BRITISH GEOLOGICAL SURVEY

Number 67

Overseas Geology and

Mineral Resources

The EI Oro metamorphic complex,

Ecuador: geology and economic
mineral deposits

J A Aspden, W Bonilla and P Duque

CONTRlBUTORS

Whole rock geochemistry

N J Fortey and M G Gillespie

Crown copyright 1995

First published 1995

ISBN 0 85 272242 7

Keyworth, Nottingham

British Geological Survey

1995

OVERSEAS GEOL. & MINER. RESOUR. No. 67 1995

The El Oro metamorphic complex, Ecuador: geology and

economic mineral deposits

J A Aspden, W Bonilla and P Duque

ABSTRACT
Reconnaissance 1: 1 00 000 scale geological mapping,
backed-up by selected geochronological and whole-rock
geochemical data, has confirmed that the 24000 km 2
area of the El Oro metamorphic complex in south-west
Ecuador comprises rock types / assemblages of differing
ages, distinct metamorphic histories and of both conti
nental and oceanic affinities.
To the south of the Zanjon-Naranjo fault the oldest
element of the complex (Tahuin semi-pelitic division) is
of probable Palaeozoic age and consists of arkosic tur
bidites. During Late Triassic time these rocks were vari
ably affected by both a dextral transpressional shearing
event and by regional Abukuma-type metamorphism the
in tensi ty of which increased markedly towards the
(present-day) north. At this time a suite of migmatites
and granitoids of predominantly S-type character were
emplaced (Moromoro granitoid complex) and these
rocks are spatially and temporally associated with rela
tively primitive, mantle-derived gabbroic magmas
(Piedras mafic complex).
North of the Zanjon-Naranjo fault is the Palenque
melange division, a regionally extensive, heterogenous
unit comprising a matrix of low-grade metasediments,
normally greenschists, which contains a variety of large,
kilometre-scale , fault-bounded blocks as tectonic inclu
sions. Several of these inclusions consist of lithologies
that are identical to those that occur to the south of the
Zanjon-Naranjo fault, however others such as the
blueschist/ eclogite assemblages of the Raspas ophiolitic
complex are clearly exotic.
Together the EI Oro metamorphic rocks are inter
preted to represent a portion of an accretionary prism
complex which elsewhere in the Northern Andes is
largely buried by younger volcanic deposits. In Ecuador
the eastern limit of this complex coincides with the
Banos-Las Aradas fault which also defmes the probable
western autochthonous limit of the Cordillera Real.
Although certain elements of the EI Oro metamorphic
complex may be far-travelled, others such as the Moro
moro granitoids/ migmatites and Piedras amphibolites,
are considered to be locally derived since they can be
correlated with similar lithologies described from the
Loja division in the Cordillera Real.
Routine stream sediment sampling over the EI Oro
metamorphic complex has also been undertaken and
the results obtained fr0111 172 samples, analysed for 27
elements plus gold, are presented as point source infor
mation. Within the metamorphic complex itself metallic

mineral showings of potential economic interest are rela

tively limited but gold-bearing quartz veins/stringers
occur in Estero Sacachispas; metre-scale rhodonite
bearing quartz lenses are known from Estero Puerto
Balsas and stibnite-bearing quartz veins are currently
being exploited at Loma Larga. In addition, minor
amounts of alluvial gold are worked from the Rio
Naranjo and its north bank tributaries and to a lesser
exten t from the Rio Arenillas.
Towards the contact with the Teriary volcano-plutonic
complex there are a number of polymetallic occurrences
which are actively worked, principally for gold, the most
important being Portovelo/ Zaruma in the east. Recent
discoveries of gold mineralisation at Cerro Pelado,
immediately to the north of the abandoned El Antimo
nio and Guayabo mines, together with small-scale opera
tions at Los Ingleses, Cerro Azul, Daucay and Ligzhu
underline the potential importance of the zone. Alluvial
gold is widespread and the Los Lilenes deposit is worked
commercially. High stream sediment gold values (i.e.
>10 ppb and up to >1000 ppb) are common throughout
this sector.
Feldspar (for use in the ceramic industry) and brick
clays are extracted from the Marcabeli pluton.

INTRODUCTION
Background
The Cordillera Real Project, planned by the British
Geological Survey and undertaken by Ecuadorian and
British geologists during the period 1986-1993, was a
bilateral Technical Co-operation Programme between
the governments of Ecuador (Instituto Ecuatoriano de
Mineria-INEMIN, now renamed Corporaci6n de Desar
rollo e Investigaci6n GeoI6gico-Minera-Metalurgica
CODIGEM, Ministry of Energy and Mines) and the
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
(Overseas Development Administration-ODA).
ODA participation in geological development projects
in Ecuador began in 1969 and the first residential
mission was established in Quito in 1972. On completion
of this earlier phase of work in 1980, five ODA geoscien
tists and their Ecuadorian coun terparts had carried ou[ a
programme of systematic geological mapping and
mineral investigation over western Ecuador \\'hich
resulted in the publication of four 1:25 000 scale: four
1:50 000 scale; 51 1: 100 000 scale geological map sh el'
and a revised 1:1 000000 scale national geolog ical map .

OVERSEAS GEOL. & MINER. RESOUR No. 67 1995

The Cordillera Real Proj ec t commenced in March

1986 in response to Ecuador's strategic need for a re
liable geological / minerals database in order to attract
foreign investment and help establish a viable mining
industry. Consequently, systematic geological and
mineral studies were extended eastwards to cover the
Cordillera Real. In 1990 the Technical Co-operation Pro
gramme was amplified to include the reconnaissance
geological mapping and stream sediment sampling of
the EI Oro metamorphic co mplex. This Project, carried
out between June 1990 a nd March 1993, is the subject of
the present report.
In addition to the specific geological, geochemical
and geochronological results presented in this report,
the Project collec tion of rock specimens and some 400
thin sections has been donated for teaching purposes to
Professor Pablo Duque of the Escuela Politecn ica
Nacional, Quito. This material is available for study by
interested parties.
Description of the area
As shown on the accompanying geological map, the EI

Oro complex of metamorphic rocks is located in south

western Ecuador immediately east of the Tumbes region.
The natio nal boundary with Peru is disputed. The
complex crops out principally in the EI Oro Province
but extends to the south of the Rio Puyango / Pin do,
and westwards into Peru. Eastwards towards EI Cisne
(Figure 1), it extends into Loja Province .
The margins of the complex are irregular, its main
outcrop covers an area of about 2400 km? and it is
approximately bound ed in the north and south by lati
tudes 3 18'S and 355'S and in the east and west by lon
gitudes 7925'W and 80 o lO'W.
The climate of the area is determined largely by the
effect of altitud e; which is generally below 1500 m , but
varies from less than 100 m in the north and west to
more than 3000 m in the extrem e east; and the con
trasting influences of the Humbolt and El Nino off
shore currents. In normal summers the co ld, high
salinity Humbolt current of the southern Pacific is dis
place d northwards between May and November and
produces cooler air masses, with dominantly cloudy
co nditions. Precipitation often falls as drizzle and rain
fall decrease s from the higher ground in the east
towards the south and west, wh ere dry to semi-arid
conditions prevail. In \\'inter (December-June), the
influ e nce of the warm EI 0!iiio current is dominant
and hot, water-saturated air which cove rs the region
gives rise to heavy, torrential downpours, interspersed
with clear skies. Flooding and landslips are common,
humidity is high and insect life abou nds, especially in
the lower-lying, western parts close to Peru. Field con
ditions during thi s period are often difficult and
unpleasant.
At higher elevations around Chilla a nd EI Cisne
(Figure 1), pockets of stun ted cloud-forest rem ai n on
the steeper slopes but elsewhere much of the original
tropical to semi-arid forest cover has been cleared to give
access for agricultural use. Grassland and / or scrub are

now dominant, particularly in the drier west and south .

Selected climatic data for th e area are given in Table l.
Agriculture is extremely important especially in the
flat-lying coastal plain to the north and west. The EI Oro
province is the principal Ecuadorian producer of ex port
bananas and the second most important national pro
ducer of shrimps which are farmed extensively along
the coast. Many of the larger ca ttle ranches are locared
on the lower hills immediately surrounding the coas tal
plain. To the sou th and west of Arenillas dry conditio n
prevail and th e re are plans to irrigate this zone usi n ~
the recently constructed Tahuin dam (Figure 1).
Inland, slopes are often steep a nd farms tend to be
small, with much of the agriculture being at subsisten ce
level. Cattle farming is dominant but goats are CO Ill
monly herded in the more arid areas. Pineapples :11 e
grown extensively in the semi-arid El Prado area bur
where rainfall permits, cocoa and coffee are importan
cash crops, as are toma toes and peppers in the \Ie" l
Bananas, maize , citrus fruits, sugar cane, together \I-ilh
lesser a mounts of soya beans and peanuts, are exte n
sively cultivated. Chicken farming is of lo ca l importan ce
around Balsas.
The larger cen tres of population (Pasaje, Santa Rosa
and Arenillas, Figure 1) are located along the coas tal
plain. Machala, the provincial capital, is the main finan
cial, military and administrative centre of the region. It i,
also an importan t port, parti cularly for the export (I I
bananas and shrimps_ The fast-expanding frontier to\m
of Huaquillas, in the west, is a commercial centre of both
local and nati o nal importance since it provides the on l\
road link between Ecuador and Peru.
In addition to agricultural support industries, gold
mining is of consid erable economic significance. T hl;"
princip al hard-rock production comes from the Po r
tovel o/ Zaruma and Ayapamba districts and recent d i,,
coveries to th e south of Bella Maria, in the Cerro Pel ado
area (Figure l) , are also being exploited . At Bella :".1aria
(Los Lilene s) auriferous gravels are currently bein [!'
worked by Ecuminas/ODIN.
Access and map coverage

Compared with other parts of Ecuador there is a fair!

dense netwo rk of roads and tracks th a t provide r a<D/,
able 4-wheel drive access. The all-weather, surface.
Pasaje-Cuenca road runs along the lower reaches of [h"
Rio Jubon es valley an d skirts the northern edge of rh e
Oro m etamorphi c complex. Southwards from Pasaj e Ll'
road continues, via Santa Rosa and Arenillas, to H Udq '
las. Southwards from Arenillas the generally all-\vea the
Alamor road crosses th e so uthern part of the met,un
phic terrain. From Zaracay, (via Santa Rosa and La A.\
zada), two all-weather, partially su rfaced roads lead '
Loja, one via Piii. as/ Portove lo and the othe r
Balsas/Chaguarapamba. Apart fro m these major arte r
roads there are also numerous, unsurfaced seco!) .....
roads/ motorable tracks, some of which are shOl,r
Figure 1. These are variably maintained and cal
impassable following h eavy rain_ In the east, be(\
Chilla and Pasaje, and in the EI Cisne-EI Prado- _

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Metamorphic Complex

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OVERSEAS GEOL & MINER. RESOUR No.

Table 1

Selected climatic data from EI Oro

RAINFALL (mm)
Feb

Mar

STATIOr-; M.\RCABELI
190.0
31.8
max.
540.4

286.3
73.6
555.3

322.6
41.0
674.4

STATION SANTA ROSA

92.4
2.1
max.

149.0
2.6
377.5

148.4

237.0
88.8
HI.O

Jan

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

OCl

Nov

Dec

275,7

107.7

40.6

7.8

9.4

71.1

21.4

30.2

117.4

40.0
682.9

303.6

208.4

46.9

31.1

51.1

91.0

187.4

7429

17.8

11.3

.0

23.5

24.8

15.1
7.6
24.6

300.5

113.9

34.7

252.5

73.5
17.9
149.0

307.4
106.3
552.3

221.8
37.8
484.2

108.9

25.4

6.8

6.5

25.7

336.2

99.1

27.5

35.6

107

STATIO",

max.

212.4
48.5
361.1

108.0

40.5
1.9
143.3

156.1

142.9
5.4
347.2

22.9
22.4
23.4

23.1
22.6
23.6

20.6
23.4

21.9
20.6
23.1

TEMPERATURE
STATION MARCAllF:LI
avg.
23.2
mlll.
23.2
max.
23.2

24.2
23.8
24.5

24.2
23.7
24.5

23.2
23.2
23.2

22.7
22.7
22.7

23.2
22.0
24.4

22.8
22.0
23.6

22..l
21.4
22.9

22.2
22.2
22.2

22.2
22.0
22.5

STAflOr-; SASH ROSA

avg.
9"
9
min.
_::J .....
max.

25.9
25.3
26.8

26.3
25.8
26.8

26.4
25.7
27.3

26.0
25.7
26.6

25.3

25.5

24.2

26.2

26.1

25.0
24.2
26.2

26.0

24.3

19.9
23.2

21
20.3
22.6

21.5
20.7
22.1

21.4
20.5
22.3

20.0
22.2

21.7
20.2
22.9

22.2
21.3
2'3.2

22.4
21.8
23.7

STATION

max.

21.2
19.6
21.9

Dala provided by INA:VIHI

20.4
23.2

Divisi6n de Informatica

but these parts are serviced

area, road access is
by a reasonable network of mule-tracks and footpaths.
Since the
of the Tahuin dam 10 the late

base maps and

airphotograph)
of the El Oro meta

in
coverage
also exists for the western
area and can be
obtained from Centro de
Integrado de
Recursos ~aturales
Remotos (CLIRSEN),
Quito. The 1:100
base map used in
this study was prepared b,
since topographic
maps at this scale are
una\ailable in Ecuador.
Due to its situation close to the
Peru much of the El Oro Proyince is
The purchase of maps etc.,
western part of the
must be
letters of permission from the
Immediately to the east

, to the south of the

and to the west of the Arenillas-El

road
1), there is an 'exclusion' zone.
per
mission must be obtained to enter this area from the mili
in both Quito and the provincial
\1achala.

This
ber 1

1990 and Decem

7 year (1984-1
a bilateral technical
tion
beuveen the UK and Ecuador.
was
the Overseas Development Administra
and Commonwealth Office
tion of the British
and CODIGEM of the Ecuadorian Department of
and Mines. The authors would like to acknowl
edge the contribution of all CODIGEM staff and
especially Carlos
for his support and encour
agement. Particular
are due to Faviola Alcocer.
Ramiro
Victor Actimibay and Manuel Celler;
for their loyal and courageous support throughout.
text and
have benefitted from comprehensis
reviews
Martin Litherland and Rt
Evans.
J
would also like to thank all the members
the
and

OVERSEAS GEOL. & MINER. RESOUR. No. 67 1995

GEOLOGICAL UNITS OF THE COMPLEX

GENERAL SEITING
The Northern Andes of Ecuador and Colombia strike
NNE-SSW and are separated from the NW-SE-striking
Central Andes of Peru by the Huancabamba Deflection
(Gansser, 1973) . According to Megard (1989) one of the
mcUor features of this zone of transition , which he refers
to collectively as the Huancabamba Andes, 'is the pres
ence of a probable accreted microcontinen t ... the
Amotape - Tahuin terran e ', which crops out in north
west Peru and in south-east Ecuador as the EI Oro meta
morphic complex. More recent work carried out in
these areas (Litherland et al., 1994; Aspden and Lither
land, 1992; Jaillard e t al., 1990), including that of this
Project, has resulted in the re-interpretation of the
Huancabamba Deflection and, as shmvn on the accom
panying geological map, a more precise definition of the
main 'geo-tectonic' elements of this structure is now
possible.
In Ecuador, as elsewhere, the con tact between the
'Amotape- Tahuin terrane' and the main Cordillera is
obscured by younger deposits. However, within the
context of the Northern Andes the EI Oro metamorphic
complex is clearly anomalous. Structural trends are
east-west, which contrast markedly with the NNE-SSW
str ike of the Cordillera Real immediately to th e east,
and it comprises a variety of low- to high-grade meta
morphic rocks, of both continental and oceanic affinity.
The complex includes what have generally been consid
ered to be some of the oldest known ro cks in Ecuador
and, in addition , it contains outcrops of blueschists and
eclogites, lithologies that are rare throughout the
Northern Andes and , at present, unknown elsewhere in
Ecuador.

Figure 2
Summary of
stratigraphic
nomenclature.

In the north-west, the complex is covered by largely

unconso lidated Late Tertiary to Quaternary deposits of
the coastal plain , and along the Jubones valley its north
ern limit is defined by the east-west-trending Jubones
fault. In the east and south it is intruded, and/or over
lain, by a mojor Tertiary volcano-plutonic complex and
by the Cretaceous sediments of Lhe Alamor basin.
To the north and east of the main outcrop, for
example in the Chaucha and Manu areas, inliers and/or
float blocks of metamorphic rocks, have also been
recorded (Aspden and Litherland, 1992; Aspden et aI.,
1988; Feininger, 1987; INEMIN-Mision Belga, 1989;
Kennerley et a I., 1973). The details of such occ urrences
remain relatively unknown but the available information
sugge sts that these rocks are lithologically and miner
alogically comparable with those found 'within the EI
Oro metamorphic complex.
Reconnaissance 1: 100 000 geological sheet mapping
of the EI Oro and Loja Provin ces was fIrSt completed
between 1969 and 1981 as part of an ea rlier bilateral
Technical Co-operation Programme bel:\veen the gov
ernments of the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland
(ODA) and Ecuador (Direcci6n General de Geologia y
Minas - DGGM ; Ministry of Energy an d Mines). Also'
during this period Dr Tomas Feininger, together with
various students from the Escuela Politecnica Nacional
in Quito (Almeida, 1977; Sevilla, 1976; Duque , 1975),
carried out detailed mapping of the we stern part of the
EI Oro metamorphic complex which resulted in the pub
lication of a 1:50 000 geological map (Feininger, 1978).
This work is indexed on the accompanying geological
map.
Some of the information from these earlier studies,
especially that from along the frontier zone with Peru
has been used to augment that collected during the
current study. Equally, some of the geological contacts

PALENQUE MELANGE DIVISION

Late Jurassic
to
Early Cretaceous

:5

Mixed unit comprising metasedimentary matrix

and various older (Late Triassic) granitoids and
amphibolites, serpentinites and a major HP/ LT
blueschist complex as tectonic inclusions

MOROMORO GRANITOID COMPLEX

Fragments also
occur as tectonic
inclusions in
Palenque melange
division

Various granitoids, migmatitic units and

plutons of S-type character
Late Triassic

PIEDRAS MAFIC COMPLEX

Amphibolitic metaigneous unit

TAHUIN SEMI-PELITIC DIVISION

Palaoomlc { Unmetamorphosed to high-grade, semi-pelitic
sequence

Metamorphosed in
Late Triassic

OVERSEAS GEOL & wIlNER RESOlJR. No. 67 1995

in the immediate area of Cerro Pelado (Figure 1) are

taken from the work of Plateau Mining Company. It is
emphasised however, that the interpretation of these
data is the sole responsibility of the present authors.
A5 a result of this earlier work a pre-existing, in part,
form a l stratigraphic nomenclature had already been
estab li shed for the El Oro metamorphic complex but in
the presen t study an informal system, summarised in
Figure 2, is preferred. Hence the terms division/
comp lex/ unit replace those of Group / Formation. In
some instances, it has also proved necessary to redefine
and / or subdivide , some of the original rock groupings
of previous workers but, where possible, names that are
in common usage have been retained. These changes
are detailed in Figure 3.
Formal stratigraphical nomenclature in the sense of,
for example, the North American Stratigraphic Code
(NACSAN ; 1983) and its recomme ndations for sedim en
tary and ign eous rock unit definition could not be fol
lowed because of lack of data on thickness of units, their
diffuse and tectonised contacts, their variable metamor
phic changes and their irregular form s.
The geology of the EI Oro metamorphic complex is
illustrated in the accompanying geological map and in
the following account is described in term s of two infor
mal 'sub-provinces ' (Figure 4). Sub-provin ce I, located
to the south of the east -west-striking Zanjon - Naranjo
fault zone, consists of geologically diverse e lements
belonging to the Tahuin se mi-pelitic division, the Moro
moro granito id comp lex and th e Piedras mafic complex.
In spite of this diversity sub-province I is considered to
be a coherent block for which an inte rnally consistent
stratigraphy and geo logical history can be recognised.
North of the east -west-striking Zanjon -N aranjo fau lt
zone sub-province II corresponds to the Pa lenque
melange division, a h eterogenous structural compl ex
that includ es various, kilometre-sca le, fau l t-bounded
bodies as tectonic inclusions. The northern boundary of
this sub-province is the east -westJubones fau lt.

GEOLOGYOF SCB-PROVINCE I
Tahuin semi-pelitic division
The Tahuin di,"ision consists of a variably metamor
phosed, semi-pelitic sequence that shows a r a pid
increase in me tamorphic grade from south to north and
is named after the Cordillera of Tahuin , a general name
applied to the higher elevations in the weste rn part of
the El Oro Prm"ince hing to the south of the va ll eys of
the Rios Naranjo / Arenillas"'. It forms an east-west-strik
ing, 10-20 km-\\ide belt that can be traced continuously
for about 80 km fr0111 the PerLl bord e rland in the west,
eastwards into the [1 Cisne area. The division has been

\~'here

appropria te I OC ~ll io Il pl.ltt> r i 'el 1I .1I 11l"\ u sed in the text and
those afLer which th e di,"i sio n, IlIll h \ le .I "~ n am ed are indica te d in
Figure 1. Grid references (l i \ U refer tu indi,; du a l 1;;")0 000
topographic sheets which are ind t" ~l" d "" Iht' dcco lllp<lming
geological map.

divided into two informal units and La Victoria in the north.

EI Tigre in the south

El TigTe unit (Las Lajas 609/9578)*

The El Tigre unit consists of an unmetamorphosed to
weakly metamorphosed sequence comprising poorly
sorted, immature, fine- to medium-grained , quartz-rich
arkoses, feldspathic quartzites and wackes, with inter
bedded lutites and siltstones. Apart from river sections,
the El Tigre unit is typically deeply weathered but rea
sonably fresh , semi-continuous outcrops do occur along
the Arenillas-Alamor road , between the small settle
ment of El Tigre , after which the unit is named, and th e
Rio Puyango, and also along the Ponovelo-Loja road to
the south of EI Prado. In the south, the EI Tigre unit is
overlain unconformably by the Cretaceous sed im ents of
the Alamo r basin (Baldock, 1982; Feininger, 1978). This
con tact is particularly well exposed to the north of the
Rio Puyango along the Arenillas-Alamor road (Plate 1)
but further to the east near EI Cisne it has been affected
by a series of NNE - SSW-trending faults belonging to the
Guayabal fault zone (Figure 4) and precise relationships
a re more difficult to establish. To the north, the El Tigre
unit passes into the metamorphosed La Victoria unit,
details of which are discussed below.
In addition to quartz and feldspar (the latter usually
altered to sericite), these rocks also contain minor
amoun ts of biotite, muscovite and green or brown tour
maline. Intraformational lutite clasts, which vary from
submillimetre to several tens of centimetres in size, are
common, especially in the coarser arenaceous beds,
some of which are probably composite since they reach
several metres in thickness.
Well-preserved. sedimentary structures within the EI
Tigre unit can be observed in various river sections. For
example, in the Quebrada Agua Negra to the west of
Marcabeli (Marcabeli 617/9581), where the sequence is
overturned, massive, crudely graded. quartzose wackes,
some of which have erosional bases with sole structures
and flute casts, pass into finer-grained, cross-laminated
and parallel-laminated siltstones. Flame structures,
slump folding and slumped, 'olistostromic' horizons
(Plate 2) are also presen t. These features suggest that
the EI Tigre uni t is essen tially turbiditic in origin and the
absence of volcanic material! detritus in these rocks may
indicate derivation from a 'passive' margin or cratonic
source.

ra Vi ctoria unit (Las Lajas 604 / 9582)

Th e La Victoria unit comprises a variably metamor
phosed se mi-pelitic sequence that is interpreted to rep
resent the northern equ ivalent of EI Tigre unit. The
main Arenillas - Alamor road , immediately to the east of
La Victoria provides a section across the La Vic tori a unit,
but outcrops are of varying quality and often weathered.
Fresh outcrops occur be tween Las Lajas a nd La Victoria,
and to the south of La Victoria in the Quebrada Lajas.
Further to the east, exce ll ent partial sections are
exposed in the Quebrada Primavera, downstream from
La Primavera, and also beLween EI In ge nio and Marca
belt , in th e Quebrada Marcabeli. In the Rio Moromoro.

OVERSEAS GEOL. & MINER. RESOUR. No . 67 1995

Pre-existing nomenclature
(based mainly on Feininger, 1978)

I""i(.l

If)

::>

ow

<.)

<t:
f
W

a:

<.)

~ E
pelites, garnet schists, eclogites
~ u.. ~ and bluesch ists

cr:

e'g,
1l Kth

serpentinised harzburgites

w ~

OJ:

~~ ~
Pm quartz diorite and alaskite

Q) .:

",a..
2

Q)

~u::g~
"''''
-'(5

<.)

6
N
o

granod iorite

I -- --r-1-.,---

-I

Pt 3

::i
<t:
CL

Pt ,-unmetamor phosed arenites

and lutites

6"
a:

0::
<t:
Q

Pt 2 -quartzites, phyllites and schists

W
Pt 3-apl itic gneisses, granites,

quartzites and schists

Pt 4 -gneisses and migmatites

::>

a
o

a:

z
<t:
~

Pta-amphibolites

ycpq
pCpa
L

pCps

Pc pgs pCpgg

<t:

a:co

pCpgs-greensch ists

<t:

<.)

w
a:
CL

pCpq-q uartzites and sericite schists

pCps-muscovite sChists
pCpgg-granitic gneiss
pCpa-amphibolites

Figure 3

I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I

This study with established/preferred ages

(north and south refer to position relative
to Zanjon-Naranjo fault)

} La Chilca unit

} EI Toro unit

} Raspas ophiolitic comple,

(LATE JURASSIC-EARLY
CRETACEOUS)

} Marcabeli pluton
Moromoro granitoid
complex
(LATE TRIASSIC)
} La Florida unit

..
EI Tigre unit

} Tahuin semi-pelitic
division (LOWER

} La Victoria unit (south)

PALAEOZOIC)

Palenque melange

} division (LATE JURASSIC

Palenque melange
} division (north)
EARLY CRETACEOUS)

La Bocana unit (south) } Moromoro granitoid

Limon Playa
complex (LATE TRIASSIC)

unit (north)
} Piedras mafic complex

} Arenillas unit (north)

(LATE TRIASSIC)

R. Panupali unit
Palenque melange
division

Raspas ophiolitic

complex (LATE JURASSIC

EARLY CRETACEOUS)

Palenque melange

division (LATE JURASSIC

EARLY CRETACEOUS)

La Bocana unit

Moromoro granitoid

complex (LATE TRIASSIC)

Q. Plata unit (south)

Piedras mafic complex

(LATE TRIASSIC)

Comparison o f pre-existing stra tigraphic no me nclature and th a t used in the presen t study.

OVERSEAS GEOL. & MINER. RESO UR. No. 67 1995

Figure 4

Physiographic setting.
811'U0'

79"30'

3"20'

3"20 '

\
TERTIARY VOLCANO

\
~ /
<.fl,

PLUTONIC COMPLEX

~ \
-'

'o"

ZANJON-NARANJO FAULT ZONE

'TI

~(
z'

~ \
Sub-prOVince I

:D

~(

;',
~."

c.- ,

'\

CRETACEOUS

ALAMOR

BASIN

80"00'

Plate 1 Angular unconformi[\ of Cretaceous Alamor basin sequence and EJ Tigre unit,
Tahuin division, new ArenilJas-Alamor road c.1 km north-east of Rio Puyango road bridge.

79"30'

I
I
I
I

OVERSEAS GEOL. & MINER. RESOUR. No. 67 1993

Plate 2 Slump
folding in
turbiditic
El Tigre unit,
Tahuin division,
Quebrada Agua
Negra c.1 km
south of
SanJose.

upstream from the junction of the Quebrada El Oso, the

unit is almost continuously exposed but access is some
what more difficult and necessitates overnight camping.
The contact between the La Victoria and El Tigre
units is complex and, in part, gradational. However, it is
generally marked by the incoming of a regionally devel
oped cleavage and / or the appearance of metamorphic
biotite (see also Feininger, 1978). The contact coincides
with an important, approximately east-west-trending,
'tectonic' zone which, in the west, is located about 5 km
south-south-west of La Victoria , in and around the
village of Chiriboga. This zone passes eastwards, immedi
ately to the north of Marcabeli arid to the south of
Capiro, and emerges near the junction of the Rios Pindo
and Amarillo. Further to the east, it is obscured by the El
Prado pluton and, in the El Cisne area, by the Guayabal
fault zone.
In the south, biotite-bearing slates and phyllites are
dominant, bedding is still clearly visible and, in thin
section in some of the lower-grade rocks, original clastic
textures may still be observed within the more massive,
impure, quartzite horizons. Compositionally tl1ese rocks
appear to be identical to those of the EI Tigre unit.
Further to the north, the phyllites normally contain small
porphyroblasts of sericite after ( ?) cordierite and / or
andalusite. With increasing metamorphic grade the phyl
lites are replaced by pelitic schists that are typically com
posed of biotite muscovite, albite and quartz with por
phyroblasts of cordierite and.! o r andalusite. Fibrolite
and/or sillimanite ( andalusite, garnet) is also com
monly developed, especially in the north towards the
contact with the Moromoro granitoid complex.

