2008 Society of Economic Geologists, Inc.

Economic Geology, v. 103, pp. 161183

Geologic Setting, Mineralogy, and Geochemistry of the Early Tertiary Au-Rich

Volcanic-Hosted Massive Sulfide Deposit of La Plata, Western Cordillera, Ecuador
M. CHIARADIA, D. TRIPODI, L. FONTBOT,
Department of Mineralogy, Earth Sciences Section, University of Geneva, Rue des Marachers 13, 1205 Geneva, Switzerland

AND B. REZA
SULTANA DEL CONDOR MINERA S.A., Isabel La Catlica No. 882 y Cordero, Quito, Ecuador

Abstract
La Plata is, economically, the most important of several volcanic-hosted massive sulfide (VHMS) deposits of
the Western Cordillera of Ecuador, with preliminary estimated reserves of 840,000 metric tons (t) at 4.8 g/t Au,
54 g/t Ag, 4.1 percent Cu, 0.7 percent Pb, and 4.2 percent Zn. Like the other VHMS deposits of the Western
Cordillera, it is hosted by the Early Tertiary Macuchi unit, which represents an oceanic island-arc sequence,
composed of submarine volcanic and volcaniclastic sequences of basaltic to andesitic compositions, accreted to
the continent along the Chimbo-Toachi shear zone in the late Eocene.
La Plata displays a typical VHMS vertical zonation, from bottom to top, of a pyrite stockwork, disseminated
sulfides, massive sulfide lenses, and a thin red jasper bed with exhalative-sedimentary textures. The massive
sulfide lenses are located within footwall andesitic volcanic and volcaniclastic rocks that are pervasively altered
to a quartz-pyrite-sericite assemblage, and immediately below a hanging-wall sequence consisting of at least
two basaltic to basaltic-andesitic lava flows, each capped by autoclastic breccia intervals. The hanging-wall
rocks, especially the autoclastic breccias, are hematite altered up to 300 m above the ore level. Hanging-wall
volcanic rocks have geochemical features typical of arc tholeiites. Dolerite dikes in the hanging wall have mid-
dle-ocean ridge basalt (MORB)-type geochemical features likely indicating deposit formation in an intra-arc
extensional environment.
The massive sulfide lenses are situated mainly on the eastern side of an antiform with footwall rocks at the
core and hanging-wall rocks on both flanks. Lithologic contacts, volcanic strata, and axial planes of folds have
a consistent north-south strike. Footwall rocks at the core of the antiform are locally affected by meter-thick,
north-southtrending subvertical shear bands that result in an intense tectonic foliation. Deformation struc-
tures are absent in the hanging-wall rocks suggesting that the footwall rocks, due to a different rheology, were
ductile during deformation. Centimeter- to decimeter-sized massive sulfide clasts are incorporated into a my-
lonitic matrix of altered footwall rocks within these shear bands that contain dextral movement indicators. The
larger massive sulfide lenses (up to 100 m long) probably result also from tectonic dismembering, within the
footwall rocks, of a former, larger, massive sulfide body. The deformation is probably related to the Chimbo-
Toachi dextral shear zone situated a few kilometers to the east of La Plata.
The main ore minerals are pyrite, chalcopyrite, sphalerite, bornite, and galena, with minor tennantite and di-
genite. The gangue minerals are barite, quartz, and sericite. Mineralogical banding, defined by chalcopyrite-
rich layers alternating with pyrite- and/or sphalerite-rich layers, is mostly the result of tectonic injection of duc-
tile chalcopyrite, bornite, and galena within shear bands of cataclastic pyrite and sphalerite. Pyrite and
sphalerite also show mild recrystallization textures. Deformation is heterogeneous as a consequence of strain
partitioning, resulting in portions of the massive sulfide lenses being essentially undeformed and preserving
primary VHMS textures, such as framboidal pyrite. Ag-poor gold is microscopically visible and can reach di-
mensions of few hundreds of microns. Whereas it is likely that some gold at La Plata has been reprecipitated
during the shear event, the lack of gold in structural positions indicating an epigenetic origin with respect to
the VHMS sulfides (e.g., in veins), suggests that gold was present in the original VHMS ore.
Sulfur isotope compositions of the sulfides are homogeneous and consistent with sulfur derivation from
leaching of the host volcaniclastic sequence, although a direct magmatic contribution cannot be ruled out.
Strontium and sulfur isotope compositions of the late-stage barite are consistent with mixing between hy-
drothermal fluid and seawater.
The very low Fe contents of sphalerite (0.27 0.40 mol % FeS) suggest precipitation from fluids characterized
by high aS2 and aO2. Because gold solubility as a bisulfide complex is higher in fluids with high aS2 and aO2, this
might explain the Au-rich nature of the La Plata VHMS deposit. Additionally, the association of La Plata with
magmatic rocks derived from a depleted mantle could indicate primary enrichment of gold in the source rocks.
These characteristics resemble those of Au-rich VHMS deposits and submarine vents of the southwestern
Pacific, including the occurrence within an intraoceanic island arc, a similar fluid chemistry and sulfide para-
genesis, in contrast to other VHMS deposits of the Central Andes. This may have ultimately resulted from the
Mesozoic to Cenozoic geodynamic evolution of the Northern Andes, which differs from that of the Central
Andes and, being characterized by multiple accretions of both oceanic plateaus and island arcs, is similar to that
of the southwestern Pacific region.

Corresponding author: e-mail, Massimo.Chiaradia@terre.unige.ch

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162 CHIARADIA ET AL.

Introduction 0
SINCE THE Early Mesozoic, continental arc magmatism in the N
Andean Cordillera has produced many major porphyry and Quito
Guayrapungu
epithermal deposits but relatively few volcanic-hosted mas- fault Macuchi Unit
(Macuchi terrane)
sive sulfide (VHMS) deposits. In the Central Andes, Meso-
zoic VHMS deposits are mostly hosted in back-arc basins de- La Plata
Undifferentiated units
of the Pallatanga terrane
veloped on continental crust (e.g., Logan et al., 2000;
Steinmller et al., 2000; Vivallo, 2000), whereas in the North- Miocene and younger
volcanosedimentary
ern Andes of Ecuador several Early Tertiary VHMS deposits and fluvial deposits
(e.g., La Plata, Macuchi, and El Patio) occur in an island-arc
Granitoid intrusions
terrane (Macuchi terrane: British Geological Survey and Cor- Latacunga
poracin de Desarrollo e investigacin geolgico minero- La Mana Faults
Macuchi 1S
metalurgica, BGS and CODIGEM, 1999) that was accreted
to the continental margin in the late Eocene (e.g., Hughes

r zone
and Pilatasig, 2002). The Ecuadorian deposits are different Guamote

n graben
oachi shea
~
from their Central Andean counterparts, in that they formed Pinon
on oceanic crust and are gold rich (57 g/t Au in total re-

t zone
Salado

Interandea
serves). The differences between Ecuadorian and Central 80 Loja

Chimbo-T
Amazon

Pujili faul

a
ha Palla uchi/
Andean VHMS deposits may have ultimately resulted from

tang
Guaranda 0 100 km
the Mesozoic to Cenozoic geodynamic evolution of the

Mac
Northern Andes, which differs from that of the Central
Andes, being characterized by the accretion of both oceanic Alao

auc
and continental terranes (e.g., Frutos, 1990).

Ch
La Plata, the largest of the VHMS deposits of the Western 2S Tahuin

Cordillera of Ecuador (840,000 t grading 4.8 g/t Au, 54 g/t Ag,
4.1% Cu, 0.7% Pb, and 4.2% Zn: Cambior Ltd., Annual Re-
port, 1998, p. 28), was discovered in 1946 by Cotopaxi Explo-
ration. Production initiated in 1975 by Compaia Minera
Toachi SA, which extracted 130,000 t of ore. In 1995, the
property was acquired by Zappa Resources Ltd., which op-
tioned the property to Cambior Inc. Since 2001, La Plata has
been the property of Sultana del Condor Minera. Previous
descriptions of La Plata have been provided by Lehne (1990)
and Prodeminca (2000), who described La Plata as a Kuroko-
type VHMS deposit. Additional information on La Plata is
found in Stoll (1962), Goossens (1972), Vidal (1987), and
Chiaradia and Fontbot (2000, 2001). The goal of this paper
is to provide the first detailed description of the geology, al-
teration, ore mineralogy, and ore textures of the La Plata
VHMS deposit.
Regional Geologic Setting
The La Plata VHMS deposit is hosted by a Paleocene (?)
to Eocene submarine volcano-sedimentary sequence known
as the Macuchi unit (BGS and CODIGEM, 1999; Hughes
and Pilatasig, 2002). The Eocene ages of the Macuchi unit
are based on radiolaria and foraminifera within sedimentary
strata and on two whole-rock K-Ar ages of basaltic-andesitic
intrusions of 41.6 2.1 and 35.8 1.8 Ma (Eguez, 1986).
The Macuchi unit, which is exposed in the Western
Cordillera of Ecuador along a narrow north-northeast to
south-southwest belt (Fig. 1), represents an oceanic island
arc (Macuchi terrane) that was accreted to the Ecuadorian
margin during the late Eocene along the Chimbo-Toachi
dextral shear zone (Hughes and Pilatasig, 2002). Besides La
Plata, several other VHMS occurrences (Macuchi, Henri, El
Patio, Esperanza, Mercedes, and Minocha: Prodeminca,
2000) are hosted by the Macuchi unit between latitudes 0
and 1 S (Fig. 1).
Loja
Cumanda
oceanic crust terrane
0 40 km
continental crust terrane
79W
FIG. 1. Geologic map of the Western Cordillera of Ecuador between 0
and 2 S, showing the location of the La Plata and Macuchi volcanic-hosted
massive sulfide (VHMS) deposits (modified from Hughes and Pilatasig,
2002). Inset is a geotectonic map of Ecuador (modified from Litherland et
al., 1994).
The Macuchi unit consists predominantly (up to 90%) of
poorly sorted volcaniclastic rocks, turbiditic volcanic sand-
stones, debris flows, and in situ as well as resedimented hyalo-
clastites (BGS and CODIGEM, 1999). The coherent facies of
the succession consists of pillowed flows, gabbro, and dolerite
intrusions. Pillowed flows, up to 50 m thick, are commonly in-
terbedded with thinner matrix-supported pillow breccias,
coarse-grained and poorly sorted sandstones of basaltic com-
position, and hyaloclastites (BGS and CODIGEM, 1999;
Hughes and Pilatasig, 2002). Poorly exposed limestones as
well as mudstones occur in the lower part of the Macuchi
unit. The volcanic and volcaniclastic facies of the Macuchi
unit are a product of submarine eruptions, ranging in compo-
sition from basalt to basaltic andesite with lesser dacite and
rhyolite of tholeiitic to calc-alkaline affinity (Lebrat et al.,
1985, 1987; Aguirre and Atherton, 1987; BGS and CODI-
GEM, 1999).
Chiaradia and Fontbot (2001) divided the Macuchi unit
into a Paleocene (?) Basal Macuchi sequence and an Eocene
Main Macuchi sequence, on the basis of stratigraphic, geo-
chemical, and lead isotope differences. The Basal Macuchi,
which represents the lower part of an interpreted arc succes-
sion, contains abundant pillowed basaltic flows, whereas the
overlying Main Macuchi sequence is dominated by breccias

