Economic Geology

BULLETIN OF THE SOCIETY OF ECONOMIC GEOLOGISTS

VOL. 102 March–April 2007 NO. 2

Geologic Framework of the Veladero High-Sulfidation Epithermal Deposit Area,

Cordillera Frontal, Argentina
DIEGO CHARCHAFLIÉ, RICHARD M. TOSDAL,† AND JAMES K. MORTENSEN
Mineral Deposit Research Unit, University of British Columbia, 6339 Stores Road, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada V6T 1Z4

Abstract
Located in the northern part of the El Indio belt of Chile-Argentina, the 12.6-million ounce (Moz) gold, late
Miocene Veladero high-sulfidation epithermal deposit is hosted principally in late Oligocene and middle
Miocene volcanic and volcaniclastic rocks and to a lesser extent in the underlying Permian rhyolitic pyroclastic
rocks. The principal host rocks are poorly bedded volcaniclastic breccia and minor air-fall tuff of the middle
Miocene Cerro de las Tórtolas Formation, which unconformably overlies deformed and structurally inter-
leaved late Oligocene and late Paleozoic rocks. These latter rocks form a steeply dipping fold and thrust belt
that was bevelled by the regional Miocene Frontera-Deidad paleogeomorphic surface. The Cerro de las Tór-
tolas Formation, deposited across the Frontera-Deidad surface, represents at Veladero an ~16 Ma vent com-
plex characterized by domes and their coeval subvolcanic equivalents (Infiernillo intrusive unit), surrounded
by coarse, poorly sorted volcaniclastic breccia that grades eastward onto a volcaniclastic apron of bedded and
reworked detritus with interbedded air-fall tuff and local lacustrine tuffaceous sandstone and siltstone. Gold at
Veladero is hosted in a tabular, north-northwest elongated silicified horizon that cuts across the host stratigra-
phy and has a subhorizontal top that ranges between 4,200 and 4,400 m above sea level. The silicified horizon
lies at the approximate elevation to slightly beneath the 14.5 to 12 Ma Azufreras-Torta surface, which con-
trolled formation of the economic El Indio, Tambo, and Pascua-Lama high-sulfidation gold deposits elsewhere
in the El Indio belt. Published late Miocene 40Ar/39Ar ages between 11 and 10 Ma on alunite from the Filo
Federico zone at Veladero and from uneconomic prospects nearby indicate that advanced argillic alteration and
likely gold deposition is 5 m.y. younger than the ~16 Ma host rocks. The Veladero deposit formed after a change
in the local tectonic environment from one of shortening that preceded deposition of the host volcaniclastic se-
quence to one of extension localized within the vicinity of Veladero that episodically disrupted the host volcanic
sequences, reactivated the steeply dipping thrust faults, and displaced the Frontera-Deidad and Azufreras-
Torta paleogeomorphic surfaces. Regional tectonic relationships suggest that this transition did not reflect a
fundamental change in the overall shortening that dominates the Cenozoic of the Chilean-Argentinean Andes.
Instead, local extension around Veladero resulted from the inherent gravitational instability created by topog-
raphy in excess of 4,000 m above sea level.

Introduction international border at 29°30' S. These deposits form the

APPROXIMATELY 30 million ounces (Moz) of Au are known in
the Veladero and Pascua-Lama high-sulfidation deposits at the
northern end of the El Indio belt, Chile and Argentina (Fig. 1;
Jannas et al., 1990, 1999; Charchaflié et al., 2003; Chouinard
et al., 2005; Deyell et al., 2005). Of that, about 12.6 Moz
(proven plus probable reserves) are found in the oxidized
high-sulfidation epithermal deposit at Veladero (Laidlaw,
2005). Formed in association with Miocene magmatic activity
and associated denudation (Bissig et al., 2001; Charchaflié,
2003; Charchaflié et al., 2003), the Veladero deposit is the
southeasternmost of a series of high-sulfidation epithermal
deposits lying along a 7-km-long west-northwest–trending
zone in the Cordillera Frontal morphostructural province
of the Central Andes, which straddles the Argentina-Chile
† Corresponding author: e-mail, rtosdal@eos.ubc.ca
©2007 by Economic Geology, Vol. 102, pp. 171–192
0361-0128/07/3648/171-22
northern end of the important El Indio metallogenic belt
(Araneda, 1982), which lies mostly in Chile (Fig. 2); this belt
is also referred to as the El Indio-Pascua belt (Bissig et al.,
2001, 2002). Of the many deposits within the belt, only those
in Chile, which have proven economic, notably El Indio,
Tambo, and Pascua-Lama, have been studied in detail (Jannas
et al., 1990, 1999; Chouinard et al., 2005; Deyell et al., 2005).
Bissig et al. (2001, 2002) placed the deposits in Chile, as well
as many other smaller deposits, into a Tertiary volcanic, strati-
graphic, and paleogeomorphic framework.
The Veladero deposit in Argentina is not well understood,
largely due to the lack of data and any detailed study. Fur-
thermore, it is the subject of conflicting interpretations
(Jones et al., 1999; Bissig et al., 2002; Charchaflié et al, 2003;
Laidlaw, 2005). Early exploration at Veladero proposed a ge-
netic relationship between gold deposition and formation of
171
172 CHARCHAFLIÉ ET AL.

74°W 70° 66° Argentina

Chile Argentina

Ocean
Collahuasi (34)

I LE T R E N C H
El Abra (36-39)

Pacific
Chuquicamata (31-34)
Central
Puna

300
Antofagasta Volcanic

PERU- CH
72° 68°W 24°S
Bolivia Zone
20°S Escondida (35)
Pacific Ocean

NAZCA El Salvador (41-43)

Chile

PLATE Tucumán
LaCoipa
La Coipa(22-24)
(22-24)
28°
Nazca Marte-Lobo (13-14)
Plate
Bajo de la
28° Alumbrera
(06-07)
Sierras (6-7)
Cordillera Frontal
Cordillera Frontal
Juan Pampeanas
Fernández
Argentina

Ridge La
Serena EL INDIO BELT (6-9.5) Chilean

200
Flat-Slab
Figure 3-2
44° Area of
Figure 2 San Juan
Atlantic Ocean

32° Los Pelambres-Pachón (09-10)

75

Antartic 125
Plate
Antarctic Mendoza Southern
Plate Santiago
Cordillera Principal
Cordillera Principal Los Bronces (4.9) 200 km
Volcanic
El Teniente (4.7) Zone
FIG. 1. Location of the El Indio-Pascua belt and major Tertiary mineral districts in the southern South America Andes.
Age of mineralization is shown in million years in brackets. Heavy dashed lines broadly outline the limit of the Cenozoic mag-
matic arcs. Stippled pattern outlines the Sierras Pampeanas in Argentina, whereas the diagonal lined pattern denotes the lo-
cation of the Puna in northern Argentina. Based on Bissig (2001), Bissig et al. (2001), and Dilles and Camus (2001). Also
shown are the depth contour lines (25-km interval) to the Wadati-Benioff zone (Cahill and Isacks, 1992). Morphostructural
provinces of the Chilean Andes are simplified from Hervé et al. (1987).

a felsic diatreme complex (e.g., Jones et al., 1999). Char- The geologic framework proposed herein also allows exami-
chaflié (2003; see also Laidlaw, 2005) questioned that inter- nation of the tectonic environment during ore formation.
pretation, proposing that the host rocks represent a dome-
vent complex with a surrounding volcaniclastic apron that is The Veladero Epithermal Deposit
older than gold deposition. Published geochronologic con- The Veladero epithermal deposit has received no detailed
straints suggest that the Veladero deposit is similar to the study except that undertaken during exploration and mine
nearby Pascua-Lama deposit, wherein gold is significantly planning. Thus, the understanding of the deposit genesis is
younger than the dominant host rocks (Bissig et al., 2001, poor and critical ore genetic constraints are lacking. Nonethe-
2002; Chouinard et al., 2005). less, published information does permit a generalized view of
This paper presents the first well-constrained late Oligo- the deposit. Fine-grained disseminated gold is found in two
cene to Miocene geologic and tectonic history of the Veladero ore zones, Filo Federico in the north and Amable in the south
area and provides a framework in which to place the genesis (Fig. 3). Gold is concentrated in a subhorizontal horizon of in-
of the Veladero high-sulfidation deposit. The history pre- tense silicification that is hosted in subaerial heterolithic brec-
sented herein is based on district-scale field mapping sup- cias, volcaniclastic rocks, and subordinate air-fall tuffs of the
ported by U-Pb geochronology using conventional isotope di- Miocene Cerro de las Tórtolas Formation, dacitic flows, tuff,
lution, thermal ionization mass spectrometry (TIMS), and and sandstone of the Oligocene Tilito Formation, and rhy-
sensitive high-resolution ion microprobe-reverse geometry olitic tuffs of the Permian Guanaco Sonso Formation. The lat-
(SHRIMP-RG) analytical techniques (Charchaflié, 2003). ter two formations are structurally interleaved in a now