These mineralogical changes, in particular the pres

ence of coarse sillimanite + quartz + plagioclase + mus
covite biotite andalusite cordierite garnet assem
blages, also correspond to the appearance of gneissic/
migmatitic lithologies within the La Victoria unit (Plate
3). Many of these gneisses occur either within the Moro
moro granitoid complex or are located along its south
ern contact zone with the La Victoria unit and often
contain irregular, quartzofeldspathic leucosomes.
Depositional age of the Tahuin division
The depositional age of the Tahuin division is not well
established but it is considered to be Palaeozoic, most
probably pre-Carboniferous. Approximately 40 sam pIes
from the El Tigre unit were examined during this study
but none of these contained datable organic remains
(Owens, 1992). However, acritarchs and spores recO\'
ered from a single sample collected to the south of La
Libertad, were assigned a pre-Devonian, possibly post
Ordovician age by Zamora and Pothe de Baldis (1988).
A sample of 'black slate' collected from below the Creta
ceous Cazaderos Formation (Baldock , 1982), in the Riu
Cazaderos valley, to the south-west of the main Tah t:in
outcrop in the extreme west of the Loja pro\'i n C'" .
yielded a 'single possible example of Emphani -pn ri e ,
and some unidentified, strongly carboni~ed . <; imple
spore types which are either laevigate or \\ith a 10\\ "n'
ment of cones, spines or baculae. Though n taxa C'lJu'd
be positively identified, this is the t\-pe o fassembl ere I)nc;:
could expect to encounter in the Earh or .\ I idd\t: De'
nian ' (J E VVhittaker, British Museum. Lo nduli . p<'r~ n.a..i
communication ) . 'W hile the re bl in n,hip '
\e-<-n hi,

10

OVERSEAS GEOL & MI NER RESO UR. No. 67 1995

Plate 3
Mi gm a titi c
pa rag neiss,
La Victoria unit,
T a huin divisio n,
near to contact
with Moro m o ro
complex, c. l km
wes t of
Sa n Isidro.

sam ple and the T a hu in divisio n remain s un ce rtain , the

p resence of a cl eavage a nd its stru ctural pos iti o n below
the Cretaceo us Cazad eros Forma tio n , sugges t a co rrela
tion with th e Ta hu in division.
In north ern Perl' at Cerro Amotape, about 140 km to
th e south-west, along strike fro m the Tahuin divisio n , a
sim il a r sequence co mprising low-grade qua rtzites a nd
phvllites ha s yi e ld e d a sp a rse Devoni a n b rac hiopod
fauna (?vla rtinez, 1970) . Mourier (1988) has reviewed
the palaeonto logical eviden ce avai la ble from thi s area
and poin ts out th a t, while the Devonian age is unce rta in,
the discO\en of trace fossil s (Cruziana sp. and Loplwcte
nium) co uld indica te a lower Palaeozoic age.
Th e m e tamorphic age o f th e T a hU in division, consid
e red to be Late Triass ic, is d iscussed be low.

Moromoro granitoid complex (Zaruma 639 / 9573)

The '\1 0ro mo ro granitoid complex is named afte r th e
town of th e \lorOl ]) o ro a nd co mpri ses the La Bocan a an d
La Fl o rida units. and the \larca beli a nd EI Prad o p luto ns.
La Bocana

II l1il

(i\tlarcab eh 622/9592)

,I

The La Bocan a ull it is

m i;;ed unit th at includes a
numbe r of differe nt ruck [\ pe ~ b ll t consists principally of
va ri ably folia ted , fine- LO Incd ium -grained , biotite , mus
covite, garnet, tourm al ine gra noci iorites, with lesser
am o unts of migm a tites an 1 h igh-<:rade pa ragn e isses. It
d e rives its n a m e fro m th e sm all [0\'.1 1 of La Bocana a nd
makes up th e bulk of the \lo ru ll1 u ro gra n it oid co mplex.
The unit is well exposed in a numb r of n rrh-south

flowing rivers but the Qu eb rad as Pi e dras / Primavera,

n ear to the town of La Bocana, a re most easily accessible.
In the east, close to EI Cisn e, the La Bocana unit is
tr unca ted by th e Guayabal fa ult zone, and in th e no rth, it
is overlain and in tr ud ed by a Tertiary volca no-plutonic
complex alo n g th e Pinas-Portovelo fa ult zone . YlTh e re
observed (La Avanzada 6207/ 95967; 6266/95961 ), the
no rth e rn contact with the Pi edras mafi c complex (Qu e
brad a Pl ata unit, see below) is tec to nic. Howeve r, th e
prese nce of amphibo lite xen o liths within th e La Bocan a
unit (Zaruma 6506 / 95838; 6477/95895) , an d th e occur
rence of gra niti c bodi es (Arenillas 5908/ 95965; La Avan
zada 6265 / 95965 ) within the Pi edras mafi c complex,
suggest tha t this contac t was pro bably or ig in ally intrusive.
The m ain sou the rn contact of th e u n it with the metasedi
me ntary La Vi ctoria unit is partly g rad a tional but o n a
regiona l scale corresponds to a complicated zone of syn
to late-magmati c, d extral sh earing (see be low) wh ich ,
esp ecially in th e eas t, has resulted in th e tectonic inte r
fingerin g of litho logies. Where possible, the la rger areas
of metasedim ents h ave been assig ned to the La Victoria
unit h o wever, as mapped , th e La Bocan a unit do es
includ e a t leas t some pa ragn e isses, ma ny of whi c h are
high-grad e and show varyin g degrees of migm ati sa ti o n .
Further to the south , a nd contained within the La
Vic toria unit, a re a n um be r of gen e rall y strong ly foli
ate d , lens-sh ape d bo di es compose d pre d o min a ntly of
biotite, mu scovite, garnet granodiorite . Th ese bod ies
h ave fa ul ted contacts and ofte n show well-d eveloped, S-C
mylonite fa brics (Berthe e t ai. , 1979) . These plutons,
togeth e r with a number of la te pegmatitic, gen erall\

OVERSEAS GEOL. & MINER. RESOUR. No. 67 1995

tourmaline-bearing dykes, which intrude the La Victoria

unit, are considered to belong to the La Bocana unit. In
the extreme west, a small fault-bounded (c.<500 m
wide), biotite muscovite granodiorite body, which occurs
'within the Quebrada Plata unit (see below), to the south
of Chacras has also been assigned to the La Bocana
unit.
Texturally the La Bocana granodiorites are normally
markedly heterogeneous due to the presence of numer
ous, predominantly metasedimentary, xenoliths that
include quartzites, pelitic schists, paragneisses and
migmatites (Plates 4 and 5-7), Biotite clasts/schlieren

Plate 4 Texturally heterogenous

granitoid, La Bocana unit,
Moromoro complex, Quebrada
Palo de Oro, Note presence of
metasedimentary xenoliths, white
quartz xenocry. ts and
irregular zones of diffuse
fol iation/sch lieren.

Plate 5 Texturally heterogenous

foliated granitoid, La Bocana unit,
Moromoro complex,
Quebrada Primavera. Common
metasedimentary xenoliths are
stretched and flattened parallel
to foliation; irregular pale-coloured
areas consist mainly of xenocrystic
quartz.

II

and irregularly shaped clasts of white vein quartz, up to

several centimetres across, are also common. Contact
relationships between different xenoliths and the gran
odiorite host vary from being sharp and well defined to
diffuse and ghost-like. At outcrop, areas of irregular foli
ation, and the presence of biotite schlieren, can often be
directly attributed to assimilation and/or the break-up of
xenolithic material. Mineral assemblages within the
metasedimentary, 'restite', xenoliths are variable, but
include coarse sillimanite + muscovite + biotite anda
lusite cordierite porphyroblasts of muscovite (?retro
grade after sillimanite) garnet, K-feldspar. In some

12

OVERSEAS GEOL. & MINER. RESOUR. No. 67 1995

Plate 6 Migm a titic granite

gneiss, La Boca na unit of
Moromoro complex, La Florida
area.

Plate 7 Migmatitic granite

gneiss, La Bocana unit of
Moromoro complex, La Florida
area.

areas, for example to the north of La Bocana near Santa

Teresita, and west\\a rd s to,,ards the Quebrada Tahuin
Grande, sillimanite + K-feldspar + muscovite assemblages
are prese nt. Also in this area. a nd to th e south of Por
tovelo in the east, biotite ga rn e t::: muscovite granodior
ites are widespread. In thin section. some of these gran
odio rites (e.g. to the south-\\est of El Blanco, Marcabeli
611 / 9594) contain fresh , euh ed ral, acicular crystals of
coarse sillimanite; whether this mineral is magmatic or
xe nocrystic in origin h as not been established. Irregular
apophyses of quartz + feldsp ar + tou r m a line biotite

mu scov ite pegmatites an d late, undeformed, cro ss

cutting dykes of similar material are common in th e La
Bocana unit (Plates 8 and 9) and in the extreme we~t.
along the Perllvi a n frontier, Feininger (1978) recorded
the prese nce of a tourm a line-b earing gran od iori te
pluton (Las Lajas 591/9581) .
Downstream of La Florida and La Primave ra, in the
Qu eb radas El Guineo and Primavera , several und e
for med dykes of intermediate composition cut the La
Bocana unit. These intrusions are believed to be relared
to a younger (Tertia!)') event (Plate 8).

OVERSEAS GEOL & MINER. RESOUR. No. 67 1995

13

La Flmida unit (Las Lajas 598/9585)

The La Florida unit takes its name from the small settle
ment of La Florida situated close to the disputed Peru
vian frontier and following Feininger (1978), three
plutons belonging to this unit have been mapped in the
western part of the Moromoro granitoid complex.
The La Florida unit consists of generally non-foliated,
medium- to coarse-grained, alkali feldspar megacrystic,
biotite garnet granite/ granodiorite (Plates 10 and 11).
The pale cream-coloured, alkali feldspar megacrysts vary
in size and proportion; they are up to 8 em in length
and, in hand specimen, frequently display Carlsbad
twins. In marked contrast to the La Bocana unit, the La
Florida unit is texturally homogeneous and shows good
primary igneous textures. It commonly contains meta
sedimentary xenoliths, which include quartzites, para
gneisses and migmatites (Plates 12 and 13). In most
cases the contacts of these xenoliths with the host
granodiorite are sharp but in some cases they are
rimmed by irregular, marginal zones of pegmatitic tour
maline + quartz biotite muscovite. Late dykes of leu
cocratic two-mica aplites are also present.
Irregular patches of La Florida-type granodiorites,
with diffuse/gradational contacts, occur within the La
Bocana unit and suggest a similar age and related origin
for these granitoids.

Nlarrabeli and El Prado plutons (Marcabeli 621/9582;

Zantma 658/9577)

Plate 8 Unfoliated, late-stage granitic pegmatite cross

cutting foliated granite, La Bocana unit, Moromoro
complex, Quebrada Primavera. Note presence of young
(Tertiary?) dyke in upper part of photograph.
Plate 9 Irregular pegmatitic
apophysis, comprising feldspar,
quartz, biotite, muscovite and
tourmaline, La Bocana unit,
Moromoro complex, Quebrada
Primavera.

The Marcabeli and El Prado plutons are located within

the Tahuin division and straddle the contact between the
La Victoria and EI Tigre units. No age dates are available
for the El Prado pluton, but its general east-west trend
and the occurrence of compositionally and texturally
similar granitoids to those observed in the Marcabeli
pluton suggest that these two bodies are similar in age.

14

OVERSEAS CEOL & MI:'>i ER RESO l R, 1\1l , 67 J 99:)

Plate 10 Megacryst.ic alkali,

feldspar biotite granite,
La Florida unit, Moromoro
complex, immediately south
of La (lorida,

Although in places both plutons are rut by di scre te , ge n

erally steep, east-west-trending' shear zones (Plate 14),
they are essenl.ially undeformed, espec ially in the south
where l,hey intrllde and con tact !1H' lam orp"h ose the El
Tigre unit. Locally, alldalusite is lI,irl dy cl n d o p ~' d (Rio
BClisas, Marcabeli 6256/95805) . I h e north n l1 contM t<,
of the plutons have been affecte d h}' she a l ing and th eir
precise limits, and relatio n ~h ip to , the gran od io rites of
the La Bocana u n it re q uire , 1<II-ifi.C(l 1ion.
T he Marcabel l and EI Prado plu to n s are often d eepl y
weathered but consist prill cipall y 01 JIl ed iu m -grained ,
biotite muscO\'ite granodiorites. Both pl ut ulls arc COlll
posite and contain a \ a ri el' u l p lutonic ph ase' , Llw
nature of which Clnd their illl f' ITe lal iu llShi p s rem a in
uncertain. In the \,'e t, c ~1 H I ~(' cl il lo ll g tlI e so ut h ban k ()r
the Rio Pll\~\llgo (Marcabeli 617 / 9576 ), lil t ,\ LirGtiwli
pluton includ e , a leli co Ct"~ lt i c. ( \"0 Ini c~ l , tOj><v-be ,tri l1 g
facies. In o ther area , ( to till' \\T5t o f ~Jar cah e h in the Rio
Marcab e li, Marcabeli 6194 / 95811) mc ciiull1-g 1a illed,
hornblend e , biu tite g r,tIl udl () r it cs that carn h ornb le llde
bearing' \.c lloli th s are ex pme cl , Sil1liiJ.r horll h lende-rich
xenoliths Rlso OCClll in the Q uehr ada ~lila g- ro (Marca
beJi 6286 /95852 ). \\ hi ht fm llt ' l to til e c~I"'L ex posed in a
small quart, n t'M Bal":ts (Marcabeli 630/ 9583) , weakly
foliated bio tite 1I111 r u\itt" gra ll()diori Les are prf'sent.
Similar mine ralng ica l te x tural \ ...Ilia tion can also be ob
served \\'ithin the E! Prado p Ill Io n, \,'hich in places (Que
brada l'sulaca. Zaruma 651 / 9583). dl so carries ro p.1 /
and xenolithic I1l dlt'fi ,ti o f i~IH' u l l ~ origin , 0.'e ar th e
village of El Prad u dlld fur lher tu lil t' \\ t'sl in the Que
brada Chaupi (Zaruma 661 / 957 8 ) 1l1 00e J1l :)fiL , h o rn
blende-bearing gr<'lIl< ,di o rilt-' ,lIl el clio r ilic \cl r iall t. OCCIir.
In both the Marcabell J lld - I Pl a cl u [llutOllS, unde
formed basic dykes and min ot i llr rt l';i o ll ' LilT p r e se nt , In
some areas these rocks are fto'll Ll r Ld h' fr '5h (e.g. lh
blocks of 'basaltic' materia l ~ (, C II ill th e \'illage of El
Prado) and, in view of the fact that I h e m ain EI Prad o

Plate 11 Megacrystic alkali feldspar biotite granite,

La Florida unit, Moromoro complex, immediately sO litL

o f La Fl o rida.

OVERSEAS GEOr & MI" E R. RESOUR. No. 67 1995

Plate 12
X t noliLh of
mig ma ti tic
g;ran ile g lle iss in
La Florida unit,
Mo rom ofo
co mplex ,
Q uehrada
Pal maJes.

Plate 13
Me ta"ed inw l1 lan'
xenolilhs ,,-itb
chilled margi ns ,
La Florida unit,
Mor01110ro
com pl e \:, c.S2 km
sOlllh of
La Florida .

15

16

OVERSEAS GEOL. & MINER. RESOlJR No. 67 1995

I

0.5 14 ~

43Nd / 144Nd

0.512

i=--- - ....---+*-

--+-

----

- - --- - + ---

0.510 1
-

0.508 -

AGE 219

22 Ma (25)

Intercept 0.5119 0.0000

MSWDO.4
147Sm / 144Nd

0.506 I
0.1

I
0.5

0.3

Figure 5 Sm / Nd isochron diagram for garnet

bearing paragneiss, La Bocana unit, l'v[oromoro
complex, Rio Piedras.
0.6 ,---

-,---

..,.--

---r--

----,--,--- , --

::l
(')
(\J

-.

2400
/ " ' ______ "

.0

CD

0.4

0.3

207/206 age = 2220 2.1 Ma

1600
Marcabelr Abraded

0.2

207/206 age =
2876 1.8 Ma

/ ~ Marcabelf Abraded Zircon Cores

(\J

2000

Plate 14 Steep, east-wes t-tre nding, ductile shear zone

in Ma rcabe lf pluton, c.1 km wes t of San Roquito.

-,-- - - ",,----;

2800

co

0.5

-,--

1200

550

Zircon Core
546 3. 3 Ma

pluton is norma lly strongly wea thered, such intrusives

are very probably younger and unrelated to the
Morom o ro gra nito id complex.
Age ofLa Bocana unit and NJarcabeli pluton
The available K-Ar bio tite an d muscovite mineral ages
from th e La Bocana unit and the Marcabeli pluton are
listed in Tab le 2. With the exception of a somewhat
younger date of 189 5 Ma , obtain ed from a float block
of la te tourmaline mu scovite granite pegmatite , the La
Boca na ages range between 207 6 a nd 220 6 Ma
(mean 213 6 Ma). A Sm / Nd whole-rock/ ga rnet iso
chron age of 2 19 22 Ma (MSvVD 0.4) has also been
obtained from garnet-bea ri ng parag ne isses within the La
Bocana unit , co llected fr om the Rio Piedras near to
Santa Teresita (Aspden e t at. , 1992 and Figure 5) . The K
Ar data from th e i'vIarcabeli pluton range from 193 13
to 221 6 l'vIa (mean 209 9 .\1a) .
Recently, a U / Pb (monazite ) age has confirmed a
slightly older, Late T ri ass ic age for the Ma rcabeli pluton
of 227.5 0.8 Ma, and inh erited zircon ages which range
from 0.546 to 2.876 billion years indicate the presence of
a component of reworked crustal material (Noble et aI.,
1994) (Figure 6).

Figure 6 U/ Pb concord ia diagram for rv[arcabeli

pluton; the crystallisation age of 227.5 0.8 l'vIa is g iven
by the monazite analyses and strongly a braded zircon
cores indica te inheritance of Archean and Proterozoic
xenocrysts.

Piedras mafic complex (La Avanzada 620/ 9598)

The Piedras mafic comp lex is name d after the ar ea
which surrounds the small settle ment of Piedras. In ., \Ih
provin ce I, rocks belongin g to this intrusive comr lc-,
have been assigned to the Quebrada Plata unit.
Qyebrada Plata unit (La Avanzada 634/9596)
Lithologically the Quebrada Plata unit comprises \-an
ably tex tured, massive to gneissic, fine-to coarse-gra ineci
generally mafic, saussuritised m etagabbros (nO\, lll ain
amphibolites) consisting of pal e g reen hornb lc nrit"

OVERSEAS GEOI .. & MINER. RESOU R. No. 67 1995

Table 2

17

K-Ar d e termin ations for the Moromoro g ranito id compl ex.

Rad 40AR
(nl/g)

Area sampled (topographic

sheet and grid ref.)

Mineral

Bi otite garn et
gneiss

Q. Lobos, near El Ca rmen

Bio tite

8.51

Magmatitic,
biotite
orthogneisses

Q. Piedras, Sta Teresila

area
(La Avanzacla 6212/959561)

Bioti te
IVluscovite
Muscovi te

6.26
7.04
5.68

28.24
11.08
14.82

54.375
61. 822
48.492

211 6
213 6
207 6

Biotite muscovite
granodiorite

Q. EI Negro SSW of I,a Bocana

(MaTcabe lf 621 8/ 95912)

Biotite
Muscovite

7.47
8.45

8.67
32.94

66.548
76.941

216 6
220 6

Late tourmaline
muscovite granite
pegmalite

R. Peidras, La Bocana

Muscovite

8.5 1

1530

65.994

189 5

Biotite

7.78

Rock type

Atom 40

Age (Ma)

LA B OCANA UNIT

210 8*

(La Avanzada 6 194/95950)

(La Avan zada 6219/ 95927)

MARCABEU PLUTON

R. Puyango at mouth of

Biotite
granodiorite

214 6*

Q. Marca beli
(Marca belf 6173/ 95771)

Biotite muscovite
granodi orite

Balsas quarry
(M arcabeH 6308/ 95837)

Bio tite
tvlu scovi te

7.50
8.41

72. 05
9.72

61.798
74.353

20J 12
214 6

Bi otite muscovite
uTanodio rite

Road to R. Puyan go SvV of

Marcabeli
(Marcabeli 6 188/ 95775)

Biotite
Muscovi te

7.65
7.00

7.06
74.92

70.042
55.487

221 6
193 13

C>

Dala from A,pde n

Cl

a I. , 1992 and 8Feininger and Si lberman, 19H2

and/ or actino lite, pl agio cl a se (ol igocl ase -andesin e),

e pidote and minor amo unts of qua rtz, o paqu es,
sphene, ru tile , cl inozoisite. In th e eas t, along the
Zanjon-Naranjo fau lt zon e , the unit includes so me
gre enschists and in the south, along th e contact with the
La Bocana uni t, pegmatitic a mph ibolites are comm on.
The are a around th e lower reac h es of th e Quebrad a
Plata prO\'id es both ri ver and road sections across this
unit. Excellen t outcrops also occur in th e Quebrada
Piedras, north of Santa Teresita a nd in the Rio Za racay
(La Avanzada , n orth of 6266/ 95961 ) . In the case of the
Quebrada Piedras, o utcrops are now being progress ively
drown ed b\' the rising " 'aters of the Tahuin reservo ir.
The Quebrada Plata unit strikes eas t-west and forms a
narro,,', gelH'ralh Jess than 3 km wide, but regionally
persistent, be lt rha t ca n be traced a lmos t continu o usly
for about 60 km from the Pe rt lvian bord er, in the west,
to Porto\e lo. in ,he e a~ l. \\oe re obse rved, its southern
contact "'ith the \lor o l11 o ro granito id compl ex is
tecton ic and i l~ n orthern contact coin cid es with the
Zanj o n-\-aranjo fa ult zo ne .
In the Rio P it' lr"\' (La Avanzada 620 / 9597 ) horn
blende-rich m afi e n c\;].\'e <; and relict igneou s banding
ca n be obse ryed ( P l a t e~ 1.5 and Hi). In this same r ive r ,
and also in the Rio Z<tr3Gl\ (La Avanzada 625/9597 ) , as
one ap proach es the Zanjon -\'aranjo fault from the

south , the generally massive, bur weakly folia te d litholo

g ies, which are typical of the unit, become increasingly
mylonitic. T he rocks develop a marked, gene rally n early
vertical , mineral lineation due to the growth of acicular
ac tinolite, now large ly epid o tised . Th e e nd prod uc t of
this process is a distinctive, finely banded, black to dark
green tectonite, in which late-conte mporaneo us, gen
erally ductile, co njugate se ts of Z-folded, kink bands are
d eve loped (Plate 17). Elsewhere alo ng th e Zanjon
Naranjo fault (La Avanzada 6266/ 95967; 6350/95965 )
these tectonites occu r toge ther with, or are replaced by,
more m assive greenschists (?retrograde am phibo lites )
composed of ac tinolite , e pidote, quartz, a lbite ,
sphene, rutile. In hand specimen , these rocks often
rese mble serpentinites du e to the development of ser
pentine min e ra ls onjoint/fracture surfaces.
According to Feinin ger (1978), the Qu ebrada Pl ata
unit ( part of his Piedras Group, see Figur e 3) was orig i
nally metamorphosed to amphibolite facies and h el:
subsequ e ntly been affected by a t least o ne re tro~ra Ie
event. T he observations noted above sugges t th al rh i.'
latter event was pro bably related to move men t( ~ , aillIl ~
the Zanjon-Naranjo fault zon e.
In the extre me west, along the fron ti r hilh Pertl
(Arenillas 590/ 9596 ), two , n a rrO\\ :'llitl 111 , lelll\[
bounded le nses of bi o tite musco\'ite grannc inr' e and

]8

OVERSEAS GEOL & MJ. ' ER RESOUR. No. 67 1995

Plate 15 Relict igneous banding, Q uebrada Pla ta unit ,

Piedras comple\. , Rio Piedras.

Plate 16 Ve rtical ba nding with co ncordant mafic

e nclaves, Qll eh r"lda P lata unit, Pit: d ras complex,
Quebrada P if>dra ~,

0.05
:::J

co

280

C\I

.0

$L
CD

O~

C\I

200

Age= 221 ~;: Ma

0.03
160

0. 02

120

serp e n lll1lte cro po ut within the Que brada Plata U lli t.

r he gran od iori le has bee n assign ed to tlte La BOC;1I1d
uni l of the Morom oro granitoid complex. Th e serp Tlli
nite is of u nce rta in age a nd origin but is it tel1tari\ l'h
co rrelated with sim ilar (un name d ) ser pe ntinite k ll~e
which o ccur fu rth er to th e north in th e PalellCJ ue
melange divisio n (se e b elow). Ano ther le ns of Sel
pe n lillite was also map ped by Feininge r (1~78) to the
VI' st o f Piedras village, n ea r EI Porve nir (La Avanzada
611/9597 ), in an area that is n ow paniaily co\uecl b\
tbe T ahuin rese rvoir.
Age oj (2uff/raJa Plata unit

207Pb 1235 U
001

0.10

026

Figure 7 U/ Pb zircon cOilc ordia di a~ ralll for

Quebrada Pla ta unit, Pi cha~ cO ll l pl~ " . Ri o

Piedras, The two conco rdi a ,m a l\ ~ e~ M (,f

strongly a braded m agmatic zircon s <lnd g i\ ' ~

a crystallisation age of22 1~ :~ \ 1a.

Va rious atte m pts to dale the Que brada Plai a unit !la\(O
been m ad usi ng th e K-Ar method (T able 3), Pre\'in ll, h
ll! (:' SC' rocks we re widely quoted as being Precam br ian in
age; , hased o n sillgle amphibole de termin ation of I -J.:~ =
13 Ma obtained for a sampk fro m the Poftmelo ,U~ .
(Ke lln e rie; , 1980, and Table 3). Dlllillg th e pr se lll , twh
r{'sa m p l ill~ or th is Illlit in th e sa me are a has vield ecl ag e '
of G-l7 37 Ma ancL 224 ::::3 ~'[a f()[ ;llil pb ibole lIl ill el 1

,l

OVERSI::AS GEOI.. . ML'<F R. RESOU R. No. 07 199.1

Plate 17 Fin ely banded gre ensch ist tcctoo ite wi th

centimetre-scale (Z) kink bands, Q uebrada Pla ta unit,
Piedras complex , uni on of Rios 1 'ara njo an d Pi dras,
Zanjon-NaraJ~o fault zone .

separates and these differen ces cas t do ubts on the validity

of accepting a Precambrian age (Aspd en et aI., 1992).
U / Pb zircon studies of the Q ueb rac!a Plata unit from
the Rio Piedras section (Plate 1.:' have provided an age of
221 ~!~Ma (Figure 7). According to 1 oble et at (1994),
the analysed zircons are of magmatic urigin and hence this
age, which is similar to those obta ined from th e La Bocana
I mit and the Marcabeli pILI ton , i ~ considered to be the age
of Cl),stallisa tion for the m(lfic co mp k~ ' .
Summary of conditions and age of metamorphism south
of the Zanjon- Naranjo fault zone (Sub-province I )
Within sub-provinc e I of th e I I O ro m eta m orp hi c
co mplex, the Tahuin divi sion has been affec ted by a
single, gene rally prograde , region,,1 m e tamorphic e vent.
AI though insufficient deta ile d petl graph ic a nd struc
tural data arf' available to enable the various m ineral iso
grad s to be plotted accurately it is apparent that meta
morphic grade increases from south to north and varies
from weak to incipient in the 1':1 T igre unit, to upper
a mphibo lite facies in the La Victoria unit. The jun ction
betwee n the EI Tigrf' anel La Victoria unit correspond s to
an east-west-trending, tecton ic zone which m a rks the
ap pearance of a regional cleavage an d the developme nt
of mineral assemblages typical of the biotite zone (biotite
chlo rite + muscovite + qu artz) in the low-pressure meta-

Table 3

K-Ar determin ations for the Piedras m afi c cumpl ex.

Rad 'WAR
(nl/g)

Age (Ma)

'l.00 1

74?, 1?,t

1.389
0.602

647 'l7
224 ?'4

Area sa mpled (topograp hic

shee t a nd grid ref'.)

Mineral

Amphibolite

ncar Ponovelo
(Za ruma 653/9588)

Hornblenc\e

0.OH4

Amphibo lite

c. 1 krn SvV of Ponovclo

(Za nllna 6519/ 95882)

Horn blen cle

Hornblende

0 .05
0.07

Am p h ibo li te

"'es t or Piedras
(La A,\ amad a 620/ 9598)

Hornblende

0.238

196 .. 8*

A,rc nillas
(,\rc nillas 604/ 96(7)

Hornblende

0444

74 ,- 1"

:\rt' n ilia, roael bridge

L-\1 cniJl;ls 6049/ 96(72)

Hornblende
Ho rn bien de
I !orn bl e nde

0. 370
0.35R
0. 3:i8

Rock ty pe

Q.

Atom 40

PLATA L'l" IT

75.4?,
88.72

ARENIU _~5 l '''IT

Amphibo li te

Amphibo li te

Data from _-\spcle ll

<.' 1 cl l. .

1\J ( I~ .(Ilel T .. ini ll~ ( 'r and Silberman , 1982 and t Ke uJJcrley, 1980

9L23
76 .17
8 1. 36

1.062
l. 05 1
1.080

7'2 15
74,6
76 7

14

20

OVERSEAS GEOL & l'vIlNR. RESOUR. No. 67 1995

morphic facies series (for review see Yardley, 1989).

Further to the north, in the La Victoria unit, mineral
assemblage s which are first typical of the cordierite zone
(cordierite + biotite + quartz) and then of the andalusite
zone (cordierite + andalusite + biotite) can also be recog
nised. The first (lower) sillimanite zone is marked by the
incoming of fibrolite which occurs near the first appear
ance of andalu site . However, as the contact with the
Moromoro granitoid complex is approached, sillimanite
coarsens and becomes more abundant.
Within the Moromoro granitoid complex (principally
the La Bocana unit), and occurring either as tectonic
enclaves or xenolithic/migmatitic restite material, are
various, generally high-grade paragneisses, considered to
represent equivalents of the La Victoria unit. These
gneisses often contain coarse sillimanite + feldsp ar
garnet cordier ite biotite muscovite quartz assem
blages and belong to the second (upper) sillimanite zone.
The total absence of kyanite, staurolite, and the pres
ence of garnet only in the highest grades, indi cates that
the metamorphism which affected the Tahuin division
was of a temperature-dominated, low-pressu re, Abu
kuma-type (Miyashiro, 1961). The mineralogy and field
relationships of the La Victoria and La Bocana units
indicate that during this event temperatures were suffi
ciently elevated to melt the pelitic sediments of the La
Victoria unit (i.e. the upper sillimanite zone) . Peak
metamorphism probably occurred in the Late Triassic
and was contemporaneous with emp lace ment of the
Moromoro and Piedras compl exes.