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 GEOLOGIC SETTING, MINERALOGY, AND GEOCHEMISTRY OF THE Au-RICH LA PLATA DEPOSIT, ECUADOR 163

and volcanic sandstones and contains lesser amounts of 02318S

basaltic and andesitic flows. The VHMS deposits occur within 9962000
strata of the Main Macuchi sequence (Chiaradia and Font- N
bot, 2001).
The mafic volcanic rocks of the Macuchi unit contain phe-
nocrysts of plagioclase (An60 and An75: Aguirre and Atherton,
1987), clinopyroxene, olivine, amphibole in a groundmass 9961000
of plagioclase, clinopyroxene, amphibole, and glass with ac-
cessory Fe-Ti oxides. During the arc building process, these
rocks were affected at a regional scale by a low-grade burial-
hydrothermal metamorphism that has produced zeolite facies
assemblages but was not accompanied by deformation
9960000
(Aguirre and Atherton, 1987); olivine is systematically re-
placed by serpentine-magnetite-calcite-quartz, whereas pla-
gioclase is variably albitized or altered to saussurrite, and
clinopyroxene is variably replaced by chlorite, pumpellyite,
and Fe oxides.

785731W

785534W
The main structures in the region around La Plata are 9959000
north-south faults with a strike-slip component (e.g., Guayra-
pungu fault: Fig. 1), which are associated with the Chimbo-
Toachi dextral shear zone.
Various geodynamic models for the Western Cordillera of
Ecuador have proposed the accretion of several oceanic ter-
ranes and multiple subduction events that produced island- 9958000
arc sequences during the Early Tertiary (e.g., van Thournout Polymictic
et al., 1992; Jaillard and Soler, 1996; Jaillard et al., 1997; Rey- conglomerate
naud et al., 1999; Chiaradia and Fontbot, 2001; Hughes and Hanging-wall
(basaltic to
Pilatasig, 2002). andesitic rocks)
Footwall N block
(altered and Area of Figure 3
Geology of the Deposit locally sheared
9957000
andesitic rock) S block
Stratigraphy and structure Rhyodacite
dike
The Macuchi unit in the La Plata region consists of a cen- Jasper layer 0 400 800 m
tral area of intensely altered and foliated gray to light-gray
729000

730000

731000
Shale
728000

rocks surrounded by volcanic and volcaniclastic rocks with

Fault
9956000
basaltic to basaltic-andesitic compositions, intercalated with
small lenses of shale (Fig. 2). Surface geology and data ob- 02632S

tained from logging 10 drill holes (DH1, 7, 9, 11, 15, 16, 17,
20, 21, 23) across the main mineralized body (southern
block), situated about 800 m to the south of Tajo Abierto (Fig.
3), indicate the presence of a north-southtrending antiform,
with the altered gray rocks overlain by the basaltic to basaltic-
andesitic rocks (Figs. 25). The altered gray rocks, which are
crosscut by a pyrite stockwork (Fig. 4), have been classified in
the past as rhyolite (Lehne, 1990) or dacite (Cambior, 1998)
based on hand sample examination. The original textures of
the rocks have been obliterated by a pervasive tectonic folia-
tion, and their primary mineralogy has been replaced by a
quartz-pyrite-sericite assemblage of hydrothermal origin. Re-
licts of volcanic textures are preserved only locally (see
below). High field strength element (HFSE)-based classifica-
tion of these rocks (Winchester and Floyd, 1977) yields an an-
desitic composition, not rhyolitic or dacitic, as previously pro-
posed. However, due to the very strong alteration suffered by
these rocks this classification remains uncertain.
The hanging-wall basaltic rocks lack quartz-pyrite-sericite
alteration. These strata strike north-south and are subvertical
or steeply dipping to the east or west (Fig. 5). The sulfide de-
posit occurs within a 20-m-thick stratigraphic interval of the
altered footwall rocks, immediately below hanging-wall
FIG. 2. Geologic map of the La Plata area (modified from P. ODowd,
1999, unpub. report for Cambior Ltd., 42 p.).
basaltic to andesitic rocks. Most of the mineralization occurs
on the eastern limb of the antiform (Figs. 24). A thin (<5-
cm) jasper layer occurs a few centimeters to a maximum of 6
m stratigraphically above the mineralization and constitutes a
significant marker unit (Figs. 24). This jasper interval ex-
tends as a continuous layer up to a few kilometers north of the
mineralized area. The bulk of the hanging-wall succession
above the jasper layer consists of several basaltic to basaltic-
andesitic flows, each capped by an autoclastic breccia, similar
to the simple massive flows of Hargraves and Ayres (1979;
Fig. 4). In the drill cores investigated, the lowermost auto-
clastic breccia is usually the thickest (5070 m) and either di-
rectly overlies the sulfide layer or is separated from it by an
aphanitic basalt flow, a few meters thick (Fig. 4). Higher in
the succession, thicker flows (up to 50 m) are capped by thin-
ner (<20 m) autoclastic breccia layers (Fig. 4). Abundant
hematite occurs in the matrix of the autoclastic breccia layers
for up to 300 m above the ore deposit. Dolerite dikes cross-
cut hanging-wall strata (Fig. 4), and north-southtrending

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164 CHIARADIA ET AL.

02523S

N
9958000

00
15 50
15
1 600

Sa
b r a da
LAS MINAS
10 VILLAGE

0
165
04
785654W

785559W
1400
A Tajo A'
1686.1 Abierto
03
02 145
0
0 17
1 70 116 1
18

50
13 0
1692.5 01,15 12
B 21 19 09 11 1 5 5 0 B'
9957000 14
22 20
LOMA DEL 23,24,25
TIGRE C C'
1600 28
1743.6

730000
27
729000

170 26
0 0 400 800 m

02612S
Polymictic conglomerate Fault
Hanging-wall (basaltic to andesitic rocks) 16 Drill core
Footwall (altered and locally Surface projection of the
sheared andesitic rock) Southern and Northern Blocks
Rhyodacite dike
Jasper layer

FIG. 3. Geologic map of the mine area (modified from ODowd, 1999), showing the location of the drill cores and of the
east-west sections (A-A', B-B', C-C') of Figure 5.
HANGING WALL

Aphanitic to microgranular
>300 m basalt to andesite flows
(amygdales)
Autoclastic breccia and
hyaloclastite (hematite-free)
Autoclastic breccia and
hyaloclastite (hematite-rich)

Massive sulfide

Minera- Altered andesitic rock

2-10 m
lization
Dolerite
FOOT WALL

>50 m Jasper layer

Stockwork

? Shear bands

FIG. 4. Lithostratigraphic column of the La Plata area.

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 GEOLOGIC SETTING, MINERALOGY, AND GEOCHEMISTRY OF THE Au-RICH LA PLATA DEPOSIT, ECUADOR 165

A A'
1600 m
MT-13

729000
MT-07
1500
1100
D-23 MT-19

D-63
D-62
1400 D-61
D-60

729000

729100

729200

729300

729400

729500
B B'
1600 m

MT-28 MT-29
1500 MT-22
12

01
15
19
1400

MT-23
1300
MT-24
729000

729100

729200

729300

729400

729500
C C'
1600 m

1500

25 23

1400
24

1300

1200 Basalt/andesite
Hematitic breccia
Altered and locally sheared andesitic rocks
1100 Massive sulfide
729000

729100

729200

729300

729400

729500

FIG. 5. East-west cross sections of the La Plata area at three different latitudes (modified from ODowd, 1999).

rhyodacitic dikes have been mapped on the eastern side of thickness of the massive sulfide lenses ranges from several
the antiform where they cut both hanging- and footwall rocks decimeters to a few meters, rarely exceeding 10 m, whereas
(P. ODowd, 1999, unpub. report for Cambior Ltd., 42 p.; the lateral extent of individual lenses can reach 100 m (see
Figs. 2, 3). also Lehne, 1990). In drill cores DH1, DH11, DH17, and
DH21 two sulfide lenses are separated by highly altered vol-
Geometry of the mineralization caniclastic rocks of the footwall sequence. The stockwork
Mineralization occurs as pyrite-rich stockwork, dissemi- zone is exposed at Tajo Abierto, and it has not been encoun-
nated sulfides, and massive sulfides. Disseminated sulfides tered in the investigated drill holes, which are all situated
occur within highly altered footwall rocks underlying the mas- about 800 m to the south. At Tajo Abierto, the stockwork
sive sulfides. The massive sulfides occur as several lenses zone, consisting of quartz-pyrite veins in quartz-pyrite-
within a single stratigraphic interval (up to 20 m thick) of hy- sericite footwall rocks, is restricted to the west and to the east
drothermally altered footwall rocks and immediately below by two north-southtrending belts of intensely deformed
basaltic flows and autoclastic breccia of the hanging wall. The footwall rocks (Fig. 6).

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166 CHIARADIA ET AL.

WEST N-S vertical shear-zones in strongly altered EAST

quartz-sericite-pyrite rock
A
rk
wo
o ck
massive sulfide st
(see Figure 14)

jasper layer
10 m (see Figure 9)
massive sulfide clasts
in mylonitic matrix

B C D
tectonic foliation
massive sulfide

massive sulfide
clast

clast
5 cm

FIG. 6. A. Photograph of outcropping mineralization at Tajo Abierto. B. Stockwork zone. C. Massive sulfide clasts in a my-
lonitic matrix of footwall rocks affected by north-southtrending subvertical tectonic foliation (eastern flank of the antiform
at Tajo Abierto). D. Massive sulfide clast in footwall rock crossed by subvertical anastomosing shear planes with north-south
strike (eastern flank of the antiform at Tajo Abierto).