0361-0128/98/000/000-00 $6.00 172

 GEOLOGY OF THE VELADERO HIGH-SULFIDATION EPITHERMAL DEPOSIT AREA, ARGENTINA 173

iga
Orgt a
Pascua- Simplified geology

e la rti
as
Pascua-

gu

ad O
LamaLama

Ta
ío

ller la
RR

rdi de
Fabiana Cerro de Vidrio Formation (Pliocene)

Cao
ller
Veladero Vallecito Formation (late Miocene)

rdi
Figure 4

Co
P Vacas Heladas Formation

a
PV

aBBrerea
L (Middle to late Miocene)

rón

addeelal
Río Cerro de las Tórtolas Formation

Sancar
Potrerillos

dlilelerar
Escabroso Formation
Tilito Formation

CCoordr i
lera de
rio Bocatoma intrusive unit
o ina
Rí olo (late Eocene to Middle Miocene
A p
Cordil
Choiyoi Group, Elqui-Limarí Batholith
and Colangüil Batholith (Late Paleozoic
to Jurassic)
Sancarrón
ío Río del
C

Medio
Faults
BdTF

B
Río Los Reverse faults
Bañitos
Lineaments
Co F

Río del
Medio Mine
El Indio
Exploration prospects
C°. Doña Ana Rrííoo
Frí International border
Tambo o
Chile-Argentina
Río
C°. Escabroso Frío
güoill

Major mountains
del Co
a ra lanC
d el
Cura

erle
C ordrdillil
lle del

Co
Río Va

C°. de las Tórtolas

(6380 m a.s.l.) 0 5 10
70 ° W

o
Tórtolas 30 S km

FIG. 2. Regional geology of the El Indio-Pascua belt and location of major deposits and mines, modified from Bissig et
al. (2001). BdT = Baños del Toro fault, CoF = Colangüil fault, PVL = Pascua-Veladero lineament.

steeply dipping fold and thrust system that unconformably the 9-km2-altered area of mineralized rocks, Laidlaw (2005)
underlies the Cerro de las Tórtolas Formation. Only a small described intense silicification with minor hypogene alunite
portion of the gold orebody is apparently hosted in the Tilito flanked outward by argillic and propylitic mineral assemblages
and Guanaco Sonso Formations, although the intense acid typical of high-sulfidation epithermal deposits (see also Jones
leaching and silicification (i.e., Filo Federico, Fig. 3a) ob- et al., 1999). The top of the ore zone defines a subhorizontal
scures the nature of the host rocks, making a conclusive iden- horizon that lies between 4,200 and 4,400 m.a.s.l., which is in-
tification nearly impossible. ferred to represent the paleowater table at the time of ore for-
Gold is disseminated in a 3-km-long, elongate subhorizon- mation. Hydrothermal breccias are common within the silici-
tal body lying between 3,950 and 4,400 m above sea level fied zone (Laidlaw, 2005). Above the silicified horizon, the
(m.a.s.l.) with a long axis oriented to the north-northwest rocks are commonly leached, porous, and contain native sul-
(345°; Laidlaw, 2005). The deposit extends from Filo Fed- fur in voids. These rocks represent the steam-heated altered
erico in the north to Amable in the south (Figs. 3b, 4). The zone above the water table. The Veladero deposit is oxidized,
long axis of the deposit parallels steeply dipping faults in rocks with gold associated with hematite, goethite, and jarosite
beneath the Cerro de las Tórtolas Formation (Fig. 4). Within making the deposit amenable to bulk mining methods.

0361-0128/98/000/000-00 $6.00 173

174 CHARCHAFLIÉ ET AL.

Cerro Pelado
IIU
CdlT
CdlT TF

FF ?

?
Pz

camp

Lama East

b
F-D A-T
CP P

A CdlT CE FF
A-T
L
F-D
RT
A-T CdlT
CdlT
Fab

FIG. 3. View of Veladero (a) looking southeast from the Porfiado area across Lama East and (b) looking due west from
Fabiana. See Figure 4 for locations. Location of the various mineralized zones at Veladero and in the region are shown. Ve-
ladero: A = Amable, CE = Cuatro Esquinas, FF = Filo Federico, L = Lama, P = Pascua. Shown are the rock units: CdlT =
Cerro de las Tortolas, IIU = Infiernillo intrusive unit, TF = Tilito Formation, Pz = Permain Guanaco Sonso Formation. Also
shown are the paleogeomorphic surfaces: F-D = Frontera-Deidad, A-T = Azufreras-Tortas. The youngest dome of the In-
fernillo intrusive unit at Cerro Pelado (CP) is indicated. The Veladero section of the Cerro de las Tórtolas Formation un-
derlies the high-sulfidation deposit; the Rio Turbio (RT) section of the Cerro de las Tórtolas Formation lies at lower eleva-
tions downdip from the Veladero section in the right of the photography. The Fabiana section (Fab) of the Cerro de las
Tórtolas Formation lies in the foreground. Faults are in white or black heavy dashed lines with teeth in upper plate of thrust
faults; contacts are in thinner white or black dashed lines.

Geology of the El Indio Belt
The northerly striking El Indio belt (Araneda and Ramón,
1982) extends from Pascua-Lama-Veladero in the north (Fig.
2) to Coipita in the south (not shown in Fig. 2). The auriferous
deposits in the belt are associated with Miocene magmatic
rocks (Martin et al, 1995, 1997; Bissig et al., 2001) confined
between two reverse faults with opposite dips, the Baños del
Toro fault in the west and the Colangüil fault in the east (Fig.
2). Along the now steeply dipping Miocene thrust faults, late

0361-0128/98/000/000-00 $6.00 174

 GEOLOGY OF THE VELADERO HIGH-SULFIDATION EPITHERMAL DEPOSIT AREA, ARGENTINA 175

CHILE

2390K

2400K

2410K
ARGENTINA
6760K
P
PF

lt
Fabiana Fau
r
ve

t
Ri

Faul
Tur s
bi oR ua

rtiga
g
iver Ta

La O
35
ult

RT
ay Fa

40
FF F
Choll

A
PM CP 16
V 12 °

6750K AM

MF
35 A’
PA
Ta
25 gua
CC sR
ive
r
Límite Fault

CL
PV
L

35

iver
N
sR
rer illo ile)
6740K Pot (Ch

Alluvium (Tert. & Quat) Tilito Fm. (Oligocene) Thrust fault

Normal fault
Cerro de Vidrio (Pliocene) Bocatoma Intrusive (Eocene)
Bedding (horizontal)
Vacas Heladas Fm. (Miocene) Lineament
Guanaco Sonso Formation (Permian)
River-stream
Infiernillo Intrusive Unit (Miocene)
Granitic rock undivided (Permian) International Border
Cerro de las Tórtolas Fm. (Miocene) 0 5km

FIG. 4. Geologic map of the Veladero area, Argentina, simplified from Charchaflié (2003). Major prospects and deposits:
F = Fabiana prospect, L = Lama, P = Pascua, V = Veladero. Geographic locations mentioned in text: AM = Amable, CC =
Cerro Colorado, CL = Cerro Libori, CP = Cerro Pelado, FF = Filo Federico, MF = Magsa fault, PA = Potrerillos River in
Argentina, PF = Porfiado, PM = Portezuelo Matías, PVL = Pascua-Veladero lineament, RT = Rio Turbio section. Small iso-
lated intrusive rocks of various ages have been omitted from the map for clarity purposes.

