Late Pliocene High-Sulfidation Epithermal Gold Mineralization at the La Bodega and La Mascota Deposits, Northeastern Cordillera of Colombia

摘要

La Bodega and La Mascota are Plio-Pleistocene high- to intermediate-sulfidation epithermal gold deposits hosted in Proterozoic gneisses and Mesozoic granites of the Santander massif, eastern Cordillera of Colombia and are part of the California-Vetas mining district. Coeval volcanic rocks are not recognized in the district and volumetrically minor granodiorite porphyries dated at 10.1 Ma are the only igneous rocks younger than Jurassic known from the vicinity of the epithermal deposits. As of 2010, La Bodega and La Mascota contained an inferred resource of 3.47 Moz Au, 19.2 Moz Ag, and 84.4 Mlbs Cu at a 2 g/t Au cut off. Mineralization exhibits NE-trending, NW-dipping structural control associated with the right lateral strike-slip La Baja fault. Mineralization at La Bodega is composed of vein networks and tectonic-hydrothermal breccias while at La Mascota it is largely contained in tabular, fault-controlled tectonic-hydrothermal breccia bodies.