GEOLOGY OF SUB-PROVINCE II
Palenque melange division (Santa Rosa 636/ 9626)

The rocks of the El Oro metam orphic complex betvveen

the Zanjon-Naranjo fault zone and the Jubones fault
are interpreted to represent a structural complex or
regional melange zone, collectively referred to as the
Palenque melan ge division. Tbey comprise sub-pro\ince
II (Figure 4) of the metamorph ic com plex which is
named after the area surrounding the \illage of
Palenqu e, lo cated about 6 km south-\,est of Pasaje.
In the west, the diyision is buried beneath the largely
unconsolidated, Late Tertiary and Quaternafl deposits
of the coastal plain and in the east it is intrud ed , and in
part overlain, by a ,olcano-p lutonic complex of pre
sumed Tertiary age. Inlins of metamorphic rocks have
been noted, or reported, from se\eral localities (e.g.
south of Cerro Azul ,illage alung the Paccha road; the
Rio Daucay, upstream of Playas de Daucay; the h ead
waters of the Rio Chil ola. I,est of Cerro Chillacocha),
but insufficient inform ation is a\ai lable to sholl' these on
the accompanying geological map.
The matrix of the Palenque melange division com
prises domin antly metasedimentary rocks which contain
a number of large, regionalh extensi\e, fault-bounded
blocks as tectonic inclusions. Lithologically and miner
alogically some of these inclusions can be correlated
with rock types/assemblages that occur in sub-province I

but the division also includes various serpentinite lens ,

and the oceani c and associated high-pressure rocks u f
the Raspas oph io litic complex. Geologically these in
clusions are distinct and therefore exotic with respect to
the metasedimen tary matrix.
PALENQUF. MELAl'\J CE DIVISIO N -

MATRI X

No single road/river crosses the Palenque melange di\j

sion in its entirety but in the north , fresh and accessible
exposures of the matrix rocks occur in the Rio Huizho.
east of Pasaje (Uzhcurrumi 640/ 9632). The matrix COIl
sists mainly of fine- to medium-grained, low- to medium
grade metasedimen ts. Dark-coloured, blue to black to
green, semi-pelitic, sc histose phyllites and slates are domi
nant but quartz-sericite sch ists, feldspathi c schists, meta
greywackes, green to black to grey cherts, greenschists
and rare amphibole (tremolite) schists are also presen t.
In outcrop sed imentaI)l structures are rarely obsefled
and the roc ks are normally strongly sheared and/or brec
ciated. They includ e broken, mixed and pseudo
conglome ratic horizons in which lensoid clasts of generalh
coarser metasedimentary material of variable dimensions
(generally <1 rn) occur within a finer-grained matrix. In
the north , along the Jubones fault, the rocks are strongh
sheared and / or brecciated and silicified; white quartz
veins are common . To the west of Valle Herm oso, in the
Rio Viron and Rio Viron Chico, biotite-rich metasedi
ments, which often carry cordierite, occur in the zone of
contact with th e Tertiary volcano-plutonic complex. In the
south, alon g the La Palma-El Guayabo EmIt zone, to th e
east of EI Guayabo, andalusite, and possibly cordierite, arc
also widely developed as contact minerals. In this sam e
area, immediately to the north of the Raspas ophioliti c
complex, various tectonic inclusions of greenschist, ser
pentinite and amphibolite, too small to be shown on the
accompanying geological map, can be observed within the
matrix of the Palenque melange division.
Although mineralogically variable the matrix rocks ~ p
ically consist of quartz, biotite, muscovite, chlorite, albite.
graphite , actinolite , epidote , minor garnet...\
single example of pale green, tremolite schist, which con
tains accessory epidote and opaque minerals, has been
recorded from the Rio Casacay (Chilla 6445 / 96309).
p "\ LE:\QU \lFL\ NCE D1VlS10N -

TECTO NIC IN CLUSIONS

Raspas &phiolitic complex

Th e Raspas ophiolitic comp lex has an east-west strike

length of about 45 km and a maximum width of abo ut
6 km. Its northern and southern limits are defined b\
the La Palma-El Guayabo fault zone and by the Tahuin
dam/Zanjon-Naranjo fault zones respectively. Since tIlt"
completion of the Tahuin dam some of the lower-il"ing
areas of the complex, acUacent to the Rio Naranjo \"all e\
in the west, have been submerged.
The petrology of the western part of the Raspas oph i
ol itic complex, which conta ins the best-kn own exam pIt'
of eclogites and related high-pressure rocks in 111.
Northern Andes, has been previously described b,
Duque (1992, 1975); Feinin ger (l980); and Duque a nd
Feinin ger (1974). In the following account the com p le\.

OVERSEAS GEOL. & MINER. RESOUR. No. 67 1995

has been divided into three informal units Panupali, EI Toro and La Chilca.

Rio

Rio Panupali unit (La Avanzada 633 / 9598)

The Rio Panupali unit forms the outer shell of the Raspas
op hi o liti c complex and comprises pale to dark green,
fo liated to massive greenschists composed of actinolite,
albite, quartz, chlorite, epidote, garnet, glaucophane,
sphene, calcite, opaques (dominantly sulphides).
Apart from the Rio Panupali, which provides a com
plete, almost continuously exposed section across this
unit, excellent outcrops of these rocks can also be seen
in the Quebrada Sambotambo (La Avanzada 635/9597)
and, in the west, in the Rio Arenillas, downstream from
the Tahuin dam.
These rocks were considered by Feininger (1978) to be
Precambrian in age (part of the Piedras Croup, see Figure
3) but their general field relationships, and the presence
of glaucophane and garne t in some samples indicate that
they are an integral part of the Raspas ophiolitic complex.
El Toro unit (La Avanzada 611 / 9601 )

The El Toro unit comprises va riabl y serpentinised

harzburgites and is particularly well exposed in a series
of quarries located immediately to the east of the
Tahuin dam in the area of EI Toro. The principal
outcrop of the unit is crescent-shaped and in the western
part of the Raspas ophiolitic complex it separates the
outer Rio Panupali unit from the inner core of the La
Chilca unit. The El Toro unit probably extends at least
as far west as the Arenillas-Alamo r road beneath the
deposits of the coastal plain where it is exposed in a
small isolated hill in an abandoned serpentinite quarry.
Lithologically the EI Toro unit ranges from massive,
medium-grained harzburgite, with an estimated modal
composition of o livine (70%) , orthopyroxene (12%),
amphibole (8%), antigorite (5%), chlorite (3%) and
magnetite (2%) , through variably foliated and serpen
tinised harzburgite, to highly schistose, fine-grained,
antigorite serpentinite (Feininger, 1980).
La Chilca u nil (La Avanzada 617 / 9600)

The La Chilca unit takes its name from La Chilca village

in the east. Lithologies of this unit are normally deeply
weathered away from river sections but they form the
central core of the Raspas ophiolitic complex and have
an east-west strike length of about 20 km an d maximum
north-south width of about 3 km.
The La Chilca unit (previously referred to as the
Raspas Formation, Feininger, 1978) contains a variety of
high-pressure metamorphic rocks but consists princi
pally of pelitic schists with lesser amounts of blueschists
and eclogites. Detailed lith o logical and petrological
descriptions of these rocks have been given by Duque
(1992) and Feininger (1980) and the following summary
is based largelv on this earlier work .
Coarse-grained pelitic schists and minor amou nts of
micaceous quartzites make up about 70% of the La
Chilca unit. "''hen fresh, the pelitic schists are pale,
silver-grey in colour. Mineralogically the schists consist
of quartz, phengitic muscovite, paragonite and garnet,

21

with lesser amounts (generally <10%) of graph ite, rutile,

pyrite, Mg-chloritoid, kyanite.
Blueschists and eclogites (Plates 18 and 19) occur in
approximately equal proportions within the La Chilca
unit. The blueschists are typically fine to medium grained,
dark blue phyllites which carry small 2mm) garnet por
phyroblasts and can contain more than 50% modal glau
cophane. In addition, varying amounts of paragonite,
phengite, muscovite, epid ote, rutile, quartz, apatite,
pyrite are present, and secondary minerals include chlo
rite, sphene, albite, calcite.
The eclogites of the La Chilca unit are normally seen as
loose blocks and have only rarely been observed in
outcrop (e.g. in 'Eclogite Canyon', Rio Raspas, La
Avanzada 618/ 9601 ), (Feininger, 1980) . The rocks are
dark in colour, ranging from fme to medium grained and
are variably foliated . They are composed of omphacite,
garnet and barroisite often with lesser amounts of clino
zoisite , rutile, quartz, apatite, pyrite. In 'Eclogite
Canyon' and occurr ing as layers several meters thick
within the eclogites, are amphibole gneisses, consisting of
barroisite (>50%), garnet, zoisite, kyanite, rutile, pyrite,
omphacite, paragonite, quartz, apatite, muscovite .
Minor amounts of greenschists (that are mineralogi
caUy identical to those of the Rio Panupali unit), amphi
bo le pegmatites, garnetites (garnet >50%) and blocks of
jadeite also occur within the Raspas unit.
Age of La Chilca unit

A single K/ Ar (phengite) determination from a pelitic

schist of the La Chilca unit, collected from the Rio
Raspas, gave an age of 132 5 Ma (Feininger and Silber
man, 1982). This date is in ge neral agreement with those
obtained from Colombian blueschists (125 15 to 120
5 Ma) (Aspden and McCourt, 1986), and is interpreted
to represent a probable cooling (?emplacement) age for
the ophioliti c complex below the blocking temperature
of phengite.
M etamorphism of the Raspas ophiolitic complex (La Chilca and
Panuj)ali units)

According to Duque (1992) (cf. Feininger, 1980) the

eclogites, blueschists, pelitic schists and greenschists of
the La Chilca and Rio Panupali units formed at about
9 kb and 465C. All these rocks represent the prograde
products of high-pressure/low-temperature meta
morphism and were probably formed in an active sub
duction zone for which a palaeogeothermal gradien t of
about 13.8C/km has been calcu lated (Duque, 1993).
LimOn Playa and Q}tera Chico units

Two large fault-bounded inclusions composed of g ran o

diorite / migmatite and medium- to high-grad e para
gneisses, have been mapped within the Palencl'le
melange division. Immediately to the no rt h <Jt the
Raspas ophio liti c complex is the Limon Pla\;i uni I La
Avanzada 618/ 9604) and, in the north-ea'l. i" the ( It'r.t
Chico unit (Chilla 651 / 9627).
The Limon Playa unit has a maxim u m \,id h. ~ 11'
4 km, an east-west strike length
about :?fl Ifl . and
consists of a series of fault-boun dcd g:r..tIllU( mL TI.latic

or

22

OVERSEAS GEOL & iYlINER. RESOUR. No. 67 1995

Plate 18 Photomicrographs of La Chilca unit blueschist, Raspas ophiolitic complex; large garnet
porphyroblasts show evidence of recrystallisation together with blue amphibole and blades of
muscovite. (a) Plane polarised light, (b) crossed polarisers. Field of view c.8.3 mm. (P H enney, BGS)

OVERSEAS GEOL. & MINER. RESOUR. No. 67 1995

-...

Plate 19 Photomicrographs of La Chilca unit eclogite, Raspas ophiolitic complex; large euhedral
porphyroblasts of garnet together with omphacite pyroxene and pale blue amphibole (?crossite).
Garnets show multiple inclusion trails indicating e pisodic growth. Groundmass incudes quartz,
minor cIinozoisite, rutil e and apatite. (a) Plane polarised light, (b) crossed polarisers. Field of
view c.8.3 mm. (P Henney, BGS)

23

24

OVERSEAS GEOL. & lVlINER. RESOUR No. 67 1995

lenses which are now tectonical1y intercalated ""ith

amphibolites of the Arenillas unit (see below). Between
the small settlement of Limon Playa in the south and La
Avanzada in the north, fairly continuous outcrops of
these rocks are exposed in the Rio Santa Rosa.
The Quera Chico unit is named after a small agricul
tural area located in the Rio Quera. Although the unit
outcrops over a large area (>100 km 2 ) it is general1y
poorly exposed and/or deeply weathered and the only
(partial) vehicular access is provided by the unsurfaced
Chilla road in the extreme north-east. Elsewhere, access
is by a network of mule tracks which lead from the main
Pasaje- Uzhcurrumi road in the north, and connect the
various scattered farming communities located in the
Rios Cune (Chilla 653/ 9630), Quera (Chilla 650 / 9628) ,
Casacay/ Dumari (Chilla 645/9628) and Huizho (Chilla
641 / 9629), with Dumari, Chilla and the Palenque area.
Owing to the steep terrain , the rivers which cross the
Quera Chico unit are usually choked with large boulders.
Access is often difficult and sections of continuous
outcrop are relatively rare. In the north the unit is fault
bounded but in the south it is intruded and / or overlain
by Tertiary plutonic/volcanic rocks. It should be noted
that the southern contact of the unit, to the west of
Chilla, is not well defined and further work, preferably
supported by geochronological studies, is required in this
area.
Lithologically and mineralogically the Quera Chico
and Limon Playa units are similar and comprise variably
foliated biotite muscovite garnet granodiorites, mig
mati tic granodiorites, migmatites and medium- to high
grade paragneisses. The paragneisses are typically com
posed of quartz, plagioclase, (?)alkali feldspar, biotite,
cordierite. sil1imanite ( fibrolite ) , minor garnet,
minor apatite, minor tourmaline. Within the grano
diorites , gneissic/ migmatitic xenoliths of sedimentary
origin predominate. Biotite schlieren and clasts of white
vein quartz are also relatively common. In the Limon
Playa unit xenoliths of amphibolitic material are
widespread (Rio Santa Rosa, 'Agua Potable' dam, La
Avanzada 617/ 96068), and in som e areas, what is inter
preted to be hybrid granitoid due to the assimilation /
mixing of the amphibolite and granodiorite magma,
can be obseryed (Rio Santa Rosa, La Avanzada
6173 / 96069) .
Age of Lim6n Playa unit

The age of the Limon Playa unit is interpreted to be 200

19 Ma based on . / Pb zircon data. Younger ages of 78
1 and 82 1 \1a obtained from monazites are thought
to relate to a later period of metamorphism and regional
deformation (:\oble t t aI., 199{ ).

Unnamed granitoid units

Three other tecton ic inel us ions of strongly sheared,
deeply weathered , biolite ll1 U 'coyite granodiorite, have
been mapped within the Pal flf\ Ll melange division.
These bodies have not been gi\en pec ific names but are
located to the south of the J ubone s liult in the extreme
north and immediately to the n orth of the Zanjon
Naranjo fault in the extreme \rest.

In addition, to the east of Aserrio, exposed in the Rio

Raspas approximately 300 m downstream of the junction
of the Rio Colorado (Santa Rosa 635/ 9623), an outcrop
of similar mylonitic, biotite granodiorite was noted
within a mixed serpentinite/black phyllite sequence.
This occurrence is too small to show on the accompany
ing geological map.

Arenillas and Taqui units

These mafic amphibolite units are named after the tmm
of Arenillas in the west (Arenillas 604/9607) and the
prominent hill of Pet''ia de Taqui in the north-east (spelt
Tarqui on the 1985 edition of the 1:50000 topographic
base map) (Chilla 657/ 9628). Both form narrow, but
laterally persistent, east-west-striking bodies and are
spatially associated with th e Limon Playa and Quera
Chica 'granitoid ' units.
In the south, the Arenillas unit can be traced a
minimum of 14 km along strike from the town of
Arenillas in the west, eastwards into the Rio Santa
Rosa. In the west, the unit consists of a series of lens
shaped, fault-bounded slivers that are now tecton ically
intercalated with the Limon Playa unit. These rela tion
ships are well exposed along the new Arenillas-Santa
Rosa highway to the east and north of the road bridge
over the Rio Arenillas (AreniIlas 606 / 9605) and
suggest that the Arenillas amphibolites were possibly
originally intruded by the Limon Playa unit. In places
the Arenillas unit is brecciated and net-veined by
quartz-rich material, features wh ich could also relate
to this event.
The Taqui unit is located along the northern edge of
the Quera Chico unit with which it is in tectonic contact.
In the east, the unit has a maximum width of about 1.5 km
and can be traced for a minimum of 7 km to the west
where it is exposed in the Rio Quera (Chilla 651/9627). It
is generally finer grained and more brecciated than the
Arenillas unit and, although both amphibolites consist
essentially of plagioclase and hornblende, minor miner
alogical differences are apparent in thin section. The Are
nillas unit contains brown, markedly pleochroic horn
blende, together with minor amounts of zircon, clinopy
roxene, quartz, zircon and epidote. In contrast, the amphi
bole of the Taqui unit, possibly in part actinolite , is pale
green in colour; clinopyroxene has not been recorded in
these rocks, but accessory sphene and rutile are present.
Age of the Arenillas unit

The age of the Arenillas unit has not been established

but based on its correlation with the Quebrada Plata
unit it is considered to be Late Triassic. The K-Ar (horn
blende) mineral ages obtained from these amphibolites
range from 72 15 to 76 7 Ma (Table 3) and are inter
preted to be reset (see also Aspden et aI., 1992). These
ages are similar to the 'young' monazite ages recorded
from the Limon Playa unit.

Unnamed serpentinite units

Tectonic inclusions of serpentinite occur with the
Palenque melange complex and are particularh
common in the north-east where th ey form a discontil111

OVERSEAS GEOL. & MINER. lli:SOUR. No. 67 1995

ous, approximately east-west-trending belt that can be

traced from the Palenque/Hacienda San Jose (Chilla
639/9625) area in the east, westwards towards San
Joaquin and Ugarte. Two small serpentinite lenses are
also present in the south, in the eastern part of the La
Palma-El Guayabo fault zone which defines the north
ern limit of the Raspas ophiolite complex.
In addition to the unnamed serpentinites of the
Palengue melange division, immediately to the south of
the Zanjon-Naranjo fault zone, along the frontier with
Perll, a small serpentinite lens is exposed within the
Quebrada Plata unit to the south of Chacras. According
to Feininger (1978), this serpentinite can be traced east
wards for several kilometers but, its presence is uncon
firmed, for example in the Quebrada Obrajales (Are nil
las 594/9595), to the west of Palmales where amphibo
lite of the Quebrada Plata unit is currently being quar
ried for roadstone.
Lithologically these inclusions are composed mainly
of serpentinites but they may also contain irregular
patches of silicifIed and/or black graphitic phyllites,
minor cherty horizons and some greenstones (e.g. Rio
Palenque, near Hacienda San Gregorio, Santa Rosa
637/9626). As noted above, a block of mylonitic gran
odiorite of unknown extent was observed in the
unnamed serpentinite unit to the east of Aserrio.
Mineralogically the serpentinites consist dominantly
of antigorite with lesser amounts of chrysotile, but relict
crystals of olivine and (?)ortho-pyroxene can be distin
guished. Accessory minerals include spinel, calcite,
rutile, sphene.

25

the Raspas ophiolitic complex, would be in agreement

with this general age range.

WHOLE-ROCK GEOCHEMISTRY
Background
A total of 59 whole-rock samples, the locations of which
are shown in Figure 8, have been analysed from the EI
Oro metamorphic complex by X-ray fluorescence spec
trometry (XRFS). The analyses were carried out in two
series; those samples prefIxed with 'SH' codes (4
samples) were analysed at the University of Keele (UK)
whilst the other samples were analysed by the British
Geological Survey, Analytical Chemistry Group, Notting
ham. For all the samples, the major elements are
reported as weight percentages (wt%) of Si02 , Ti0 2 ,
A1 2 0 3 , Fe 2 0" (total Fe treated as ferric), MnO, MgO,
CaO, Na 2 0, I~O and P205' The percentage loss on igni
tion (LOI) is also recorded. The suite of trace elements
analysed, reported as parts per million values (ppm),
varied between the two series. The majority of samples
included determinations for As, \IV, Bi, V, Cr, Co, Ni, Cu,
Zn, Rb, Sr, Y, Zr, Nb, Mo, Ag, Sn, Sb, Ba, La, Ce, Pb, Th
and U. However, in the 'SH' series As, \IV, Bi, Co, Mo,
Ag, Sn, Sb and U were not analysed.
The following summary is taken largely from an
unpublished report by Fortey and Gillespie (1993)
'Assessment of geochemical analyses of igneous rocks
from Ecuador'.

Origin and age of the tectonic inclusions north of the

Zanjon - Naranjo fault zone

Moromoro granitoid complex

Lithologically and mineralogically the granitoids and

paragneisses of the Limon Playa and Quera Chico
units are identical to rocks which occur in the La
Bocana unit and in the higher-grade portions of the
La Victoria unit, to the south of the Zanjon-Naranjo
fault zone. Equally, the Arenillas and Taqui units are
petrologically and (in part) geochemically (see below)
similar to the amphibolites of the Quebrada Plata unit.
The close spatial association between granitoid and
amphibolite within the Palen que melange division also
mirrors that shown by the La Bocana and Quebrada
Plata units. These observations, together with the
U/Pb data, indicate that the Limon Playa and Quera
Chico units, and the Arenillas and Taqui units, can be
correlated with, and were probably tectonically derived
from, the La Bocana and Quebrada Plata units
respectively.
The derivation of the serpentinites of the Palenque
melange division is less certain but the most obvious
source, especially for those bodies located in the La
Palma-El Guayabo fault zone, would be the El Toro unit
of the Raspas ophiolitic complex.
Attempts to date the matrix of the Palenque melange
division have been unsuccessful but it is assumed to be
of probable U) latest Jurassic to Cretaceous age. The
K/ AI' (phengite) elate of 132 :5 Ma (Feininger and
Silberman, 1982), obtained from the La Chilca unit of

The whole-rock analyses obtained from the Moromoro

granitoid complex (La Bocana unit 10 analyses; Marca
beli pluton 7 analyses and El Prado pluton 5 analyses)
are listed in Table 4. The normative compositions of
these rocks, together with various geochemical indices,
are given in Table 5.
Based on these analyses the l'vlarcabeli and EI Prado
plutons consist principally of granodiorites and lesser
amounts of monzogranites whereas the granitoids of the
La Bocana unit fall mainly within the monzogranite
field, but also include quartz-rich granitoids and gran
odiorites (Figure 9).
According to Chappell and White (1974) and Pitcher
(1983), field, mineralogical and chemical criteria can be
used to distinguish granites incorporating high propor
tions of crustal material (S-type) and granites essentialh' of
mantle origin (I-types). Isotopic data are also valuable but
were not available to the present investigation. Two of the
geochemical diagrams used are the Al/ (Na + K + Ca :! I \
Si0 2 and the ~O v. Na~O shown in Figures 10 an d 11
respectively. In Figure 10 most of the samples plol \\i Lhin
the S-type field and it can be seen that, althoug-h [he LI
Bocana samples show a range of compositio n the, ,Ul':
normally strongly peraluminous. In contrasl. til \I ar a
bell and El Prado plutons are only slighth pe raillminc>\ '
and two samples plot within the rneta-al ul niIlO\l ' . I !-l'opt'
field. In Figure 11 the granitoids stradd le Lh t' S-I-'Ype tidrl

26

OVERSEAS GEOL. & MINER. RESOUR. No . 67 1995

-J

,
~

, C

Figure 8

Location map of whole-rock samp les.

boundary \vith the maj ority of the La Bocana samples

falling on the S-t\-pe side and the Marcabell and El Prado
granites on the I-t\-pe side. Similar differences can also be
seen on the ACF plot (Figure 1'2) where, \vi th one excep
tion , the Marcabell and El Prado analyses, being richer in
CaO, tend to plot "ithin the area plagioclase-hornblende
biotite, whereas the main group of La Bocana samp les
spans the plagioclase-biotite tie line. This diagram is con
structed using an assumption that 85 % of the total iron is
in the ferrous state but since most of the variation
bet\Veen units is in the relati\-e proportions of CaO and
Al20 3-~O-Na20, then this assumption can be justified.
These diagrams sug er st tha l the \'iarcabe ll and EI
Prado plutons are similar in composition and comprise
dominantly I-type gralli[()icb . b ut that they may also
contain S-type variants. In con tra<;f. the La Bocana unit
appears to be mainly S-t\-pe in ch aran er but it may also
con tain I-type granitoids ,,-hich. ge ocile micalh-. appear to
be similar to those of the \Iarcalw li , n d EI Prado plutons.
As men tioned earlier, the \Iarcabeli plllton con tai ns

zircon cores which have inherited ages ranging from

0.546 to '2.8 76 billio n years (Noble et aI., 1994). These

crystals can only have been derived from an o lder crustal

source and their presence would therefore indicate that
recycling of at least some pre-existing continental material
occurred during the formation of the Marcabeli pluton.
The use of a rock/ ORC (ocean ridge gran ite) nor
malised trace eleme nt 'spider diagram' has been dis
cussed by Pearce et al. (1984). According to these
authors, enrichmen t of large ion lithophil e (LIL) ele
ments is a common feature of both subduction related
(volcanic arc granites), and with in-pl ate (rift related )
granites, but is subdu ed, or absent, in ocean ridge gran
ites. Within-plate gran ites a lso display enrichment in Ta
and Nb, and have values for Ce, Zr and Y above 1, o r
close to 1 (for attenuated lithosphere settings). Volcanic
arc gran ites typically have Ta and Nb close to 1, and the
other elements less than 1. However, the degree of LIL
e le ment enricbment in volcanic arc granites \-ari c ~
depending on the nature of the arc setting. The autho rs

Th
U

Ce
Pb

Sll
Sb
Ba
La

Ag

16
40
30

5(i~

o
o
o
o

o
o
o
o

Mo

Nb

759
12
36
12
6

23

187
13

~o

'12
1:l9

11 7

I H'I

Zr

Rh

1\1

HH

Sf
Y

11
101

~I

ZIl

Ni
C li

I !;

RIO
25
60
9
10
3

o
o

25
2 16
13

11 <i

1{3
91

~O

18
:V')

X.r'l

R~

'11

R:l

3
2

rl

73.3 1
0.62
12.97
5.06
0.13

24
13

26
66

807

o
o
o
o

II

~75

28

7'1
100
13
16
18
!i3
80
13 1

:)

0.16
LS I
2.27
1.42
1.07
1.75
1.68
2.42
2.59
0.09
0.09
1.46
1.09
99.09 100.49

5. 74

71.52
0.73
1190

2~0 1l

3
2

Cr
Co

73.56
0.74
11.1 3
5.40
0. 11
2. 14
1.60
1.82
2. 38
0.23
0.73
99.85

~~OA

39
5!i

As
W
Bi
V

0.11
1.09
100.42

LOI
Tota l

3.22

K.,,0

0.05
0.96
1.62
2.92

258

0. 37
14.42

n08

PtO,

Alt O "
f e.O"T
MnO
MgO
eaO
NatO

SiO t
TiO t

Sample I I I

~S IA

329

14

22

7:16
29
70

11
1

236

36
68
89
168
29

22

77
15

33
70
20
16
3

553

o
o

92
19R
34
2 18
11

R5

331

3
2

114
9
28
24

2
()

o
o

II

11
60
11 8
126
18
194

II

36
8

44

4
3

361
22
57
17

3
0

0
0

12
5"
8
11
14
42
99
81
20
212

3
4
0

69. 19 76.78
0.62
0.37
14.92 12. 25
4. 11
2.88
0.07
0.05
1.35
0.83
2.14
0.78
3. 75
1.88
2.33
2.56
0.35
0.14
1.15
1.49
99.98 100.01

~~o

197
13
42
28
5

11 5

128
13

83

3:)

25
29
5

o
11 5
100
14
23
14

o
9 :~

2
4

2
5

64.7 1 72.64
0.74
0.35
17.05
14.6R
6.35
2.59
0.12
0.05
2.40
0.77
2.28
2. 11
2.2 1
3.99
2.71
2.18
0.08
0.25
1.88
0.S2
100.52 100.43

283

3
2

70.21
0.76
14.27
5.34
0.09
1.76
1.61
2. 13
2.66
0.11
1.59
100.5:1

2l:ilK

o
492
9
41
18

SH 4F.

44
31

276
9
34
16

17
10

43

385
12

12
6
58
132
104
25
188
10

57
32

71.87 72 73
0.45
0.54
14.37 1360
3.15
358
0 .07
0.07
1.02
110
2. 15
1.94
3.37
2.91
2.63
2.<)3
0. 16
0.12
0.96
0.84
99.93 100.07

577

292
10
28
18

287
17
46
15
6

46
37

0.99
1.82
3. 14
3.04
0.16
0.92
99.76

007

72.04
0.49
14. 17
3.20

SH4A SH4C

12
9
I
17
6
20
55
54
158
132
123
17
123
123
28
27
23
49
166
167
789

I
35

76.7:;
0.03
13.53
0.96
0.04
0.10
0.39
4.39
3.94
0.05
0.50
100.68

GROI

M.I R( ~IllELi PLUTON

o
o

12
89
89
16
25 1

31
47
6
7

4
3

0.17
0.92
100.33

2.42

10.59
2.4 1
0.04
0.64
0.64
1.8 1

OS-l

8036

332

Moromoro granito id co mplex whol e-rock analyses.