Paleozoic granitic and volcanic rocks are placed over other
late Paleozoic volcanic and plutonic rocks that were uncon-
formably overlain, prior to shortening, by early Mesozoic ig-
neous and sedimentary rocks and by a thick succession of
Oligocene and early Miocene volcanic and volcaniclastic
rocks. Late Paleozoic to Miocene rocks form the basement to
the gold deposits and prospects (e.g., Martin et al., 1995; Jan-
nas et al., 1999; Bissig et al., 2001). Gold deposition within the
known economic deposits was controlled by the position of
the paleowater table about 200 m beneath the regional Azu-
freras-Torta paleoerosional surface (Bissig et al., 2002).
The El Indio belt lies within the Cordillera Frontal mor-
phostructural unit of Argentina and Chile, as defined by
Hervé et al. (1987). Geologic studies of the Cordillera Frontal
have proceeded at a different pace in Chile and Argentina
after the initial reconnaissance of Groeber (1946, 1951). Re-
gional-scale Tertiary rock units were first outlined in Chile
(Thiele, 1964) and subsequently refined (Maksaev et al.,

0361-0128/98/000/000-00 $6.00 175

176 CHARCHAFLIÉ ET AL.

1984; Martin et al., 1995, 1997). In Argentina, the geology of
the eastern flank of the Cordillera Frontal is poorly known, as
geologic studies have focused on relatively small geographi-
cally distinct areas (Ramos et al., 1987, 1989; Nullo, 1988;
Godeas et al., 1993; Jones et al., 1999). Furthermore, the lack
of geochronology or imprecise K-Ar whole-rock determina-
tions hindered development of a coherent regional stratigra-
phy in Argentina. Instead, rock units were either correlated to
Chilean formations according to their composition and lateral
continuity or new formation names were assigned to poorly
time-constrained or isolated rock entities (Marín and Nullo,
1988; Nullo and Marín, 1990). Bissig et al. (2001) reconciled
the volcanic stratigraphy in Argentina with that established in
Chile (Fig. 5), and their names for the formations and paleo-
surfaces, or unconformities separating the formations, are
adopted herein.
Magmatism and shortening characterizes the El Indio belt
from the Eocene to middle Miocene. Late Miocene and
Quaternary shortening migrated east of the El Indio belt,
which now lies in the hanging wall of the fold and thrust belt
(Allmendinger et al., 1990; Ramos et al., 1996; Ramos, 2000).
Regional Erosional
Surfaces
(6 Ma to 10 Ma)
Localized extension has characterized parts of the belt since
the middle Miocene. Overall, since the middle Miocene, the
El Indio belt has been located in a zone of broad-scale uplift,
which has continued to the present day. After intense and
widespread volcanism in the Oligocene and early Miocene,
magmatic activity in the El Indio belt continued into the early
Pliocene as isolated centers (Bissig et al., 2001). The chang-
ing pattern of magmatism and deformation over 25 m.y. in
this part of the Andes (29°–30° S) reflects transitions from a
relatively slow, oblique convergence between the Farallón
and South American plates to normal subduction that gradu-
ally flattened to the modern shallow dip (Pilger, 1984; Kay et
al., 1987, 1991, 1999; Pardo-Casas and Molnar, 1987; Isacks,
1988; Kay and Abruzzi, 1996; Somoza, 1998; Kay and
Mpodozis, 2001, 2002). Contemporaneous shortening thick-
ened the crust from 40 to 45 km at the time of voluminous
late Oligocene and early Miocene magmatism to more than
55 km at the waning stages of volcanism in the late Miocene
(Ramos et al., 1989; Allmendinger et al., 1990; Kay and Ab-
bruzzi, 1996; Bissig et al., 2003). At ca. 12 Ma, a shallow sub-
duction geometry (<<30°) was established beneath this part
of the Andes resulting in a magmatic gap (28° S–33° S) be-
tween the Central and Southern volcanic zones (Kay et al.,
Volcanic and Intrusive 1999, and references therein). The magmatic gap and shallow
Rocks
subduction geometry is interpreted to have resulted from ei-

ther progressive and continuous flattening of the oceanic slab

Los Ríos Surface

Ma 0

1.65 Cerrode
Cerro deVidrio
VidrioFormation
Formation since 26 Ma (Kay et al., 1987, 1991, 1999; Kay and Abbruzzi,
1996) related to the shape of the overriding South American
Pliocene

(2.0 ± 0.2 Ma)

plate (Isacks, 1988; Cahill and Isacks, 1992) and to the sub-
Azufreras-Torta Surface

5 duction of the Juan Fernández Ridge (Pilger, 1981, 1984;

5.30 Vallecito Formation
Vallecito Formation
(12.5 Ma to 14 Ma)

Yañez et al., 2001; Kay and Mpodozis, 2002). The El Indio

Frontera-Deidad Surface

(5.5 ± 0.1 Ma to 6.1 ± 0.4 Ma)

Pascua Formation belt lies approximately in the center of the present-day amag-
late

(7.8 ± 0.3 Ma) matic segment of the Chilean Andes (Fig. 1).
(15 Ma to 17 Ma)

10 Basement to the El Indio belt

11.2 Vacas Heladas
Vacas HeladasFormation
Formation Late Paleozoic to middle Mesozoic volcanic, sedimentary,
(11.0 ± 0.2 Ma to 12.7 ± 0.9 Ma)
and plutonic units form the composite basement of the El
Miocene
middle

Indio belt (Jannas et al., 1999; Martin et al., 1999; Bissig et al.,
15 Cerrode
Cerro delas
lasTórtolas
TórtolasFormation
Formation 2001; Charchaflié et al., in press). The dominant rocks are
and Infiernillo
and InfiernilloUnit
Unit
16.6
(14.9 ±
(14.9 ± 0.7
0.7 Ma
Ma to
to 16.0
16.0 ±
± 0.2
0.2 Ma)
Ma) Permian to Early Jurassic granitoids from the Elqui-Limarí
batholith and volcanic and volcaniclastic rocks of the Choiyoi
Group, which extensively crop out west of the Baños del Toro
EscabrosoFormation
Escabroso Formation fault and east of the Colangüil fault. These rocks also form the
early

20 (17.6 ± 0.5 Ma to 21.9 ± 0.9 Ma)

basement to the Tertiary volcanic sequences. The Choiyoi
Group (Fig. 5) is equivalent to the Pastos Blancos Group of
Martin et al. (1999) in Chile, to the immediate west of Ve-
23.8 Tilito Formation
Tilito Formation
ladero. At Veladero, only the Permian rhyolitic Guanaco
Oligocene

(23.1 ± 0.4 M to 25.1 ± 0.4 Ma)

25 Sonso Formation of the Choiyoi Group is present (Fig. 4).
Early Tertiary rocks of the Eocene to early Oligocene Bo-
catoma intrusive unit (Mpodozis and Cornejo, 1988; Bissig et
al., 2001) and the Eocene Tobas del Valle del Cura Formation
E O

BocatomaIntrusive
Bocatoma IntrusiveUnit
Unit
(30.0 ± 1.9 Ma to 35.9 ± 1.2 Ma) (Malizia et al., 1997) are also known locally in the El Indio
belt. These rocks underlie the late Oligocene and Miocene
Los Tilos
Tilos Formation
Formation volcanic sequences. Only the Eocene Bocatoma intrusive unit
Choiyoi
Group
Pz Tr

(230 Ma to 245 Ma)

Guanaco is known in the Veladero area (Fig. 4).
(250 MaSonso
to 270Formation
Ma)
(250 Ma to 270 Ma)
Regional late Oligocene to Pliocene volcanic stratigraphy
FIG. 5. Volcanic and intrusive stratigraphy of the El Indio belt, modified
Oligocene and early Miocene volcanic formations in the El
from Bissig et al. (2001) and references therein. The Los Tilos Formation Indio belt (Table 1, Fig. 5) are areally widespread and largely
does not crop out in the Veladero area. andesitic to dacitic in composition. Younger, middle Miocene

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 GEOLOGY OF THE VELADERO HIGH-SULFIDATION EPITHERMAL DEPOSIT AREA, ARGENTINA 177

TABLE 1. Regional Volcanic, Volcaniclastic, and Intrusive Units Defined on the Chilean Side of the El Indio Belt
(summarized from Ramos et al., 1989; Martin et al., 1995, 1997; Bissig et al., 2001; and Chouinard et al., 2005)

