Deposit types/Copper, Silver

Sediment-hosted stratabound copper

Copper sulphides scattered through grey or black beds that sit within red-bed sandstone and shale sequences.

What it is

Copper sulphides scattered through grey or black beds that sit within red-bed sandstone and shale sequences.1,2

How it forms

USGS describes copper sulphides, mainly chalcocite, in grey or black reduced beds within red-bed sections. Deposits are zoned from chalcocite through bornite and chalcopyrite to pyrite. The setting is a shallow basin near the equator with high evaporation, so evaporites and carbonate beds are common.1,2

Host rocks

Red-bed sequences with grey or green shale, siltstone and sandstone, carbonates and evaporites.1,2

Where it forms

Intracontinental rifts or failed rift arms, and passive margins with major growth faults.1,2

How old

Middle Proterozoic, Permian and early Mesozoic; other ages possible1,2

Mines of this type

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Mines

An example ofKamoa-KakulaSee Kamoa-Kakula, an example of this deposit type.1An example ofTenke Fungurume (TFM)See Tenke Fungurume (TFM), an example of this deposit type.1An example ofRuashiSee Ruashi, an example of this deposit type.1An example ofMutandaSee Mutanda, an example of this deposit type.1An example ofKisanfu (KFM)See Kisanfu (KFM), an example of this deposit type.1An example ofKamoto Copper Company (KCC) / Katanga Mining ComplexSee Kamoto Copper Company (KCC) / Katanga Mining Complex, an example of sediment-hosted stratabound copper.1

Sources

  1. Mineral Deposit Models (Bulletin 1693, Cox and Singer, eds., 1986) US Geological Survey
  2. Mineral Deposit Models for Resource Assessment, Chapter M: Sediment-Hosted Stratabound Copper Deposit Model (SIR 2010-5070-M) US Geological Survey

From the Prospector Trails mining history dataset: each fact links to the source it was checked against. Figures are as the source gives them, in the money of their day. Not investment advice.

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Pictures: Dolcoath tin mine, Camborne, Cornwall: miners in a mine shaft, standing on wooden platforms connected by ladders. Photograph by J. C. Burrow, 1890/1910., Burrow, J. C., 1852-1914 (Public Domain Mark 1.0); Kimberley, South Africa: miners and washing gear at the Bultfontein diamond mine. Woodburytype, 1888, after a photograph by Robert Harris., Harris, Robert, active 1881-1888. (Public Domain Mark 1.0).