L I B OC~'!A UN IT

Table 4

54G

70G

42
I ~)
7

444
4

12
9
42
118
104
25
11 9
7

40
25

12
5

13
41
14
7

Hi
38

338

o
o
o

116
6

22

99

110

H
35

()

30
29

248

o
o

83
58
13
16
19
62
60
144
24
2 17
7

72.98
6640 72.18
0.34
1.00
0.32
14.67
11.71
14.72
2.57
5.62
2.54
0.06
0.06
0 10
1.10
2.45
1.1 4
2.23
4.4 1
2.32
3.74
3.23
3.72
2.76
1.68
2.79
0.11
0.2
0.1
0.79
0.71
0.76
100.15 100.5 1 100.65

SH41

1
308
14
44
21
7

o
o

21
14
50
136
114
13
164

41
40

'2

70.72
0.47
14.56
3.4 1
0.06
1.66
2.35
3. 15
3. 09
014
0.79
100.40

323A

I
438
16
36
36

5
3

72
274
20
130

8'1

107
46
15
10
26

4
4

62.94
0.60
16.30
5.88
0.10
2.80
5.43
2.94
1.98
0. 12
0.66
99. 75

3
2
315
15
48
17

o
o

16
15
52
138
120
15
169

42
45

1.58
2.35
3. 19
3. 11
0. 15
0.74
99.93

O.OG

70.29
0.46
14.70
3.30

323B 324

EL PRADO PLL'TON

.)

326ll

325
16
40
20

56
154
132
23
159

1
323
16
47
22
7
I

o
o

7
9

33
31
6
9
7
53
154
139
21
152

38
37

2
5

70.67
71.94
044
0.45
14.54
14.62
3.0 1
3.12
0.07
0.07
1.17
1.21
1.94
2.09
3.34
3.35
3.65
3.35
0. 16
0.17
0.59
0.51
99.58 100.88

326A

-I

U'

<!)
<!)

>-'

0'>

z
...,

(0

~
Vl
o
c:

(0

:s:
Z
1"1

R<>

t"'"

1"1

(')

Vl

[;;

o
~

28

OVERSEAS GEOL. & MINER.

RES OUl~ .

:'-lo. 67 1995

Table 5 Moromoro granito id complex normative compositions (Ke lsey, 1865) an d

geochemi cal indices.
L, BO(:.,\,\l ,\ UK 'T

111

M ARCAIlEI.[ PLUTON

2B1A

281 B

283

329

330

33 1

GR01 S!-I4A

SH4C

SH4E SH41 54G

70G

Quartz
Coru ndum
O rthocl ase
Albite
Anorthite
Hypersthene
EnstaLite
Ferrosilite
JV!agnetite
Chrom ite
Ilmenite
Apa tite

37.84 22(i9 21.74 23.3 1

2.04 2.83
344 1.61
7.23 7.63
18.99 7.06
7. 73
7.49 7.09
24.66
3.27 2.35
7.30 3.23
6.11
4.7 1
5.16 5.64
2.86
2.39 2.67
1.88
2.77 2.96
3.25 2.83
0.56 0.59
0.63 0.55
0.01
0.0 I 001
001
0.70 0.7 1 0.70 0.59
0.1 1
0.26 0.21
0.11

19 .57
2.60
7.84
898

17.63
1.33
642
16.45
4.41
2.37
0.96
1.41
0.28
0.00
0.33
0.30

1546
1.59
6.90
15.90
4.1 7
3.87
1.68
2. 19
045
0.00
0.59
042

26. 0B 28.70 34.52 35 .74

2.65
2. 11
1.45
2.79
7.57
7.1 3 23.14 18.01
7.96
7.64 36.92 26.63
148
103
1.60 8.00
2.62
2.10
1.49 5.89
1.03
0.25
2.47
0.80
1.58
1.24
342
130
0.26
0.21
0.70
0.31
0.0 1
0.0 1 0.01
0.01
0.93
0.31
0.35
0.06
o 12 0.38
OJ7
0.20

34 .99
246
15.55
28.53
9.63
2.54
3.42
0.69
0.01
0.8(i
0.38

37. 19
2.35
17.30
24.86
8.83
655
2.74
3.81
0.78
0.01
102
0.28

32.22
1.74
16.29
31.60
10.33
5.57
2.74
2.83
0.56
0.0 1
0.64
0.26

32.05
159
164 1
31.34
10.81

5.05
2.18
2.86
0.58
0.01
0.7'2
0.1::1

14.76
3.26
7.99
9.33
5.38
(i. 53
2.98
3.55
0.69
001
070
0.09

Diff index
Colour index
mgnumber

8148 3748 3646 38.03

643
6. 94 7.45 5.B6
46.44 48.01 47.9fJ 41 01

3639
6.35
43.44

32.28
7.93
46.82

40.51
2. 98
40.92

38.26
4.91
43.35

41.6 1
3.29
40.17

7908
7.51
43.00

79.34
8.36
4172

80. 11 63.27 79.80

6.78 14.95 6.81
49.93 !,)0.39 ''51.] 2

EL

280A

280B

~?62

PRAOO PI.t;TON

326A

326B

Quartz
Corundum
Ortboclase
Albite
Anorthite
Kaliophilite
Acm ite
N \'leta sili cate
K Meta silicate
Hyp ersth ene
Enstatite
Ferrosilite
O!i,ine
Forsleri te
fayaIi te
Magnetite
Chromite
flm e ni te
Avalite
Cal cil e
S i O~ defic ie nC\

15.85 15.65
0.00 15.25
0.00 0.98
1 05
1.09
9.1 1 9.21
0.00 10.84
13.29 13.52
0.00 14.21
5.36 5.35
0.00 4.31
5.47 0.00
0.00 0.00
0. 28 0.00
0.00 0.00
0.00
0.00 0.00
0.55
0.00 0.00 74.93 0.00
3.91
3.76
0.00 3.10
2.06
1 97
0.00 1.46
1.84
1.79
0.00
1.64
115 0.00
0.00 0.00
0.00 0.00
0.53 0.00
0.00 0.00
0.62 0.00
0.00 0.33
0.37 036
000 0.00
0.00 0.00
0.45 0.44
0.12 0.42
0. 17 0.18 18.45 0.19
000 000 -17.26 0.00
0.00 0.00 -25.27 0.00

16.03
1.04
9.82
14.07
4.:'>9
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
317
l.50
1.68
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.34
0.00
042
0.20
0.00
0.00

Diff. incie x
Colom incl c- x
mg numbc- r

'lS.38
5.47 40.3 I
+.72 45(i
US 385
53.1-1 '>2.73 52.59 47.52

39.92
3.94
47.47

323A

323B

324

- -

38.25

332

43.48 94.58 80.'IB

U6 7.53
2.68
38.22 19.53 4l.89

5.9(i

26.03
0.04
9.92
27.32
20.56
11.82
6.10
5.7'2
1.22
0.01
1.90
047

~).6 :i

2.83
2.82
0.55
0.01
0.60
0.24

OVERSEAS GEOL. & MINER. RESOUR. No. 67 1995

Figure 9 QAP ternary diagram (after Strecke isen,

1976) based on the CIPW normative values for
Moromoro complex (Q = Quartz, Or = Orthoclase,
PI = Anorthite + Albite).

29

Figure 10 Aluminosity index v. Si0 2 for Moromoro

complex. I-type and S-type fields after Chappell and
White (1974).

Q
I

+
16 1

'"

+
+

(.)

+
'"+
1 4 1-

'"

+
S-type

+
+

f-

12 1-

:f

---------..!...\..---
1.0-

PI

I-type

55

60

65

70

75

80

Si02

La Socana

EI Prado

* Marcabelr
S-type

+.

~3

'"

+ +-f'I

-++'

x
x

..
++
I-type

CaO

FeO+MgO

Figure 11 ~O v. Na 20 diagram for Moromoro

complex. I-type and S-type granite fields after
Chappell and vVhite (1974).

Figure 12
complex.

cite data for a granite from Chile which displays particu

larly strong LIL element enrichment combined with Ta
and Nb values near to 2; using these elements this granite
is difficult to distinguish from certain \vithin-plate gran
ites. Collision related granites are similar to the Chilean
granite but show a marked depletion in Zr and Y, which
may be sufficient to distinguish them geochemically. The
current analyses do not include the full suite of elements
used by Pearce et al. (1984), but they are sufficient to
determine at least the general form of the normalised
'spider diagr~ms' for the Moromoro granitoid complex.

Although the La Bocana samples show a minor degree

of scattering, the rock / ORC 'spider diagrams' are
remarkably similar for the La Bocana, Marcabeli and El
Prado samples (Figures 13, 14 and 15) and indicate LIt
element enrichment together with values of :\b an d .f'
close to 1, and Zr and Y less than l. Hence. usi ng the
criteria of Pearce et al. (1984), it is suggested lhar he
Moromoro granitoid complex can be int e r preted a ,
being either subduction or collision related.
Pearce et al. (1984) also used the Rb \, Y-:\ b di '-crirni
nant plot to distinguish between gr an i l b furmed In

ACF ternary diagram for Moromoro

30

OVERSEAS GEOL & MI NE R. RESOUR. No. 67 1995

Figure 13 ROCK/ ORC normalised spider diagram

(after Pe a rce et aI., 1984) for Marcabeli pluton,
Moromo ro complex.

Figure 14 ROCK/ORC normalised spider diagram

(after Pearce et aI., 1982) for La Bocana unit,
Moromoro complex.

(!)

a:
o

-'"
u

a:

0.100
0.010
0.001

+
x

La Bocana
EI Prado
Marcabeli

1000.00a.
500
Syn-collisional Granites

300

/'

200

(!)

Rb

a:

u
0

a:

I-

0100~

:j:

50

>0<*

XX
100

-'"

~.*
X

~+

Within-

Plale

0 . 010~
E

Granites

30

0001~

20

K
Rb

Ba

Volcanic Arc Granites

20

Th

30

50

Y+Nb

Nb

Figure 15 RO CK/ ORC normalised spider diagra m

(after Pearce et aI. , 1984) for El Prado pluton,
Moromoro comple:-.:.

Figure 16 Rb v. Y + Nb diagram (after Pearce et aI.,

1984) for Moromoro complex.

various tectonic (plate) settings. According to this diagram

(Figure 16) the \loromoro gn.nites can all be considered
as volcanic arc granites. H O\\'e\'er , the La Bocana unit
extends closer to the \\ithin-plate granite boundary and
generally contains less Rb than the '\larcabeli and EI Prado
samples, perhaps suggesting a more continental setting.
In summary it is concluded th at the Moromoro
complex consists predominant!> of granitoids of S-type
character but th a t it also includes some I-tvpes a nd that

these rocks were probably formed in either a subduction

or collisional setting.
Piedras mafic complex
In the following account the Arenillas and Taqui units,
which occur as tectonic inclusions within the Palen que
mela nge division, are considered as part of the Piedras
mafic complex from which they are thought to have

OVERSEAS GEOL. & MlNER. RESOUR. No. 67 1995

Table 6

Piedras mafi c complex whole-rock a nalyses.

Q.

Sample

PLAT A UNIT

148

SiO~

48.01

T i0 9

1.72

Al~6?,
Fe 2 ,\T
NInO

MgO
CaO
Na.,O

~O

P2 0

LOl
TOlal

As
W
Bi
V

149
47.37
1.66
15.78
10.76
0.17
8.44
10.90
2.88

13.77
11. 33
0.19
9.l5
10.68
2.1'1
0.11
0.08
0.21
0.17
2.2 1
1.95
10008 100.19

9,3

13

11

Pb

Th

'2

98
3'2
2
150
22
88
6
3
3

6
57
1
96
21
61
2

o
'I

125

4
3

1
12
3

o
1

o
2

llH:" l <l ll ge

division

o
o

O.E;

8.65
12 .38
2.54
0.07
009

1.71
100.55

49.47
0.99
15.61
9.64
0.16
8.53
11.78

2.58
0.09
0.10
1.61
100.56

339

349

49.78
0.92
15.76
8.9 2
0.15
8.41
11.7'1
3.03
0.24
0.11
1.50
100.55

48.55
0.48
6.5 1
0.10
11 .5 l
12.88
1.7 J
0.09
0.05
2.5l
100.33

3
1

4
J

15.92

295

182
340
37
86
3
47

185
330
'17
67

172
348
36

104
764

32

44
55
1
136
16
49

294
253
37
66
48
65

been derived. A total of 15 who le-roc k analyses are avail

able from th e Piedras ma fIc complex (Qu e brada Plata
unit 11 ; Arenillas unit 3; a nd Taqui unit 1) and these are
listed in T able 6. The normative min e ral compositions of
these rocks, toge th e r with various geochemical indices,
are given in Table 7.
Although susceptible to alkali mobility during alter
ation, the ~O v. Si0 2 and Na 2 0 + ~O v. SiO:z plots are
valuabl e general classifi cation diagrams and indicate th a t
the Pi ed ras mafic compl ex, with the exception of the
Taqui sam ple, consist of basalts belonging to the low-K
(tho le iitic) series (Figures 17 and 18) . In order to avoid
th e problem of potential alka li loss, Winch ester and
Fl oyd (1977) sugges ted that altered and /o r m e tamor
phosed igneous rock could be discrimina ted by using
relatively immobile trace e le ment rati os and based on
their plot of Zr/ Ti v. Nb/Y. From Figure 19 it can be
seen that the above samples fall within the basaltic
andesite field.
On the AFM diagram (Figure 20) the analyses form a
fairly well-defined group with a tendency towards iron

96

18
47
2

49
2

138
19
52
1

o
o
25
9

.J

o
1
1

o
o
44

o
6
1

o
2

102

35
200
5
38
2
96

333

49.08 4984
1.81
0.95
14.19 16.49
12.23
8.70
0.1 4
0.19
8.23
7.84
11.07 12.72
2.74
2. 16
0.08
0.38
0.17
0.11
0.75
0.98
lOO.77 100.08

4
1

35

0.90
15.68
9. 18

2
3

21

24
4

49.:W

o
60
7
9

276A

275

1
104
24
72

34

34

1 As le-clOnic illfiusion s withi n Lhc Palcnque

88

o
o

2
1

o
o

235
271
36
61
122

105
27
74

o
o

1
2

o
204
'290
35

60
54
84

'27 J

49.35
1.17
14 .90
9.92
0.18
8. 54
11. 83
2.59
0.05
0.13

'18
144
14
49
1
127
16
52

l.a
Ce

49.76
1.35
14.65
10.69
0.26
858
10.82
2.60
0.20
0.1'2
1.81
1.63
JOO.47 100.66

30

31

93

48.98
1.39
14.41
10.80
0.23
8.89
10.48
2.82
0.11
0.13
2. 32
100. 56

237
264

Ba

'12

Zr
Nb

48.32
0.95
16.51
8.62
0.14
9.38
11.74
2. 31
0.09
0. 10
2.l2
100.28

o
o

49.'15
1.39
16.19
880
0.45
8.06
11.43
2.82
0. 13
0.20
1. 88
100.40

154
323

Sn
Sb

95

217

'206

195
290

Ag

11 4
'2 79
64

203

Zn
Rb
Sr

325
34

150

o
o

Mo

C li

250

15
3

2'1 1
250
33
87
184
68
1
124
27
99
3
2
3

Cr
Co
Ni

'11

89

1
2
1
]75

422
34
125
26
58
5
lOS
JS

347

384

49.55
l. 07
16.01
9.49
0.16
7.12
14.l5
2.08
0.35
0.14
0.62
100.75

48.27
1.96
16.54
11.24
0.17
6.64
1l. 26
3.00
0.64
0.28
0.56
100.56

2
2

18
5

203
307
33
9S
48
66

202

18

44

52

1?,4

11

1
3

o
o

o
o

o
o

4J
2
3

14
1

43
3

95
4

109
3

10

9
3

10

o
o

2
1

o
o

101
17
86
440
27

202
33

165
20

31
82
2

10

20

'I
2

o
4

o
o
201
9
26
4

e nrichm e nt. Geochemically the Quebrada Plata and Are

nillas units ap pear to be virtually iden tical, which sup
ports th e correia tio n made earli e r in this r epo rt.
H oweve r , on a number of plots th e Taqui sample is
somewhat anom alo us in that it is e nriched in Ti0 2 , Sr
a nd Zr as well as ~O, and possibly slightly depleted in
MgO (Figures 21, 22 and 24) . Since only a single analysis
is available from the Taqui unit the significance of these
differences re mains uncertain.
Th e u se of MORB (mid-ocean ridge basalt) nor
m alised trace elem e nt 'spider-diagrams' to infer modifi
cation of the parent basalt magma composition by either
subduction-relate d metasom a ti sm and/or contamina
tion by crustal material h as been discussed by Pearce
(1983). Me taso matic alteration causes e nrichment in
large ion lithophile (UL) elements such as Sr, K, Rb, Ba
and Th , together with P and light rare earth elements.
Crustal contamination results in e nrichment of a \-a riet\'
of e le ments , including Ta and Nb, with decreasing
enrichment towards the more immobile elements so that
Yand the heavy rare earths are hardly affec ted. In [he

32

OVERSEAS GEOr. & MINE R. RESOUR. No. 67 1995

Table 7 Piedras mafic complex norma tive min era l compositions (Kelsey, 1965)

an d geochemical analyses.
Q.

ARF.N 1LL\S UNIT

P LATA l''' 1T

148

149

217

27 1

275

276A

339

0.53
0.65
19.63 23.94
34.55 26,42
18.75 20.1 9
1377 13.74
4.98
6.45
10.72 12.45
7.58
8.09
3.14
4.36
9.70
8.66
5.43
666
3.22
3.04
1.88
2.36
0.07
0.06
1.81
2.65
0. 24
0.3 1

0.30
21.99
28.98
23.55
16.20
7.35
12.24
8.05
4. 19
6.37
4.05
2.32
2. 16
0.06
2.23
0.31

0.59
10.98
13.83
10.20
6.87
3.34
8.45
5.43
3.03
2.32
1.44
0.88
1.16
003
128
0.14

0.21
10.73
15.56
11.97
8.40
3.57
4.07
2.73
L'33
4.44
2.89
1.55
1. 00
0.04
0.85
0.11

0. 27
10.90
1535
1094
7.54
3.39
5.85
3.86
1.99
3.57
2.27
1.29
1.05
004
0.94
0.12

23.59
46.36
65.73

22.29
46.62
66.73

11.57
23,44
65.16

10.93
22.37
68. 70

IU 6
22.38
67.34

150

203

Orthoclase
Albite
Anorthi te
Diopside
Diopsicle (CaMg)
Hedenbergite
Hypersthene
Ens tatite
Ferrosilite
O livine
Forsterite
Fayal ite
Magnetite
Chromite
Ilmen ite
Apatite

0.48
0.65
23.30 24.54
25.29 3001
21.69 18.92
14.87 12.88
6.82
6.05
JO .46
3.50
2.27
6.86
1.22
3.60
1021 14.43
6.47
9.06
3.75
5.38
2.36
2.48
0.07
005
3.29
3.1 7
0.41
050

0. 77
23.94
31.23
19.66
14.04
5.62
11.00
7.54
3.46
6.42
4.26
2. 16
1.92
0.06
2.65
0.48

Diff ind ex
Colour index
mg number

23.77 25.1 9
48.21 42.44
6530 64.63

24.7 1 20.16
41.7 1 42.92
68.09 71.71

206

abse nce of modification by eith er of th e above processes

the analyses should display flat patterns on th e 'spider
diagram s' with individual values close to unity for
'typi cal tholeiiti c MORB', greater th a n 1 for ' primitive
MORB ' and less than I for 'evo lved MORB ' . Alth ough
th e present data set d oes not include the full suite o f ele
ments used by Pearce (1983) it provides sufficien t ele
ments to de termin e the genera l form of the normali sed
curves.
Th e 'spider diagrams' for the Quebrada Pl ata unit and
the Arenillas and Taqui units are shown in Figures 23 and
24 respectively. In both diagrams the curves are similar
and notably fl a t. In Figure 23, d ata for the Quebrada Plata
unit indicate little or no modifi cation by either subduc
tion-related metasoma tism or crustal co ntamination,
although the scattered, often h igh values for Ba and Th
have not been explained. Low values for Rb , Nb and Ce
indi cate concentrations below XRFS d etection. Th e
general becwee n-sample scatter, a nd slight enrich ment of
Cr and Ni suggest the effects of crys tal frac tionation.
Figure 24 shows e\'idence of a degree of LIL enrichme nt
in the Areni llas an d, possibly, the Taqu i units, suggesting
minor subd uctio n-rela ted metaso mati c modification. Nev
e rth eless, the general pi cture is of ocean ridge basalt
form ed in an oceanic rather than a back-arc setting.
Pea rce (1 983) and Pearce and Can n (1973) described
the use of plots imoh'ing the imm o bile e leme nts Zr, Ti
a nu Y to discriminate different types of ocea nic basalts
a nd to distinguish betl\'cen cont inental an d oceanic arc
basalts. In terms of the Zr,!Y \. Zr diagram (Figure 25),
the Piedras mafiC co mpl ex sampl es fall largely within th e
area of overl ap bet\\'een fields of \lORB (mid-ocean
ridge basalt) a nd (dominanth' ) ocea ni c is land arc
hasalts. In the Ti v. Zr plot (Figure 26 ) the l11~ority of
the analyses plot in the area of me rlap bel:\\'een th e low-

349

TAQU I U"IT

295

333

347

384

0.7 1 0.27
12.79 7.23
14.32 17.73
1l.62 11.l8
8.1 7 9.07
3.45 2. 11
1.71 6. 19
1.l5 4.89
0.56 1.30
5.93 4.74
3.86 3.66
2.06 1.08
0.97 0.71
0.04 0.08
0.87 0.46
0.1 3 0.06

0.24
11.56
13.06
11.23
7.23
4. 00
6.40
3.92
2.48
3.51
2.07
1.44
1.33
0.03
1.71
0.20

J.J 3
9.16
17.13
11.45
7.97
3.48
7.01
4.67
2.34
1.55
1.00
0.55
0.95
0.05
0.90
0 ..13

1.03
8.77
Hi 60
14.58
9.57
5.01
4.30
2.69
1. 61
1.99
1. 20
0.79
1.03
0.03
1.01
0.17

1.89
12.68
14.87
9.9 1
6.18
3.73
0.1 8
0.11
0.07
6.54
3.71
2.83
1.22
0.02
1.86
0.33

1350 7.49
21.13 23.36
68.72 80,47

11.80
24.21
6106

10.29
21.9 1
67.74

9.80
22.95
63.61

14.57
19.72
57.92

K tholeiite and the ocean-floor basalt fields, but they also

defin e a trend of increasing Ti and Zr indicating ocean
floor character. In Figure 27 all but t\.yo of the samples
plo t within the ocean-floor basalt field. The spread of
values in Figures 25 and 26 may reflect frac ti o nation o f
Zr and Ti poor phases such as olivine.
These data, taken in conjunction with the intrusive
character of these rocks and their association with grani tes
of S-type character in a possible continental arc setting,
are co nsistent with th e e mpla cemen t of relatively
unm odified , mantle-derived basalti c magmas.
Palenque melange division (Raspas ophiolitic complex
and unnamed serpentinite units)

The whole-rock analyses obtained from the Raspas op hi

olitic complex (Rio Panupali unit 7 analyses; EI Toro
unit 7 analyses) and various of the unnamed serpentinite
bodies, includin g that from the Quebrada Pla ta unit,
complex (9 analyses), a re listed in Table 8 . The norma
tive compositions of these rocks, together with various
geochemi cal indices, are given in Table 9. The geochem
istry of the Arenillas and Taqui units has been discussed
in the previous section.

Rio Panupali unit

For co mpara tive purposes the a nalytical data obtained
from greenschists of the Rio Panupali unit have been
plotted together wi th that of the Piedras mafic complex
(Figures 17-22, and 25- 27). Based on these diagrams the
Rio Panupali unit is broadly similar to the Piedras mafic
comp lex a nd is composed of ocean fl oor MORB (mid
ocean-ridge) basalts/basaltic andesites. In all of the geo
chemical pl ots however, the Rio Panupali analyses, with
the notable excep tion of one samp le (298), stand ou t as a
separate subg roup and, co mpared with the Piedras mafic

FIgure 17 K. 0 \. -i O .) cia, ification dla!?Tam I me r

b\.iH. 19,~:? ) fo Pied r;- lOmple.' (Q u bro.d a PI. ta.
-venill - ann aqu i unit') a nd Raspas ophi o liti c
l(lnlpl . - ( Rio Pa nup ali unit),

Figure 18 :-.: ,,0 - h.,0 \-, SiO" c1'L.;jflGlti o n d iag-ram

(after Le Bas et aI. , f!:l 86) for Piedras complex
(Quebrada Plata , Areni llas and Taqui units) and
Ras pas ophio litic complex
(Rio Panupali unit),

, J

f, 2

0
~~

08

0
DA

A,~

0
,

06

1f ~."'... ~'"

1.0

0"

I -

Basalt

t;.

45

45

55

50

Si02

Piedras mafic complex

Raspas ophiolitic complex

b,.

Q, Plata unit

50
Si0 2

55

RIO Panupali unit

\l Arenillas unit'

Taqui unit'

' Tectonic inclusions in

Palenque melange division

Fe (total)

Sub alkaline Basalt

0,002
0,02

0,05

0,10

0, 20

MgO
0,50

Nb /Y

Figure 19 Zr ITi v, Nb / Y classificati on diagram

(after Winchester and Floyd, 1977) for Piedras
complex (Quebrada Plata, Arenillas and Taqui units)
and Raspas ophiolitic complex
(Rio Pa nupali unit),

Figure 20 AFM ternary diagram for Piedras

complex (Quebrada Plata, Arenillas and T aqui
uni ts) and Raspas op hio litic com plex
(Rio Panupali unit),

34

OVERSEAS GEOL. & MINER. RESOUR. No. 67 1995

Figure 21 Ti0 2 and Sr v. MgO diagrams for Piedras

complex (Quebrada Plata, Arenillas and Taqui units)
and Raspas ophiolitic complex (Rio Panupali unit) .

Figure 22 Zr and Yv. MgO diagrams for Piedras

complex (Quebrada Plata, Arenillas and Taqui
units) and Raspas ophiolitic complex (Rio Panupali
unit) .

150

0
0

~f::,

100

0
0

~f::,

f::,

\7\7&f::,

50

\7 \7

60

DO

400

f::,

Cb
40

cI5

>200

20

DO~

iff::,
\7

f::,

f::,

f::,

MgO

MgO

Piedras mafic complex

Raspas ophiolitic complex

f'...

Q. Plata unit

Rio Panupali unit

\l Arenillas unit*

Taqui unit*

* Tectonic inclusions in
Palenque melange division

co

a:
o
:::;;

-
~

o' -'

a:

0.00; "'-t-t---"hHHH-I-I-I-I-I-t-t-t-t-t-t--"

Sr
K

Zr

Figure 23 ROCK/MORB normalised spider

diagram (after Pearce, 1983) for Quebrada Plata
unit, Piedras complex.

0.001 ~f-t--t--t--It--It--It--I~~~---f---f---f---f-+-+-+-"

Sr
K

Zr

Figure 24 ROCK/MORB normalised spider

diagram (after Pearce, 1983) for Arenillas and
Taqui units, Piedras complex.

OVERSEAS GEOL. & MINER. RESOUR. No. 67 1995

Figure 25 Zr/Yv. Zr discriminan t plot (after Pearce,

1983) for Piedras complex (Quebrada Plata, Arenillas
and Taqui units and Raspas ophiolitic complex
(Rio Panupali unit).

Figure 26 Ti v. Zr discriminant plot (afte r Pearce

and Cann, 1973) for Piedras complex (Quebrada
Plata, ArenilJas and Taqui units) and Raspas
ophiolitic complex (Rio Panupali uni t).
A-B

Low-K Tholeiites

B-C Calc-alkaline Basalts

Ocean Island Basalis

>-

15000

/
/

Oceanic Arc

B-D Ocean Floor Basalts

\l
F

C,

10000

0
c,

D
2 -

MOAB

C,

I 's'and

5000
Arc Basalts

20

50

100

200

50

500

100

150

Zr

Zr
Piedras mafic complex

Raspas ophiolitic complex

6. Q. Plata unit
6. Arenillas unit'

o Taqui unit'

Rio Panupali unit

Tectonic inclusions in
Palenque melange division

Ti/100
A-B

Low-K Tholeiites

B-C Calc-alkaline Basalts

B

Ocean Floor Basalts

Ocean Island I
Continental Basalts
tD

a:

:2'

0.001 "=----1---1---+-+--1--1-+-+-+--+--+-+-+--+-+-+-+-+--"

Zr

Yx3

Sr
K

Figure 27 Zr- Ti/100- Y X 3 discriminant plot (after

Pearce and Cann, 1973) for Piedras complex
(Quebrada Plata, Arenillas and Taqui units) and
Raspas ophiolitic complex (Rio Panupa li unit) .

Zr

Figure 28 ROCK/ MORB normalised spider

diagram (after Pearce, 1983) for Rio Panupali unit,
Raspas ophiolitic complex.