Formation Rock types Petrography Distribution Age

Cerro de Vidrio Rhyolite dome
Formation
Vallecito Formation Dacitic and rhyolitic tuffs
and minor sandstone and
conglomerate
Pascua Formation Dacitic dikes and
ignimbrite
Vacs Geladas Amphibole-, biotite- and
Formation quartz-phyric dacitic to
andesitic welded ignimbrite,
subvolcanic rocks of the same
composition and reworked tuffs
Infiernillo Andesitic to dacitic porphyries
intrusive unit that grade into equigranular
stocks
Cerro de las Andesitic to dacitic lava
Tórtolas Formation flows, autoclastic breccias,
conglomerates, sandstones,
and minor ash-flow tuff;
can include andesitic to
dacitic porphyries that grade
into equigranular stocks
Escabroso Andesitic to dacitic lava
Formation flows, autoclastic breccias,
conglomerates, sandstones,
and minor ash-flow tuff; can
include andesitic to dacitic
porphyries that grade into
equigranular stocks
Tilito Formation Variably welded dacitic to
rhyolitic ash-flow tuffs,
volcaniclastic rocks, and
basaltic to andesitic lava flows
Contains scarce plagioclase quartz, Isolated complex east 2.1 ± 0.5 Ma
sanidine, and biotite phenocrysts of Veladero
Contains biotite and plagioclase Fills valleys, but not 6.1 ± 0.4 to
phenocrysts distinctive bipyramidal known at Veladero 5.5 ± 0.1 Ma
quartz and sanidine phenocrysts
Contains biotite, plagioclase, and Small sparse intrusive 7.8 ± 0.3 Ma to
quartz phenocrysts; lacks hornblende centers; in core of Pascua 7.6 ± 0.7 Ma
but not known at Veladero
Amphibole, quartz, biotite, and Flat-lying volcanic rocks 12.7 ± 0.9 to
plagioclase phenocrysts and domes associated with 11.0 ± 0.2 Ma
isolated eruptive centers
Biotite, augite, hornblende, and Intrusive equivalent to 16.0 ± 0.2 to
plagioclase phenocrysts; also Cerro de las Tórtolas 14.9 ± 0.7 Ma
fine-grained holocrystalline Formation; mapped
granodiorite and diorite separately where large
complexes found
Biotite, augite, hornblende, and Underlies Veladero and 16.0 ± 0.2 to
plagioclase phenocrysts; also Fabiana prospect 14.9 ± 0.7 Ma
fine-grained holocrystalline
granodiorite and diorite
Augite and plagioclase Not present at Veladero Between 21.9 ±
phenocrysts but crops out to west 0.9 and 17.6 ±
and south 0.5 Ma
Most widespread unit Between 25.1 ±
reaching thickness of 0.4 and 23.1 ±
1,200 m 0.4 Ma

to Pliocene volcanic rocks are more felsic and areally re-
stricted. Magmatic activity in the region decreased markedly
after ca. 13 Ma and ceased by late Pliocene. After 13 Ma, a se-
ries of small volume volcanic and intrusive units formed iso-
lated centers along the El Indio belt.
The Tertiary volcanic rocks show a systematic change in
magma chemistry with time that has been related to the influ-
ence of crustal thickening and associated changes in the resid-
ual mineralogy at a lower crustal site of magma generation
(Kay and Mpodozis 2002; Bissig et al. 2003). Kay and
Mpodozis (2002) further proposed that crustal thickening and
hornblende breakdown was also critical to the generation of
fertile magmas in the El Indio belt and their associated gold
deposits. Bissig et al. (2003) disputed that proposal and
pointed out that the critical mineralogical transition from
garnet-free to -bearing source in the lower crust proposed by
Kay and Mpodozis (2002) occurred several million years prior
to the time of significant gold deposition. Nonetheless, the
chemical changes in the magmas with time are important as
their whole-rock geochemistry can be used to characterize vol-
canic formations of known age and as a preliminary criterion
for correlations where geochronological data are not available
(Maksaev et al., 1984; Godeas et al., 1993; Martin et al., 1995;
Malizia et al., 1997; Bissig et al., 2001).
Remnant late Miocene landforms
Bissig et al. (2002) defined a succession of geomorphologic
features throughout the El Indio belt as remnants of extensive
pediplains. The moderately dissected, planar landforms formed
in the Miocene when semiarid climatic conditions dominated
the region. Unlike areas in northern Chile and southern Perú
(Tosdal et al., 1984; Quang et al., 2005), arid climatic conditions
did not begin in the El Indio belt until the latest Miocene (Bis-
sig, 2001; Bissig et al., 2002). The climatic transition to aridity in
the El Indio belt appears to have largely postdated formation of
the epithermal deposits (Bissig, 2001; Bissig et al., 2002), al-
though the precise timing of the transition to arid and hyperarid
climatic conditions is not known and subject to contrasting in-
terpretations (Hartley and Chong, 2002; Rech et al., 2006).
In the El Indio belt, three erosional surfaces, usually vertically
separated by 200 to 400 m, resulted from the episodic uplift of
the Cordillera Frontal (Bissig et al., 2002). The surfaces are well

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178 CHARCHAFLIÉ ET AL.

defined on the west-facing slopes of the Andes in Chile. They
are from oldest to youngest, and thus from topographically
highest to lowest in elevation: the Frontera-Deidad, Azufreras-
Torta, and Los Ríos surfaces. The 17 to 15 Ma Frontera-Deidad
surface eroded intrusive bodies of the Escabroso Formation,
whereas volcanic rocks of the Cerro de las Tórtolas Formation
were deposited over the erosional surface. The same relation-
ship is documented for the next younger 14 to 12.5 Ma Azufr-
eras-Torta surface as the Vacas Heladas Formation uncon-
formably overlies that surface which is cut across the intrusions
of the Infiernillo intrusive unit (Fig. 5). The Los Ríos surface is
the youngest paleogeomorphic feature, which formed after the
~11 Ma Vacas Heladas Formation and before deposition of the
ignimbrites of the ~6 Ma Vallecito Formation (Fig. 5). The Los
Ríos surface lies in the present valley floors. Due to the aridity
of the latest Miocene and younger climate, the Los Ríos surface
was modified only locally during glaciation.
Along the international border between Argentina and
Chile, the general stair-step arrangement of the erosion sur-
faces is well developed (Bissig et al., 2002, figs. 7, 9, 11).
However, the immediate area of Veladero is an exception.
There, the simple paleogeomorphic stair-step arrangement of
geomorphic surfaces is disrupted (Figs. 3b, 6). To the east of
the Rio Taguas, the Frontera-Deidad surface, marked by the
unconformity at the base of the Cerro de las Tórtolas Forma-
tion, lies beneath the Azufreras-Torta surface (Fig. 6). Like-
wise, at Veladero the Azufreras-Torta surface cuts a distinc-
tive erosional bench into the tilted Frontera-Deidad surface
(Figs. 3b, 6). Lastly, the elevation of the Azufreras-Torta sur-
face between the Veladero and the Fabiana areas is distinctly
different (Fig. 6). Disruption of these normally gently in-
clined paleogeomorphic surfaces implies deformation during
the Miocene, which is discussed more fully below.
Tertiary structural evolution
Multiple episodes of deformation formed northerly strik-
ing, east- and west-dipping high-angle reverse faults, associ-
ated folds, and subordinate normal faults that define the
structural architecture of the El Indio belt (Maksaev et al.,
1984; Moscoso and Mpodozis, 1988; Mpodozis and Cornejo,
1988; Nasi et al., 1990; Martin et al., 1995; Malizia et al.,
1997). Late Paleozoic to early Mesozoic faults, such as the
northern portion of the Chollay fault (Fig. 4), were reacti-
vated during younger deformation events (Mpodozis and
Ramos, 1990; Martin et al., 1995; Heredia et al., 2002). Trias-
sic and Jurassic(?) northwest-trending faults, which con-
trolled the position of rift basins such as the Cuyo basin in the
southern part of the Cordillera Frontal (Uliana et al., 1989;
Ramos and Kay, 1991), are preserved as northwesterly trend-
ing, mapable faults or more commonly as topographic linea-
ments or magnetic anomalies in geophysical maps. In the El
Indio belt, these reactivated Triassic(?) faults are represented
by faults such as those along the Rio Frio (Fig. 2) and north-
west-striking lineaments, such as the Pascua-Veladero linea-
ment (Jones et al., 1999; Figs. 2, 4) along which the Pascua-
Lama and Veladero epithermal deposits are located.
Deformation appears to have separated the emplacement
of the unconformity-bounded late Oligocene and early
Miocene volcanic units. Significant shortening occurred be-
tween the late Oligocene Tilito and early Miocene Escabroso
Formations as well as between the early Miocene Escabroso
and middle Miocene Cerro de las Tórtolas Formation (Mar-
tin et al., 1997; Bissig et al., 2001). At Veladero, the volcani-
clastic rocks of the Cerro de las Tórtolas Formation overlie
the now steeply dipping (70°–90°) thrust faults (Figs. 4, 7a).
Presumably the thrust faults did not form in their current

A Frontera-Deidad Surface projected

A'
Veladero from Cordillera de la Ortiga
area Azufreras-Torta 5200
Frontera-Deidad Surface
Surface 5000

Azufreras-Torta 4800
PM Frontera-Deidad Surface 4600
Surface F Tvh 4400
4200
4000
Pgs RT Tilito Fm
Tti? m a.s.l.