Deformation
Lithologic contacts as well as volcanic strata and fold axes in
the La Plata area follow a consistent north-south trend (Figs.
2, 3, 5). The stratigraphic interval including the strongly al-
tered footwall rocks and the massive sulfide lenses is locally
affected by intense deformation and a north-southtrending,
subvertical tectonic foliation (i.e., parallel to the main struc-
tures of the area), which is not recognized in the hanging-wall Southern Block
N-S lineation
strata. Deformation is not uniformly distributed and some defined by quartz
volumes of the footwall rocks and massive sulfides are unde-
formed due to strain partitioning. For example, at Tajo
Abierto intensely deformed quartz-sericite-pyrite footwall 0 400 m
rocks (Fig. 6A) flank the undeformed stockwork zone at the
core of the antiform (Fig. 6B). Footwall rocks in these few
meter-thick, north-southtrending belts are affected by the Stockwork
pervasive subvertical tectonic foliation, are cut by an anasto-
mosing system of north-southtrending shear planes, and in-
corporate centimeter- to decimeter-sized clasts of massive N
sulfides within a fine-grained mylonitic matrix (Fig. 6C-D).
As these deformation zones are absent in the hanging-wall Structural indicators
rocks, it is interpreted that sericite- and pyrite-rich footwall of dextral movement
rocks, as well as the massive sulfides, have acted as a ductile on eastern flank of antiform
zone between rigid hanging- and footwall rocks and have
preferentially taken up most of the strain (see also de Roo and Altered and locally sheared footwall rocks
van Staal, 2003). S-C structures in the altered footwall rocks
suggest a dextral sense of movement within the highly de- Hanging-wall basaltic to andesitic rocks
formed north-southtrending zone on the eastern flank of the
antiform, which implies a northward displacement of the Massive sulfide lens
footwall block with respect to the hanging wall along the FIG. 7. Three-dimensional structural sketch of the La Plata VHMS de-
zone of ductile lithologic units (Fig. 7). A lateral movement posit, showing a relative dextral displacement of hanging-wall and footwall
of up to 800 m within the altered footwall interval seems rocks along a zone of ductile-altered footwall rocks.

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 GEOLOGIC SETTING, MINERALOGY, AND GEOCHEMISTRY OF THE Au-RICH LA PLATA DEPOSIT, ECUADOR
likely because the highest grade Cu, Zn, and Au massive sul-
fide body, which should be above the stockwork zone in the
classical VHMS model (e.g., Franklin et al., 1981; Franklin,
1996), is found about 800 m to the south of the stockwork at
Tajo Abierto (Figs. 3, 7). The regional north-south alignment
of fold axes, lithologic units, lithologic contacts, and tectonic
foliation, as well as structural indicators of dextral movement
within the deformed footwall rocks, are colinear with the
Chimbo-Toachi dextral shear zone. The shear zone, which is
related to the accretionary event in the late Eocene, was also
probably responsible for the tectonic dismembering and dis-
location of the original orebody into several ore lenses within
the strongly deformed footwall rocks (Fig. 7; see also Prodem-
inca, 2000). At a smaller scale, centimeter-sized undeformed
or weakly deformed massive sulfide tectonic clasts are often
found within strongly deformed footwall rock (Fig. 6C-D).
Because deformation occurs only within and parallel to the al-
tered footwall stratigraphic layer, the relationship of the mas-
sive sulfide layer with the hanging-wall rocks and the strati-
graphic continuity of the hanging-wall sequence have been
substantially preserved at the megascopic scale.
A late east-west subvertical normal fault system is responsi-
ble for the successive downdrop of blocks to the south (Figs.
2, 3), resulting in the southward topographic decrease of the
top of the massive sulfide mineralization (Fig. 5; Prodeminca,
2000). Tajo Abierto (Fig. 6A) crops out along one of these
east-west normal faults.
Alteration
Three types of alteration affect rocks in the La Plata area:
(1) zeolite facies regional metamorphic alteration resulting
from the low-grade burial-hydrothermal metamorphism that
affects the Macuchi unit (Aguirre and Atherton, 1987); (2) lo-
calized hydrothermal quartz-pyrite-sericite (chlorite) alter-
ation related to the formation of the massive sulfide deposit;
and (3) hematite alteration related to the waning stage of the
massive sulfide formation.
The low-grade, burial-hydrothermal metamorphic assem-
blage (Aguirre and Atherton, 1987) is recognizable in the
hanging-wall rocks and consists of chlorite, albite, zeolites
(laumontite heulandite), prehnite, pumpellyite, epidote,
sericite, and calcite. Chlorite is the dominant alteration min-
eral and replaces pyroxene phenocrysts and groundmass
glass. As a result of this hydrothermal metamorphism, amyg-
dules in the basaltic and basaltic-andesitic flows are filled by
quartz, chlorite, epidote, calcite, and zeolites.
Pervasive quartz-sericite-pyrite hydrothermal alteration af-
fects the footwall rocks of the mine area in which there is no
trace of the low-grade metamorphic assemblage. Hydrother-
mal alteration affects all footwall rocks at Tajo Abierto and, in
drill cores, it extends at least 30 m below massive sulfide (i.e.,
the maximum depth below the mineralization reached by
drilling). The lack of drill core extending more than 30 m
below the mineralized interval precludes investigation of the
transition between altered and unaltered footwall rocks. The
hydrothermal alteration of the footwall rocks is spatially as-
sociated with the massive sulfide lenses and thus is inter-
preted to be related to the VHMS deposit formation. The
chlorite content of footwall rocks is generally very low but in-
creases slightly downward. A similar low chlorite content in
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167
the footwall alteration zone immediately below the massive
sulfide is common in some Precambrian Cu-Zn VHMS de-
posits of Canada and in Zn-Pb-Cu VHMS deposits of the
Hokuroku district (Franklin, 1996). The quartz-sericite-pyrite
alteration is absent in the hanging-wall rocks, indicating that
it probably predates the deposition of the hanging-wall se-
quence. On surface this alteration extends for several kilome-
ters north of Tajo Abierto (Fig. 2), indicating that it is part of
a larger hydrothermal system, although the geometry and the
aspect ratio of the altered footwall rocks has been distorted
and enhanced by deformation associated with the Chimbo-
Toachi shear event.
The third alteration type affects mostly the hanging-wall
rocks. In particular, the matrix of the hanging-wall breccias,
extending up to 300 m stratigraphically above the jasper layer,
contains a hydrothermal alteration assemblage of hematite
chlorite pyrite sericite ankerite. The proportion of
hematite to other phases in the breccia matrix decreases up-
ward from the contact with the jasper layer. This alteration
postdates the quartz-sericite-pyrite alteration, as indicated by
the occurrence of 1- to 2-cm-thick jasper veins with millimeter-
thick chlorite selvages that crosscut the altered footwall rocks
(Fig. 8A). The jasper veins are folded and the axial planes of the
folds are parallel to the tectonic foliation of the altered host
rock (Fig. 8A). Microfractures filled with quartz occur at the
hinges of folds within the jasper veins, indicating that tectonic
deformation postdates hematite alteration (Fig. 8A). Abundant
hematite is present in the hanging-wall breccias, which was
likely precipitated during the waning stages of the hydrother-
mal activity that deposited the jasper layer. This suggests that
the deposition of the hanging-wall sequence must have been
close in time to that of the mineralization. The thickest
hematite alteration zones (between 130 and 300 m) occur in
drill cores DH20, DH21 and DH24, which are located in the
central part of the southern block (Fig. 3). The hematite alter-
ation zone decreases in thickness to the north (e.g., 100 m at
DH11 and 10 m at DH17), which suggests that the focus of
the waning hydrothermal activity was in the southern block.
Quartz alteration also occurs around sulfide veinlets in the
stockwork zone. Additionally, all footwall rocks are relatively
enriched in silica due to the intense hydrothermal alteration,
which has leached most major elements (see Table 1).
Petrography of the Host Rocks
Footwall
Footwall rocks obtained from drill cores (to a maximum
depth of 30 m below the mineralized layer) and from Tajo
Abierto consist of a quartz-sericite-pyrite hydrothermal as-
semblage, are often affected by a penetrative tectonic folia-
tion, and are cut by a system of anastomosing shear planes
that almost completely obliterate the textures of the original
rock (Fig. 6C-D). In drill core DH9, the footwall rocks are
not deformed and preserve primary textures consisting of
millimeter- to centimeter-sized angular shards of altered glass
(Fig. 8B). The shards have mostly platy- and wedge-like
(cuneiform) shapes, but some cuspate shards are also present
(Fig. 8C), indicating their derivation through quench frag-
mentation of the footwall andesitic (?) lavas. The matrix and
the shards are completely replaced by quartz-sericite-pyrite
168 CHIARADIA ET AL.

A tectonic foliation B
quartz-filled
fractures
chlorite rim
jasper vein

C D

c
1 cm 250 m

FIG. 8. A. Footwall rock affected by tectonic foliation and crosscut by jasper veins, producing a chlorite-rich selvage (TRI-
36). Note the thin quartz-filled fractures within the jasper veins aligned parallel to the tectonic foliation. B. Footwall rock
with glass shards (TRI-84). C. Cuspate (c) and platy (p) glass shards in footwall rock (TRI-82). D. Perlite structures in the
large glass shard of (B; TRI-84).