35

36

OVERSEAS GEOL. & MINER. RESOUR. No. 67 1995

complex are poorer in MgO 6.0 wt%), Cr and Ni but

richer in Fe (total) K, Rb, Ba, Ce (but not Nb) P, Zr, Ti
(>1.5 wt%) and Y (Figures 20-28). It is possible that
these characteristics reflect modification by crystal frac
tionation, giving an iron-enriched tholeiitic trend on the
TilZr plot (Figure 26), increasing K:zO (Figure] 7) and
increasing Ti and Zr to values beyond the normal basalt
range (Figure 26). In the t-,IIORB-normalised trace
element plot (Figure 28) this is again suggested by the
strong Cr-depletion to values below detection. However,
it is not clear whether the modest LIL-enrichment shown
by this diagram is due to fractionation or indicates meta
somatic enrichment in the magma source region.
As noted above, the greenschist sample 298 is anoma
lous compared with the rest of the Rio Panupali analyses
and, based the geochemical data, appears to belong to
the Piedras mafic complex (Quebrada Plata unit) which
also contains some greenstones (e.g. Table 6, 206). Such
rocks are especially common along th e Zanjon - Naranjo
fault zone are thought to represent the products of
retrograde dynamothermal metamorphism. Given the

Table 8

3.18

~70

SiO o
TiO;
AlyO J

49.33
49.90 41l.60
Ul7
1.47
2.9~
14.49
13.66 14.10
13.1811.02 15.22
0.21
0.16
0.16
5.73
1l.32
5.49
10.10
8.33
7.89
2.87
3.82
3.72
0.54
0.05
0.36
0.24
0.12
0.29
2.42
3.24
1.84
100.98 100.09 100.59

48.21
2.72
12.94
17.01
0.23
S.09
8.70
2.93
0.73
0.28
2.04
100. 81l

100.31

6
2

7
5

5
5

~O

P2 0"
1..10
TOlal

A5
W
Bi

~98

301B

357

47.57
2.80
13.30
17 .26
(J.30

4.43
8.36
3.21
1.06
0.29
1.73

359
47.34
2.60
12.71

16.49
0.25
5.77
7.27
3.94
081
0.22

2.46
99.86

2
1

26S

365
12

409
12

39

46
34

44

ell

36

83

Zn

105

61

Rb
Sr

10

384
19
33
26
48
119
7

377

91
35
36

239
114
35
42

125

53

34
107

25

119
60

1/

140
52
189

35
165
20
96
58

170

16,

:l

3
2

3
1
5

Cr
Co
Ni

Zr
Nb
Mo

Ag
Sn
Sb
Ba

o
3

o
o

o
-i
o
o

35
40
143
15

.-i

-l

Ce

13

22

Pb

15

Th
U

,
"

()

'J

16
2
1

341

335

(J
257
120
31

38
39
87
2
J02
37
122

2
3
4

o
o

I
(J

342

4061
0.00
1.68
8.63
0.12
38.38
0.03
0.00
0.00
0.00
11.36
100.81

41.17

14

10
3

3
17
3

123

!l

16,

12
77
51
156
2

0.18
0.1:;
1.30
99.20

36

315

132

4.46

71

27
2

29
58

51.31
1.57
12.98
12.66
0.17
5.74
8.68

5
1

10

360

52
3
12

La

According to Pearce et al. (l984a) 'MORE-type' and

'supra-subdu c tion zone' (i.e. back-arc) ophiolites can be
distinguished by using Ti as a discriminant element.
Most of the present analyses, and especially those of the
EI Toro unit, have very low Ti contents, often below
detection limit 0.01 %) (Table 8). It might be assumed
that such samples can be classified as 'supra-subduction
zone ophiolites. Hence , as shown in Figure 29, the
majority of the serpentinites, including those of the
Quebrada Plata unit, plot as supra-subduction zone
ophiolites but two samples (RB35G and 284, Table 8)
plot within the 'MORB-type' field . The implications of
this plot are uncertain.

EL TORO [ ' :-J ll' (R~sp.\s OPH IOI.ITIC' (;()\'IPLE X)

P AN l JPA Ll UNIT (RASPAS OPIIIOI.ITIC COMPLEX)

Sample

MnO
MgO
CaO
Na 2 0

El Taro unit and unnamed serpentinites

Palen que melange division (inclusions) whole-rock analyses .

R.

Fe20~T

location of sample 298 close to this fault zone iL is there

fore possible that, in the extreme east, (tectonic) lll
clusions of greenschists derived from the Piedras mafiC
complex exist within what is at present mapped as the
Rio Panupali unit. More detailed field mapping and geo
chemical data are required to test this possibility.

0.00
1.75
8.58
0.12
39.53
1.57
0.06
0.01
0.02
7.10
99.91

346

41.34
0.00
1.92
8.34
0.12
39.54

1 47
0.04
0.01
0.02

7.84
100.64
'l
3

41. 1S
0.00

1.14
8.47
0.12
41.86
115

0'()3
0.00
0.03
6.42
100.37

363A"

41.30
0.00
lOll
9.01
0.12
43.73
O.71l
0.1 3

4(J.85
0.00
1.30
8.55
0.10

37.12

363B*
41.11
0.00
1.14
1l.62
0.10
31l .05
0.18

0.01

0.52
0.00
(J.Ol

0.02

001

4.68

1l.66
100.13

0.01
0.01
11.49
100.70

2
3

100.86

0.00

56
2940
132
1531
37
49

48
3053
127
1645

46
3034
128

37
3311

40
3026

305J

142

1654

42
3062
13.1
179l

13
37

3
37

36

136
1785
26
47

1883
3
44

131
1867
16
39

1
3

o
2

o
o
o

o
I

o
o

o
o
o

II

o
o
1
2

o
o

11

16

17

13

19

10

o
o

(J

o
o

o
o
o
J

(J

o
o
o

o
1

o
o
2

o
o

50

o
2

o
I

o
o
o

o
o
o
o
o

18

23
(J

16

17

(J

o
o

o
o
1

OVERSEAS GEOL. & MI NER. RESOUR. No. 67 1995

STRUCTURE

o
o

General
In complete contrast to the NNE-SS'''' regional strike of
the Ecuadorian Andes the structural grain of the EI Oro
metamorphic complex is east-west and is dominated by
the presence of numerous, generally steep, sub-parallel,
anastomosing faults. In spite of the apparent uniformity
of the various structural elements, the El Oro metamor
phic complex comprises rocks of different ages, origins
and metamorphic histories and it follows that the struc
tures preserved must also reflect this diversity. Further
work is required before a detailed structural/kinematic
framework can be established but nevertheless sufficient
information is currently available to allow a broad dis
tinction to be made be tween the dominantly Late Trias
sic structures, present to the south of the Zanjon
Naranjo fa ult zone, which relate to the 'Moromoro
event' and those of uncertain , but younger age (?Late
Jurassic-Cretaceous ), which occur to the north and
relate to the 'Palenque event'.

Table 8

3000

2000

SiO~

TiO "
'J 2 O:<
re2 'lT
:\<lnO
:\<lfiO
CaO
:\a 2 O

1\.,0

P;O,
LlO
Total

40.69
0.10
3. 13
8.09
0.12
36.44
1.23
0.02
0.06
0.02
10.80
100.70

As

Bi

Cr
Co
Ni
Cli
Zn
Rb
Sr
Y
Zr
Nb
\10

Ag
Sn
Sb
Ba
La
Ce
Pb
Th
l!

67
2461

III
1405
21
_'38
2
2
2

2
0
2
1
0

J
22
I
5
1
I
0

38.21
0.01
1.17
7.86
0.10
3H.53
0.87
0.00
0.01
0.04
13.85
100.H,)
7
5
1
44
3083
122
1685

284

'l03

42.06
0.05
3.22
7.9H
0.12
35 .65
2.60
0.04
0.02
0.05
8.02
99.HI
292

5
0
70
2898
102
1262

5S

31
0

52
0
I()
I
0
I
0

2
0
0
0
0
0
0
5
12
0
12
1
1
0

2
0
4
15
0
0
3
1
0

305

40.16
0.01
2.51
H.31
0.11
3638
0.83
0.00
0.01
0.00
11.85
100.17
11
3
0
63
3167
11 8
1629
44
51
I

6
I

1
0
0
0
0

397

..........

0.01

-- - -

40.19
0.00
1.38
7.44
0.08
38.50
0.03
0.00
0.01
0.00
11.58
100.21

4073
0.00
1.36
7.83
0.09
39. 11
0.17
0.00
0.01
0.00
1163
100.93

20

3
0
38
3093
125
1791
0
37
I
2
0
1

0
33
2823
132
1769
6
46
0
I
0
0
0
I
0
0

0
0
0
0
1
10
0
13
I

27
0
13
1
0

17
0
]9

()

Serp elllinite le ns wilhin Q. Plata unit Pi ed ras mafIC complex.

I I
\ /

_--s--

/V,-----

0
0

----.

0.03

0.10

0.30

T;02

Figure 29 Cr v. Ti0 2 discriminant plot (after

Pearce et a!., 1984A) for EI Toro and other

serpentinites of Palenque division.

S = supra-subduction zone ophiolites;

M = MORB ophiolites.

398

I \

\ .

-_. _ - - - -- 23 1

/---~ ""'-..

I ~
\

( continued)

RB35G

Unnamed serpentinites

5000

U:\i\':\,\lEO SFRPI:::i'\ n ~ ITF..S

Sampk

ElToro unit

400

4 1.33
0.01
1.86
7.46
0.10
.W50
0.47
0.00
0.01
0.00
J130
100.04
6
5
0
49
3 103
124
1617
5
41
2
14
1
3
I

0
0
0
17
0

6
0
2
0

41.69
0.00
1.49
696
0.09
39.03
0.05
0.00
0.01
0.01
11.53
100 8b

5
3
0
39
3187
118
1537
3
31
2
4
0
I
0
0
0
0
2
38
0
14
2
0
0

37

38

OVERSEAS GEOL. & tv[JNER.

RESOUl~.

No. 67 1995

Table 9 Palenque melange division (inclusions) normative mineral compositions

(Kelsey, 1965) and geochemical indices.
R.

EL TORO

PANUPALJ UNJT

270

298

301B

357

358

359

360

335

UNJT

341

342

343

- -

346

363A* 363B*

- - - -

Corundum
Orthoclase
Albite
Anorthite
Diopside
Diopside (Cal'vlg)
Hedenbergite
Hypersthene
Enstatite
Ferrosilite
Olivine
Forsterite
Fayalite
Magnetite
Chromite
llmenite
Apatite

0.00
0.00
1.59
0.15
12.09 16.22
12.48 10.03
9.67
8.39
5.18
5.58
4.49
2.81
8.77
6.02
4.40
3.81
4.37
2.20
0.44 4.59
0.21
2.80
0.23
1.78
1.43
1.20
0.01
0.01
1.77
1.40
0.28
0.14

0.00
0.00 0.00
0.00
0.00
1.06
2.15 3.15
2.41
0.54
15.75 12.38 13.64 16.81 19.12
10.36
9.98 9.42
7.36
7.53
6.87
8.91 8.80
8.41 11.40
3.51
4.02 3.63
4.10
6.17
3.35
4.89 5.17
4.30
5.23
7.23
9.69 5.10
0.56
3.83
3.45
4.04 1.93
0.26
1.94
3.78
5.65 3.16
0.31
Ul9
2.72
0.76 3.78
8.29
3.55
3.57
1.71
1.23 0.30 1.35
1.49
0.46 2.43
4.73
1.84
1.66
1.85 1.88
1.81
1.40
0.00
0.00 0.00
0.00
0.01
2.77
2.58 2.76
2.49
1.51
0.18
0.34
0.33 0.34
0.26

0.80
0.00
0.04
0.07
0.00
0.00
0.00
16.00
14.36
1.64
26.12
23.21
2.92
0.93
0.31
0.00
0.00

0.00 0.00 0.00

0.00
0.03 0.03 0.00
0.03
0.25 0.17 0.13
0.55
2.24 2.50 1.48
1.16
1.26 0.83 0.99
0.55
1.15 0.76 0.91
0.50
0.11
0.07 0.08
0.05
10.11 10.79 8.93
6.57
9.11
9.75 8.10
5.95
1.00 1.04 0.83
0.62
31.19 30.45 33.91 37.41
27.82 27.25 30.47 33.56
3.37 3.21 3.44 3.85
0.94 0.90 0.92
0.97
0.33 0.32 0.33
0.35
0.00 0.00 0.00
0.00
0.02 0.02 0.04
0.02

Diff. index
Colour index
mg number

13.68 16.37
22.09 21.61
50.32 63.76

16.81 14.53 16.78

21.25 23.78 22.23
45.66 41.08 37.42

0.04
43.37
91.20

0.28 0.20 0.13

43.82 43.31 45.08
91.48 91.70 92.01

19.22 10.66
21.56 21.70
44.91 51.37

UNNAMED SERPEi\TJNJTES
.--- .

--~ --

RB35G

231

284

303

305

397

Corundum
Orthoclase
Albite
Anorthite
Diopside
DJOpside (CaMg')
Hedenbergite
Hypersthene
Enstatite
Ferrosilite
Olivine
Forsterite
Fayalite
Magnetite
Chromite
Ilmenite
Apatite

0.84
0.35
0.17
5.95
0.00
0.00
0.00
28.33
25.50
2.84
51.08
45.50
5.58
1.75
0.53
0.19
0.05

0.00
0.06
0.00
3.15
0.70
0.64
0.06
18.92
17.16
1.76
60.91
54.72
6.19
1.70
0.66
0.02
0.09

0.00
0.06
0.17
4.29
1.59
145
0.14
13.59
12.22
1.37
24.93
22.18
2.75
0.87
0.31
0.05
0.06

0.49
0.03
0.D4
2.06
0.00
0.00
0.00
15.06
13.51
1.55
25.09
22.26
2.82
0.90
0.34
0.01
0.00

0.65
0.03
0.04
0.07
0.00
0.00
0.00
17.42
15.88
1.54
24.84
22.44
2.40
0.81
0.30
0.00
0.00

0.51
0.49 0.69
0.03
0.03 0.03
0.04
0.04 0.04
0.42
1.17 0.09
0.00
0.00 0.00
0.00
0.00 0.00
0.00
0.00 0.00
15.06 17.35 17.67
13.69 15.78 16.22
1.38
1.58 1.45
26.95 24.07 24.62
24.26 21.68 22.42
2.69
2.39 2.20
0.84 0.81 0.75
0.33
0.33 0.34
0.00
0.01 0.00
0.00
0.00 0.01

Dif. index
Colour index
mg number

0.52
81.88
91.30

0.06 0.23
82.91 41.34
91.95 91.23

398

400

0.07 0.07 0.07

0.07 0.07
41.40 43.37 43.19 42.58 43.39
91.07 92.34 92.09 92.13 92.89

0.18
0.03
0.04
1.26
0.00
0.00
0.00
16.39
14.68
1.71
24.94
22.10
2.83
0.93
0.33
0.00
0.01

0.39
0.03
0.04
0.44
0.00
0.00
0.00
16.70
14.98
1.71
25.36
22.52
2.84
0.93
0.33
0.00
0.00

0.58 0.07
45.85 42.58
91.88 91.00

0.07
43.31
91.14

OVERSEAS GEOL. & MINER RESOUR. No. 67 1995

39

Structure south of Zanjon-Naranjo fault zone, the

'Moromoro event'
The dips in the unmetamorphosed to weakly metamor
phosed EI Tigre unit are variable but normally steep to
moderate and generally to the north. Numerous
bedding-parallel faults occur throughout the unit and
where observed, the associated lineations/slickensides
are horizontal or have gentle, east-west plunges (Plate
20). Many of these faults are marked by irregular, con
cordan t/ discordant, quartz veins and lenses. In areas of
high strain, zones of bedding-parallel cleavage may be
developed but these are generally restricted to narrow
incompetent shale/lutite horizons where a horizontal!
subhorizontal (transpressional), dextral shear sense can
sometimes be established. Elsewhere, structures tend to
be of a more brittle nature, especially in the massive,
quartzose horizons, where quartz-filled tensional fea
tures, some of which are demonstrably dextral, are com
monly developed and are typically oblique to the main,
east-west, structural trend of the unit. In some areas, for
exam pie to the west of Marcabeli (Marcabeli 617/9581),
the El Tigre unit is overturned but we have been unable
to confirm that the entire unit is inverted (cf. Feininger,
1978) and suggest that such phenomena may be associ
ated with local thrusts/flower structures which often
develop near surface, in association with regional strike
slip zones (Sylvester, 1988).
Structurally the La Victoria unit is similar to the EI Tigre
unit but, as evidenced by the metamorphic mineral assem
blages, this unit was deformed at higher temperatures. The
contact between the two units corresponds to a steep,
complex, east-west-trending, tectonic zone across which
there is an increase in metamorphic grade and intensity
of, generally subhorizontal, ductile shearing. Throughout
the La Victoria unit, cleavage and bedding, where still
recognisable, are normally parallel and, with notable
exceptions, they are usually steep and to the north.
Lineations, which typically have shallow 30), east
erly or westerly plunges, are preserved on many surfaces
(Plates 20, 21 and 22). Both within the La Victoria unit
and in parts of the Moromoro granitoid complex, espe
cially in the south, macroscopic and microscopic kine
matic indicators such as winged inclusions, boundinaged
quartz veins, rotated porphyroblasts/megacrysts, tight-to
isoclinal Z-folds and/or kink bands (often with steep-to
vertical fold axes), S-C mylonite fabrics and mica fish are
common (for review of kinematic indicators see Hanmer
and Passchier, 1991): all give a consistent sense of
dextral movement (Plates 23-26). In the sense of Lister
and Snoke (1984), much of the La Victoria unit (and
parts of the EI Tigre unit) consists of Type II S-C
mylonites. The high fault density and its anastomosing
pattern, the evidence from mineral lineations and shear
sense indicators, all strongly support the interpretation
that, during the 'Moromoro event', these rocks were
deformed and metamorphosed in a regional zone of
dextral transpression. The dominant sense of movement
was approximately horizontal and parallel to faulting
(i.e. strike-slip in the sense of Sylvester, 1988). In the
west, to the north of La Victoria and exposed along the

Plate 20 Horizontal (dextral) slickensides on vertical

surface, EI Tigre unit, TahUin division, new Arenillas
Alamor road.

main Arenillas road, thrusts of mylonitic schists have

been mapped which are highly oblique to the normal,
east-west structural trend of the La Victoria unit. These
mylonitic rocks are not well exposed but have a variable,
often gentle, westerly dipping, bedding-parallel cleavage
and westerly plunging, mineral lineations. Boundinaged
and sigmoidally Z-folded quartz veins suggest tectonic
transport from west to east. These structures may corre
spond to contractional strike-slip duplexes, such as are
commonly formed at restraining/compressional bends
(Woodcock, 1986; Crowell, 1979).
In the south, the east-west-trending Marcabeli and EI
Prado plutons are generally unfoliated. However, the
northern part of the Marcabeli pluton is cut by a series of
generally steep, dextral shear zones (Plate 14) and within
the La Victoria unit, particularly in the west, a number of
strongly foliated, isolated, faulted-bounded lenses belong
ing to the Moromoro granitoid complex, are present.
The main outcrop of the Moromoro granitoid complex is
variably deformed. In some areas, coarse, but fairh' pene
trative, foliations and/or discreet, ductile S-C (d extral )
mylonite fabrics are preserved (Plate 26) but oft 11 th e:,e

40

OVERSEAS GEOL. & [vIlN ER. RESOUR. No. 67 1995

Plate 21
Mylonitic L-S
tectoni tes,
La Victoria unit,
Tahuin division,
Rio Moromoro

Plate 22 Mylonitic L-S tectonites,

La Victoria unit, Tahuin division,
north of Las Lajas.

granitoids h ave an irregular or weakly developed (nebu

litic) gneissic foliations or linear fabrics, due to the align
ment of biotite/ biotite schlieren and / or flattened and
elongated xenolithic material (Pl a tes 4 and 5). Else
where, for example in the La Florid a area in the west, the
La Florida pluton is unfoliated a nd appa rently unde
formed (Plates 10 and 11) . Together the se obseD'ations
suggest that the magmatic acti\'i(\ associa ted with the

'Moromoro event' may have been either relatively long

lived or episodic in nature since it appears to include a
variety of syn- to late- and possibly post-tectonic plutons.
Structural dips within the elongate, east-west-striking
Quebrada Pla ta unit a re variable but generally steep .
The southern contact of this unit with the Moromoro
granitoid complex was possibly intrusive but is now
faulted. Since the amphibolites along this contact are

OVERSEAS CEOL. & MINER RESOUR . No. 67 1995

41

not brec ciated , nor apparen tly have they been signifi
cantly retrogressed, it is probable that it was fo rm ed
close to peak m eta morphic conditions during th e
' Moromoro event'.
Zanjon- Naranjo fault zone

Along the Zanjon- Naranjo fault zo n e the northern

margin of the Quebrada Plata a mphibolite unit has been
widely retrogressed to greenschist. In several areas (e.g.
along th e Rio Naranjo, west of Zaracay) a distinctive,
banded tectonite, which has a strongly d eve loped, steep
to-verti cal, amphibole (actinolite) , mineral lineation has
been produced (Plate 17). Late , sem iductile, conjugate
sets of (Z) kink bands indicate downthrow to the north.
Th ese tectonites sugges t that movemen t a long thi s
segment of the fault was probably dominantly of a high
temperature, du ctil e nature however, in the extreme
west, near the disputed frontier with Peru, tectonic brec
cias h ave b een o bserved. Regionally, this fault zo ne
defll1es the sou thern te ctoni c limit of the Palenque
melange divi sion and the Raspas ophiolitic complex, and
th erefore represents an illiporta nt stm ctu re within the EI
Oro me tamo rphi c complex. Although the overall sense
and timing of th e major movements are uncertain they
postdate those of the Late Triassic 'Moromoro event' an d
a re assumed to relate to those of the 'Pal enque event'.
Structme north of the Zanjon-Naranjo fault zone, the
'Palenque event'

Plate 23 Boudinaged quartz veins indi cating dextral

movement, low-grade portion of La Victoria unit,
Tahuin division, Rio Moromoro.

Plate 24 Dex tra l win ged inclusion,

high-grade portion of La Victoria
uni t, Tahuin division,
Rio Moromoro.

To the north of the Zanj on -Naranjo fault zone is the

Palenque melange division. The age of formation of the
melange , its struc turin g and associated metamorphis m
are not well constrain ed but occurred during what is
h ere referred to as the 'Palenque event'. The fine
grained, generally incompetent, m atrix sediments of

42

OVERSEAS GEOL. & 'vllNER. RESOUR No. 67 1995

Plate 25

Boudinaged pegmatitic
vein and small-scale Z-folds (right
centre) indicating dextral
movement, high-grade portion of
La Victoria unit, Tahuin division,
Quebrada Primavera.

Plate 26

Dextral S-C (Type 1)

mylonite, La Bocana division,

Moromoro Complex,

Rio Moromoro

the Palenqu e di\ision have been plastically deformed

and their sr:ructure is dominated by the presence of
steep-to-\ertical. bedding-parallel, east -west-trending
faults which probabh have a complex history of move
ment. Beddingl clea\ age relationships are also parallel
and although \ariable. in both direction (i.e. to the
north or south) and amount, are generally steep.
Macroscopic, kinematic indica to rs and lineations are
relatively rare at outcro p lcH'1 b Ul. \\here observed, they
suggest a dextral sen se of , he a r \\i th fairly gen tIe
plunges.
In the south and east, strongh deformed, steeply
dipping, sometimes silicified. bLlck (= 'Tdphite) phyl
lonites and quartzose m\lonites occur sand\\'iched

between the Zanjon-Naranjo fault zone and the Raspas

ophiolitic complex. In the west dips are more variable,
but generally they are to the south along the Tahuin
dam (thrust) fault. Elsewhere, contacts between the
matrix sedimen ts and the various tectonic inclusions
within the Palenque melange division are often steep
and, in some cases, subhorizontal dextral shear can be
demonstrated. In the Quera Chico, Limon Playa, Arenil
las and Taqui units (?)older, ductile structures are pre
served. However, especially in the amphibolite units,
younger, irregular, brittle fractures and semibrittle,
often steep, east-west-trending shear zones are present.
It is tentatively suggested that these structures formed
during, or following, the incorporation of these older,

OVERSEAS GEOL & MINER RESOUR No. 67 1995

competent ro cks into th e Palenque me la nge d ivi ~i on.

Availa ble K-Ar and U/ Ph d ates indicate lhat a th ermal
e ve n t affected the Are nillas a nd Limon Playa units at
about 74-80 Ma and some of these structur may relate
to thi s eve n t (set: also Aspde n et aI. , (992).
Few detailed structural observations are available for
the Ra-pas op hiolitic complex. Mora (1988) co nfirmed
the com m )n occurrence of mylonitic te xtures in both
the Rio Panupali alld La Chilca units and in the west, a
series of southweste rly d ipping imbricate thrust faults,
which have southerly plunging mineral lineations, have
be n m apped within the Rio Panupali unit. In spite of
the often steep internal and contact structures, the
emplacem e nt of the Raspas o phi o lil ic complex from its
original dep th of formation (ab ut 9 Kb, D uque 1992),
to its p rese nt structural level, must have involved several
kilometers of vertical movem ent (for models of
b lLleschist e mplacementscc Platt, 1987 and 1986).
Structural limits of the El Oro metamorphic complex
The northern lim it of the main outcrop of the El Oro
me tamorph ic om pl ex coincid s wi th the Jubones fault,
which was previou ~ l y consideH' d to separate the older
metamo rphic rocks to the sOLlth from the ' Upper C l e ta
ceo us marine island arc volcanics ... of the ' '''"estern
Cordillera ... to the north' (Baldock, 1982). However,
sin e inliers of metamorphic rocks . sim il ar to those
found within the EI Oro metamorphic complex, have
been reported to the north of th e Jubones fault it is
unlikely tha l th is structure is of major regional signifi
cance. :N"t:vcrtheless the fault is of local importance and
probably has a complex history, which included a
normal component of movement vvith significant down
throw to the north. T he fact that the Jubones fault is par
a ll el to other easl-west-trending faul ts within the
Palenque melange complex suggests a common origin
but, the presence of highly contorted black phyllites,
numerous quartz veins and areas of silici fi ca tion along
its le ng th may relate to younger (possibly Late Creta
eol.ls) movements. Structural d ips are va riab le but gen
erally steep to vertical and both gentle, east-w(, st-plung
ing and steep, northerly plunging, mineral lineation s
have bee n observed.
In the east, near to lI zhcurrumi, the Jubon es fa ult is
cut by undeformed granodiori tes, of p robable Palaeo
gene age (A Egu z. Q uit ) Poli lec nic , personal comm u ni
cation). Similar ro cb intrude the EI Oro m e tamorp hic
com pI . , along much o f its eastern margin and alon g the
Pii1 as - Portovelo fa ul t zon e baseme n t i ith olo o"i e~ bave. in
places (e.g. to the 50mh of Pliias). been cataclastically
deforme d and brecciated by younger (reacti\a le cl),
norm al faulting with down throw to the north.
The south-eastern limit of the I O ro metamorphic
co mplex i ' defined by a series of ~. lE-SSW-lrcllding,
'horse-tail' faults of the GlIay<lbal fault zone. This zone is
undoubtedly complex and has prohably been affecte d by
several periods of movemen t wh ich involved not only the
metamorphic basement litholo ~i e s, b ut also those of the
Cretaceous Alamor basin seque n ce and younger Tertiary
formatio ns and intrusions (Ke nn rIey and Almeida,

43

1975). Regionally, the main Guayabal fault defines the

western ma rgin of the Neogene Catamayo 'graben' (E
Salazar, RTZ pic, Quito, personal communication) , a
north -south-trending structure that separates the main
outcrop of the EI Oro metamorphic complex from
similar metamorph ic lithologies of the Cordillera Real to
the ea st (Aspden and Litherland , 1992; Kennerley and
Al11leida, 1975). The metamorphic rocks that have been
affecte d by this fault zone have been cataclastic all y
defo rmed and the more competent, quartz-rich litholo
gi es are typically strongly fractured and/or brecciated.
Overall the sense of movement along the zone is
thought to be dextral but also includes an eastward
directed thrust component.
In the so uth the EI O ro metamorphic comp lex is
unconforma bly overlain by the Cretaceous sediments of
the Alamor basin. The developm ent of the basin was
probably controlled by extension al fau lts, repeated
movements along which have resulted not on ly in the
brecciation of the metamorphic basement but also of
the younger basinal sediments.
A'isociated younger structures
A number of young, (?) Neogene, cross-cutting, approxi
m a tely , 1 E-SSW-trending lin eame nts have been
mapped using airphotographs and SAR images. Where
the presence of these lin eaments has been confirmed in
the field they are associated with diffuse zones of brittle
fracture. In the Zarum a mining district and the Cerro
Pelado area similarly trending faults represent important
controls for mineralisation (Van Thournout et aI., 1991;
A Eguez, Q uito Politecnic , personal communication).

