21 September 2018

The 15th Symposium of the International Association on the Genesis of Ore Deposits was held in Salta, Argentina, on August 26-31, 2018

On August 26-31, 2018, the 15th Symposium of the International Association on the Genesis of Ore Deposits (15th Quadrennial IAGOD Symposium) was held in Salta, Argentina. The Symposium was attended by more than 200 representatives of scientific and industrial organizations from various countries. A.I. Chernykh, First Deputy General Director and I.G. Tretyakova, Deputy Head of the Department of international relations, represented FSBI TsNIGRI. The Symposium program included 119 oral presentations and 66 poster presentations at 16 thematic sections. In addition to the sections, the attendants were offered theoretical courses and seminars on relevant problems of the ore deposit genesis as well as field trips to deposits in Argentina, Chile and Bolivia.

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Presentation by A.I. Chernykh, «Gold deposits of the Altay-Sayan fold area related to Cambrian and Ordovician granitoids»
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Presentation by I.G. Tretyakova, «Sulfide inclusions as a key to understand origin of Ni-Cu-PGE deposits»

As part of the field trip, "Wealth of the Andes: copper and iron", the attendants visited unique deposits: the giant copper-porphyry Chuquicamata deposit, magnetite-apatite lavas of El Laco volcano, salt deposits of Cordillera de la Sal area, etc. The samples taken during the trip were transferred to FSBI TsNIGRI museum.

Chuquicamata is among the world’s largest Cu-Mo porphyry deposits. It is confined to Eocene granodiorite porphyry massif. Total ore reserves (estimated for 3 pophyry bodies) exceed 25 Gt averaging 0.45% Cu. The deposit has been mined by open pit for over a century, underground mining would start in 2019. The deposit pit is the world’s largest and the second deepest (835 m).

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Chuquicamata pit
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Trip participants with Neoproterozoic rocks overlying Mesozoic deposits in the background

Another trip was to Cu-Au porphyry Esperanza deposit and “exotic” Tesoro copper deposit spatially associated with it. Tesoro formed as a result of hypergene solution lateral migration from porphyry copper deposits.