and chlorite, respectively. The large cuneiform shard in sam-
ple TRI-84 (collected 29 m below the ore level: Fig. 8B) dis-
plays perlitic fractures (Fig. 8D), indicating that it was origi-
nally glass. Very minor chlorite in the footwall rocks generally
increases with depth (e.g., sample TRI-36, which was col-
lected 12 m below sample TRI-33).
Hanging wall
The massive sulfide layer is capped by a thin (<5-cm) jasper
interval that can be massive or laminated (Fig. 9A-B). Mas-
sive jasper is homogeneous, isotropic, and crosscut by quartz
veins (Fig. 9A). In contrast, the laminated jasper is character-
ized by micrometer- to millimeter-thick layers of fine-grained
chert alternating with coarser grained layers consisting of
chloritized fragments of basalt and tiny detrital grains of
clino- and orthopyroxene (Fig. 9B-C). Fine chert laminations
may be of exhalative-sedimentary origin. In places, synsedi-
mentary microfaults are restricted to specific beds (Fig. 9C).
The jasper interval is overlain either by a fine-grained vol-
canic sandstone, which consists of equigranular lithic frag-
ments of basalt, basaltic andesite, and jasper, in a matrix of
fine-grained rock fragments and crystals (Fig. 9D) or by a
basaltic to basaltic-andesitic flow. The former rock displays a
faint planar bedding, with the size of lithic fragments increas-
ing upward (Fig. 9D). The basalt and basaltic andesite are ei-
ther hypohyaline and amygdaloidal or microporphyritic. The
hypohyaline and amygdaloidal facies consists of plagioclase
and clinopyroxene crystals (few hundreds of m in size) and
contains millimeter- to centimeter-sized amygdules filled by
chlorite, zeolite, quartz, calcite, epidote (Fig. 10A). The
microporphyritic facies consists of millimeter-sized phe-
nocrysts of plagioclase, clinopyroxene (orthopyroxene), and
rare olivine (typically altered to serpentine) in a groundmass
of variably sized plagioclase microlites, clinopyroxene, oxides,
and altered glass (Fig. 10A-B).
Overlying the basaltic and/or basaltic-andesitic flows are
two types of autoclastic breccia: in situ hyaloclastite consisting
of large basaltic fragments up to 10 cm in size, locally amyg-
daloidal, defining a jigsaw-fit structure in a matrix of amor-
phous quartz, chlorite, epidote, zeolites, and altered glass
hematite (Fig. 10C), and a monomictic breccia consisting of
basaltic to basaltic-andesitic fragments with sinuous rims,
ranging in size from a few millimeters to 5 cm (Fig. 10D). The
fragments contain aligned phenocrysts of plagioclase, amphi-
bole, minor pyroxene, and Fe oxide in a groundmass of
feldspar microlites, pyroxene microcrysts, and altered glass
(Fig. 10E). These rock fragments are variably altered to chlo-
rite and lesser sericite. The matrix of the monomictic breccia
is also extensively replaced by chlorite and contains the same
mineralogical phases as the groundmass of the fragments, al-
though altered glass fragments and isolated, often broken,
plagioclase crystals are more abundant than in the fragments
(Fig. 10E). The matrix of the hanging-wall breccias, up to 300
m stratigraphically above the jasper layer, consists of a hy-
drothermal alteration assemblage of hematite chlorite
pyrite sericite ankerite (Fig. 10F).
Dolerite dikes in the hanging-wall strata are characterized
by a holocrystalline texture with hypidiomorphic and sube-
quidimensional crystals of clinopyroxene and plagioclase. The
clinopyroxene is generally preserved, whereas the plagioclase

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TABLE 1. XRF Major and Trace Element Concentrations of Selected Rocks of La Plata Investigated in This Study

Sample no. TRI 001 TRI 007 TRI 010 TRI 039 TRI 040 TRI 051 TRI 054

Lithology Dolerite Dolerite Basalt Dolerite Dolerite Basalt Dolerite

Stratigraphy Hanging wall Hanging wall Hanging wall Hanging wall Hanging wall Hanging wall Hanging wall
Provenance DH 23 DH 23 DH 23 DH 9 DH 9 Rio San Pablo DH 9
Depth (m) 200.7 331 364.1 16.8 67 121.6
UTM-E 729275 729275 729275 729203 729203 729265 729203
UTM-N 9956885 9956885 9956885 9957004 9957004 9959507 9957004

SiO2 46.01 47.79 51.84 49.22 51.71 52.21 49.26

TiO2 0.76 1.12 0.71 1.16 1.70 0.80 1.34
Al2O3 15.14 16.05 15.40 16.11 15.43 17.62 15.93
CaO 11.77 10.54 9.38 7.08 6.65 9.32 7.96
Na2O 1.18 2.15 3.87 4.28 5.47 1.91 4.64
K2O 0.29 0.40 0.03 0.08 0.14 0.27 0.11
MnO 0.16 0.16 0.18 0.17 0.18 0.15 0.16
MgO 10.95 8.49 4.83 8.46 5.00 5.35 5.16
Fe2O3total 8.54 9.19 10.59 9.09 10.69 8.72 9.45
P2O5 0.09 0.16 0.14 0.14 0.19 0.19 0.18
LOI 4.40 2.71 2.67 3.85 2.51 2.50 3.13
Total 99.39 98.84 99.65 99.70 99.68 99.06 97.33

Sr 149 236 143 166 93 445 214

Rb 8 5 2 3 3 7 3
Ba 104 190 27 118 67 107 81
Nb 2 3 3 4 6 3 4
Ce 16 26 8 28 25 14 22
Zr 43 80 45 64 101 50 88
Nd 10 15 <4 12 10 7 12
Y 19 26 17 26 30 20 29
Sc 45 46 40 49 35 44 42
V 191 257 387 292 418 331 348
Cr 554 424 73 277 40 84 62
Ni 238 160 24 108 25 40 36
Pb 9 4 9 4 <2 7 <2
Zn 65 67 76 90 74 65 66
Cu 20 50 14 49 39 89 25
S 93 495 357 1407 678 1524 249

Sample no. TRI 055 TRI 060 TRI 069 TRI 096 TRI 004 TRI 098 TRI 031

Lithology Basaltic andesite Basaltic andesite Dolerite Basaltic andesite Altered rock1 Altered rock1 Andesite2
Stratigraphy Hanging wall Hanging wall Hanging wall Hanging wall Hanging wall Hanging wall Footwall
Provenance DH 9 DH 9 Quebrada Limones Tajo Abierto DH 23 DH 11 DH 23
Depth (m) 208.8 270.1 0 0 283 284.8 404.9
UTM-E 729203 729203 728900 729100 729275 729347 729275
UTM-N 9957004 9957004 9955500 9957325 9956885 9957006 9956885

SiO2 59.79 52.35 47.82 57.86 60.33 68.89 67.33

TiO2 0.66 0.84 0.71 0.66 0.63 0.38 0.59
Al2O3 13.69 16.09 17.00 12.89 13.59 8.21 16.61
CaO 6.50 5.12 11.16 6.20 8.21 0.54 0.43
Na2O 2.95 2.81 1.99 4.66 1.71 3.85 0.09
K2O 0.07 0.83 0.63 0.07 0.47 0.11 3.56
MnO 0.14 0.19 0.16 0.28 0.13 0.01 0.01
MgO 3.44 4.79 8.11 5.16 2.97 0.68 2.69
Fe2O3total 9.36 11.57 9.16 9.95 8.52 16.79 2.57
P2O5 0.11 0.12 0.08 0.10 0.08 0.09 0.11
LOI 2.49 3.98 2.37 1.27 3.51 0.60 4.99
Total 99.20 98.72 99.21 99.12 100.14 100.14 98.97

Sr 111 334 232 262 163 45 49

Rb 2 19 8 4 11 4 72
Ba 79 1474 112 171 113 105 3587
Nb 4 3 <1 4 4 10 3

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170 CHIARADIA ET AL.

TABLE 1. (Cont.)

Sample no. TRI 055 TRI 060 TRI 069 TRI 096 TRI 004 TRI 098 TRI 031

Lithology Basaltic andesite Basaltic andesite Dolerite Basaltic andesite Altered rock1 Altered rock1 Andesite2
Stratigraphy Hanging wall Hanging wall Hanging wall Hanging wall Hanging wall Hanging wall Footwall
Provenance DH 9 DH 9 Quebrada Limones Tajo Abierto DH 23 DH 11 DH 23
Depth (m) 208.8 270.1 0 0 283 284.8 404.9
UTM-E 729203 729203 728900 729100 729275 729347 729275
UTM-N 9957004 9957004 9955500 9957325 9956885 9957006 9956885

Ce 11 18 22 10 11 <3 9
Zr 44 51 44 37 44 57 169
Nd 5 8 14 <4 5 <4 5
Y 16 20 19 15 14 13 31
Sc 36 64 46 43 38 11 29
V 297 437 222 356 279 31 10
Cr 25 35 61 109 21 4 9
Ni 9 9 42 23 15 <2 <2
Pb 10 15 5 12 13 24 25
Zn 71 108 54 70 59 40 86
Cu 76 111 60 117 120 239 14
S <3 <3 654 <3 <3 <3 55549

Sample no. TRI 032 TRI 033 TRI 034 TRI 035 TRI 045 TRI 047 TRI 106

Lithology Andesite2 Andesite2 Andesite2 Andesite2 Pyritized rock2 Pyritized rock2 Andesite2
Stratigraphy Footwall Footwall Footwall Footwall Footwall Footwall Footwall
Provenance DH 23 DH 23 DH 23 DH 23 Tajo Abierto Tajo Abierto DH 20
Depth (m) 410 411.8 415.4 417.8 0 0 390.9
UTM-E 729275 729275 729275 729275 729130 729145 729336
UTM-N 9956885 9956885 9956885 9956885 9957350 9957340 9956976

SiO2 64.14 70.22 68.57 57.65 49.95 37.13 67.75

TiO2 0.61 0.54 0.57 0.68 0.54 0.17 0.45
Al2O3 17.07 14.86 16.14 18.61 9.72 3.03 12.88
CaO 0.42 0.42 0.66 1.01 0.03 0.03 0.20
Na2O 0.13 0.10 1.37 0.64 0.05 0.00 0.08
K2O 3.96 2.51 2.40 2.36 2.35 0.73 3.45
MnO 0.00 0.01 0.01 0.04 0.00 0.00 0.00
MgO 1.70 3.53 3.00 6.96 0.21 0.12 0.61
Fe2O3total 3.55 1.95 1.87 4.06 21.29 29.48 7.40
P2O5 0.09 0.12 0.13 0.15 0.02 0.01 0.07
LOI 6.54 4.65 4.37 6.35 15.56 20.89 6.36
Total 98.21 98.90 99.09 98.50 99.73 91.55 99.26

Sr 67 49 91 53 14 256 18
Rb 77 63 61 69 15 4 62
Ba 4766 2425 3253 2124 1021 16657 747
Nb 4 3 2 3 10 11 6
Ce 32 64 28 94 <3 <3 29
Zr 174 148 152 173 65 25 121
Nd 18 34 15 41 4 <4 15
Y 32 44 40 58 14 6 34
Sc 23 25 20 35 27 <2 17
V 31 13 23 22 37 <2 24
Cr 10 12 10 10 <2 6 5
Ni 4 <2 <2 <2 <2 7 2
Pb 53 21 57 42 45 144 31
Zn 922 321 127 287 26 129 79
Cu 74 65 12 5 166 198 344
S 56948 6419 5247 6514 64474 139364 11822

Notes: Major oxides are given in wt percent and trace elements are given in parts per million; the 2 errors on XRF concentrations, based on repeated
measures of a basalt standard, are <5% for all major elements and most reported trace elements (except Rb: 25%; Nd: 24%; Ba: 12%)
1 Rock affected by silica and hematite alteration
2 Strongly altered rock

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 GEOLOGIC SETTING, MINERALOGY, AND GEOCHEMISTRY OF THE Au-RICH LA PLATA DEPOSIT, ECUADOR 171

