Valencia et al., 2005; 35. Valencia et al., 2006; 36. Valencia-Moreno

et al, 2006b and 2007; 37. Victory Resources Corp., Press Release, 2012; 38.

Wodzicki, 2001; 39. Zúñiga-Hernández, 2010; 40. Zürcher, 2002.

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Graphical abstract
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Table 1

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Age (Ma) Method Style Ore mineralogy Ore grade and resources References

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74.6 ± 1.3 75.0 ± 1.4 Re-Os (mo) sw, bx cpy, mo, cc 20 Mt at 0.5% Cu and 0.026% Mo 11 Mt at 1.15 Cu (supergene) 4, 26

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73.5 ± 0.2 Re-Os (mo) sw, bx 300 Mt at 0.3% Cu 4, 11
73.9 ± 0.3 Re-Os (mo) bx py, cpy, mo 259 Mt at 0.3% Cu 13, 19

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63.1 ± 0.4 Re-Os (mo) sw cpy, oxides 230 Mt at 0.85% Cu 22, 31, 35
59.3 ± 0.3 Re-Os (mo) sw, bx py, cpy, cc 100 Mt at 0.48% Cu 1, 13, 36

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61.6 ± 0.3 61.8 ± 0.3 Re-Os (mo) sw mo, cpy 9 Mt mined at 0.8% Cu and 0.1% Mo 13, 18
60.4 ± 0.3 K-Ar (ser) sk, peg, bx py, cpy, mo 8.6 Mt at 1.7% Cu and 0.01% Mo 3, 5, 13, 38
59.3 ± 0.3 Re-Os (mo) sw, sk, bx py, cpy, mo, cc, co, en 7,140 Mt at 0.42% Cu, 0.008% Mo, 0.58 g/t Ag, and 0.012 g/t Au 3, 5, 31, 38

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60.9 ± 0.2 Re-Os (mo) sw, d, bx py, cpy, cc, mo 24 Mt at 0.35% Cu 2, 3, 23

Re-Os (mo) sw, bx py, cpy, mo, cc, sph, gn, 1800 0.452% Cu, 0.0247% Mo 3, 31, 34
53.6 ± 0.2 54.0 ± 0.2 co, th

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53.6 ± 1.1 U-Pb (zr) bx py, cpy, sph, sch 147 Mt at 1.04% Cu 17, 31

52.4 ± 1.1 K- (ser) r, sw, sk py, cpy, mo, sph, oxides 12, 31, 35

58.7 ± 0.2 Re-Os (mo) bx

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mo, py, cpy, th
135 Mt at 0.33% Cu

67 Mt at 0.266% Cu and 0.099% Mo 3, 27, 31

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56.4 ± 1.2 K-Ar (bi) bx py, cpy, sch, mo 1.2 Mt at 1.7% Cu, 0.058 % Mo, 0.14% W, 0.17 g/t Au and 15.8 g/t Ag 12, 29, 35

53.6 ± 0.2 Re-Os (mo) bx, sw mo, cpy 215.4 Mt at 0.071% Mo and 0.059% Cu 3, 31, 36

57.4 ± 1.4 K-Ar (gm) sw, sk, bx mo, cc, py, cpy 3.6 Mt at 1% Cu; 6.78 Mt at 2.92 g/t Au 12, 25

57.0 ± 0.3 Re-Os (mo) sw, bx py, cpy, mo, cc 87.2 Mt at 0.43% Cu 3, 31, 36

55.7 ± 0.3 Re-Os (mo) sw, bx py, cpy, mo, cc 233 Mt; at 0.43% Cu and 0.035% Mo 3, 31, 40

55.7 ± 0.8 Ar/Ar (mu) bx py, cpy, bn, mo, sch 1.1 Mt at 0.524% Cu and 0.121% Mo 20, 28

~60 Re-Os (mo) sw py, cpy, mo, cc 452.790 Mt at 0.28% Cu 10, 14, 15
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57.2 ± 1.2 K-Ar (bi) d py, cpy, bn, cc 274 Mt at 0.498% Cu and 0.05 g/t Au 6, 12, 31

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59.2 ± 1.3 K-Ar (bi) sk, bx, m py, cpy, gn, sph 231.48 g/t Ag, 0.84% Cu, 6% Pb, 14.12% Zn. No size data available 12, 37

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65.7 - d, sk, sw cpy, gn, mo, py, sph 524.5 Mt at 0.40% Cu, 0.008% Mo, 0.55% Zn, 0.03 g/t Au, 4.03 g/t Ag 33

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57-52 Re-Os (mo) sw, d cpy, mo 54 Mt at 0.4% Cu 3, 5, 31, 40
59.1 ± 1.2 K-Ar (bi) d, bx cpy, mo, sch, Au, Ag - 6, 7, 9, 12

56.2 ± 1.2 K-Ar (bi) sw, bx, d mo, py, cpy, sch - 12, 40

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54.1 ± 0.3 Re-Os (mo) sw, bx cpy, py, sch, mo 11.14 Mt at 0.55% Cu (oxide zone); 53.88 Mt at 0.61% Cu and 0.081 g/tAu (sulfide zone) 3, 5, 8

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59.5 ± 1.2 K-Ar (bi) d, bx py, cpy, mo 5.63 Mt at 0.54% Cu, 0.04% Mo, 12.2 g/t Ag and 0.08 g/t Au 12, 16

64.56 ± 0.76 Ar/Ar (ser) sw, d, m, bx py, sph, gn, apy, cpy, bn 78.2 Mt at 0.563 g/t Au and 20.77 g/t Ag 21

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Highlights

• An updated inventory of the Laramide porphyry copper deposits of Mexico is

provided.

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• The metallogenic variations observed along the Mexican porphyry copper belt are

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evaluated in terms of the nature of the involved basement.

• A tectonomagmatic model is proposed to explain the origin of the rich copper cluster

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of northern Mexico and southwestern United States.

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