0 3° 5km

FIG. 6. East-west cross section of the Veladero area, showing the distribution of rock units and paleogeomorphic surfaces.
Intrusions of the Infiernillo intrusive unit have been omitted; these intrusions occupy many of the faults, principally beneath
Veladero. F = Fabiana, PM = Portezuelo Matías, RT = Río Taguas. Vertical exaggeration is 1.5 times. Also shown is a 3° nat-
ural slope, which approximates the slope of the Azufreras-Torta surface near Fabiana.

FIG. 7. Cerro de las Tórtolas Formation. (a). View of south flank of Veladero, showing the Infiernillo intrusive unit in-
truding through the Permian Guanaco Sonso Formation (Pz) that was thrust over the Tilito Formation (Tf). The dome is
flanked by a volcaniclastic apron composed of rocks of the Cerro de las Tórtolas Formation, the major host rocks of the Ve-
ladero deposit. (b). Bedded heterolithic breccias and fine-grained beds of volcaniclastic sandstone and tuffaceous rocks from
the Veladero section. (c). DDH042 core (–125 m) intercepts of well-bedded tuffaceous sandstone and heterolithic breccia
rocks from the Veladero section. Note the volcanic (Vl) and juvenile dacitic fragments (Jl) embedded in a fine-grained ma-
trix. (d). Coarsely bedded, polymict conglomerate with silicified and rounded clasts from the Rio Turbio section. (e). Vol-
caniclastic rocks with advanced argillic alteration assemblages replacing the matrix from the Rio Turbio section. (f). Coarsely
bedded heterolithic breccias from the Fabiana section. (g). Reworked tuff and ash-sized, laminated material from the Fabi-
ana section that were very likely deposited in shallow water.

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 GEOLOGY OF THE VELADERO HIGH-SULFIDATION EPITHERMAL DEPOSIT AREA, ARGENTINA 179

a
Co. Pelado

CdlT
Pz
Tf

b c

Jl
VI

d e

f g

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180 CHARCHAFLIÉ ET AL.

orientation but have been rotated to steeper dips, typical of and minor block and ash deposits are intruded by dark green
fold and thrust belts, as shortening migrated toward the east synvolcanic porphyritic andesite (Charchaflié, 2003). Mag-
prior to deposition of the Cerro de las Tórtolas Formation matic zircons give a weighted mean 207Pb-corrected 206Pb-
and intrusion of the contemporaneous rocks of the Infiernillo 238U SHRIMP-RG age of 25 ± 1.4 Ma for one porphyritic an-

intrusive unit, which at Veladero was at about 16 Ma. desite dike (sample DC-128b: Table 2, Fig. 8a). That age is
Subsequent to deposition of the Cerro de las Tórtolas For- consistent with the structural package being equivalent to the
mation at Veladero, the steeply dipping reverse faults were oldest part of the Tilito Formation rocks (Bissig et al., 2001)
reactivated as normal faults. This represents a fundamental and is older than the dominantly andesitic volcanic rocks of
change in the local tectonic setting of the Veladero region, as the Escabroso Formation (17.6–21.9 Ma) in Chile (see Table
the overall Oligocene to Recent tectonic history of this part of 1, Fig. 5). A previously reported a whole-rock K-Ar date of 20
the Andes is dominated by shortening (Allmendinger et al., ± 1 Ma from a sample located 500 m east of sample DC-128b
1990; Ramos 2000). Normal faulting postdated the Cerro de (Malizia et al., 1997) is a minimum age, most likely due to su-
las Tórtolas Formation (16–14.9 Ma; Table 1) and predated perposed propylitic alteration. The Fabiana fault, which de-
development of the Los Rios regional erosion surface be- fines the western limit of the structural package, is a steeply
tween 10 and 6 Ma (see below; Bissig et al., 2002). It is im-
portant to note that the onset of formation of the Los Ríos
surface predated the youngest volcanic rocks of the Vacas 2σ uncertainty bars
Heladas Formation, which has been dated at 11.0 ± 0.2 Ma a)
30
(Bissig et al., 2001). This time coincided with the ongoing
crustal thickening and growth of the crustal root in this part
of the Chilean-Argentinean Andes (Bissig et al., 2001, 2003), 25
as well as the formation of the Veladero high-sulfidation ep- 3
age, Ma
ithermal deposit. 2 4
5 7 8
Volcanic Framework of the Veladero Area 20 6
1
The Veladero area is underlain by a Miocene fold and
thrust system, which superposes the late Paleozoic Guanaco DC-128b Porphyritic andesite
15
Sonso Formation and Oligocene Bocatoma unit rocks over 25 ± 1.4 Ma
MSWD: 2.4
the late Oligocene Tilito Formation. The deformed rocks are Probability: 0.02
unconformably covered or intruded by volcanic and volcani-
clastic rocks of the middle Miocene Cerro de las Tórtolas 40
Formation and Infiernillo intrusive unit, late Miocene Vacas b)
Heladas Formation, and Pliocene Cerro de Vidrio Formation
(Fig. 5, Table 1). Rocks of the late Oligocene Escabroso For- 30 3
mation are not known in the Veladero area; they may not have
age, Ma

been erupted at this location, were eroded prior to deposition

of the Cerro de las Tórtolas Formation, or more likely are 1 8
20
structurally buried beneath thrust faults. 2 4 5 7
6
Tilito Formation DC-163 Dacite tuff
23 ± 1.1 Ma
Andesitic and dacitic, volcanic, intrusive, and sedimentary 10 MSWD: 1.68
rocks of the Tilito Formation dominate the Tertiary stratigra- Probability: 0.11 2σ uncertainty bars
phy at Veladero. Three packages, now bounded by thrust and
normal faults or unconformities with underlying Paleozoic c) 258 ± 9 Ma 259 ± 7 Ma
rocks, compose the formation (Fig. 5). Each package is a 30
unique stratigraphic sequence not repeated in adjacent pack- 5 8
ages (Charchaflié, 2003), and thus potentially the three pack-
ages indicate significant offsets on the bounding thrust faults.
Andesitic porphyry dikes and plugs that intrude the volcanic 20
age, Ma

and volcaniclastic rocks likely represent the subvolcanic

equivalents to the extrusive volcanic rocks. Andesitic rocks 1 3 7
are in general uncommon in the Tilito Formation in Chile 4
6
10 2
where the volcanic rocks in the formation are principally DC-375 Dacite tuff
dacitic in composition (Bissig et al., 2001). There, andesitic 16.4 ± 1.0 Ma
rocks are more characteristic of the Escabroso Formation. MSWD: 1.45
However, the U-Pb ages presented below indicate that the in- Probability: 0.2 2σ uncertainty bars
termediate volcanic rocks in the Veladero area are temporally
FIG. 8. Weighted mean 207Pb-corrected 206Pb*/238U ages of 30-µm-diam
equivalent to the Tilito Formation. spots on zircon from SHRIMP-RG for late Oligocene and Miocene volcanic
Along and east of the Río Taguas valley, dark green an- and subvolcanic rocks in the Veladero region. (a). DC-128b, porphyritic an-
desitic rocks, brown volcaniclastic conglomerate and breccias, desitic. (b). DC-163, dacitic tuff. (c). DC-375, dacitic tuff.