A B

C D

syn-sedimentary
fault

1 cm
5 cm

FIG. 9. A. Massive jasper (TRI-41). B. Laminated jasper (TRI-12). C. Thin section microphotograph of laminated jasper
with a synsedimentary fault (TRI-57). D. Contact between laminated jasper and overlying volcaniclastic rock (TRI-100).

is altered to saussurrite. The dikes have a subequigranular to
heterogranular ophitic texture, where plagioclase laths are
partly embedded in augite crystals (Fig. 10G). Chlorite and
lesser amounts of sericite, epidote, and prehnite, represent
the alteration phase.
Geochemistry of the Host Volcanic Rocks
Twelve hanging-wall and nine footwall rocks from the La
Plata area were analyzed by XRF for major and trace element
concentrations at the Centre dAnalyses Minrales (CAM),
University of Lausanne (Switzerland; Table 1), using a Philips
PW 2400 spectrometer. Major elements were analyzed on
glass disks and trace elements on pressed pellets. The interna-
tional basalt standard BHVO-1 was used for quality control.
The 2 errors based on repeated measurements of this basalt
standard are <1 percent for all major elements and <5 percent
for trace elements, except Rb (25%), Nd (24%), and Ba (12%).
Hanging-wall magmatic rocks that do not contain amyg-
dules and without hematite alteration (n = 11, Table 1) are
characterized by relatively low loss on ignition (LOI; <4.5 wt
%). Hanging-wall basaltic rocks with silica and hematite al-
teration (samples TRI004 and TRI098) are characterized by
high SiO2 (60 and 69 wt %, respectively) and Fe2O3total (8.5
and 16.8 wt %, respectively; Table 1). The footwall rocks (n =
8) have higher LOI ranging from 4.3 to 21.0 wt percent
(Table 1). The high LOI of the footwall rocks reflects the
strong quartz-pyrite-sericite hydrothermal alteration assem-
blage, as also indicated by the positive correlation between
LOI and S contents of these rocks (Table 1).
Burial-hydrothermal alteration of the hanging-wall rocks
and higher temperature hydrothermal alteration of the foot-
wall rocks can be discriminated using a combination of alter-
ation index [AI = 100(K2O + MgO)/(K2O + MgO + Na2O +
CaO)] and the chlorite-carbonate-pyrite index [CCPI =
100(MgO + FeO)/MgO + FeO + Na2O + CaO] in the alter-
ation box plot (Large et al., 2001; Fig. 11). The AI records the
replacement of feldspars and glass by sericite and/or chlorite.
The CCPI measures the chlorite alteration but also the pres-
ence of Mg-Fe carbonate, pyrite, and Fe oxide alteration. On
the alteration box plot the volcanic and intrusive hanging-wall
rocks (excluding the samples affected by hematite-silica alter-
ation) plot in the field of least altered magmatic rocks (AI =
2065, CCPI = 6787), indicating isochemical metamor-
phism (Fig. 11). This is consistent with mineralogical obser-
vations of hanging-wall rocks that reveal only a partial re-
placement of pyroxene by chlorite and epidote (see above). In
contrast, footwall rocks are systematically shifted to higher AI
and CCPI values along a trend toward the pyrite-(chlorite)
end member (AI = 9298, CCPI = 5497; Fig. 11), reflecting
the intense Fe (pyrite), K (sericite), Mg (chlorite) metas-
omatism associated with quartz-sericite-pyrite (chlorite)
alteration. Footwall rocks are also strongly depleted in Ca and
Na (Table 1) due to the breakdown of plagioclase and its re-
placement by sericite.
As all footwall rocks are strongly altered to a quartz-pyrite-
sericite assemblage, an arbitrary limit of <7 wt percent LOI
was chosen to define least altered footwall rocks. These rocks
(n = 5, LOI <7 wt %) still include samples with S contents

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172 CHIARADIA ET AL.

A B
cpx cpx
qtz
chl
plag
opx

opx

500 m qtz
1 mm

C D E

1 cm

F G
bas
hm bas cpx

matrix plag

500 m

FIG. 10. A. Photomicrograph of hanging-wall amygdaloid basalt (TRI-4). B. Hanging-wall basaltic andesite (TRI-96). C.
In situ hanging-wall hyaloclastite (TRI-99). D. Hanging-wall autoclastic breccia (TRI-51). E. Thin section detail of sample
TRI-51. F. Hanging-wall hematite-rich breccia (TRI56). G. Dolerite (TRI-40).

ranging from 0.5 to 5.6 wt percent (Table 1). The high con-
centrations of K, Rb, and Ba in footwall rocks (Table 1) are
clearly the result of hydrothermal metasomatism. In the
Zr/TiO2 versus Nb/Y diagram of Winchester and Floyd
(1977), least altered footwall rocks plot in the andesite field,
as compared to weakly metamorphosed hanging-wall rocks
(n = 6) and dolerite samples (n = 6), which plot in the an-
desite and/or basalt to subalkali basalt fields (Fig. 12). The
most altered footwall rocks are characterized by anomalously
high Nb/Y ratios, which result in a meaningless classification
as alkali basalts (Fig. 12). This illustrates that even HFSE el-
ements are mobile in the most altered footwall rocks. In the
Zr versus Ti and Y versus Ti plots (Fig. 13A-B), least altered
footwall rocks define consistent trends that have higher Y/Ti
and Zr/Ti ratios than the trend defined by hanging-wall
rocks, in agreement with the higher Zr and Y contents of
least altered footwall rocks. In the Zr versus Y diagram (Fig.
13C) hanging-wall basaltic and/or basaltic-andesitic flows
and dolerite generally plot along a common trend in the
tholeiitic field close to the transitional field, whereas least al-
tered footwall rocks straddle both the transitional and tholei-
itic fields.
If the HFSE in the least altered rocks were immobile, the
above differences indicate distinct petrogenetic processes re-
sponsible for footwall and hanging-wall rocks. Additionally,
compared to hanging-wall basaltic and basaltic-andesitic
flows, dolerite is characterized by consistently higher Ti con-
tents (Figs. 13, 14), suggesting different origins also for the

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100 chlorite- Ore Textures and Chemistry

epidote- pyrite
calcite Polished sections of ore samples were examined under the
80 microscope and the compositions of the ore minerals were
analyzed using a Cameca Camabax SX50 electron microprobe
at the University of Lausanne (Switzerland), with a 30-nA
60 py-sericite-(chl)
current and a 15-kV acceleration voltage. Calibration em-
CCPI

alteration trend
ployed both natural and synthetic mineral standards. Average
40 compositions of some of the ore minerals at La Plata are re-
ported in Table 2.
sericite The main ore minerals are chalcopyrite, pyrite, sphalerite,
20 bornite, and galena, with subordinate tennantite, accessory
least-altered volcanic
rock box digenite, and native gold. Covellite and chalcocite represent
0 K-feldspar secondary replacement of bornite and digenite, respectively.
0 albite 20 40 60 80 100 The main gangue minerals are barite, sericite, nd quartz.
Ore samples display both primary and deformation textures
AI and structures, the latter being likely a result of the Chimbo-
Toachi shear event (see above). Undeformed ore samples are
hanging-wall rock footwall rock
massive (Fig. 14A), whereas deformed ore samples are char-
FIG. 11. Alteration box plot (Large et al., 2001) for La Plata volcanic rocks acterized by banded textures, defined by chalcopyrite-rich
(for discussion see text).
layers alternating with pyrite- and/or sphalerite-rich layers
(Fig. 14B-C), and by folds (Fig. 14D). Tectonic deformation
is evident where massive sulfide layers envelope barite clasts,
Comendite
Footwall Phonolite which display pressure shadows at their margins (Fig. 14B),
Pantellerite
Dolerite and cataclastic porphyroclasts of sphalerite (Fig. 14C), and
Hanging-wall where sulfide layers are folded (Fig. 14D). It is difficult to es-
Rhyolite tablish whether the sulfide banding is exclusively tectonic or
is a transposed primary bedding. A tectonic origin of the
Trachyte
0.1 Rhyodacite banding is evident where the latter results from thin layers of
Dacite chalcopyrite and bornite (galena) within millimeter- to cen-
Zr/TiO2

Trachyandesite timeter-thick shear bands of cataclastic sphalerite and pyrite

Andesite
Alkali Basalt
0.01 Andesite/
Basalt
Sub-alkali
basalt LOI>15 wt.%
0.1 1 10
Nb/Y
FIG. 12. Classification diagram of magmatic rocks at La Plata (Winches-
ter and Floyd, 1977; for discussion see text).
two hanging-wall lithologic units. In the V versus Ti/1000
diagram (cf. Shervais, 1982), hanging-wall basaltic and
basaltic-andesitic flows plot in the arc tholeiite field and the
dolerite samples plot in the MORB field (Fig. 13D). The geo-
chemical data suggest that footwall volcanic rocks, hanging-
wall volcanic rocks, and dolerite were not cogenetic and sug-
gest that they were emplaced in a primitive arc environment
(transitional to tholeiitic), possibly during a rifting stage (indi-
cated by the MORB signature of the dolerite). This is in
agreement with the island-arc environment of the Macuchi
unit suggested by previous studies (e.g., van Thournout et al.,
1992; BGS and CODIGEM, 1999; Chiaradia and Fontbot,
2001).
(Fig. 14E-F). It is likely that this banding has resulted from
Basanite the injection of ductile chalcopyrite and bornite (galena)
preferentially at the boundaries of cataclastic sphalerite and
Nephelenite pyrite porphyroclasts (Fig. 14F-H). Injection of chalcopyrite
also occurred along octahedral cleavage planes of bornite
(Fig. 14I).
Pyrite and sphalerite commonly display mild recrystalliza-
tion and annealed textures in response to deformation. An-
nealed pyrite occurs as large porphyroblasts (>150 m)
formed by recrystallized grains (5070 m) with 120 triple
junctions (Fig. 14G). Primary ore textures, such as framboidal
pyrite (Fig. 14J) and reniform-like textures of pyrite in-
terbedded with galena and chalcopyrite, are also preserved in
undeformed samples.
Honey-yellow sphalerite (indicative of low Fe contents, see
below) occurs mainly as a mosaic of cataclastic and annealed
porphyroblasts in which intergranular spaces are filled by
chalcopyrite, defining a discontinuous foliation (Fig. 14E-F).
Chalcopyrite disease in sphalerite is also common (Fig. 14E).
Microprobe analyses indicate that sphalerite contains up to
1.81 wt percent Cu and 1.61 wt percent Hg. Sphalerite in
pyrite-rich samples has a very low Fe content, averaging 0.27
0.40 mol percent FeS (213 point analyses on 39 grains from
4 samples). Sphalerite also contains significant concentrations
of Au (up to 1,200 ppm Au). Although these values are close
to the nominal detection limit for the instrumental conditions
used, Au concentrations above 700 ppm correlate signifi-
cantly with Cu (R = 0.76), suggesting that Au might be hosted
by chalcopyrite microinclusions within sphalerite. Invisible

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174 CHIARADIA ET AL.