GEOLOGICAL INTERPRETATION
Regional con text within the Northern Andes
The metamorphic rocks of the EI Oro Province are
interpreted to form part of an accre tionary prism
complex that probably extends the length of the No'rth
ern Andes but much of which is cove red by younger
strata and especially the extensive, Tertiary/ Quaternary
volcanic d eposits that are widely developed in both
Ecuador and Colombia, In Ecuador, it is suggested that
th e eastern li m it of this complex coincides with the
Baiios - Las ;-\radas fault zone, a regional structure that
defi nes the western li m it of the Cordillera Real and
which continues as the Romeral fault in Colombia
(As pden et aI., 1992a). For the purposes of this account,
tb e we. tern limit of the accretionary complex is taken as
the Calacali-l'allatanga fau lt zone (Aspden et aI., 1987).
H owever, to the west of this line, the Cordillera
O ccidental and Coastal Plain are also composed of
allochthonous material (Van Thournout et aI., 1992;
.Ylegard, 1989; Aspden et ai., 1987a; McCourt et aI.,
1984), and hellce furthe r accreted crust extends to the
presen t-day trench axis.
In Ecuador the accretion ary complex bet\,'ct" 11 the
Banos-Las Aradas and the Ca lacali-PalLn:lnga Llul;, has

44

OVERSEAS CEOL. & MINER. RESOU R No.67 1995

bee n previously (in part) referred to as the

C h auc ha-Arenillas terrane (Li therland and Aspd en,
1992) (see also Fein in ger, 1987). It is now apparent th a t
th e ' Chaucha-Arenillas terrain' contain s a var iety of
rocks of different ages and origins and in our view th e
accretionary prism model provides a more realistic, con
cep tual framework in whic h to discuss, not only the m e ta
morphic rocks of th e EI Oro Province, but also, th e
geology of the entire bel t. vVhile such a discussion is
beyo nd the scope of the present report, Figure 30 shows
th e main outcrops of 'metamor phic basement' in
Ecuador that are located b etween the Banos- Las Aradas
an d Calacali-Pallatanga fau lt zones. These are the occur
rences which we would now include within the accre
tionary complex. Terrain further west, and not discussed
he rein, also forms part of the larger accretionary prism.
Sim il arly, further to the north in Colol1l.bia, the ophi
o li tic sequ e nce of the Amaim e terra ne and the assoc i
ate d hi gh-pressure assembl ages of Barragan andJambalo
(Aspden an d McCourt, 1986; Fe ininger, 1982 ) wou ld
also form part of the accretionary com plex, as would th e
'meta morphic' rocks of th e Amotape-Tahuin terrane in
nort h-west Perll (Megard, 1989) .
Origin of the El Oro metamorphic complex

The rocks of the EI Oro metamorphic com plex to the

north and south of the Zanjon-Naranjo fault are both
conside red to be part of the sa me accretionary mass and
essentially to have had the same or igin. However, many
of th e rocks which occur as inclusions within th e
Palenque melange division to the north of this fault have
been tectonically derived from those to the south (or
their ana logu es elsewhere). The southern block is of
course a more coherent unit than the melange and the
following partial 'pre-accre tionary comp lex' geological
histo ry can be es tablished.
The T a huin se mi-pelitic sediments, of probable lower
Pal aeozo ic age, within the southern b lock were meta
morph osed during the Late Triassic. This metamor
ph ism, a tempe rature-domin ated even t, was accom
pani ed b\' dextral shearing , migm a tite forma tion, the
empl acement of the dominan tly S-type, syn- to late-tec
tonic granites (yIoromoro complex) an d the intrusion
of mafic magma (Piedras complex).
Se"era l of the rock types withi n the EI Oro metamor
phi c complex can be correlated with li tholog ies from the
Cordillera Real, the exception being the high-pressure/
low-te mp e ra ture oph io litic mate rial of th e melange.
Tmmediateh to the eas t in the Cordi ll era Real, the Loja
di vision (Aspden a nd Litherland, 1992) , li ke the EI Oro
rocks , comprises a ,-ariabh metamorphosed se mi-pelitic
sequence that is estima ted to be of Palaeozoic age. Late
Triassic S-type gra niLe, and migmatites a r e present
within th e Loj a d i"i sio ll ('\oble et aI. , 1994) an d it has
been suggested th at th ese line also formed during a
period of dextra l shear ill g ( -\ spcl e n et aI., 1992 and
1992a) .
The conclusion reac hed is th at th e Moromoro
complex and Tahuin d iyi sioll of th e El Oro Province are
the equiva lents o f the Loja di,i sio n of th e Cordillera

Real. In b oth areas mafic am ph ibolite bodies are

spa tially associated with the gra nitoid s; field observations
in the Cordillera Real and U/ Pb zircon results in th e El
Oro compl ex co nfirm that these rocks types are of a
similar age. It is therefore possibl e to suggest that the
excess h eat conta in ed by the mafic magmas may have
co ntributed to crusta l anatexis and hence th e develop
me nt of th e r eg ional m igma tite / S-type gran i te b e lt
(Castro et aI., 1991). However, Reavy (1989) , who
reports many features from the Portuguese H ercynian
belt that are id e nti ca l to those seen in the El Oro
me tamorphic compl ex, con cludes that although the
high thermal gradients e ncountered in n arrow
'p lutonometam orph ic ' zones probabl y result fr o m a
combination of factors, they are intrinsically lin ked to
the presence of high strain zones in the crust (see also
Strong and Hanme r, 1981, and Pitcher, 1979).
Geoc hemicall y th e Piedras complex is oceani c in ch ar
acter a nd could re present suprasubduction (gabbroic)
magmas emplaced into an ac tive regional shear zon e .
Autome tamorphisrn by aqueo us fluids penetrating along
the shear system could account for the amphibolite /
greensc hist mineral ogy (Honnorez et a!., 1984) .
In summary, the structural and petrological data from
the EI Oro metam orphic comp lex indicate that th e
e mplacement of gra ni toid of predominantly S-type c har
acter, migmatite form a ti on and the intrusio n of a lin ea r
belt of gabbroic magma were assoc iated with regional
sh earing and took place und er high-temperature/ low
pressure metamorphic cond itions (see also D 'Lemos et
aI., 1992; Hutton and Reavy, 1992; Krohe, 1991). Based
on the geochemical evidence, the Moromoro complex
(and those granitoids of the Loja division in the
Cord illera Real) can be class ified as volcanic arc granites
and such tecton ic settings are also considered to b e
favo urable environments for th e development o f low
press ure / high-temperature me tamorphism of the type
preserve d in the Tahuin div ision (Yardley, 1989;
Miyas hiro , 1972; but see a lso Strong a nd Hanmer, ] 981;
Wickh a m, 1987) .
Age of accretionary complex and rotation of the El Oro
metamorphic complex

The age of formation of the accretionary complex, of

which the EI Oro metamorphic complex forms a part, is
poorly constrained. However, about 140 Ma ago, following
th e cessatio n of Jurassic (c.190 -1 45 Ma) volcano-plutonic
activity which affected th e whole of the Northe rn Andes
(A~pden et aI. , 1992 , 1987a), the re was a n impo rta nt
change in the geodynamic framework of Ecuador. This
change resulted in deformati on, uplift a nd erosion to th e
east of the Banos- Las Aradas fau lt zone (Figure 30). Reset
K/ Ar m ineral ages and a reset Rb/Sr whole-rock isochron,
obtained from the older Jurassic batho liths , are inter
pre ted to rela te to this event which, in the Co rdillera Real,
included an important element of (?)dextral shearing
along steep-to-vertical, NNE -SSW-trending zones.
Part of the accretionary comp lex may have an old e r
hi story, but it is suggested that its main comp o nents
were pro bably asse mbled durin g this eve nt. From about

OVERSEAS GEOL & iI'lINER RESOUR No, 67 1995

45

c 0
l 0 MB
"

"-

'X'

o
o

<

<v

0-

'<

10;,

()

Cl

-..J

cr:

:"

t::

:"

(
'./

:z

D
D

/
/

/ 0

/ !!:

'

'
I
/

80'

/~

70

1 0
10
1
10
1-

141
1<
I-..J

r- ,

f'

Exposed portions of
accretionary complex
Buried portion of
accretionary complex
Chota valley sequence

;;

/0

'-
'-

'

14.

P R iJ

Figure 30

/ 0

/ 0"

I er:

..-- \

/ 0"

r- J ~

,-

cr:

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~JI

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-..J

4"

<{

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CUenCj
\
\

3 <t~ ~;:,.

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~~"f/

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-...

()

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'Vo; 1/

Guamote division

Alao division

Chaucha 'basement'

Manu 'basement'

EI Oro metamorphic complex

J
"--_

100Km

---'-_-'-----L---.JI

7iJ'

Sketch of eastern portion of N orthern Andean accretionary comp lex, Ecuador segment.

140 Ma onwards, it is envisaged that the grani[Oids of the

El Oro metamorphic complex were tectonically deri\ed,
either from the western margin of the Cordillera Real
(Loja division), or from its sou th ern extens ion into
northern Peru, (Olmos Arch of Cobbing et aI., 1981),
and incorporated into the accretionary prism,
In the south, the El Oro metamorphic complex is
overlain unconformably by the sediments of the Alamor
basin which range from Lower to Upper Cretaceous in
age, Th e Alamor structure which extends in to north

" 'estern Perll as the Lancones basin, began subsiding in

the Aptian (clIO Ma) (Baldock, 1982; Cobbing et aI.,
1981), a date which provides a minimum age for this
portion of the accretionary prism, Palaeomagnetic data
from the Lancones basin (Mourier et aI., 1988) suggest
pro gTessive (in si tu), up to 90, clockwise rotation
during the Early [0 Late Cretaceous, This rotation sense
is consistent with a dextral shear regime and \\'Quld also
accoun t for the east-west trend of the El Oro metamor
phic complex since these rocks, which formed the ' base

46

OVERSEAS CEOL & MINER. RESO{ '{. l'io. 67 [995

ment' of the Lancones/ Alamor basin , musL abo h ave

been ro tate d.
Th e Ca lacali - Pallatan ga fa ult zone represe nts Lhe
western limit of the acc re tionary prism d esc ribed here.
AIthough this bound ary is reasonably well d efined geo
graphically, th e timing of th e accr e tion of the
allochthonous Co rdillera Occide ntal along it is unce r
tain. However , it is generally agreed that it took place
eithe r in the Late Cretaceous (c. 70 Ma) (Aspd e n e t aI.,
1992; Megard, 1989) or so m e time during th e Lower
T e rtiary ( pre. 38 Ma) (Va n Thournout e t aI. , 1992; Daly,
1989) .
Further work is required , and in particular th e
'matrix' of th e accretionary compl e x should be dated in
order to es ta blish its age of fo rm a tion. Based on th e
obse rva tio ns discussed above , it is ten tatively sugges ted
that the majority of th e comple x was assembled between
th e latest Jurassic and La te Cretaceous (c.140-70 Ma)
but it is possibl e th at thi s range vvill be ex te nded as more
information becom es available.

ECONOMIC GEOLOGY
General
The principal mine ral of economic importance in the El
Oro Province is gold , which has been wo rked since pre
Colombian time. Reliabl e produ c tion figures are n ot
availa ble but probably be tween 2 and 3 tons of go ld are
extra cte d annually. Most o f the known a reas of eco
n o mic mineralisation are located close to, but outside of,
th e limits of th e El Oro metamorphic complex . T he
general distribution of these occ urre n ces is of inte rest
(Figure 31) sin ce there is a spa tial re lationship to th e
compl e x.
Th e m eso thermal / epitherm al polymetallic ve ins of
th e Po rtovelo/Zaruma ancl Ayapamba rnining districts
(lNEMIN-ACCD-ABOS, 1988; UNDP, 1972; Billingsley,
1926) account for m ost of the hard rock gold produc
tion. Recent discove ries in and a ro und Cerro Pelado,
including that o f a free gold-bearin g breccia pipe , are
also now being worked by various groups using ar tisa nal
me tho d s. To the north o f Ce rro Pelado, n ear Be lla
Ma ria, the Los Lile nes Croup (Ecumin as/ Odin ) is
ex tractiLlg about 0.25 to n / annum of gold fro m the Rio
Calaguro allu\ial d e p osit, a nd to the eas t, in the vicinity
of Cerro Az ul , go ld-be aring polyme tallic qu ar tz veins are
reportedl )' be in g \mrked. To th e we t of Cerro Azul, a t
Cerro Los Cangrejos, minor gold showings have bee n
record ed and in the Rio Du acay, upstream of Pl ayas d e
Du acay, a north- south- tre nding, approxim a te ly 1 m
wide , polymetallic \ ein is currently be ing e xploited. In
th e extreme east. small quan tit ies of go ld are worked
from the Ligzhn e pithcrm:11 d e p o sit (E Pillajo, p e rso n al
communi cati o n). In addit io n , a numbe r of shallow, now
abandon ed , adits that are t\ pi ca lh associated with sm all,
weakly min e ralised Ugold-beari 11 0 ) fracture s n ear intru
sive contacts, are prese nt in th f' L"zhcurrumi area, along
th e Chilla road and abo ut 1 km south of thf' ~ !TIall village
of Cerro Azul on the Paccha road.

All o f th e above occurre nces are spatially associated

wi th the Teniar y volcano-pluton ic complex and it m ay
be significa nt that most of this m ineralisation a ppea rs
to co nc e n trated clo se to th e contact zon e b e twee n
th ese ro c k.-. and th ose of the EI Oro meta morphic
baseme n t.

MET >U.U C MLNER'\l, O CCURRENCES

T h e location of the occurre n ces referred to below are
shown in Figure 31.

Cerro Pelado area

Several active ancl abandoned mines are present in the
Cerro Pel ado area. three of which were visited wi th Dr
R A J e mie lita who contributed to the foll owin g brief
de scriptions.
a . El Antimonio mine (L, Avanzada 6272/95043 ) T his
aband o ned mine and pilo l cru shing plant is located in
the Q ne b rad a G u ayabo. T h e m ain adit trends approx i
mate ly east-west and is loca ted wiLhin a gra nul a r
textured , sheared granite (Limon Playa unit, Pale nque
division) which contains xe noliths of mica sc hist O.Sm
diameter). T h e shear fabri c is approximately vertical and
strikes east-west. The mineralised ve in is about 40 cm
wide and co mprise s massive and vuggy quartz with
coarst' stibn ite. Float blocks of to urmaline breccia a re
common and a small intrusive breccia vein was observe d
just Li p ITea m of th e main adit. T he area was min ee! by
the Ecual)<\ Comp a ny for antimony, but gold and silver
'Issays of up to 14 g/to n have been ohtain ed from the
vein howeve r, ave rage assay valu es are less than 1 g/ ton.
Several o the r adits/ exploratory tunn e ls occur upstream
of the ma in adit.
b. EI Gu ayabo mine (La Avanzada 6274/95052) This
abandon ed mine (ex-Ecu aba) is in the upper reaches of
th e Quebrada Guayabo a t an altitude o f abo ut 700 m.
The coun try rock comprises sheared , in pa rt graphitic ,
black phyllites a nd quartzose schists (Palenque m e lange
division ma trix) which are steeply dipping , ge n era lly
with an east-west strike. Seve ral adits are present on the
we st sid e of th e river vall ey a nd the vein , whi ch is
exposed in the rivcr, tre nds N 15E and dips 50 c NE. T h e
ve in consists of quartz, a rsenopyrite, pyrite with ave rage
gold assays of about 7 g/ ton and with up to 150000 tons
of ore reserves. In th e adit visited, th e vein (s) vary from
about 0.1 to 1.0 m wide and are ba nded with rath e r
massive sulphides.
In pl aces the main vein appears to be approxiIll ate ly
par alle l to the country rock fabri c.
. Cerro Pelado mine (La Avanzada 6278/ 96063 ) The
recently discovered Ce rro Pelado d eposit appears to be
loca ted in fl a t-lying rhyodacitic volcanics which overlie
metamorphic basement. The mi ne is n ear the summit of
Ce rro P lado at an altitude o f about 1280 m and co nsists
of a breccia p ipe which is b eing worked for free gold by
~u tj"a nal me l hods. W11en th e area was visited in early 1992,

<..

' .

,\

'

.,

I () ppl,

\ '; tilJ('S ( ..

AI 'e, I S

"

~..~~

~
J"

, __ --"";' " ,
,
"-,

"1...

Lilol1

' .

<\

'

1-...,

\ \
A.~ Ce,~
PeladO'

"'~. (AU~

," //

(Au)
AntiinonigAS6)

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u's In91<\oeo

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,
(

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i ....
\

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\

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',"

A I' 1;-

Qaucay
\ / ;'\.
(Au "9 Cu) I
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6 ": - @

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(Au) .

.~ (Au)
.

(~.:l-J'l. :::' ':"e.r.:['

,~o l I..
',---.., -...,i,tX.EI
~ ~ . ~"(!)-

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<

,v'-f:
perro Pelado
El,Guayabo (Au As)

~ ',_, ".

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'

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, <9 e '

(') 1 1 ZhU
9

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...--'\

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.

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Taqul

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.," ~- \

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./

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.

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Mining area

Abandoned mine

Active mine

> 1000 ppb Au

100-1000 ppb Au

10-1 00 ppb Au

1'( v
,? ,./'-l

\./,. ,

"'

-....;....-

\,

, - '

~/J

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,I

y
' .': ---. ".,

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:=,.

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(A.u, Pb, Cjl)

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<".J' -'--0 \' /

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I '7'--<
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':',, , > ,'/:~'

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..

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o

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e
,. --..; . . t'l. t'.-', '\:,
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e
~ ~ A' '".,/ - ,
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1fT, \ '
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~
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'/
_ Los C~eJos

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eo
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of f's lablish ed minin g a nd distribution of an omalous strea m sedime n t go ld

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48

OVERSEAS GEOL & MINER. RESOUR. No. 67 1995

an approximately 100 m-deep 'glory hole' had been exca

vated in the breccia pipe which is generally coarse-grained,
with elongate and angular clasts of strongly sericitised, grey
(?) mica schist clasts set in a very open, vuggy matrix. The
clasts are often coated with vuggy, crystalline, transparent
to milky quartz, mixed with iron oxides. Visible gold is
quite common. Originally the breccia pipe was exposed on
a narruw ridge with a surface oULcrop of about 26 X 20 m,
however it becomes wider at depth and the vertical extent
of the mineralisation is unknown.
Several other small-scale workings occur within the
Cerro Pelado area (e.g. Las Inglesas). These have not
been visited but reportedly they consist mainly of poly
metallic, auriferous quartz veins. Blocks of hydrother
mally altered (silica, sericite and tourmaline) intrusive
breccias are also common in several rivers which drain
the Cerro Pelado area but, as yet, no assay values of
economic interest have been reported from these rocks.
Lorna Larga mine (Zarwna c.645/9588)
The Loma Larga mine is in the upper reaches of
Quebrada Lozumbe at an altitude of about 1000 m and
access is by means of an unsurfaced track from the small
settlement of Loma Larga (Zaruma 646/9590). The
mine was visited in early 1991 when attempts were being
made to rehabilitate this small-scale operation. Access to
the main adit was not possible but samples collected
from the mine dump comprise guartz vein material
which carries massive to crystalline to vuggy stibnite,
hosted in a brittly fractured (?)quartzite. The country
rocks are east-west-trending, steeply dipping quartzites
and strongly sheared, mylonitic granites (La Bocana unit
of the Moromoro granitoid complex).
Stibnite-bearing quartz veins, that are also presumably
related to a shear zone, have been recently reported
from the area of the Quebrada EI Oso, an east-bank
tributary of the Rio Moromoro. This occurrence cannot
be confirmed since it has not been visited by the Project.
Manganese mine (Santa Rosa c.6365/96296)
This 'mine', sometimes referred to as the Sacachispas
mine is si tuated in Estero Puerto Balsas, about 1 km to
the south of San Ramon/Sacachispas (Santa Rosa
636/9630) at an altitude of less than 100 m. The country
rocks comprise silicified metasediments (Palengue
melange division matrix) and according to Harrington
(1957) the 'mine', which is nuw almost completely over
gruwn, consists of lenses of quartz that contain appreci
able quantities of massi\'e, pink rhodonite and black
psilomelane. The largest lens identified is about 6 m long
and 2 m wide and it is therefore probably of no commer
cial interest except, possibh, for ornamental purposes.

quartz schists (Palengue melange division matrix) which

carry concordant/discordant, irregular quartz veins and
stringers that contain iron oxides (?after pyrite) and
minor quantities of free gold.
Alluvial gold
Apart from the Los Lilenes operation, various rivers in
the area of the El Oro metamorphic complex are, or
reportedly have been, worked for gold. The main rivers
of interest are the Rios Amarillo and Calera which drain
the Portovelo/Zaruma and Ayapamba mining districts.
However, although rich pockets of alluvial gold do
occur, the guantities of alluvium are insufficient to be of
serious commercial interest. SmaJl-scale, intermittent
operations also exist in the Rio Santa Rosa and in the
Rios Naranjo/ Arenillas, to the east of Piedras and down
stream of the Tahuin dam. According to Wallis (1944),
most of the north bank tributaries of the Rio Naranjo
are gold-bearing, and he reports the recovery of a single
nugget which weighed 6 )12 ounces from the Quebrada
Las Damas. Minor gold showings have also been panned
during the present study in the Rio Raspas, to the west of
La Chilca, the Rio Chico and the Quebrada Chontas. In
the area around Valle Hermoso and Palengue many of
the rivers carry alluvial gold, which is worked informally,
and on an irregular basis, by small groups of miners.
In addition to these known occurrences, the largely
unconsolidated, Tertiary and Quaternary sedimentary
deposits of the coastal plain are also considered to have
potential for alluvial gold mining operations. However,
the most likely prospective areas, in the region near to
Cerro Pelado and Cerro Azul, are often heavily cultivated.
Much of the alluvial gold is assumed to have been
derived from, or is associated with, the Tertiary volcano
plutonic complex which intrudes and/or overlies much
of the metamorphic complex in the east.
Magnetite
Large quantities of magnetite octahedra occur as black
sand in the Rio Arenillas, downstream of the Tahuin dam.
The magnetite is probably derived from the weathering of
the serpentinised harzburgites of the El Toro unit (Raspas
complex) but is unlikely to be of commercial interest.
Chromium, nickel and platinum group metals (PGM)
Within the Palenque melange division various ultramafic
bodies occur. The largest is the El Toro unit of the Raspas
ophiolitic complex. These rocks are generally associated
with high Cr and Ni values and may have PGM potential.

NON-METALLIC MINERAL OCCURRENCES

Sacachispas gold mining area (Santa Rosa 637/9630)

Jerusalem feldspar mine (Marcabeli c.622/9580)

In Estero Sacachispas minor quantities of alluvial and

hard-rock gold are worked intermittently by artisanal
miners. The host rock consists of weathered, sericite

The Jerusalem feldspar mine consists of a series of small

open-pit operations that are situated about 1-2 km to the
south of Marcabeli. The workings are located within the

OVERSEAS GEOL. & MINER RESOUR. No. 67 1995

Marcabell pluton and consist of weathered, leucocratic,

pegmatitic feldspar veins which are being extracted for
use in the ceramic industry by Cera mica Andina CA.
According to company record s approximately 4000 to
5000 tons of material are produced annually and
reserves are estimated at about 80000 tons.
Quarrying operations
Th ere a re a number of generally small quarries within
the El Oro metamorphic compl ex that are often worked
intermittently to supply loca l an dlor provin cial needs.
The main rock type exploited is the amphibolite of the
Piedras mafic complex, especially th e Quebrada Plata
unit, to the SOUtl1 of the Zanjon-Naranjo fault zone.
This material has been widely used throughout the El
Oro Province for roadstone.
The serpentinised harzburgite of the El T oro unit
(Raspas complex) has also been ex tensively quarried for
hardcore in the area of El Toro (La Avanzada 611 / 9600),
and was used in the construction of the Tahuin dam.
These quarries were recen tly re-opened to provide road
stone a nd roadmetal for the Santa Rosa-Huaquillas
highway project.
To the east of Pasaje, on the main road to Cuenca
(Machala 637 / 9632), a n ew quarry has re cen tly been
opened in the Palenque melange complex (matrix) and
is taking material for use in land-fill schemes in Machal a.

',9

programme was also conducted in order to provide a

regional geochemical database. A total of 172 stream sed
iment samples were collected by wet sieving in the field,
using 175 mesh heavy duty nylon sieves. The samples
were prepared in Quito by Bondar Clegg (Inc) and anal
ysed in their Vancouver labora tory for the following ele
ments: Al, Fe (total), Mn , Mg, Ca, Na, K, V, Cr, Co, Ni,
Cu, Zn, As, Sr, Y, Mo , Ag, Cd, Sn, Sb, Te, Ba, La, W, Pb ,
Bi and Au. Analyses were carried by ICP except for Au,
which was determin ed by Fire Assay. The detailed loca
tions of the stream sediments samples are given in Table
10 and the geochemical resul ts obtained are listed in
Table 11. Th e sample sites (witl1 the excepti on of ABI
and AB53) are plotted in Figure 32. In some rivers ,
panned concentrates were also collected (see Table 11)
but analytical daLa are not available for these samples.
The geochemical data have not been subjected to
statistical analysis but selected results, for 'trace ele
ments' of economic interest, are mentioned below.
Gold and silver

STREAM SEDIMENT SAMPLING PROGRAMME

Gold analyses ranged from less than 5 ppb (detection

limit) to 7166 ppb an d a con sid e rable numbe r of
samples, especially those collected from drainages close
to the contact of the EI Oro metamorphic complex with
the Tertiary volcano-plutonic complex, carried values of
more than 10 ppb (Figure 3 1). A group of very high
values was obtained from the south of Cerro Pelado
(AB62, 3358 ppb; AB64, 7166 ppb; AB69, 5133 ppb) (see
also AB65 and AB66) and from the south of Cerro Los
Cangrejos (AB76, 1069 ppb; AB77, 2895 ppb ) (see also
AB75). Further to the north , a sample from the Estero
de la Poza Negra contained 1560 ppb (AB94) (see also
AB95, AB12, AB13, AB15 and AB16) and two samples
from north bank tributaries of the Rio Jubones, the Rios
VivaI' (AB2) and Mollepungu (AB3) had values of
1198 ppb and 1389 ppb, respectively.
Elsewhere, minor amounts of gold are associated with
the Rio Naranjo and its tributaries, particularly in the
east (up to 113 ppb in AB60 from the Quebrada
Platanillo) , and in the south-eas t, values of 30 to J 24 ppb
were record ed from th e Quebradas del Baten (AB49) ,
Chaupi (ABI04) and EI Belen (AB105) . The following
'isolated' values (>100 ppb) were also obtained: 416 ppb
(AB86, Rio San ta Rosa); 258 ppb (AB 19, tributary of
Rio Chillayacu which drains the Ligzhu deposit, Figure
31); 116 ppb (AB85, Estero Tomas); 111 ppb (AB52, Rio
El Ari) and 110 ppb (ABJ03, Quebrada El Salado).
Th e majority of silver analyses were below 0.2 ppm
(de tec tion limit) but ranged up to 15.2 ppm, with the
highest values of coming from the Rios Mollepungu (AB3,
15.2 ppm) and Vivar (AB2, 11.1 ppm). The Cerro Pelado
samples (AB62, AB64, AB66 and AB69) carried between
1.8 and 9.5 ppm of silver and those from Cerro Los Can
grejos (AB75, AB76 and AB77) between 1.5 and 2.9 ppm.

Introduction

Arsenic, antimony, bismuth and tellurium

Although tl1e main focus of the the El Oro Pr~ject was

geological mapping, a routine stream sedim ent sampling

Arsenic analyses ranged from less th an 5 ppm (detection

limit) to more than 2000 ppm but the m ajori ty of

Brick clays
The weathering products of tl1 e Marcabell pluton are espe
cially suited to brick and roof tile making since numerous,
small-scale operations are situated within its outcrop, par
ticularly in and around the towns of Balsas and Marcabeli.
Sand and gravel
Sand and gravel are taken from a number of rivers for
use in local construction. Potentially large tonnages of
sand are available in the lowe r reaches of the Quebradas
Palmales/ Chiquita. Th e former is worked inte;mittently
to supply both local and provincial requireme nts.
Ornamental stone
The various granites of the La Bocana granitoid complex
(e.g. La Fl orida pluton ) may have potential for orna
mental stone but deep weathering and the presence of
biotite muscovite co uld limit their usefulness. Equ ally,
within the Palenque melange division there are vari ous
serpentinites/serpentinised harzburgite bodi es. The
largest is the El Toro unit which may be of some interest.

50

OVERSEAS GEOL. & MINER. RE.SOUR. No. 67 1995

Table 10
SAMPLE

Stream sediment samples and heavy-min erals concentrates.