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 GEOLOGY OF THE VELADERO HIGH-SULFIDATION EPITHERMAL DEPOSIT AREA, ARGENTINA 181

TABLE 2. U-Pb SHRIMP-RG Isotope Data for Tertiary Rocks Near Veladero, Argentina

Sample, grain 206Pb/238Uage3

number 206Pb1 (%) U (ppm) Th (ppm) 232Th/238U 206Pb2 (ppm) 206Pb/238U2 1σ (%) (Ma, 1σ)

DC-128b
1 0.0 116.1 134.5 1.196 0.36 0.003604 7.1 22.73 (1.7)
2 0.0 230.1 70.7 0.318 0.83 0.004222 5.4 26.49 (1.5)
3 2.8 2407 686.7 0.295 8.70 0.004089 3.1 27.08 (0.8)
4 0.0 400.5 355.4 0.917 1.38 0.004001 4.7 25.80 (1.2)
5 0.0 359.3 200.8 0.577 1.18 0.003819 4.6 24.26 (1.2)
6 0.0 305.5 205.0 0.693 0.94 0.003598 4.7 23.18 (1.1)
7 0.0 1013 643.7 0.657 3.19 0.003662 3.6 23.55 (0.9)
8 0.0 359.3 300.6 0.864 1.22 0.003943 5.4 25.25 (1.4)

DC-163
1 29.4 237.1 387.3 1.688 0.91 0.003138 27.3 27.1 (1.7)
2 0.0 294.5 292.0 1.024 0.91 0.003590 5.4 21.9 (1.2)
3 31.3 388.6 662.4 1.762 2.06 0.004232 30.0 22.3 (2.8)
4 57.7 302.2 260.0 0.889 1.09 0.001778 75.1 23.5 (1.6)
5 0.0 592.0 519.0 0.906 1.80 0.003532 5.9 22.7 (1.3)
6 42.9 211.8 177.6 0.866 0.69 0.002177 20.3 21.2 (1.6)
7 34.1 689.9 1179.0 1.766 2.36 0.002620 22.3 21.8 (1.1)
8 0.0 212.6 190.4 0.925 0.76 0.004180 6.4 25.6 (1.7)

DC-375
1 112.4 120.5 132.0 1.131 0.47 –0.00056 301.3 20.31 (2.1)
2 27.6 913.4 954.9 1.080 3.11 0.00287 5.3 15.01 (1.7)
3 0.0 389.1 379.0 1.006 1.00 0.00299 4.8 17.18 (0.9)
4 0.0 82.8 60.7 0.758 0.25 0.00352 12.8 17.77 (2.8)
5 0.0 131.2 121.3 0.955 4.63 0.04107 3.4 257.3 (8.8)
6 69.5 597.0 766.1 1.326 1.67 0.00099 93.7 15.03 (0.9)
7 0.0 292.7 352.0 1.242 0.69 0.00276 6.0 16.53 (1.0)
8 0.7 555.1 365.8 0.681 19.66 0.04094 2.7 259.0 (7.1)

1 Common lead
2 Radiogenic lead
3 206Pb/238U age using 207Pb to correct for common lead

west dipping thrust fault that superposes late Paleozoic rocks
over the Tilito Formation.
Underlying the Veladero deposit, green and brown an-
desitic lithic tuffs, dark green flows, volcaniclastic conglomer-
ates, and minor dacitic tuffs compose the Tilito Formation.
The rocks are commonly carbonate, clay and chlorite altered.
Tuffaceous rocks contain as much as 40 vol percent lithic vol-
canic fragments. A lithic-poor, welded andesitic tuff about 10
m above the unconformity with late Paleozoic rocks near the
base of the Tilito Formation has a 206Pb-238U TIMS age of
24.5 ± 0.2 Ma (sample DC120: Table 3, Fig. 9a). An east-dip-
ping intraformation thrust fault places these dacitic tuffs over
welded andesitic rocks on the east flank of Veladero. Those
dacitic rocks yield a U-Pb TIMS age of 22.8 ± 1.7 Ma (sam-
ple DC-111: Table 3, Fig. 9b).
At the base and south of the Cerro Pelado (Fig. 3a), along
the west side of Veladero, light brown and purple welded
dacitic to andesitic tuff, quartz-phyric dacite, red conglomer-
ate and sandstone, and minor dark gray basaltic andesite
flows form the western structural package of the Tilito For-
mation. Most rocks assigned to this package lie south of the
Rio Potrerillos valley in Argentina, immediately south of Ve-
ladero (Fig. 4). A dacitic ash-flow tuff, at the western margin
of the Veladero deposit immediately above the basal con-
glomerate, has a weighted mean 207Pb-corrected 206Pb-238U
SHRIMP-RG age of 23 ± 1 Ma (sample DC-163: Table 2,
Fig. 8b) and a conventional U-Pb TIMS age of 23.5 ± 0.9 Ma
(Table 3, Fig. 9c). The second dacitic ash-flow tuff immedi-
ately overlying tuffaceous sandstones and red conglomerates
south of the Rio Potrerillos valley yielded a U-Pb TIMS age
of 23.9 ± 0.2 Ma (sample DC-249: Table 3, Fig. 9d).
Cerro de las Tórtolas Formation
Volcanic breccia, conglomerate, volcaniclastic, and tuffa-
ceous rocks of the Cerro de las Tórtolas Formation are the
dominant host for the Veladero high-sulfidation epithermal
deposit. These rocks have been previously linked genetically
to the high-sulfidation deposit by Jones et al. (1999), who pro-
posed that the rocks represent a diatreme and that gold de-
position closely followed eruption. In this model, a volcanic
pipe (diatreme) with subvertical margins cut through the
basement rocks as a result of near-surface, phreatomagmatic
eruptions localized along structural anisotropies. In contrast,
the distribution of volcanic facies in the Cerro de las Tórtolas
Formation led Charchaflié (2003) to propose that the rocks
represent a dome complex surrounded by a volcaniclastic
apron.
The Cerro de las Tórtolas Formation crops out in three,
now geographically distinct sections, each of which possesses
critical facies relationships that link them together. A tabular
package along the east and northeast flank of and adjacent to
the summit of Cerro Pelado at Veladero, referred to as the
Veladero section, forms the largest package of rocks (Fig. 3b).
A second section forms a series of discrete outcrops along the

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 TABLE 3. U-Pb Geochronology for Tertiary Rocks near Veladero, Argentina
182
Isotopic ratios (1σ, %)6 Apparent age (2σ, Ma)6
Sample Wt U2 Pb*3 206Pb4 Pb5 208Pb3

Fraction1 (mg) (ppm) (ppm) 204Pb (pg) (%) 206Pb/238U 207Pb/235U 207Pb/206Pb 206Pb/238U 207Pb/235U 207Pb/206Pb

DC-1207
A vc, n2, s, p 0.128 406 2 105 147 19.7 0.003820 (0.24) 0.02519 (1.90) 0.04783 (1.70) 24.6 (0.1) 25.3 (1.0) 91.0 (84.6)
B vc, n2, s, s 0.170 294 1 485 26 14.1 0.003824 (0.18) 0.02370 (1.10) 0.04494 (0.99) 24.6 (0.1) 23.8 (0.5) –58.6 (49.2)
C vc, n2, s, p 0.372 357 1 389 87 15.8 0.003826 (0.14) 0.02475 (0.57) 0.04691 (0.48) 24.6 (0.1) 24.8 (0.3) 44.8 (23.3)
D vc, n2, s, p 0.216 436 2 397 84 15.1 0.005302 (0.10) 0.03498 (0.54) 0.04785 (0.47) 34.1 (0.1) 34.9 (0.4) 92.1 (22.3)

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E vc, n2, m, p 0.330 314 1 273 98 18.6 0.003795 (0.18) 0.02445 (0.76) 0.04672 (0.67) 24.4 (0.1) 24.5 (0.4) 34.8 (32.3)
F vc, n2, s, su 0.260 239 1 165 102 15.2 0.003792 (0.19) 0.02473 (1.20) 0.04730 (1.10) 24.4 (0.1) 24.8 (0.6) 64.2 (53.3)
G c, n2, s, p 0.188 406 2 443 45 16.4 0.003943 (0.11) 0.02555 (0.62) 0.04700 (0.56) 25.4 (0.1) 25.6 (0.3) 49.0 (26.9)
H c, n2, s, p 0.160 368 2 357 64 15.4 0.005816 (0.11) 0.03904 (0.63) 0.04869 (0.56) 37.4 (0.1) 38.9 (0.5) 133.0 (26.5)
I f, n2, n, pn 0.462 475 2 260 231 18.1 0.003971 (0.15) 0.02586 (0.73) 0.04724 (0.63) 25.5 (0.1) 25.9 (0.4) 61.4 (30.4)