180 60
A dolerite B dolerite
hanging wall hanging wall
160
footwall 50 footwall
140
40
120
Zr (ppm)

Y (ppm)
100 30

80 LOI>15 wt.%
20
60
10
40
LOI>15 wt.%

20 0
0 2000 4000 6000 8000 10000 0 2000 4000 6000 8000 10000
Ti (ppm) Ti (ppm)
180 600
C D arc tholeiites
160 calc-alkaline
500 MORB
140 transitional
tholeiitic 400
V (ppm)

120
Zr (ppm)

100 300
LOI>15 wt.%
80
200
60
dolerite 100 dolerite
40 hanging wall hanging wall
footwall
20 0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14
Y (ppm) Ti/1000
FIG. 13. A. Zr vs. Ti. B. Y vs. Ti. C. Zr vs. Y. D. V vs. Ti/1000 (Shervais, 1982) plots of selected volcanic rocks of La Plata
(for discussion see text).

TABLE 2. Average Compositions (1) of the Main Ore Minerals of La Plata from Microprobe Analyses (n = number of analyses)

Wt % Gold (n = 13) Sphalerite (n = 213) Galena (n = 70) Tennantite (n = 46) Bornite (n = 9)

Au 87.3 5.9 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
Ag 13.6 5.9 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.1 0.1 0.7 0.4
Cu 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.6 0.1 0.1 42.1 1.0 60.1 0.9
Pb 0.0 0.1 0.2 2.1 87.4 0.5 0.0 0.1 0.0 0.0
Zn 0.0 0.0 66.1 4.3 0.1 0.3 8.1 0.1 0.0 0.0
S 0.1 0.1 33.6 1.4 13.6 0.2 28.7 0.7 26.8 0.3
Fe 0.2 0.4 0.4 2.6 0.0 0.0 0.9 1.9 11.2 0.2
Mn 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
As 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.1 0.0 0.0 17.2 2.5 0.0 0.0
Sb 0.1 0.2 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 2.6 3.7 0.0 0.0
Sn 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
Te 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
Hg 0.1 0.2 0.2 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.1 0.2
Bi 0.1 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
Total 101.8 0.7 101.0 0.5 101.7 0.7 100.1 0.7 99.0 0.6

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 GEOLOGIC SETTING, MINERALOGY, AND GEOCHEMISTRY OF THE Au-RICH LA PLATA DEPOSIT, ECUADOR 175

A B barite clast C cp
sl

sl
cp sl

cp

2 cm

D E cp

sl

1 cm cp 100 m

F G
bn

cp

py
sl

100 m 125 m

H I J
tn

cp
py
100 m 50 m 50 m
FIG. 14. A. Massive pyrite with barite pocket (TRI-94). B. Banded massive sulfide with mylonitic foliation and barite clast
(TRI-87). cp = chalcopyrite, sl = sphalerite. C. Banded massive sulfide in which chalcopyrite layers surround a sphalerite
porphyroclast in the top right corner (TRI-89). D. Tight fold in disseminated sulfide ore with banded texture (TRI-50). E.
Photomicrograph of cataclastic sphalerite (sl; lower half of micrograph) with chalcopyrite (cp) injected at integranular bound-
aries, surrounding a porphyroclast of sphalerite with chalcopyrite disease textures (upper half of micrograph; TRI-87). F. Cat-
aclastic sphalerite (sl) and pyrite (py) porphyroclasts within chalcopyrite (bottom) defining a mylonitic foliation and pyrite
porphyroclasts within bornite (top; TRI-105). G. Mild annealing of pyrite (py) grains in bornite (bo); gg = gangue. H. Cata-
clastic pyrite (py) with chalcopyrite (cp) filling (TRI-105). I. Veins of chalcopyrite (cp) along cleavage planes of bornite (bo).
Secondary covellite (cv) veins crosscut both bornite and chalcopyrite veins (TRI-90). gg = gangue, tn = tennantite. J. Fram-
boidal pyrite (py), chalcopyrite (cp), and gangue (gg).

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176 CHIARADIA ET AL.
gold in chalcopyrite within sphalerite from sea-floor massive
sulfides already has been reported (e.g., Bortnikov et al.,
2003). Investigations with more sensitive techniques are
needed to evaluate the actual concentrations of invisible gold
in the sphalerite of La Plata.
Bornite occurs as small grains (few tens of m) but mostly
forms large patches (several hundreds of m) that incorpo-
rate porphyroclasts and/or porphyroblasts of pyrite (Fig. 14F-
G). Bornite has a high Ag content (0.121.11 wt %) and, in
some cases, also high Hg concentrations (0.350.45 wt %: 9
point analyses on 9 grains from 1 sample).
Galena occurs at sphalerite grain boundaries or in larger
open spaces where it forms large patches. The Ag content of
galena at La Plata is below detection limit, whereas Hg is as
high as 1.36 wt percent (70 point analyses on 26 grains from
4 samples).
Tennantite occurs as small (10250 m) anhedral rounded
grains (Fig. 14I). Most of the tennantite grains are Zn rich
(avg Zn content of 8.1 0.1 wt %: 46 point analyses on 17
grains from 3 samples). The Hg content of tennantite is up to
1.17 wt percent.
Locally, post-tectonic, supergene (?) covellite veinlets or
filled fractures crosscut bornite and chalcopyrite veins (Fig.
14I). From the center of the fractures over a distance of a few
microns outward, a covellite rim replaces bornite but not
chalcopyrite, probably due to the different stability of these
minerals in the supergene environment (e.g., Boyle, 1994).
However, supergene alteration of the massive sulfide is very
minor and restricted to fractures within localized portions of
the ore lenses; no gossan is developed.
Due to the fact that they display annealed and primary
(framboidal, reniform-like) textures, pyrite, bornite, spha-
lerite, chalcopyrite, and galena likely represent a primary as-
semblage, although chalcopyrite, bornite, and galena appear
to have been remobilized during shearing.
Gold occurs as small xenomorphic grains ranging in size from
5 to 50 m and locally up to 250 m (Fig. 15). Gold occurs
within pyrite (Fig. 15A), in association with chalcopyrite and
galena (Fig. 15B), with bornite and galena (Fig. 15C), with di-
genite-tennantite (Fig. 15D), within galena (Fig. 15E) and
within barite (Fig. 15F). The largest gold grain is associated
with pyrite, bornite, and galena (Fig. 15C). Au contents range
from 79.59 to 97.02 wt percent (13 point analyses on 10 grains
from 4 samples) and are typical of native gold rather than elec-
trum. The Cu content of gold has a mode value of 0.1 wt per-
cent, with a maximum of 1.39 wt percent in a single grain.
Barite occurs as massive euhedral crystals that fill open
spaces and fractures in earlier phases. Some idiomorphic mi-
crocrystalline grains are also incorporated within sulfides.
Geochemistry of the Mineralization
Metal contents
At La Plata two main mineralized blocks (northern and
southern blocks; Fig. 16) contain the estimated resource of
840,000 t, with the southern block having the highest metal
contents. Gold contents from Cambiors bulk assays show a
zoned distribution in the southern block, with the highest gold
grades near the upper part of the massive sulfide body and a
more patchy distribution in the northern block (Fig. 16).
0361-0128/98/000/000-00 $6.00 176
The bulk assay data of Cambior of core intervals ranging
from 0.5 to 2 m in length are characterized by a large vari-
ability of metal concentrations and by the lack of correlations
among metals when all data are considered together. How-
ever, there is some correlation of metal concentrations within
individual drill cores (Fig. 17, Table 3), in particular between
Au and Ag, Au and Pb, Ag and Cu, and Cu and Zn. The lack
of consistent correlations among metals might be a conse-
quence of the strong deformation suffered by the deposit,
which may have caused differential metal mobilization. As
noted in Figure 16, there is a general tendency of higher Au
concentrations (together with Pb) toward the upper part of
the lenses (Fig. 17). Although no systematic correlation was
observed between gold concentrations and bands of major
deformation within the massive sulfides, the enrichment of
Au and Pb toward the top of the lenses might be the result of
shear-related mobilization.
Primitive mantle-normalized concentrations of base and
precious metal of La Plata are compared with those of
VHMS deposits from some major districts worldwide in Fig-
ure 18. The latter have been subdivided into three cate-
gories: (1) Archean Cu-Zn-Au VHMS deposits of Quebec
(Bousquet and Noranda districts); (2) Proterozoic Cu-Zn-
Au VHMS deposits of Manitoba (Flin-Flon and Photo
Lake); and (3) Cambrian polymetallic VHMS deposits of the
Mount Read district in Tasmania (Hellyer, Que River, Her-
cules, Rosebery). The pattern of La Plata shows the best
overlap with that of the Proterozoic deposits of Manitoba,
which are an example of the bimodal-mafic VHMS deposit
type (Barrie and Hannington, 1999). As is typical of Paleo-
zoic VHMS, La Plata has higher Cu and lower Pb than
Archean Cu-Zn-Au VHMS deposits of Quebec but similar
Au. La Plata also differs from the Cambrian polymetallic de-
posits of the Mount Read district, which belong to the bi-
modal-felsic VHMS deposit type of Barrie and Hannington
(1999) and are characterized by a negative gold anomaly in
Figure 18.
Sulfur isotopes
Sulfur isotope compositions were measured on mineral
separates of barite (12), chalcopyrite (10), pyrite (4), galena
(1), and sphalerite (1). Sulfur of the sulfide mineral was con-
verted to SO2 by adding an oxidizer (V2O5) and heating at
1,030C in a column flushed by He. Oxygen was simultane-
ously injected to provoke a very fast oxidation. SO3 and the
excess oxygen were reduced by copper chips and the SO2 was
measured on a Finnigan delta S mass spectrometer at the
University of Lausanne (Switzerland). The external repro-
ducibility (2) of the method is 0.2 and 0.7 per mil for sulfides
and barite, respectively.
The sulfur isotope composition of the sulfides (34S = 2.2
to +1.6; Table 4) is compatible with the sulfur derived from
leaching of magmatic sulfur contained in the footwall volcanic
rocks. This interpretation is in agreement with lead isotope
data that indicate leaching and homogenization of the vol-
canic and/or volcaniclastic footwall rocks by hydrothermal flu-
ids (Chiaradia and Fontbot, 2001). Derivation of part of the
sulfur through direct magmatic contribution cannot be ex-
cluded. The S isotope composition of barite (34S =
2021.4; Table 4) is typical of marine sulfate in the Eocene
 GEOLOGIC SETTING, MINERALOGY, AND GEOCHEMISTRY OF THE Au-RICH LA PLATA DEPOSIT, ECUADOR 177

