Overview

This symposium presents recent advances and cutting edge research on supergene processes. In particular, we examine how supergene processes affect a variety of different ore deposits thus modifying them from their original character to what we see today and the implications those effects have on our ability to recognize and explore for and profitably mine them. In addition to updates on recent work on copper deposits, the symposium also presents work on Pb-Zn, Ag, Au, Fe, Ni and REE deposits from a variety of locations around the world.

As part of the symposium, we are planning a pre-symposium field trip of about three days. This trip will provide an opportunity; to examine supergene effects in some porphyry copper occurrences of the American southwest and will visit the deposits at Safford and Morenci, Arizona, and Tyrone, New Mexico.

Those of you interested in supergene processes will come away from the symposium saying "Wow, I didn't think about it that way before!" You will be treated to a wide variety of related topics and learn more about the microbial, tectonic, climatic, and mineralogical control of supergene deposits as well as the results of research from the mineral processing and environmental remediation disciplines that bear on our understanding of supergene processes.

For information on the SEG Field Trip, click here!


Speakers- Tuesday, 25 September, 2007
Turquoise III Ballroom
Morning Session

8:30 am Opening Remarks

Copper in the Supergene Environment

8:45 am to 9:15 am David Braxton- Tectonic and physiographic influences on the development of supergene porphyry oxidation profiles from the Boyongan Cu-Au deposit, Philippines

9:15 am to 9:45 am Sergio Rivera- Supergene modification of porphyry columns and the application to exploration with special reference to the southern part of the Chuquicamata District, Chile 

9:45 am to 10:15 am Ryan Mathur- Cu isotope fractionation in porphyry copper deposits 

10:15 am to 10:30 am Coffee break

10:30 am to 11:00 am Tim Hayes- Porphyry-related exotic copper deposits, ferricretes and manganocretes with an emphasis on their occurrence in Arizona 

11:00 am to 11:30 am Corale Brierley- Exploiting Supergene Deposits: Learning from "Mother Nature"

Gold and Silver in the Supergene Environment

11:30 am to 12:00 pm Louisa Lawrance- Gold in the supergene environment

12:00 pm to 1:00 pm Lunch

Afternoon Session

1:00 pm to 1:30 pm Donna Falconer- Gold placers in southern New Zealand: A modern analogue for ‘Witwatersrand-style’ gold mineralization?

1:30 pm to 2:00 pm Richard Sillitoe- Contribution of supergene enrichment to major silver deposits

Lead and Zinc in the Supergene Environment

2:00 pm to 2:30 pm Peter Megaw- Exploration and evaluation of oxidized Pb-Zn-Ag carbonate replacement deposits of Mexico in light of supergene zinc and residual Pb-Zn enrichment processes

2:30 pm to 3:00 pm Joerg Reichert- Thermodynamic modeling of the supergene ore fluids and minerals forming and dissolving during non-sulfide Zn ore formation

3:00 pm to 3:15 pm Coffee break

3:15 pm to 3:45 pm Gregor Borg- The role of fault structures in the metallogenesis of supergene zinc deposits

Other Metals and Minerals in the Supergene Environment

3:45 pm to 4:15 pm Sarah Gleeson- Cobalt in laterites from Cameroon

4:15 pm to 4:45 pm Tony Mariano- Large scale development of supergene anatase-rich soils on carbonatite-associated pyroxenites in Brazil


Presenters may contact greta@espri.arizona.edu for information on uploading their presentations.