DC-1117
A m, n2, s, p 0.238 163 1 56 247 26.0 0.003782 (0.51) 0.02510 (4.00) 0.04814 (3.60) 24.3 (0.2) 25.2 (2.0) 106.2 (181)
B m, n2, s, p 0.128 141 1 31 341 27.6 0.003781 (1.50) 0.02813 (10.4) 0.05396 (9.50) 24.3 (0.7) 28.2 (5.8) 369.4 (494)
C m, n2, s, s 0.249 162 2 65 577 18.3 0.010310 (0.43) 0.07445 (3.00) 0.05237 (2.80) 66.1 (0.6) 72.9 (4.3) 301.7 (130)
D m, n2, n, n 0.365 145 1 36 689 27.3 0.003463 (1.20) 0.02747 (7.90) 0.05753 (7.10) 22.3 (0.5) 27.5 (4.3) 511.8 (347)
E f, n2, n, n 0.070 165 1 58 105 21.7 0.005657 (0.51) 0.03923 (4.00) 0.05030 (3.60) 36.4 (0.4) 39.1 (3.0) 208.9 (177)
F f, n2, n, n 0.044 201 1 26 266 26.3 0.003464 (2.60) 0.02451 (19.0) 0.05131 (17.4) 22.3 (1.1) 24.6 (9.2) 254.9 (650)
G f, n2, s, p 0.028 186 1 26 165 27.3 0.003755 (2.50) 0.03036 (16.2) 0.05863 (14.6) 24.2 (1.2) 30.4 (9.7) 553.3 (810)

DC-1637
A vc, n2, s, s 0.026 615 7 2408 4 28.6 0.008520 (0.20) 0.05543 (0.40) 0.04718 (0.34) 54.7 (0.2) 54.8 (0.4) 58.5 (16.1)
B vc, n2, s, s 0.026 112 1 263 5 21.3 0.007178 (0.31) 0.05361 (2.00) 0.05417 (1.90) 46.1 (0.3) 53.0 (2.1) 378.3 (88.5)

182
C c, n2, s, p 0.146 147 1 89 74 25.8 0.003766 (0.30) 0.02543 (2.40) 0.04897 (2.20) 24.2 (0.1) 25.5 (1.2) 146.4 (105)
D c, n2, s, p 0.077 156 3 401 31 14.4 0.015419 (0.23) 0.10701 (1.20) 0.05034 (1.10) 98.6 (0.4) 103.2 (2.3) 210.5 (50.4)
E c, n2, s, p 0.065 150 3 109 114 18.9 0.016550 (0.23) 0.11721 (1.60) 0.05136 (1.50) 105.8 (0.5) 112.5 (3.5) 257.2 (67.8)
F m, n2, n, n 0.230 181 1 49 327 26.7 0.003762 (0.64) 0.02663 (4.70) 0.05134 (4.30) 24.2 (0.3) 26.7 (2.5) 256.3 (208)
CHARCHAFLIÉ ET AL.

G c, n2, n, n 0.261 199 1 70 230 25.6 0.003542 (0.39) 0.02356 (3.00) 0.04824 (2.70) 22.8 (0.2) 23.6 (1.4) 111.1 (132)

DC-2497
A m, n5, s, s 0.343 26 <1 127 20 24.5 0.003716 (0.24) 0.02460 (2.10) 0.04801 (1.90) 23.9 (0.1) 24.7 (0.1) 99.6 (93.5)
B, m, n5, s, p 0.213 58 <1 136 40 23.2 0.006030 (0.21) 0.04317 (1.60) 0.05193 (1.40) 38.8 (0.2) 42.9 (1.3) 282.3 (67.0)
C f, n5, s, p 0.063 95 <1 116 16 25.7 0.004178 (0.29) 0.02562 (2.50) 0.04448 (2.30) 26.9 (0.2) 25.7 (1.3) –83.9 (118)
D f, n5, s, p 0.012 112 <1 49 10 25.4 0.003606 (0.72) 0.01851 (11.3) 0.03722 (10.8) 23.2 (0.3) 18.6 (4.2) 540.5 (708)
E m, n5, s, p 0.024 134 1 284 5 18.8 0.006920 (0.26) 0.04507 (1.80) 0.04725 (1.70) 44.5 (0.2) 44.8 (1.5) 61.6 (81.3)

DC-3748
B c, n2, s, an 0.062 22 <1 29 21 17.2 0.002443 (3.40) 0.01183 (23.8) 0.03510 (22.0) 15.7 (1.1) 11.9 (5.6) 700.4 (2010)
C m, n2, s, p 0.022 112 <1 62 8 26.7 0.002387 (1.60) 0.01532 (20.2) 0.04653 (19.3) 15.4 (0.5) 15.4 (6.2) 25.1 (700)
D m, n2, s, s 0.062 215 1 21 1626 34.2 0.004007 (17.9) 0.05095 (37.7) 0.09222 (29.6) 25.8 (9.2) 50.5 (37) 1471.9 (1998)
E m, n2, m, p, an 0.012 241 2 140 13 12.5 0.008955 (0.34) 0.05791 (1.90) 0.04690 (1.70) 57.5 (0.4) 57.2 (2.1) 44.1 (85.1)

DC-3748
F f, n2, m, s 0.025 323 1 67 25 20.1 0.002415 (0.74) 0.01565 (3.80) 0.04700 (3.40) 15.5 (0.2) 15.8 (1.2) 49.4 (173)
G f, n2, n, n 0.025 343 2 30 220 19.9 0.004551 (3.30) 0.02176 (18.7) 0.03468 (16.8) 29.3 (1.9) 21.9 (8.1) 734.1 (749)

DC-2657
A c, n2, s, eq 0.113 128 <1 76 42 20.4 0.002591 (0.41) 0.01593 (3.70) 0.04460 (3.40) 16.7 (0.1) 16.1 (1.2) –77.6 (177)
B vc, n2, s, p 0.637 143 <1 99 185 20.1 0.002568 (0.32) 0.01629 (2.40) 0.04600 (2.10) 16.5 (0.1) 16.4 (0.8) –2.3 (107)
C vc, n2, s, p 0.501 179 1 121 154 21.5 0.002751 (0.22) 0.01777 (1.60) 0.04686 (1.40) 17.7 (0.1) 17.9 (0.6) 42.3 (70.0)
D vc, n2, s, s 0.205 153 <1 122 50 20.8 0.002578 (0.37) 0.01455 (3.60) 0.04094 (3.40) 16.6 (0.1) 14.7 (1.1) –291.0 (185)
E vc, n2, s, eq 0.208 125 <1 212 22 21.0 0.002604 (0.21) 0.01631 (1.40) 0.04543 (1.30) 16.8 (0.1) 16.4 (0.5) –32.6 (65.0)
 GEOLOGY OF THE VELADERO HIGH-SULFIDATION EPITHERMAL DEPOSIT AREA, ARGENTINA 183

southern flank of the Rio Turbio and west of the Río Taguas.

1 Zircon fraction identifier: zircons are nonmagnetic on a Frantz magnetic separator at field strength of 1.8 A; n2 = nonmagnetic at side slope of 2°, n1 = nonmagnetic at side slope of 1°; grain size:

vc = >134 µm, c = <134 µm and >104 µm, m = <104 µm and >74 µm, f = <74 µm; air abraded fractions are marked with s = strong, m = medium, n = nonabraded; grain shape: el = elongate, eq =

6 Corrected for blank Pb, U, and common Pb; common Pb corrections based on Pb isotope compositions of feldspars of equivalent, nonaltered rocks from Bissig et al. (2003); isotopic compositions
4 Measured ratio corrected for spike and Pb fractionation of 0.0035/amu ± 20% (Daly collector) and 0.0012/amu ± 20% and laboratory blank Pb of 1 to 3 pg ± 20%; laboratory blank Pb concentra-
(28.4)
(37.1)
(95.0)
(321)
(387)

(313)
(171)
(179)
207Pb/206Pb These rocks, known as the Rio Turbio section, are separated
from the Veladero section by erosion (Fig. 3b). The gentle
76.4
275.4
153.1
127.8
233.2
295.7
57.5
12.6
eastward dips of the Veladero section project uninterrupted
across the erosional window to link with the gentle eastward
Apparent age (2σ, Ma)6

dips in the Rio Turbio section, supporting the interpretation

(2.5)
(2.4)
(0.4)
(0.4)
(1.6)
(6.2)
(1.3)
(1.0)
that the two spatially related sequences are equivalent strati-
207Pb/235U

graphically. A third sequence of shallowly dipping rocks along

14.6
13.7
27.6
19.8
35.1
35.4
15.9
11.8
the east side of the Río Taguas is known as the Fabiana sec-
tion (Fig. 3b).
Age-equivalent shallow intrusions, domes, and their vent
(0.6)
(0.6)
(0.1)
(0.1)
(0.4)
(1.5)
(0.3)
(0.2)

products, although intimately related, form the Infiernillo in-

206Pb/238U

trusive unit and are discussed separately.