I-MP SHEET

RlVf.R

- -
AB-OOI F"*
AB-002 F P
AB-003 F P
A8-004 F P
AB-005 F P
AB-006 F P
AB-007 F P
AB-008 F P
AB-009 F P
f\B-OlO F P
AB-Ol1 F P
AB-0 12 F P
AB-013 F P
AB-01 4 F P
f\B-0 15FP
AB-016 F P
AB-017 F P
AB-0 18 F P
A8-019 F P
AB-020 F P
AB-021 F P
A8-022 F P
A8-023 F P
AB-025 F P
A8-025 F P
AS-026 F P
AB-027 F P
AB-028 F P
AB-029 F P
AB-030 F P
AB-031 F
AB-032 F P
AB-033 F P
AB-034 P
A8-035 F
AB-03o F P
AB-037 F P
AB-038 F P
AB-039 F P
AB-040 F P
AB-041 F P
AS-042 F P
AB-043 F P
;\B-044 F P
AB-045 F P
AB-046 F
A8-047 F P
AB-048 F P
A8-049 F
AB-050 F
AB051 F
AB-052 F P
AB-053 P '"
AB-054 F P
AB-055 F
AB-056 F P
AB-057 F
AB-058 F
AB-059 F P
AB-OoO F
AB-061 F P
AB-062 F P

U7.hcurrumi
U7.hcurrumi
Uzhcun-umi
Uzhcurrumi
Uzhcurrumi
Chilla
Uzhcurru mi
ChUla
Uzhcllrrumi
Uzhcurrumi
Uz hcu rrllmi
Santa Rosa
Santa Rosa
Santa Rosa
Santa Ros a
Chil la
Chilla
Chilla
Chi lla
Chilla
Chilla
Marcabeli
Marcabeli
Marcabeli
Marcabe li
IVlarcabe li
Marcabe li
Marca beli
Marcabeli
Marcabeli
Puyango
PlIyango
PlIya ngo
Puyango
PlIyango
La A\"dn7.acla
Marcabeli
Marca beli
Marca beli
Marcabe lf
Marcabeli
Marca beli
Marcabeli
Las Lajas
Paccha
Zaruma
Zarll ma
Zarurna
Zarllma
Zarum a
Zarurna
Sallliago
CalamayO
Pacclla
La ,-\\ anzada
La _-\\ anzacla
La A"anzada
La Ayanzada
La Ayanzada
La Avan~acla
La Avanzacla
La Avanzada

COOIU)Ii':ATF.S

Q. Santa Martha
R.
R.
R.
R.
R.
R.

Vivar
Moll e pungu
Muyu yac ll
QlIera
Quera
Cune
Q. Carabo ta
Q . Carabota
R. Casacay
R. I-Iuizho
R. Negro Trib.
Q. Las Pavas
R. Dumari
R. Dau cay Trib.
R. Colorado
R. Chi lo la
Q. Cerro Azul
R. Chillayacu Trib.
R. Palenque
R. Papayacll
R. 8 alsas Trib.
R. Balsas Trib.
R. Marcabeli
Q. Agua Negra
Q. Balsas
R. 8alsas Trib .
Q. Milag ro
Q. La Espe ranza
R. Marcabeli
Q . Los Zabalos
Q. Los ZabaJ os
Q . Las Palmas
R. Pu),ango Trib.
Q . EI Jn ca
R. Zaracay
R. Del Oro
Q. Primavera
Q. Valle H ermoso
Q. De GlIcrras
R. Zaracay
Q. Guayacan
Q. San Luis
Q. I.as Lajas Trib.
R. Moro-Moro
R. J ,oztllube
Q. Del Trapicbe
Q. Naranjo
Q. Del Baten
Q . Naranjo Trib.
Q. Usulaca
R. EI Ari
Q . De La Concha
Q. Chontas
Q. Plala
R. "Jara njo Trib.
R.. 'aranjo Trib.
R. '\aranjo Trib.
R. aranjo T rib.
Q. Pbuni llo
Q . De Damas
R. Santa Rosa

- -

6038-90355
6544-96358
0494-96340
6481-96348
6478-96328
6497-96309
6535-96323
6569-96289
6549-96322
6438-96319
6407-96316
6334-96220
6352-96 191
6376-96167
0384-96169
6407-96 181
640;)-96 173
6405-96109
6622-90289
6402-96265
6392-96255
6306-95858
6302-95859
6183-95779
6182-95810
6286-95848
6278-95838
6286-95852
6278-9585 1
6205-95824
6010-95720
60 10-95715
6056-95722
6042-95718
6002-95719
027 1-95959
6185-95878
6239-95901
0219-95906
6342-95785
6289-95928
6133-959 19
6 132-9:'>918
6081-95853
6403-95965
0476-95877
6:)74-95811
6583-95805
6599-95763
6582-95798
65 14-95838
6773-95798
6745-95661
0423-95962
6349-95958
6338-95965
6326-95963
6322-95963
6282-95967
6355-95966
6258-95983
0285-96031

SA.\ Il'I.FS

:l IAP SHEET

RIVER

COORDINATCS

AB-003 F
A8-004 F P
A8-065 F
AB-066 F
AB-007 F
AB-068 F
AB-069 F
A8-070 F
A8-071 F P
f\B-On F
AB-073 F
f\B-074 F
A8-075 F P
A8-076 F P
AB-077 F
A8-078 F P
A8-079 F
AB-080 F P
A8-081 F P
AB-082 F P
AB-083 F P
AB-084 F
AB-085 F P
AB-086 F P
AB-087 F P
AB-088 F P
AB-089 F
AB-090 F P
AB-091 F
AR-092 F P
AB-093 F P
AB-ml4 F P

La Avan7.ada
La Avan7ada
La Ava nzad a
La Avant.ada
La Ava nzada
La Avanzada
La Avanzacla
La Avanzada
La Avanzada
La AvaDl.ada
La Avanzada
La Avant.ad a
La Ava nzad a
l ,a Avanzada
La A\'anzada
Santa Rosa
La Avanzada
La Avanzacla
La Avanzada
l .a Avanzada
La Avanzacla
La AvaDl.acla
La Avanzada
La Ava nzada
l ,a Avanzacla
Santa Rosa
Santa Rosa
l ,a Avanzada
Santa Rosa
Santa Rosa
I ,a Avail zarIa
Santa Rosa

Q. Sabayan
R. Santa Rosa Trib.
R. Santa Rosa Trib.
R. Santa Rosa Trib.
R. Santa Rosa Trib.
R. Santa Rosa Trib.
R. Santa Rosa
Q. La Chilca
R. Sama Rosa Tlib.
R. Santa Rosa Trib.
R. Santa Rosa Trib.
Q. La Pereira
R. Viron Chico Trib.
R. Viron Chico Trib.
R. Viron Chico Trib.
R. Chico
Q. La Gargan ta
Q. Sambotambo
R. Peidras
Q. De Canas
R. Piedras Trib.
R. Naranjo Trib.
Est. Tomas
R. Santa Rosa
R. Santa Rosa Trib.
Est. CuJebrero Trib.
Est. La Qu e brada
R. Panllpali
R. Colorado
R. Raspas
R. Ras pas
Est. De I .a P07(l

6278-90028
6291-96037
6271-96034
6269-96035
6316-96041
0326-96038
6288-96034
6221-96046
6193-9604 1
6 181-96042
6177-96053
6170-96071
6289-96127
6290--96123
0268-96127
6260-96167
6180-95988
6349-95970
6204-95980
6153-95967
6206-95964
6236-05973
6185-96097
6163-96089
6181-90083
6257-96194
6262-96198
0324-9597 1
6353-96235
6354-96238
6208-96025

AB-095 F P
AB-096 F P
AB-097 F
AB-098 F
f\B-099 F
AB-lOO F
AB-I0J F
AB-I02 F P
AB-103F
AB-I04 F
AB- I05 F
AB-I06 F P
AB-107 F
AB- 108 F P
A8-109 F P
AB-IJOF
A8-111 F
A8-112 F
AB- 11 3 F
AB-11 4 F P
AB-1 15 P
AB-116 F P
AB-1l7 F P
AS-118 F
AB- I 19 F
A-120 F
AB-121 F P
AB- 122 F
AB-123 F P

Santa Rosa
Zaruma
Zarllma
Marcabeli
Marca beH
Zaruma
IVlarca bc lf
Chaguarpamba
Zaruma
Zaruma
Chaguarpamba
I ,as Lajas
Las Lajas
Marcabelf
Marcabeli
i'vlarcabe li
Aren illas
Las Lajas
Las Laj as
Arenillas
Arenil las
Chilla
Ch illa
Chilla
Chilla
Chilla
Chilla
Chill a
Chilla

egra
Est. Zapata
R. Ambocas
Q. Lim onri llo
Q. EI Duende
Q. El Ca ucho
Q. AJejan ita
Q. De Nalacapa
R. Yagllachi
Q. El Salado
Q. Cha upi
Q. EI Belen
Q. EI Guarllmo
Q. EI Guarumo
Q. Brun o
Q. Bruno Trib.
Q. Bruno Trib.
Q. Tahuin Chico
Q. Canoas
Q. Canas
Q. Las Pa lmas
R. Arenillas
R. Casacay
R. Gallo Can tana
R. Casacay Trib.
Est. Dumari
R. Casacay Trib.
R. Casacay T ri b.
R. Dumari
R. Casacay Trib.

-- -

6299-96226
6309-96220
6648-958 14
6647-958 18
6386-95855
6382-95859
6395-9588J
638.'1-95893
6557-95760
6512-95858
66 15-95775
6612-95729
60 18-95899
6016-9587
6115-95946
6117-95945
6 121-95946
60S.'i-9595 I
60;') 0-95942
6047-9S925
6111 -96045
6095-96006
6502-96218
6501 -962 17
6492-96228
6490-96237
6488-96247
6479-96254
645 1-96283
6452-96292

OVERSEAS GEOL & MINER. RESOUR. No. 67 1995

Table 10

~1

Continued

SAMPl.F.

MAP SHEET

RlVEI{

COORD I NATLS

SA..' IPLES

MAP SHEET

RJVE!(

COOIU)I:--IATES

AB-124F
AB-125 F
AB-126 F
AB-127 F
A13-128 F
AB-129 F
AB-130 F
AB-131 F
AB-132 F
AB-133 F
AB-134 F
AB-135 F
AB-136 F
AB-1 37 F
AB-1 38 F
AB-139 F
AB-140 F
AB-Hl F
AB-142 F

Ch illa
Chi lla
ChUla
Chilla
Chilla
Chilla
Chilla
Ch illa
Chilla
Chilla
Chi lla
Chilla
Chill a
Chilla
Chilla
Ch ill a
Chilla
Chilla
Chilla

6393-96 198
6397-96199
6396-96211
6397-96216
6398-96217
6398-9621 8
6395-96216
6397-96231
6398-96231
6398-96233
6399-96237
6528-96261
6522-96265
6522-96266
6510-96281
6511-96284
6519-96180
6518-96180

AB-143 F
AB-144 F
AB-145 F
AB-146 F
AB-147 F
AB-148 F

Chilla
Chilla
Chi lla
Chilla
Uchcurrumi
Uzhcurrumi

R. Colorado Trib.
R. Co lorado
R. Raspas Trib.
R. Raspas Trib.
R. Rasp as Trib.
R. Rasp as
R. Raspas Trib.
Est. San Antonio
Est. San Antonio
Est. San Antoni o
Est. San Antonio
R Quera Trib.
R. Qu era Trib.
R. Quera
R. Quera Trib.
R. Quera Trib.
R. Casacay
R. Casacay Trib.
R. Gallo Cantana
Trib.
R. Gallo Can tan a
Est. Dumari
R. Huizho Trib.
R. Huizho Trib.
Est. Las Minas
R. Huizho

AB- 149 F
AB-150 F
AB-151 F
AB-152 F
AB-153 F
AB-154 F
AB-155 F
AB-156 F
AB-157 F
AB-158 F
AB-159 F
AB-160 F
AB-161 F
AB-162 F
AB-163 F
AB-164 F
AB-165 F
AB-166 F
AB-167 F
AB-1 68 F
AB-169F
A13-170 F
AB-171 F
AB-ln F
AB-173F

Chilla
Uzh currumi
Chilla
Chilla
Ch illa
Chilla
Santiago
Santiago
Santiago
San tiago
Santiago
Santiago
Sanliago
Santiago
Catarnayo
Catarnayo
Catamayo
Catamayo
Zamma
Zaruma
1,as Lajas
l ,as Lajas
Las Laj as
Las Laj as
Las Lajas

R. Huizho Trib.
R. Tobar
Q. Trancaloma
R. Chillayacu
R. Chillayacu Trib.
Q. E1 Pindo
R. Naranjo
R. Suares
R. Suares Trib.
R. Granadillo
R. Arnbocas
R. Arnbocas Trib.
Q. Tabloncillo
Q. Luwrnbe
Q. Del Sharve
Q. Del Verd e
Q. Del Sharve
Q. Del Shan'e
Q. San Joaquin
Q. Rumipotrero
Q. Lajas Trib
Q. EI Guineo Trib.
Q. EI Guineo Trib.
Q. Palmales
Q. Palmales

6405-96299
6404-96319
6604-9625 5
6614-96284
6598-96287
6590-96297
6739-95795
6698-95799
6699-95799
6681-95802
6673-95806
6671-95810
6668-95817
6672-95827
6713-95733
6692-95746
6682-95752
6674-95759
6663-95762
6631-95788
6023-95801
5987-95854
5985-95851
6068-95888
6067-95887

:;::;:

6502-96 194
6500-96194
6484-96195
6423-96281
6413-96295
6400-96391
6402-96318

F
p

Samples fall olllSide of area covered by Figure 32.

Stream sediment sample see Appendix for analytical reS1I1L\.
Heavy mineral concenLrate (analytical data not available)

R.

Rio

Q.
Quebrada
Est. Estero
Trib. TributaT)'

samples contained less than 30 ppm. In general, there

appears to be a good correlation between arsenic and
gold and the highest values were recorded from samples
collected from near to the contact of the EI Oro meta
morphic comp lex and the Tertiary volcano-plutonic
complex. The Cerro Pelado area (AB62, AB63, AB64,
AB65, AB66 and AB69) had values between 40 and more
than 2000 ppm whereas samples collected from near to
Cerro Los Cangrejos (AB75, AB76, AB77 an d AB78)
ran ged from 49 to more than 2000 ppm. Sample AB86,
from the Rio Santa Rosa, contained 98 ppm and, in the
north, values of 170 ppm (AB2) and 496 ppm (AB3)
were re corde d from the Rios Vivar and Mollepungu.
Arsenic values greater than 50 ppm were also obtained
from the following rivers: Rio Colorado (I\B16 . 206
ppm); Rio El Ari (AB52, 101 ppm); Rio Raspas (AB 129.
53 ppm); Quebrada Carabota (AB9, 51 ppm) and an
unnamed tributary of the Rio Casacay (AB140, 51 ppm).
Antimony analyses were generally less than 5 ppm
(detection limit) but values of between 51 and 286 ppm
(AB62, AB64, AB65, AB66 and AB69) were recorded
from the Cerro Pelado area and 91 ppm (AB2) and
46 ppm (AB3) from the Rios VivaI' and Mollepungu.
Elsewhere, antimony values were less than 10 ppm with
the exception of th e following rivers: Quebrada Lim6n

cillo (AB97 , 17 ppm ); Rio Yaguachi (ABI02, 18 ppm);

Quebrada El Salado (ABI03, 21 ppm); Quebrada
Chaupi (AB104, 15 ppm); Quebrada El Belen (AB I0S ,
12 ppm) and Rio Quera (ABI37, 12 ppm).
Bismuth analyses were similar to those of anti mony
and the majority of samples contained less than 5 ppm
(detection I imi t). The on ly significant values reco rded
were from the Cerro Pelado area (AB62, AB64 and
AB69, 57-104 ppm) and the Rios Vivar and Mollepungu
(AB2 and AB3, 23-25 ppm ). Only one other sample
(AB77 , 17 ppm) from the Cerro Cangrejo area, carried
more than 10 ppm of bismuth.
Only four samples contained more than 10 ppm
(detection limit) of tellurium. Three of the se came from
the Cerro Pelado area (AB62, AB64 an d AB69,
28-47 ppm) an d the other one was coll ected from the
Quebrada de Canas (AB82, 14 ppm).
Copper, lead, zinc, cadmiwn and barium
Copper analyses varied from less than 10 ppm, il1 a fe,,'
samples, up to a maximum of 8067 ppm (AB2) and
2629 ppm (AB3) in the Rios Vivar and Mollepungu. Tn
general copper valu es were less than 60 ppm ,,'ilh the
highest concentrations bein g found in the Ce rro Pelado

52

OVERSEAS GEOL. & MI ER. RESOUR. No. 67 1995

Table 11
Samp le
No.

AB 1*
AB2
AB3
AB4
AB5
AB6
AB7
AB8
AB9
ABI0
AB11
AB 12
ABI 3
AB 14
AB 15
AB 16
AB 17
AB 18
AB19
AB 20
AB21
AB 22
AB 23
AB 24
AB 25
AB26
AB27
AB28
AB29
AB30
AB31
AB 32
AB33
AB34
AB 35
AB36
AB37
ABS8
AB 39
AB40
AB41
AB42
AB43
AB44
AB45
AB46
AB47
AB48
AB 49
AB50
A.B 51
AB52
AB53
.-\B 54
AB55

Stream sediment samp le gochemistry.

AI
PCT
-
2.32
2.64
2.49
3. 71
2.45
2.14
2.65
4.64
2.05
2.43
2.97
2.43
2.22
3.40
3.39
3.14
3.15
2.75
190
2.80
2.62
192
1.1 3
1.05
0.92
1 51
143
1.18
0.71
1.13
1.77
1.42
1.19
1.15
1.67
123
1.29
2.00
165
1.58
153
3.07
3.27
1.38
3.44
1.42
195
2.34
1.46
3.17
1.10
3.06
'2.09
4.38
'2. 79

FeTot Mn Mg
PCT
PCT PCT

--
4.99
6.97
6.85
3.80
2.48
2.72
302
3.69
2.74
2.85
3.5 1
3.45
4.10
7.19
3.48
3.10
4.94
7.60
4.34
2.74
3.24
2.18
139
126
1.26
2.03
1.69
2.03
0.84
1.52
193
1.69
146
1.39
1.92
1.75
1.66
2.25
2.07
2.15
1.93
2.95
3.34
1.91
4.45
2.11
2.46
2.38
1.50
2.76
141
4.54
3.66
4.82
3.07

Ca
PCT

Na
PCT

K
V
Cr
Co
PCT PPM PPM PPM

0.56
0.51
0.32
0.47
0.77
1.11
0.81
0.72
0.36
0.80

0.81
0.25
0.37
0.43
0.21
0.19
0.22
0.20
0.33
0.46
0.17
0.43
0.16
0.34
0.06
0.89
0.61
0.70
0.60
0.49

181
0.42
0.22
0.17
0.16
0.32
0.22
0.22
0.09
0.23

0.35
0.10
0.03
0.04
0.03
0.17
0.05
0.05
0.02
0.04

0.15
0.26
0.26
0.31
0.40
0.49
0.42
0.30
0.27
0.46
0.69
0.25
0.27
0 17
0.71
0.37
0.30
0.25
0.22
0.48
0.51
0.47
0.29
0.27
0.25
0.35
0.33
035
0.15
0.32

0.19
0.18
0.19
0.10
0.19
0.26
0.28
0.34
0.38
0.24
0.35
0.63
0.62
0.28
0.58
0.27
0.34
0. 32
0.17
0.50
0.21
0.76
0.55
0.61
0.55

0.08
0.04
0.05
0.06
0.07
0.06
0.05
0.07
0.15
0.07
0.06
0.14
0.13
0.05
0.30
0.06
0.15
0.07
0.06
0.10

0.09
0.02
0.09
0.06
0.03
0.04
004
002
0.09
0.08
0.04
0.08
0.03
0.06
0.02
0.12
0.13
0.13
0.05
0.07
0.04
0.02
0.01
0.05
0.02
0.05
0.01
0.02
<0.01
002
0.02
0.01
0.01
0.01
<0.01
0.02
0.02
0.03
0.05
<0.01
0.03
0.02
0.03
0.02
0.04
0.02
0.02
0.02
<0.01
0.02
0.03
0.02
0.01
0.03
0.02

Ni
PPM

Cu
PPM

Zn
PPM

As
PPM

---------
0.08
0.06
0.05
0.06
0.08
0.05
0.05
0.06
0.04
0.04
0.04
0.05
0.04
0.05
003
0.04
0.05
0.05
0.05
0.04
0.05
004
0.03
0.03
0.02
0.09
0.05
0.07
0.02
0.03
0.02
0.02
0.02
0.02
0.02
0.03
0.03
0.03
0.03
0.04
0.03
0.05
0.06
0.03
0.06
0.03
0.09
0.06
0.03
0.07
0.03
0.07
0.08
0.09
0.05

0.28
0.38
0.50
0.59
0.30
0.49
0.53
0.68
0.45
0.70

0.1 4
042
3.48
0.39
0.17

0.41
0.38
0.31
0.26
0.39
0.35
0.35
0.54
0.51
0.41
0.43
0.69
0.69
0.35
0.11
0.36
0.39
0.37
0.25
0.39
0.28
0.22
0.21
0.14
0.52

148
96
133
92
47
46
56
73
100
61
53
107
157
348
54
73
150
322
132
63
58
31
17
14
15
28
20
36
12
18
24
17

13
15
18
20
21
31
29
18
24
49
53
23
99
24
30
37
16
28
17
73
101
114
45

85
48
160
94
112
300
265
100
158
261
224
187
207
143
130
236
161
192
68
172
299
100
168
245
219
212
143
219
203
267
378
353
122
266
196
281
188
396
342
76
269
145
148
157
51
118
103
137
179
42
194
38
31
50
174

9
11
53
12
15
9
10
12
10
8
9
10
11

13
13
18
16
14
10
9
18
7
4
4
4
7
7
6
3
5
6
5
6
4
7
5
5
7
6
8
6
9
10
5
16
6
9
7
4
9
5
14
14
18
10

6
43
73
7 8067 107
93
11 2629
9
58
63
22
41
53
25
46
56
26
39
51
12
75
30
II
42
54
25
54
30
25
29
74
18
37
46
14
47
33
15
75
51
62
41
38
29
187
50
23
98
38
48
21
36
6
14
64
19
23
53
144
28
59
15
11
42
27
11
8
25
10
8
11
8
21
11
10
36
11
9
31
14
12
39
6
16
8
14
9
30
17
12
33
10
28
16
13
9
35
11
8
24
15
12
33
25
10
44
13
10
34
20
12
44
19
12
41
16
45
12
16
21
22
13
15
14
11
14
12
13
10
16
18
12
24

11
38
19
70
21
75
9
39
21
71
I 1 44
10 119
12
51
9
78
12
78
61
9
3 1 122
45 225
96
28
22
76

28
170
496
24
11
8
6
15
51
10
15
20
10
10
22
206
55
22
37
16
16
13
8
6
10
5
15
7
<5
<5
8
11
10
6
7
9
9
<5
11
10
8
10
10
9
20
15
6
8
10
7
16
101
26
48
9

OVERSEAS GEOL.

MlNER. RESOUR. No.

Table 11

No.

Sr
Y
PPM PPM

AB 1
AB2

16

All

24

A..B

31
21

16

17

J5

AB5
AB6

8
14
7

AB7

16

AB8

1
74

6
6
7
5
3

PPM

PPM

Th
PPM

&

PPM

PPM.

PPM

0.2
JI I
15.2
<0.2
<0.2

<0.2
<0.2

<20
<20
<20
<20
<20

7
91
46

<10
<10
<10

112
54
153
267

11
36
12

190

28

<0.2
<0.2

<0.2
<0.2
<0.2
<0.2

<20
<20
<20
<20
<20

<5

<10
<10

6
<5

<10
<10
<10
<10

155
141
164
103
150

<0.2
<0.2
<0.2
<0.2
<0.2

<20
<20
<20
<20
<20

<5
<5

<10
<10
<10
<10

204
100
101
103
162

<20

<5
<5
<5
<5

<10
<10
<10
<10
<10

173
133
102
136
134

<10

149
97
69
65
57

<0.2

AB9
ABI0

22
21

8
8
35

AB 11
AB12

19
23
12
24
11

10
7
5
6
9

4
3
4
3
3

<0.2
<0.2
<0.2

35
38

15

7
8

<0.2
<0.2
<0.2
0.2

<0.2
<0.2

37
41

2
3
2
2
2

10

<0.2

<0.2
<0.2
<0.2

ABI3
AB 14
AB 15
AB16
ABI7
ABI8
A8J9
All 20

AB 21
AB 22
AS 23
AB24
All

5
5

AB26
A.B 27
AB28
AB 29
AB 30

8
6

All
AB32
AB
AH34
AS 35

13
8
8
9
9

AB36
AB37
AB
AH
All
A841
l\B 42
AB43
}\B44
All 45
All
AB47
AB48
i\B 49
i\B 50

l\H 51
AB52

AB
All
AB55

6
4

lO
11

8
7
6

<0.2
<0.2

10
8
I
4
6

3
2

3
1
4

5
5
6
1
1

5
9
8
8
9

5
5

<0.2
<0.2
<0.2
<0.2
<0.2
d).2
<02
<0':2
<0.2
<0.2
<0.2
<0.2

7
32

4
2

<0.2

29
7

<0.2
<0.2
<0.2

9
7
5
1
6
30
41
30
15

6
10
9
10
6
13

8
11

12
8

2
1
2
1

2
3
<1
3
1
1
3

<0.2
<0.2
<0.2
d12

<20
<20
<20
<20
<20

<02
<02
<0.2
<0.2
<0.2

<0.2
<0.2
<0.2
<0.2

<0.2
<0.2
<0.2
<0.2

<20
<20
<20
<20
<20
<20
<20
<20
<20
<20

<0.2
<0.2
<0.2
<0.2

<20
<20
<20

<0.2
<0.2
<0.2
<0.2
<0.2

<0.2
<0.2
<0.2
<0.2
<0.2

9
8
12

23
8

<0.2
<0.2

<20
<20
<20
<20
<20
<20
<20
<20
<20
<20

dl.2

<0.2
<0.2

<20
<20
<20

<0.2
<0.2
0.6

<20
<20
<20

<02

<20

<5
<5

<5
<5
<5
<5

<5

<10
<10
<10
<10
<10
<10
<10
<10
<10

104
95
87

<10

101
89

<5
<5
<5
<5
<5

<5
7
<5
<5

7
<5
<5

63
17
12
146
26
15

77

22
21

22

<10
<10
<10

81
79

33

96
105

<10
<10
<10
<10
<10

93
127
146
76
104

<10
<10
<10
<10
<10
<10
<10
<10
<10
<10

120
106
72
138

<20
<20

<20

30
25
29
27
24
1
110

5
50
33
33

62

13
18
11

15
13

11

12

<5
<5
<5

632

646

<5
<5
<5
<5

<20

]0

<20
<20
<20

10
9

<5

<20

<5
<5
<5

<20

14
10

<5
<5

<20
<20
<20
<20
<20

11

7
13
8

<20

<20

10
8
14

<20
<20

12

<20
<20
<20

<5

12

10

<5
<5
<5
<5

<5
<5
<5
<5
<5
<5
<5
<5

11

<5

11

<5
<5
<.5
<5

<20

6
<5
<5
16

<5
<5
<5

16
7

22

.511

<5

12

<20
<20
<20
<20

PPB

17
323

13

14

99

<10

26
15
15
6

<20

<20

<10

<10

10
14
14
14
12

<20

80

120

<5

<20

18

9
8

<10

126

16

41

44

1198
1389

<20

<20

24
18

23
25
<5

57
117
89

17

21
27
21

<20
<20
405

<20
<20

12
22

ill
PPM

PPM

13

18
25
17

<5

<5
<5

W
PPiV!

<.5
<5
<5

<.5
<5
<5
5
<5

124

<20
<20

157

20

<5

<20

23
35
17

III
<5

26
11

<.5
<.5

122

12

10

<20
<20

159

7
90

<20
<20

<5

1995

53

54

OVERSEAS GE01.. & MINER. RESOUR . No . 67 1995

Table 11

(conti nued)

Sample
No.

Al
FeTol Mil
PCT PCT
PCT

Mg
PCT

Ca
PCT

AB 56
AB 57
AB 58
A59
AB60

3.28
3.16
3.57
2.94
2.70

3.35
3.84
3.53
3.48
3.69

0.07
0.06
007
0.10
0.07

1.30
0.99
0.72
0.90
0.88

3. ll
1.45
0.58
1.40
l.J 3

0.1:1
0.07
0.04
0. 05
0.04

0.17
0.29
0.4l
0.27
0.:10

107
93
68
81
90

211
164
162
226
117

AB 61
AB62
AB63
AB 64
AB65

2. 11 3.52
1.68 3.98
2.55 3.55
U8 4.56
3.244.l7

0.06
0.03
0.06
0.01
0.03

0.73
0.32
0.90
0.1 4
1.07

U 3
0. 17
0.93
0.05
0.47

0.04
0.03
0.04
0.0 l
0.03

0.06
0.27
0. 15
0.30
0.22

108
47
84
17
93

AB66
AB 67
AB68
AB 69
AB 70

2.49
3. 77
2.5 7
1m
2.74

5.2 1
3.69
2.35
3.07
3.31

1.94
3.34
1.88
2.84
1.56

3.24
4.48
387
4.29
2.03

0.08
0.20
0.60
0.05
0.10
0.48
0.44
0.24
0.50
0.63

0.21
0.60
0.12
0.28
0.25

72
73
74
75

0.27
0.73
0. 56
0.10
0.19
0.52
0.59
1.09
0.4 J
0.57

0.02
0.02
0.04
0.01
0.02

AS 71

0.05
0.04
0.04
0.01
0.04
0.07
0. 22
0.17
0.14
0.0:\

0.03
0.05
0.0:1
007
007

AB 76
AB 77
AB 78
AS 79
AB 80

2.58
2.20
1.51
1.92
1.76

2. 80
2.83
1.86

0.05
0.09
0.03
007
0.04

0.62
0.41
0.30
1.34
1.76

0.54
050
0.39
0.43
0.43

AB 8 J
AB 82
AB83
AB84
AB85

1.85
2.67
2.39
2.3 1
0.87

2.70
4.70
4.29
3.86
2.35

AB86
AB87
AB88
AB89
AB90
AB 9 1
AB92
AB93
AB94
AB 95
AB go
AB 97
AB98
AB 99
AB 100

2. 18
U3

4.05
3.68

1. 34
l.:I:I
15 1
2.67
0.27
1.56
0.38
0.64
0.51
2. 19

0.32
0.33
0.28
1.57
0.07
0.27
0. 10
0.2 1
0.13
067

AB
AS
AB
AB

:~.96

3.36

Na
PCT

K
V
Cr
Co
PCT PPM PPM PPM

Ni
PPM

Cu
PPM

Zn
PPM

22
15
14
21
17

49
44
33
54
40

36
:IS
3J
33
53

107
142
187
98
244

21
9
18
6
23

35
32
60
14
11 3

79
65
51
22
65

87
J 14
47
103
78

:1:1
30
12
14
18

91
35
26
544
27

134
104
38
46
42

0.1 8
0.33
0.33
0.27
0.16

65
85
58
98
49

167
210
537
108
124

17
13
10
6
8
18
24
25
17
7

55
61
212
46
13

51
81
32
53
53

005
0.04
0.04
0.09
0.08

0.25
0.27
0.19
0.33
0.1 3

61
53
39
76
65

100
127
154
190
97

14
l3
6
19
19

15
15
12
35
45

0.08
0.08
0.07
0. 15
0.06

0.39
0.54
05'1
0.20
0.21

44
72
85
lOO
27

14:1
279
150
147
130

14
18
17
28
5

0.08
0.08
0.09
0. 14
O.ll

0.22
0.26
0.27
0.49
0. 18

64
54
19

19

14
72

145
121
193
231
149

As
PPM

51
57
8:1
56
59

15
49
14
22
13

46
49
387 126
6 1 69
676 23 1
70
98

83
J06
59
81
47

<5
>200
40
>2000
80
467
16
13
1979
32
20
2:)
13
<5
100

220
295
19
23
40

292
205
39
69
78

11 50
>2000
49
<5
<5

24
33
29
6J
15

17
27
32
44
18

65
76
89
71
67

3
18

63
23
16
13
61

72
30
8
7
37

145
82
34
22
73
71
70
59
5J
50

<5
<5
<5
7
5
98
<5
<5
<5
<5
17
<5
28
10
<5
7
15
7
10
<5

LEi

1.37

1.28
2.48

1. 09
3.50

0.08
0.35
0.11
0.07
0.01
0.04
0.02
0.02
0.01
0.05

2.67
2.63
1.65
1.49
2.35

2.88
2.98
2.97
2.32
:1.:1:1

0.05
004
0.06
0.02
0.05

2.06
2.35
1 25
0 84
1.36

0. 36
0. 38
0.68
0.18
0.43

0.09
0.11
0.1 0
0.07
0.11

0.27
0.32
0.09
0.26
0.23

57
59
63
33
85

163
269
165
196
186

14
15
20
9
1:1

40
85
41
32
26

32
:I I
40
20
22

1.76
4.04
1.09
U 8
0.75

2.40
4.67
1.80
1.60
1. 34

3:1
74
19
18
14

2.33
:1.90
4.68
2.65
2.39

0.08
0. 12
0. 17
0.01
0.03
0.08
0.69
0.60
0.60
0.21

0. 30
0.39
0.29
0.39
0.21

1.84
2.24
3 0I
3.29
2.04

0. 73
1.1:1
0.51
0.68
0.37
0.97
J .0 J
1.90
1.59
08 1

0.0:\
0.02
0.05
0.03
0.02

AB 101
AB 102
;-\B 103
.-ill 104
.-ill 105

0.04
0.05
0.05
0.04
0.03
0.04
0.06
0.11
0.06
0.04

0.05
0.07
0.06
0.1 1
0.03

0.48
0.29
0.50
0.49
0.28

27
100
96
38
43

18 1
J 32
290
14 1
68
25 7
208
139
187
185

7
15
6
7
5
9
13
20
8
7

18
26
17
15
10
21
22
27
19
19

15
J6
35 140
JO 13
9
19
8
13
13
58
3:1 11 8
4J J 10
17 119
12 112

<5
22
30
17
17

.-ill
.-ill
.-ill
.-ill
,-\B

120
l.5 7
l.53
290
UO

2.08
2.43
2.78
4.:12
4.92

0.04
0.0'1
0.04
0.07
0.07

0.33
0.41
0.24
0.42
0.75

0.15
0.08
0.12
0.2 1
0.22

0.03
0.03
0.02
0.02
0.03

O.4J
0.53
0.33
0.43
0.54

26
29
41
74
81

139
186
192
1JO
119

5
6
6
12
18

13
16
17
24
36

12
12
17
33
41

<5
<5
<5
<5
<5

106
107
108
109
110

9
5

38
45
44
72
105

OVERSEAS GEOL. & MINER RESOUR. No. fi7 1995

Table 11

(continued)

