We made it to Chile! After a long flight and almost as long a drive, we arrived in Copiapo, Chile very late at night ready to sleep.
While there were the long airport waits, we managed to make the best of it.
The drive north wasnt too bad either. It had its geology…
And it had its naps…
But most of all it had its views…
We arrived at our hotel tired enough to fall right to sleep so we could have enough energy for the next day, at La Candelaria!
La Candelaria is an iron-oxide copper gold (IOCG) deposit owned by Lundin Mining. IOCGs are hydrothermal ore deposits defined by the presence of iron-oxides in the form of haematite or magnetite, and copper typically in the form of chalcopyrite or bornite. Gold, rare earth elements, and other elements like Uranium can be present in high concentrations as well.
The formation of IOCGs is very contentious and many models for the genesis exist. The model which the mine uses for understanding this deposit is that the metal rich fluids are sourced from magmas releasing their volatile fluids as they cool and crystallize.
We started the day by meeting Luis Alvarez who introduced us to his team of geologist. One of these geologists took the time to give us an interesting presentation about the geology of La Candelaria.
The ores of La Candelaria are not hosted next to or within a large intrusive igneouse body. Instead they are hosted within the tuff and volcanic andesite layers which make up part of the stratigraphy of the region, along with a variety of metasediments.
After the presentation, we were brought to see the pit. We did not go right into the pit but we got an excellent view of it.
We then got to get an up close look at the rocks in the core shack. We were able to see representative rock samples nearing the highest grade ore as the copper sulfides became increasingly prevalent. We were also shown some gorgeous drill core from an exploration prospect owned by Lundin.
Here we had the chance to chat with the mine geologists (with the help of the spanish speakers on our team). We got excellent insight into the geology of La Candelaria and IOCGs in general. They also provided us with a wall of samples that we were free to take from.
Thank you Luis and your team for providing us with an excellent look into the operations of La Candelaria and thank you to Lundin Mining for allowing us to visit your mine. It is truly a spectacular mine!
Today we are off to see Los Azules and then drive south to Huasco. So to Copiapo we say adios!