A B
gn

50 m 50 m

C D
gn

tn

125 m 50 m

E F

tn

10 m 125 m

FIG. 15. A. Photomicrograph of gold (Au) in a pyrite porphyroblast (py; TRI-93). cp = chalcopyrite, gg = gangue, gn =
galena. B. Gold (Au) in association with chalcopyrite (cp) and galena (gn) replacing pyrite annealed aggregates (py; TRI-77).
gg = gangue. C. Large gold (Au) grain in association with pyrite (py), galena and bornite (bo; TRI-103). cv = covellite, gg =
gangue, gn = galena. D. Gold (Au) in association with digenite (di) and tennantite (tn; TRI-75). bo = bornite, cc = chalcocite,
gg = gangue. E. Gold (Au) in galena (gn; E94050). F. Gold (Au) in the gangue (gg; TRI-75). bo = bornite, cv = covellite, tn
= tennantite.

and suggests a dominant marine component of S in the latest
stages of the mineralization.
Strontium isotopes
Strontium isotope ratios were measured on six samples of
barite (Table 4). About 100 mg of barite powder was leached
during 24 h in 6N HCl at 110C. Sr was separated by ion
chromatography in hydrochloric medium and isotopic ratios
were measured in static mode on a MAT-Finnigan 262 mass
spectrometer at the Department of Mineralogy of Geneva
(Switzerland). The 87Sr/86Sr ratios were corrected for mass
fractionation to an 88Sr/86Sr ratio of 8.375209. The inrun in-
ternal errors (2) are <0.02 per mil (see Table 4). The
87Sr/86Srvalues of the barite (0.704600.70555; Table 4) are
intermediate between those of the Macuchi volcanic rocks
(~0.70330.7035; Cosma et al., 1998) and Eocene seawater
(0.70760.7077; Burke et al., 1982) and suggest mixing in
variable proportions between seawater and Sr leached from
the volcanic footwall rocks by the hydrothermal fluid.
A Model for the La Plata VHMS Deposit
The La Plata gold-rich Cu-Zn-Pb VHMS deposit was
formed during the Eocene in an active volcanic environment
on or below the sea floor. The mineralization occurs within
hydrothermally altered andesitic (?) footwall rocks, immedi-
ately below hanging-wall rocks of basaltic to basaltic-andesitic

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178 CHIARADIA ET AL.

S 235439.9 metric tonnes N

@2.53 g/t Au, 24.04 g/t Ag,
N-S cross section at 729150 E 2.07 wt.% Cu, 2.68 wt.% Zn, ? Pb
1500 inferred limit of massive sulfide Northern
block

Total drill indicated resources

1400 840459.2 metric tonnes
@4.84 g/t Au, 54.00 g/t Ag
4.06 wt.% Cu, 4.20 wt.% Zn,
0.72 wt.% Pb

1300

Southern 605019.3 metric tonnes

@5.74 g/t Au, 66.20 g/t Ag,
1200 block 4.84 wt.% Cu, 4.79 wt.% Zn, 0.72 wt.% Pb
9956700

9956800

9956900

9957000

9957100

9957200

9957300

9957400

9957500
Au (g/t)
0-1 1 - 10 10 - 50 50 - 100 > 100

FIG. 16. North-south cross section of the mineralization with gold grade contours (from ODowd, 1999). This figure was
constructed by projection of the midpoints of the mineralized intervals upon the north-south longitudinal section 729150E.
The plotted values were calculated by multiplying the average grade of the interval by the thickness of the interval (ranging
between 0.5 and 2 m). The grade contours were obtained through an arithmetic interpolation among the intervals.

TABLE 3. Correlation Matrices for Metal Concentrations in the Drill Cores1

DH1 (n = 6) DH2 (n = 8)
Au Ag Cu Pb Au Ag Cu Pb
Ag 0.991 Ag 0.391
Cu 0.707 0.647 Cu 0.342 0.611
Pb 0.946 0.965 0.445 Pb 0.907 0.548 0.227
Zn 0.979 0.945 0.792 0.882 Zn 0.457 0.515 0.555 0.571

DH9 (n = 9) DH11 (n = 5)
Au Ag Cu Pb Au Ag Cu Pb
Ag 0.247 Ag 0.928
Cu 0.388 0.709 Cu 0.441 0.410
Pb 0.499 0.080 0.180 Pb 0.342 0.201 0.910
Zn 0.797 0.267 0.345 0.403 Zn 0.537 0.679 0.819 0.518

DH12 (n = 4) DH20 (n = 13)

Au Ag Cu Pb Au Ag Cu Pb
Ag 0.669 Ag 0.109
Cu 0.410 0.406 Cu 0.362 0.766
Pb 0.926 0.729 0.094 Pb 0.101 0.321 0.470
Zn 0.279 0.220 0.981 0.069 Zn 0.637 0.080 0.238 0.521

DH21 (n = 4) DH22 (n = 9)
Au Ag Cu Pb Au Ag Cu Pb
Ag 0.891 Ag 0.248
Cu 0.186 0.609 Cu 0.536 0.792
Pb 0.997 0.855 0.112 Pb 0.694 0.799 0.721
Zn 0.412 0.781 0.966 0.343 Zn 0.410 0.806 0.819 0.655

DH23 (n = 10) DH24 (n = 5)

Au Ag Cu Pb Au Ag Cu Pb
Ag 0.301 Ag 0.893
Cu 0.093 0.391 Cu 0.567 0.203
Pb 0.420 0.014 0.377 Pb 0.956 0.784 0.762
Zn 0.041 0.321 0.612 0.108 Zn 0.457 0.040 0.959 0.648

1 Metal concentrations are from Cambiors assay data; significant correlations (R >0.700) are in bold if positive and in italics if negative

0361-0128/98/000/000-00 $6.00 178

 GEOLOGIC SETTING, MINERALOGY, AND GEOCHEMISTRY OF THE Au-RICH LA PLATA DEPOSIT, ECUADOR 179

226 DH1 92 DH2

228

depth (m)
depth (m)
96
230
100
232

234 104

236 108
0.05 0.55 5.5 55 550 0.002 0.02 0.2 2 20
270 386
DH9 DH11
272 388

depth (m)
depth (m)

274 390

392
276
394
278
396
0.1 1 10 100 1000 0.007 0.07 0.7 7 70 700

254 DH12 368 DH20

depth (m)
depth (m)

256 372

258 376

260 380
0.028 0.28 2.8 28 280 0.009 0.09 0.9 9 90 900
342
296 DH21 DH22
344
depth (m)
depth (m)

297 346

348
298
350

0.016 0.16 1.6 16 160 1600 0.01 0.1 1 10 100 1000

388 423
DH23 DH24
390 424
depth (m)
depth (m)

392
425
394
426
396
427
398
0.03 0.3 3 30 300 3000 0.007 0.07 0.7 7 70

Au (g/t) Ag (g/t) Cu (wt.%) Zn (wt.%) Pb (wt.%)

FIG. 17. Metal (Au, Ag, Cu, Zn, Pb) concentration profiles in the drill cores. Metal concentrations are from Cambiors
bulk assay data on core intervals ranging from 0.5 to 2 m in length (for discussion see text).

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180 CHIARADIA ET AL.

1000000

9956976
TRI 103

Massive

729336
DH 20
sulfide

368.4

21.1
0.7
9956976
TRI 102

Massive

729336
DH 20
sulfide

367.5

21.3
0.3
Primitive mantle-normalized values

100000

0.705151 8
9956976
TRI 101

Massive

729336
DH 20
sulfide

366.6

21.1
1.0
La Plata

Tajo Abierto
10000

Tailings of

9957255
TRI 094

Massive

729270
sulfide

20.0

0.6

0.704601 9
TABLE 4. 34SCDT and 87Sr/86Sr Values of Barite, Chalcopyrite, Pyrite, Galena, and Sphalerite

TRI 093

Massive

Tunel 3
sulfide

21.2
0.2

1.6
0.9
1000

0.705549 8
Tajo Abierto
Tailings of

9957265
TRI 088

Massive

729265
sulfide

20.5
0.1
1.2
100
Pb Ag Au Zn Cu

0.704895 6
Tajo Abierto
Archean Cu-Zn-Au VHMS deposits
Tailings of

9957250
TRI 085

Massive

729250
sulfide
of the Bousquet and Noranda district,

20.5

2.2
Quebec (La Ronde 2, Estrades, D'Eldona)

Proterozoic Cu-Zn-Au VHMS deposits

0.704959 7
of Manitoba (Flin-Flon, Photo Lake)

9957004
TRI 066

Massive

729203
sulfide

DH 9

20.6
275

Cambrian polymetallic VHMS deposits

of the Mt. Read district, Tasmania (Rosebery,
Que River, Hercules, Hellyer)
Tajo Abierto

9957340
TRI 043

Massive

729105
sulfide

FIG. 18. Primitive mantle-normalized patterns (Barrie and Hannington,

20.5
1.4
1999) of La Plata and of other Au-rich VHMS deposits (data from Hanning-
ton et al., 1999; for discussion see text).
9956885
TRI 025

Massive

729275
DH 23
sulfide

396.7

1.2

composition. The footwall consists of volcaniclastic rocks con-

taining abundant glass shards of different sizes and shapes,
which might have resulted from submarine quench fragmen-
9956885
TRI 022

Massive

729275
DH 23
sulfide

21.0
1.2
395

tation of vescicular andesitic lavas or from explosive magmatic

eruptions. Perlitic structures in glass shards of the footwall
rocks and the presence of in situ hyaloclastite in the hanging
wall support a submarine environment for the volcanic se-
9956885
TRI 021

Massive

729275
DH 23
sulfide

21.4
0.5
1.6

quence hosting the La Plata VHMS deposit. The mineraliza-

394

tion occurred during a period of volcanic quiescence, as sug-

gested by the presence on top of the massive sulfide lenses of
0.705223 9

a jasper layer characterized by delicate exhalative-sedimentary

9956885
TRI 020

Massive

729275
DH 23
sulfide

393.8

21.3
0.1

structures. The stratigraphy of the hanging wall is characterized

by several successions of basaltic flows and autoclastic brec-
cias. The upward thinning of the breccias and thickening of
lava flows may indicate a transition from distal to more prox-
Chalcopyrite
Provenance
Sample no.