Sample

Sr

Mo

Ag

Cel

No

PPM PPM

PPM

PPM

PPM PPM

AB 56
AB 57
AB 58
AB 59
AB 60

35
23
18
28
25

24
20
20
15
28

1
3
2
3
<10

<0.2
<0,2
<0.2
<0,2
<0,2

<0.2
<0.2
<0.2
<0.2
<0.2

<20
<20
<20
<20
<20

<5
7
7
<5
<5

<10

AB 61
AB 62
AB 63
AB64
AB 65

24
16
24
II
18

12

<0,2
4,8
<0.2
9.0
<0.2

<1.0
<1.0
<1.0
<1.0

10

<1
<10
<10
<10
<10

d.O

<20
<20
<20
<20
<20

<5
51
<5
93
147

AB 66
AB 67
AB 68
AS69
AB 70

9
25
20

12
14
11
6

dO
dO
d
dO

J1

1.8
<0,2
<0.2
95
<0,2

<1.0
<1.0
<1.0
<1.0
<1.0

<20
<20
<20
21
<20

AB 71
AB 72
AB 73
AB 74
AB 75

23
23
17
28
23

dO

12

< 10
< 10
<10
<10

<0,2
<0,2
<0.2
<0.2
1.9

<1.0
<1.0
< 1.0
<1.0

d.O

<20
<20
<20
<20
<20

AB 76

24
30
21
16
14

<10
< 10
<10
4
5

1.5
2,9
<0.2
0.2
0.2

<1.0
< 1.0
< 1.0
<0.2
. 0.5

<20
<20
<20
<20
<20

11
19
20
12
4

4
4
2
4

0,2
0.3
0,2
<0.2
0.3

0,8
0.3
<0,2
<0,2
0,7

10

5
3
4
6
6

0.7
0.3
<0.2
<0.2
0.3

5
8
8
4
7

AB 77
AB 78
AB 79
AB 80

AB 81
AB 82
AB 83
AB 84
AB 85
AB
AB
AS
AB

86
87

88

89
AB 90

AB 91
AB 92
AB 93
AB 94
AB 95

Hi
24
19
21
12
16
16
16
13
22
21
23
21
12
25

8
10

8
14
7

9
10
7

38

8
6
4
9
6
10

7
10

Pb

Bi

ALI

PPM

PPB

< 10
<10
28
<10
43
<10

54
107
85
105
146

3
26
11
34
16

<20
<20
<20
<20
<20

5
153
8
296

22

<5
57
<5
104
<5

36
3558
40
7166
184

286
<5
<5
59
<5

<10
<: 10
<10
47
<10

85
170
116
107
80

24
28
11
31
31

<20
<20
<20
<20
<20

123
19
12
153
21

<5
<5
<5
87
<5

249
11
5133
34

<5
<5
<5
<5
<5

<10

14
25
24
23
16

<20
<20
<20
<20
<20

11
18
13
15
21

<5
<5

37
16

<10
<10
<10

140
239
131
121
66

<.')

<5
<5

10
283

6
<5
<5
<5

< 10
<10
<10
<10
<10

103
122
83
136
68

13
16
14
244
9

<20
<20
<20
<20
<20

128
251
18
10
8

8
17
<5
<5
<5

1069
2895
56
<5
20

<20
<20
<20
<20
<20

<5
<5
<5
<5
<5

< 10
<10
<10
< 10
<10

130
329
196
75
62

30
85
85
12
20

<20
<20
<20
<20
<20

14
14
16
<2
9

<5
<5
<5
<5

<5
10
<5
10
116

1.4
1,2
0.3
<0.2
<0.2

<20
<20
<20
<20
<20

5
<5
<5
<5
<:')

<10
<10
<10

98
84

77

18
29
11

dO

101
98

14

<20
<20
<20
<20
<20

30
11
8
7
5

<5
<5
<5
<5

416
<5
38
<5
<5

0.2
<0,2
04
0.7
0,3

0.5
0.7
0.7
1.1
03

<20
25
<20
<20
<20

<5
<5
<5

<10

<5

<10
< 10
<10

137
156
72
92
11 5

16
40
9
41
17

<20
<20
<20
<20
<20

16
18
14

<5
<5
<5
<5
<5

51
13
57
1560
425

4
3
5
3
2

<0,2
0. 3
0,3
<0.2
0.3

0.4
1. 4
<0.2
0.8
0, 4

22
25
<20
<20
<20

9
17
6
7
<5

<10
<10
<10
<10
<10

81
131
78

<20
<20
<20
<20
<20

19
30
13
18
Ei

<5
<5
<5
<5
<5

50
<5
12

50

38
100
17
19
20

0.2
0.6
0.7
0.4
0.4

0,5
2.2
1.5

26
<20
<20
<20
<20

8
18
21
15
12

<10
<10
<10
<10
<10

104
173
178
104
85

30
12
105
52
29

<20
<2 0
<20
<20
<20

17
22
44
48
40

<5
<5
<5
<5
<5

<5
13
110
30
70

<0,2
<0.2
<02
<02
<0,2

<1.0

<20
<20
<20
<20
<20

<5
<5
<5
<5
<5

<10
<10

89
107
138
208
271

117
68
260
134
93

<20
<20
<20
<20
<20

2
<2
7
17
18

<5
<5
<5
<5
<5

<5
<5
<5
<5
<5

10
43
27
30
13

29
18
10

6
8
3
3
4

11
12
14
19
22

37
15
33
30
31

2
1
2
2
2

ABI10

PPI'vI PPM

24
<5
<5
<5
11 3

AS IOI

AB 108
AB 109

IN

<5
<5
<5
<5
<5

6
5

AB 106
AB 107

I,a

PPM

6
9
13
8
16

AB 102
AB I 03
AB 104
AS 105

Ba

<20
<20
<20
<20
<20

9
22

9
9

Te

PPM PPM PPM

54
50
64
33
91

9
13
9
4

Sb

74
11 9
154
154
124

AB96
An 97
AB98
An 99
AS 100

Sn

I.l
0,9

d,O
d,O
< 1. 0
<1.0

<;J

dO
dO
dO

dO

<10

dO

dO
< 10
<10

77

II

16
1.')

10

55

56

OVERSEAS GEOL. & MI NER. RESOUR. No. 67 1995

Table II
Sample
No.

_.-

( continued)

AI
PCT

FeTol Mn
Mg
PCT
PCT PCT

- -

- --

Ca
PCT
--

V
K
PCT PPM
--0.06 0. 21
67
0.05 0.43
45
0.05 0.52
54
0.02 0.04
77

Na
PCT

AB l11
AB 11 2
AB 11 3
AB 11 4
AB 11 5

1.84 2.80
0.05
1.78 2.79
005
2. 50 3.34
0.06
1.22 9.25
0. 12
No f1l1\~al samp le

0.63
0.4 1
0.53
5.88

1.44
0.54
0.70
0.42

AB
AB
AB
AB
AB

116
117
11 8
119
120

2.16
1.98
1.56
3.22
2. 10

1.77
2.2 1
1.93
219
2.58

0.03
0.03
0.03
0.04
0.03

0.57
0.48
0.27
0.63
0.29

0.31
0.12
0.04
0.16
0.07

0 .05
002
0.02
0.04
0.03

0.28
0.45
0.36
0.48
0.32

AB 121
AB 122
A B 123
AB 124
AB 125

2.24
2.41
2.36
3.46
3.65
2.05
2. 71
2.45
3.54
3.05

2.45
2.10
2.40
2.1 J
2.50

0.03
0.04
0.05
0.05
007

0.42
0.63
057
1.03
1. 23

0.15
0.31
0.18
0.66
0.30

1.41
1.80
1.72
2.11
2.39

0.03
0.03
0.02
0.04
0.06

0.67
0.86
0.22
0.80
1.1 7

0.33
0.39
0.05
0.25
0.24

0.06
0.04
0.03
0.05
0.02
0.05
0.06
<0 .01
0.04
0.03

4.02
3.36
3.31
3.35
2.43

3.04
2.41
2.40
2.77
2.44

0.08
0.06
0.05
0.05
0.03

1. 66
0.88
0.92
0.78
0. 73

1.08
025
0.25
0.19
0. 12

0.15
0.04
0.04
0.03
0.04

0.13
0.56
0.60
0.47
0.38

2.93
2.56
2.59
2.92
3.20

2.50
2.42
2.00
2.08
3.32

0.04
0.03
0.03
0.05
0.05

0.55
0.63
0.55
0.7 1
0. 88

0.02
0.D3
0.04
008
0.06

0.75
058
0.43
057
0.34

321
3.66
2.42
4.59
2.37

2.59
2.61
2.82
2.76
2.83

004
0.04
0.04
0.04
0.04

0.64
0.83
0.63
0.91
0.40

0.06
O.LO
0.18
0.34
0.50
0.49
0.27
0.14
0.30
0.10

0.1 3
0.04
0.04
0.04
0.Q3

0.36
0. 55
0.54
0.37
0.54

2.05
1.25
1.68
1.71
1.54

2.85
2.78
2.59
3.10
2.64

0.04
0.06
0.D4
0.05
0.07

0.47
0.20
0.42
0.46
0.31

0.16
0.11
0.11
0.14
0. 16

0.02
00 1
0.02
0.02
0.03

2.85
2.51
3.09
2.44
2.58
2.44
2.40
2.62
1.99
3.04

4.20
3.04
2.41
2.86
7.05

0 .50
0.53
0.74
0.83
0.80
0.52
0.5 1
0.79
0.39
0.64

0.24
0.38
1.02
0.46
0. 36
0.10
0.10
0.23
0.11
0.08

0.06
0.06
0.25
0.06
0.06

3.21
4.25
4.71
2.4 1
2.59

0.05
0.05
0.03
0.04
0.05
0.05
0.06
0.05
0.04
0.04

0.41
0.23
0.37
0.40
0.38
0.17
0.24
0.27
0.38
0.22

0.04 0.47
0.02 0 .38
0.05 0.43
0.04 0.39
0.0 1 0.42

2.58
3.25
1.50
1.46
1.20

2.76
3.28
1.80
1.85
1.52

0.04
0.04
0.04
0.04
0.04

0.64
0.74
0.21
0.39
0.14

0.18
0.12
0.1 3
0.10
0.05

0.02
0.02
0.02
0.0 1
0.01

An 126
AB 127

AB 128
AB 129
AB 130
AB 131
AB 132
AB 133

AB 134
AB 135
AB 136

AB
AB
An
An
An
AB
AB

137
138
139
140
14 1
142
143
AS 144
AB 145

AB 146
An 147
AB 148
AB 149
AB 150
AB 151
AB 152
AB 153
AB 154
AB 155
fill 156
AB 157
AB 1.')8
AB 159
AB 160
.AB 161
AS 162
AS 163
AS 164
AB 165

Cr
Co
PPM PPM

Ni
PPM

Cli
PPtl'1

Zn
PPM

As

PPM

- -

150
205
202
1820

12
7
19
164

26
20
10
1696

20
17
18
13

38
49
65
74

<5
<5
<5
<5

55
79
43
64
68

69
131
197
151
162

8
7
6
12

16
19
19
30
32

15
22
20
31
37

0.40
0.46
0. 51
0.25
0.32

65
60
83
72
96

190
131
98
160
193

9
9
12
14
16

30
28
24
42
39

43
32
37
51
43

68
60
59
76
88
85
62
83
67
94

0.24
0.29
0. 16
0.44
0.30

50
61
56
71
66
121
70
68
83
69

143
160
106
132
187

9
11
4
12
18

23
33
18
38
81

28
34
25
48
47

40
53
49
59
87

27
<5
19
24
<5
18
<5
<5
36
<5
40
18
12
53
33

145
135
150
144
190

30
15
14
15
18

95
48
52
51
76

11 0
54
45
57
52

58
76
76
101
81

<5
10
47
37
7

29
44
31
32
16
17
28
24
33
19

28
36
30
30
22

104
88
50
51
63

31
34
8
<5
51

29
28
25
26
22

53
66
66
90
61

9
9
8
11
11

0.34
0.43
0.41
0.29
0.25

11

63
65
57
63
80
92
61
51
75
41

135
192
187
226
129

10
11
11
10
11

98
168
184
186
231

83
35
46
69
45

155
76
79
126
250

10
10
8
12
8
10
10
9
12

85
54
76
73
175
59
102
11 3
36
33

68
55
147
96
136
265
254
204
354
140

45
43
15
18
18

146
150
193
106
168

27
20
18
25
20
17
12
19
31
10

27
21
22
29
22

89
45
58
66
47

10
34
12
11
7

30
16
31
41
28

58
63
51
51
90

15
23
19
20
27

14

11

16
16
16
17
19

15
19
14
14

59
62
65
49
71

20
27
18
14
44

10
12
8
9
6

16
23
12
14
10

15
21
9
10
10

65
88
112
49
39

40
48
<5
6
15

10

14
10
10

13
18
11
12
13
9

OVERSEAS GEOL & MINER. RESOUR. No. 67 1995

Table II

Sr
Y
PPM PPM

No.
AB
AB
AB
AB
AB

(tonlmued)

Mo
Ag
PP:\.1 PPM

III
112

27

31

<l

21

64

1
114
115

56
8
5
No fluvial

A..B 116
AB 117

24

AB US
AB 119
AB 120

5
16
29

2
<1

2
4

13
13

12

121
122
123
124
125

II

17
44

19

II
37
27

9
9
8

<1

AB 126

22

AB 127

25
5

AB
AB
AB
AB
AB

AB 128
AB 129
AB 130
AB
AB
AB
AB

13]
132

AB
AB
AB
AB
AB

136
137
138
139
140

22

29
20

11
10
9
7
10
11
13

A.B141
AB 142
AB 143
AB 144
AB 145
AB 146
AB 147
AB 148
AB 149
AB ]50

AS
AB
AB
AB
AB

151
152
153
154
155

AB
AB
AB
AB
AB

156

17
II

13
21
32
35

1
<1

2
2

d
1

3
<1

2
4
5

11

12

<1

<1

12

I
<I
2

11

13

24
16

9
8

14

9
5

15

3
3

13
11
14

25
34

9
8

d
<1

2
2
<1

.5
22

Sn
PPM

Sb
Te
PPM PPM

<0.2
<0.2
<0.2
<0.2

<1.0
<1.0
<1.0
<1.0

<20
<20
<20
<20

<5
<5
<5
<5

<0.2
<0.2
<0.2
<0.2
<0.2

<1.0
<1.0
.0
<1.0
<1.0

<20
<20
<20
<20
<20

<5

<0.2
<0.2
<0.2
<0.2
<0.2

<1.0
<1.0
<1.0
<1.0
<1.0

<20
<20
<20
<20
<20

.0
<1.0
<l.0

<5
<5

<20
<20
<20
<20
<20

<5
<5
9

La
PPM

W
PPM

Pb
PPM

dO
<10
dO
<10

169
432
290
<I

<20
<20
<20
<20

>2

14;3
162
39

<10
<10
<10
<10
<10

93
99
113
150
146

1l
66

<20
<20
<20
<20

8
6
11
17
10

<5
<5

<5

7
<5

<10

148
158
148

11
8

<5
<5
<5

<5
30
<5

<0.2
<0.2
<0.2
<0.2
<0.2

<1.0
<1.0
<1.0

.0

<20
<20
<20
<20
<20

<0.2
<0.2
<0.2
<0.2
<0.2

<1.0
<1.0
<1.0
<1.0
<1.0

<0.2
<0.2
<0.2
<0.2
<0.2

.0
.0

9
<5

<10
<10
<10
<10

dO
<10
<10
<10

133
201
103
167
60
195
128

161
51
86

78
233
18
10
18

<20
<20
<20
<20
<20

<5
<5

14

<20

18
16

<5

<20
<20
<20
<20
<20

<2

<5

7
7

<20
<20
<20
<20
<20

18

16
25

<5

<10

140

<10

156

<10
<10
<10

122
192
144

39
38
20
25

<5
<5
<5
<5

<10

133

11

<20
<20

<]()

99

14

<20

<I
<1.0
<1.0

<20
<20
<20
<20
<20

<0.2
<0.2
<0.2
<0.2
0.5

<1.0
<1.0
<1.0
.0
.0

<20
<20
<20
<20
<20

<5

<1.0
<1.0
<1.0
<1.0
<1.0
d.O
d.O
<1.0
<1.0
<1.0

158
159
160

II
11

8
24

Ll

AB 161
,'\B 162

13
13

21

f\B 163

14

:J

AB 164
AB 165

8
:)

5
5

3
4
2
1
3

0.3
0.2
0.2
<0.2
0.4

25
27
18

48
65
103
59

27
21

<20
<20
<20
<20

17

22

<10

177

14

<5
<5
<5

<10
<10
<10

122
120
87

10
13

<20
<20
<20
<20
<20

<5
<5
<5
<5
<5

dO
<10
<10
<10
<10

<20
<20
<20
<20
<20

<5
<5

dO

99
1 9

<5
<5

dO
<10
<10

96
67
118

13
14
<5

32

<5
<5
<5

<5
<5

16
12
20
12

29
<5
<5

10

<5

14

34
<5

11

89

<5

19

12

127

<5

5
7

Hi

<10

13

112

<10

<5

8
8

100

12
12

<10

<5

14
15
11

<20
<20
<20
<20
<20

<0.2
0.3
0.3
<0.2
0.2

77
<5

<20
<20
<20

]()

22

12
<5
<5
<5

<5

27

187
159
216
252
124

13
16
II

<5
<5
<5
<5

94

<10
<10
<10
<10
<10

dO

10

<5
<5
10

19

149
151
162
144

d.O

Bi
Au
PPM PPB

15

<10
<10
dO
<10
<10

13
12
16

19

<5
<5

<1.0

d.O

Ba
PPM

dO

<1.0
<1.0
<1.0
<1.0
<1.0

5
3

<5
<5

<0.2
dl.2
<0.2
<0.2

<0.2
<0.2
<0.2
<0.2

157

<5
6

<20
<20
<20
<20
<20

6
4
7

23

133

134
l\B 135

17

Cd
PPM

12

<5
<5
<5

<20
<20

17
16
18

<20

11

30

<20

20

<5

121

57

<20

99

79

15
16

<5
<5

15

100

42

11

95
110

;)5

13
13

<5
<5
<5

124

<20

93
89
27
30
26

<20
<20

12

<5

14

<5

<20
<20

27
13

22

<5

<5

<5
<5

<5
<5
<5
<5
<5

57

58

OVERSEAS GEOL. & MINER. RESOUR. No. 67 1995

Table II
Sample
No.

( continuer)

FeTol Mn Mg
AI
PCT PCT
PCT PCT

Ca
PCT

2.04
3.05
1.17
0.43
1.33
1.70
2.41
2.40

0.02
0.30
0.05
0.02
0.09
0.09
0.17
0.18

----

--

AB
AB
AB
AB
AB
AB
AB
AB

166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173

2.50
5.59
1.41
0.92
1.89
2.46
2.98
3.78

0.03
0.06
0.03
0.02
0.09
0.07
0.05
0.06

0.38
0.85
0.17
0.08
0.30
0.49
0.57
0.75

Na
PCT
0.01
0.07
0.02
0.01
0.03
0.02
0.05
0.03

V
Ni
Zn
As
Cr
Co
Cu
PCT PPlV! PPM PPM PPM PPM PPM PPM
.- -- - - - -
---
0.37
26
III 10
17
15
64
9
251 16
71
0.35 162
16
18
44
0.24
20
158
7
12
6
9
36
0.11
7
II
156
3
3
12
<5
177
7
7
0.39
26
15
9
34
175 10
15
0.56
32
20
12
44
0.70
47
22
18
16
190 10
56
0.60
54
64 13
21
19
79
29

" Samples which occur outside the area covered by Figure 32

(AB62, AB63, AB64, AB65, AB66 and AB69,

61-676 ppm) and the Cerro Los Cangrejos (AB76 and
AB77, 220-295 ppm) areas. The following rivers also
contained copper values greater than 60 ppm: Rio
Colorado (AB16, 187 ppm); Estero San Antonio (AB131,
110 ppm) (see also AB124, AB125, AB129, AB130,
AB132, AB133 and AB134); Rio Santa Rosa (AB86,
72 ppm); an unnamed tributary of the Rio Santa Rosa
(AB72, 81 ppm) (see also AB71 and AB74); Rio Dumari
(AB14, 75 ppm) (see also AB13) and an unnamed tribu
tary of the Rio Daucay (AB15, 62 ppm).
The highest lead analyses were obtained from the
Cerro Pelado (AB62, AB64, AB66 and AB69,
123-296 ppm) and Cerro Los Cangrejos (AB76 and
AB77, 128-251 ppm) areas. Anomalous lead values were
also recorded in the Rios Vivar and Mollepungu (AB2
and AB3, 117-89 ppm) and the Quebrada EI Baten
(AB49, 157 ppm). Lesser quantities of lead (>25 ppm)
were found in the following rivers: Quebrada Santa
Martha (ABl, 57 ppm - falls outside of area covered by
Figure 32, see Table 10 for location); Rio Dumari (AB14,
44 ppm); Rio EI Ari (AB52, 35 ppm); Quebrada Chontas
(AB54, 26 ppm); Rio Santa Rosa (AB86, 30 ppm);
Quebrada Limoncillo (AB97, 30 ppm); Quebrada EI
Salado (ABI03, 44 ppm); Quebrada Chaupi (ABI04,
48 ppm); Quebrada EI Belen (ABI05, 40 ppm);
Quebrada Del Shanre (AB163, 27 ppm) and Quebrada
San Joaquin (AB167, 41 ppm).
Zinc analyses varied from 12 to 292 ppm but the distri
bution of the higher values (>100 ppm) appears to be
more scattered than some of the other elements con
sidered. In the Cerro Pelado and Cerro Los Cangrejos
areas values ranged from 104 to 231 ppm (AB62, AB64,
AB66 and AB67) and 292 to 205 ppm (AB76 and AB77)
respectively and 107 ppm was recorded from the Rio Vivar
(AB2). In the south-east, the Rio Yaguachi, Quebrada
Chaupi and Quebrada EI Belen (ABI02, ABl04 and
ABI05) all contained more than 110 ppm of zinc. The fol
lowing rivers also carried zinc values more than 100 ppm:
Quebrada del Trapiche (AB47, 119 ppm); Rio EI Ari
(AB52, 122 ppm); Quebrada de La Concha (AB53,
225 ppm - falls outside area covered by Figure 32, see
Table 10 for location); an unnamed tributary of the Rio
Santa Rosa (AB72, 106 ppm); Rio Santa Rosa (AB86,

145 ppm); Quebrada Limoncillo (AB97, 140 ppm); Que

brada EI Salado (ABI03, 110 ppm); an unnamed tributary
of the Quebrada Bruno (ABllO, 105 ppm); an unnamed
tributary of Estero San Antonio (AB134, 101 ppm); an
unnamed tributary of the Rio Quera (AB136, 104 ppm)
and Quebrada del Sharve (AB 163, 112 ppm).
Cadmium analyses were generally less than 1 ppm (or
<0.2 ppm) (detection limits) and the highest value
recorded is 2.2 ppm (AB102) from the Rio Yaguachi.
Barium analyses ranged from 33 to 329 ppm. The fol
lowing rivers carried values greater than 200 ppm: Rio
Muyuyacu (AB4, 267 ppm); Rio Huizho (ABll,
204 ppm); an unnamed tributary of the Rio Santa Rosa
(AB72, 239 ppm); Quebrada de Canas (AB82, 329 ppm);
unnamed tributaries of the Quebrada Bruno (ABI09
and ABIlO, 208-271 ppm); Rio Colorado (AB125,
201 ppm) and unnamed tributaries of the Rio Quera
(AB138 and AB139, 216-252 ppm).
Chromium, nickel, cobalt and vanadium
Chromium analyses ranged from 31 to 1820 ppm and the
two highest values, 1820 ppm (ABl14) and 537 ppm
(AB 73), both spatially relate to serpentinite bodies in the
Palenque melange division. In the north, several samples
collected from rivers which drain these rocks had values
greater than 250 ppm (AB6, AB7, ABIO, AB21, AB92 and
AB150). However, it is perhaps surprising that high
chromium analyses were also obtained from the follow
ing drainages associated with the Tahuin division and/or
the Moromoro granitoid complex: Quebrada Los Zabalos
(AB31, 378 ppm and AB32, 353 ppm); an unnamed trib
utary of the Rio Puyango (AB34, 266 ppm); Rio Zaracay
(AB36, 281 ppm and AB41, 269 ppm); Quebrada Primav
era (AB38, 396 ppm); Quebrada Valle Hermoso (AB39,
342 ppm); Qu~brada EI Duende (AB98, 290 ppm) and
Quebrada de Nalacapa (ABI0l, 257 ppm). In the south
east, chromium values of greater than 250 ppm were also
recorded from the upper reaches of the Rio Ambocas
(AB156, AB157 and AB159) and the Quebrada San
Joaquin (AB167).
Nickel analyses ranged from 6 to 1696 ppm but only a
few samples had v'a lues greater than 100 ppm. The
highest nickel values recorded, 1696 ppm (AB1l4) and

GEOt. & MINER RESOLJR. No.

Table 11

AS
AB
AB
AB

( conlinw'd)

Sr
Y
PPtd PPM

No.

59

6
7

:I
4

Ll

2
2

166
167
168
169

25
5
:I

~~

70

15

16

AS 71
172
AS 173

Hi
18

28

22

19

Cd
PPM

Nlo

PPM

Sn
PPM

Te
Ba
Sb
PP.tvl PPM PPIVI

<20

<5

O.

<0.2

2
1

<20

<20

<,)

<5
<5
<5
<5

<10
<10
<10
<10
<10
<10
<10
<10

212 ppm (AB73) both relate

nite bodies in the
AB92 and AB131 . However, the 113 ppm
obtained from AB65 may renect mineralisation in the
Cerro Pelado area.
Cobalt
of
from the
del
14
of this element.
variable up to a
rivers contained
Las Pavas
348 ppm); Rio Chilola
Cerro Azul (ABHI, 322
175 ppm) and Quebrada

~lo1ybdenum,

tin and tungsten

less than 20
AB96,
between 21 and 26 ppm.
were all less thall
lion
with
exception of sample
collected from the Rio J'vIollepullgu.
Lanthanum and yttrium

87

La

IN

PPtvl

PPM

<20

61

Pb
PPM

<20

Au
PPB

14
41

<5

<5

12

<5
<5
<5
<5
<5
<5

<')

103

<20

Bi
PPM

1
I
18

<:)
<5
<5
<5
<5

lanthanum values (>100 ppm),

GuayaGin
138 ppm), Quebrada San
110 ppm);
; Quebrada EI
La Garganta
244
Guarumo (AB 106, 117 ppm):
Bruno and
(ABI08, AB109, 260 J 34 ppm): Quebrada
(ABlll, 169
, Quebrada Canoas
Canas (AB 1
ABI03 and
north-east
drain the Quera Chico
division, also
thall
ppm: Rio
146 to 161 ppm); Rio Dumari
and an
unnamed tributary of the Rio
03 ppm).
Yttrium analyses ranged from 3 to 64 ppm and, as with
lanthanum, the majority h
values (>20 ppm)
appear to be associated with the
of the EJ Oro
metamorphic
In the
vvhich drain

Figure 32

,/

' c- ,-,

........_

~ L,,~..-... -....

\\
~

...J''-,.

~--'
'<..

'J.

I ,

" ;
,
>

" ,I , \'
.)- .'
J

'-.

,. / '-<.. .

1.

_ /~--

-~ -

,...-/

"

/ ; 11

~ __

'

'I.::.

r,\ "', T ', ' , \

\,1
" r (- , -..1\\

l,

'1 _ _ , 1

"",

'" -. /J, ~ ~ I'

_'

r"

~ L~ ~\ . ' YC-~ ~~'r .

/ \.

'\

<D
<D
<.J1

"

0>

:;<:l

e
z
o

V>

?='

Z
t"l

s:

?i'

('J
t"l

/'\'

/~~ ,"

.f

.,~

' ~

t~-

"~, ,-\,<~.

114

)-

,....."

Stream sediment sample location map.

:IJ

-n

''

'\

\"-.
(

4"\ '"

h/
(
.

"
o ')

;:ri (

-u

(j)

\ .......

"

.<

. ,.s
,,~.,;-

0>

OVERSEAS GEOL. & MINER. RESOUR. No. 67 1995

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