COPPER HOSTED IN RED BEDS AT TAMBOMACHAY DEPOSIT (CUZCO, PERU), TRAPPED BY BACTERIALLY REDUCED SULFUR DURING MIGRATION OF BASINAL FLUIDS

摘要

The Tambomachay ore deposit (13°28′36.78″S, 71°57′35.98″W, about 6 km north of the town of Cuzco, Peru) consists of Cu hosted in arkosic red beds of the Kayra Formation (Lower Eocene). Bornite, chalcopyrite, chalcocite, covelite, digenite, malachite, and chrysocolla occur disseminated in thin layers and in veinlets. The occurrence of the copper ores in a part of the red bed sequence containing green reducing layers, the presence of organic matter in interstices between the hypogene sulfides, and the sulfur composition of the copper sulfides (δ~(34)S values between -16.9 and -12.4%o vs VCDT) pointing to bacterial sulfate reduction, are strong arguments to propose that mineralization was caused by copper-bearing oxidizing saline basinal fluids that precipitate copper sulfides when they meet reduced sulfur in an organic matter-rich horizon. Faults parallel to the regional Tambomachay Fault could have acted as feeders for oxidizing basinal copper-bearing fluids. Fluid migration was probably driven by tectonically-induced topography gradient.