Depth (m)

coordinate

coordinate

Sphalerite

imal positions with respect to the volcanic feeder system as a

Lithology

()

87Sr/86Sr
UTM-N
UTM-E

Galena

result of a growing volcanic edifice or a change in eruption

Barite

Barite
Pyrite
34S

rate.

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 GEOLOGIC SETTING, MINERALOGY, AND GEOCHEMISTRY OF THE Au-RICH LA PLATA DEPOSIT, ECUADOR
Hanging-wall basalt and basaltic-andesitic rocks of the La
Plata area are not cogenetic with the andesitic footwall
rocks. The significance of this change in chemistry of
erupted magmas and its possible bearing on the mineraliza-
tion process could not be investigated in detail because of
the strongly altered nature of footwall rocks. However, the
weakly altered hanging-wall basalts and basaltic-andesitic
flows have arc-tholeiitic affinities, whereas hanging-wall do-
lerite samples were derived from a MORB-type source. In
agreement with previous studies on the Macuchi unit (e.g.,
van Thournout et al., 1992; BGS and CODIGEM, 1999;
Chiaradia and Fontbot, 2001), these data suggest that the La
Plata deposit was formed in a primitive island arc environ-
ment, possibly prior to or during an intra-arc rift event.
After the deposition of the hanging-wall sequence, a perva-
sive hematitization overprinted the hanging-wall breccias up
to 300 m above the ore. The hematite alteration, which was
also accompanied by SiO2 enrichment (sample TRI098), was
likely related to the waning stages of hydrothermal activity,
which started with the deposition of the exhalative-sedimen-
tary jasper layer on top of the massive sulfide (crosscutting re-
lationships indicate that the hematite alteration postdates the
hydrothermal alteration of the footwall rocks). This suggests
that the hiatus of volcanic activity during which the VHMS
deposit was formed was relatively short. The thickest zone of
hematite alteration in the hanging-wall rocks coincides spa-
tially with the richest massive sulfide body (southern block),
suggesting that the locus of hydrothermal fluids discharging
onto the sea floor remained essentially the same during the
different stages of massive sulfide formation.
Mineralization at La Plata occurs at different stratigraphic
levels within the footwall, with a stockwork zone at the lowest
level, followed up stratigraphically by a disseminated sulfides
zone, and finally by the massive sulfide lenses. The main ore
minerals that were deposited were pyrite (in the stockwork
and as disseminated sulfides) and pyrite, chalcopyrite, bor-
nite, Fe-poor sphalerite, galena, and tennantite in the massive
sulfide lenses. The intense deformation suffered by the
VHMS deposit during the late Eocene shear event makes it
impossible to recognize whether they replaced hanging-wall
rocks below the sea floor or formed chemical or clastic de-
posits on the sea floor.
The hydrothermal fluid at La Plata was probably domi-
nated by modified heated seawater that leached S, Pb, and Sr
from the host volcanic and volcano-sedimentary sequence, al-
though direct magmatic fluid contributions cannot be ex-
cluded. Mixing of this hydrothermal fluid with ambient seawa-
ter is indicated by S and Sr isotope compositions of late-stage
barite.
A feeder system of the VHMS deposit of La Plata is well
preserved in the quartz-pyrite vein stockwork zone of the
Tajo Abierto, around which andesitic footwall rocks are per-
vasively altered to a quartz-pyrite-sericite assemblage. The
extension of quartz-pyrite-sericite alteration, as far as 2.5 km
north of the Tajo Abierto, might suggest the presence of ad-
ditional feeder systems and, therefore, the possibility of the
existence of additional massive sulfide bodies. However, de-
formation associated with the late Eocene shearing event
might have also strongly increased the original aspect ratio of
the alteration zone. The Fe-poor sphalerite (0.27 0.40 mol
0361-0128/98/000/000-00 $6.00 181
181
% FeS) and the bornite-pyrite association observed at La
Plata suggest that hydrothermal fluids in equilibrium with
these sulfides at T of 250 to 300C likely had a relatively high
aS2 and aO2.
After its formation, the La Plata VHMS deposit underwent
an intense deformation, related to the late Eocene Chimbo-
Toachi dextral shear event. The ductile massive sulfide and
hydrothermally altered footwall rocks were preferentially de-
formed with respect to the more rigid hanging-wall rocks.
Meter-thick shear zones developed within the ductile footwall
rocks and the massive sulfides were dismembered into lenses
of various size, which are mostly concentrated in the southern
block, about 800 m south of the stockwork zone. This suggests
that, if the main original massive sulfide body (presumably
represented by the southern block) was initially above the
stockwork zone, the stockwork and southern block have been
dislocated along a dextral shear zone for about 800 m or the
massive sulfide above the stockwork has been removed by
erosion. In contrast, because of the spatial coincidence be-
tween the metal-rich southern block and the thickest
hematite alteration zone above it, the relationship of the mas-
sive sulfide mineralization to the hanging-wall rocks in the
southern block appears to be intact.
Deformation within the massive sulfide lenses and footwall
rocks was not pervasive, and strain partitioning resulted in
heterogeneous deformation and recrystallization of portions
of the massive sulfide lenses, with some parts remaining un-
deformed. The deformed portions of footwall rocks acquired
a penetrative tectonic foliation, whereas the massive sulfide
lenses acquired a tectonic banding defined by alternating lay-
ers of chalcopyrite and sphalerite. The volcaniclastic origin of
the undeformed parts of the footwall is indicated by the pres-
ence of abundant glass shards. Undeformed domains of mas-
sive sulfides are characterized by the presence of framboidal
pyrite and reniform textures.
The strong deformation of the La Plata deposit opens the
possibility that gold at La Plata was externally introduced dur-
ing the shear event, an open question in other gold-rich mas-
sive sulfide deposits (e.g., Bousquet in Canada: Valliant et al.,
1983; Hoy et al., 1990; Tourigny et al., 1993). At La Plata,
gold associated with annealed pyrite (Fig. 15A) and with in-
jected galena (Fig. 15E) was likely redistributed during de-
formation. This is supported by a strong correlation between
gold and lead at the stratigraphic top of the lenses. However,
the lack of gold in structural positions suggesting an epige-
netic origin with respect to the VHMS sulfides (e.g., in veins)
and the possibly high concentrations of invisible gold in spha-
lerite (up to 1200 ppm, see above), suggest that the enrich-
ment of gold at La Plata was inherent to the VHMS formation
process and that gold was only redistributed within the mas-
sive sulfide lenses during later shearing.
La Plata is one of the few examples of VHMS deposit of the
Andes with primary gold enrichment. Hannington et al.
(1999) have suggested that fluid chemistry, direct involve-
ment of magmatic volatiles, and source-rock controls may be
the main factors responsible for high primary gold grades in
certain VHMS deposits. At La Plata there is no constraining
evidence for the direct involvement of magmatic fluids, al-
though Pb, Sr, and S isotopes do not exclude this possibility.
On the other hand, slightly acidic (e.g., pH = 5) and H2S-rich
182
(conditions typical of known submarine vent fluids) hy-
drothermal fluids in equilibrium with the low Fe-sphalerite
and the bornite-pyrite association of La Plata at typical tem-
peratures of VHMS-associated fluids (T = 250300C)
would have been able to transport significant gold (Fig. 19;
Hannington and Scott, 1989). Additionally, Chiaradia and
Fontbot (2001) have suggested a petrogenetic control on
the high gold grades of La Plata based on the fact that the
Main Macuchi sequence is derived from a depleted mantle,
a reservoir which may be enriched in gold and chalcophile
elements (Hamlyn et al., 1985). The association with an is-
land-arc or immature back-arc setting also may be important,
as suggested by Cawood and Fryer (1994) and Moss et al.
(2001) who have found higher gold contents in magmatic
rocks of the immature Lau and Eastern Manus back-arc
basins compared to those of magmatic rocks from mid-ocean
ridge settings.
Conclusions
La Plata is the most important of a series of gold-rich
VHMS deposits occurring in the Paleocene (?) to Eocene
Macuchi island-arc sequence in the Western Cordillera of the
Northern Andes of Ecuador. The island-arc environment, the
relatively high sulfidation state of the ore fluids, the primary
gold enrichment, and the elevated contents of metals of the
4 d
dense
S con
6 pm
1p -
0.1
HS) 2
u(
bA 0.5
-log aS2
8 pp 1 535550.
0
10
10
10 15
12 Py
b Phanerozoic time: Geology, v. 10, p. 516519.
p Po
10p
14
pb Mole% FeS
1p in sphalerite
300
200 250
Temperature (C)
FIG. 19. Log aS2 vs. temperature diagram showing the contours of mol
percent FeS in sphalerite (thin lines) and of gold solubility as Au(HS)2 at pH
= 5 and 250 ppm H2S (dashed lines; modified after Hannington and Scott,
1989). A constant concentration of 250 ppm H2S is used to reflect the high
average H2S content of known vent fluids. The pH value of 5 reflects the
slightly acidic conditions of most vent fluids under which gold is transported
as a bisulfide complex. Higher H2S and pH would result in higher calculated
concentrations of Au(HS)2 for the same mol percent FeS in sphalerite but
would not affect the general correlation between gold solubility and sulfida-
tion state. The sulfidation boundaries for pyrite-pyrrhotite and bornite-
pyrite-chalcopyrite (bold lines) are from Scott and Barnes (1971) and Cza-
manske (1974). The shaded area represents possible fluid conditions at La
Plata based on sphalerite composition and a likely range of fluid temperature
for VHMS deposits.
0361-0128/98/000/000-00 $6.00
CHIARADIA ET AL.
epithermal suite (Hg, Ag, and As) are typical features of La
Plata, which are also common to recent and modern gold-rich
VHMS deposits formed in island-arc environments or in im-
mature back-arc basins of the southwestern Pacific (e.g.,
Hannington et al., 1999). The characteristics of La Plata rein-
force the concept that the island-arc and immature back-arc
geodynamic settings might be first-order factors controlling
the gold-rich nature of VHMS deposits (Sillitoe et al., 1996;
Hannington et al., 1999).
Acknowledgments
We are grateful to Cambior for providing logistic support in
the field and access to their data and to the Society of Eco-
nomic Geologists for a student grant to DT. We also thank F.
Tornos (IGME, Salamanca, Spain) for stimulating discussions
as well as D. Fontignie and M. Falcheri (University of
Geneva, Switzerland) for analytical support. The manuscript
has greatly benefited from the critical reviews of Ross Sher-
lock, Andrew Conly, Harold Gibson, Stephen Piercey, Mark
Hannington, and an anonymous reviewer. This study was
funded by the Swiss National Foundation (grant 2000-
054150).
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