8 Cerro de las Tórtolas Formation samples were corrected with Pb isotope composition: 208Pb/204Pb = 38.503, 207Pb/204Pb = 15.595, and 206Pb/204Pb = 18.651
14.3
12.3
26.2
18.9
32.2
31.6
16.4
12.0

Veladero section: Two types of breccias form the Veladero

section. Shallowly dipping, well-bedded heterolithic breccia
dominates and represents subaerial volcaniclastic products
(7.50)
(7.50)
(0.60)
(0.78)
(2.00)
(7.60)
(3.70)
(3.90)

emplaced during and immediately after eruption. Less com-

207Pb/206Pb

2 U blank correction of 1 pg ± 20%; U fractionation corrections were measured for each run with a double 233U-235U spike (about 0.005/amu)

7 Tilito Formation samples were corrected with Pb isotope composition: 208Pb/204Pb = 38.509, 207Pb/204Pb = 15.605, and 206Pb/204Pb = 18.625
mon, steeply dipping (>60°), milled breccias, composed of
0.04754
0.05177
0.04911
0.04858
0.05083
0.05224
0.04497
0.04581

rounded to subangular fragments in a fine-grained matrix

(tuffisites), represent near-vent facies. Laidlaw (2005) also re-
ported hydrothermal breccias, but these, being part of the su-
Isotopic ratios (1σ, %)6

perposed hydrothermal system, are not part of the primary

volcanic environment.
(8.70)
(8.90)
(0.74)
(0.94)
(2.40)
(8.90)
(4.20)
(4.40)
207Pb/235U

East of Cerro Pelado (Fig. 3b), strongly altered heterolithic

breccias form coarsely to well-bedded horizons in the upper
0.01452
0.01362
0.02759
0.01966
0.03513
0.03543
0.01582
0.01173

equant, eu = euhedral, p = prismatic, s = stubby, su = subhedral, an = anhedral, ta = tabular, ti = tips, or n = needles

part of the formation. Breccia fragments are angular to sub-

rounded, derived from quartz-bearing volcanic rocks or por-
phyritic intrusions and from fine-grained rocks, which might
TABLE 3. (Cont.)

have been ash (Fig. 7b). Intense silicification obscures the

(2.10)
(2.40)
(0.19)
(0.23)
(0.63)
(2.40)
(0.90)
(0.93)

original composition and texture of many of the clasts. Near

206Pb/238U

Amable, ash- to lapilli-sized material forms the matrix to the

0.002216
0.001908
0.004074
0.002935
0.005012
0.004919
0.002552
0.001858

clast- to matrix-supported breccia. Tabular clasts are aligned

parallel to grain-sized variations in the breccia and the in-
terbedded ash horizons. Where the rocks are strongly silici-
fied, ghost clast outlines define bedding. In general, the rocks
are nongraded or have a relatively narrow horizon of normal
208Pb3

20.1
22.3
14.8
14.0
15.2
17.2
22.4
23.7
(%)

grading, which suggests deposition by mass flow. At Filo Fed-

erico, intense silicification also completely replaces the clasts
tions and isotope compositions based on total procedural blanks analyzed

as well as the matrix, making it difficult to distinguish clast

(pg)
Pb5

596
460
190
132
358
1711
42
32

from the matrix and thus obscuring the character of the brec-
5 Total common Pb in analysis based on blank isotopic composition

cia near the base of the deposit as well as the location of the
contact between the Cerro de las Tórtolas Formation at Ve-
206Pb4
204Pb

ladero and the underlying Tilito and Guanco Sonso Forma-

36
34
242
193
82
34
59
57

tions. At Filo Federico, the silicified host breccia appears

massive, but whether this is primary or an effect of intense
(ppm)

secondary silicification is uncertain. In general, clast size in-

Pb*3

1
1
2
2
3
3
2
2

creases toward the west and south, reaching a maximum di-

ameter of 45 to 50 cm near Cerro Pelado.
have uncertainties of less than 0.1% (2σ)

Tuff, volcaniclastic siltstone and sandstone form sparse

(ppm)

541
490
366
514
531
484
661
801
U2

beds, 1 to 10 cm thick, within the bedded heterolithic brec-

cias. These fine-grained rocks consist of well-sorted ash-sized
material in graded beds, suggestive of deposition in standing
0.137
0.122
0.444
0.240
0.134
0.177
0.016
0.013
(mg)
Wt

water. The rocks are also visible in drill core as deep as 114
and 125 m below the surface (Fig. 6c); these beds establish
the minimum thickness of the Veladero section of the Cerro
3 Radiogenic Pb

de las Tórtolas Formation. A thin (<3 cm) sandstone bed, in-

E c, n2, s, pan
D c, n2, s, eq

terbedded with heterolithic breccias, is also observed 245 m

B m, n2, n, n

F c, n2, s, an

H f, n2, n, n
A c, n2, n, n

G f, n2, n, n
C c, n2, s, p

below the surface (DDH040), but pervasive, superimposed,

Fraction1

DC-3048
Sample

advanced argillic alteration obscures the protolith composi-

tion. The rocks could be tuffaceous rocks in the Veladero

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184 CHARCHAFLIÉ ET AL.

a) DC-120 H
b) DC-111 70
36
Andesitic tuff Dacitic tuff
0.0055 24.5 ± 0.2 Ma 0.010 22.8 ± 1.7 Ma 60
C
34
D
32 50
0.0050 0.008
206Pb/238U

Pb/238U
30
40

206
0.0045 28 0.006
E
30
26
0.0040 I 0.004 A B G analytical
uncertainty (2σ)
B C GA analytical F
D
E F uncertainty (2σ)

0.0035 0.002
0.022 0.027 0.032 0.037 0.015 0.035 0.055 0.075
207
Pb/235U 207Pb/235U
0.007
0.0085 c) A d) DC-249 E
DC-163
Dacitic tuff 50 Dacitic tuff 40
23.5 ± 0.9 Ma 0.006 23.9 ± 0.2 Ma
B B
36
0.0065 40
analytical
Pb/238U

uncertainty (2σ)

Pb/238U
0.0125

E 32
D 0.005
80
206

206

30 28
60
0.0045 A C
40 0.004
0.0025

C B
24 analytical
F C F D uncertainty (2σ)
20 G G A
0.015 0.065 0.115 20
0.0025 0.003
0.015 0.035 207Pb/235U 0.055 0.017 0.027 207
0.037 0.047
Pb/235U
0.003
e) f)
0.009 DC-374 56 E DC-265
Dacitic fall Andesite porphyry 18
15.8 ± 1.0 Ma (B & C) 48 16.6 ± 0.3 Ma C
15.3 ± 0.3 Ma (F & C)
0.007
E
Pb/238U

40
Pb/238U

D A
B
16 Assumed age of crystallization;
206

206
32 Pb/238U age of fractions
206

0.005
G
24

0.003 14
B 16
F C Assumed age of crystallization;
206
Pb/238U age of fractions
8 e) f)
0.001 0.002
0.005 0.025 0.045 0.065 0.0125 0.0150 0.0175
207Pb/235U 207
Pb/235U
0.006
g) 36
DC-304
Dacite intrusive 32
0.005 E
16.4 ± 0.3 Ma (G) F
28
Pb/238U

0.004 C
24
206

20
0.003 D
16
G Assumed age
A of crystallization
0.002 12 (Single fraction)
B
H
8
g)
0.001
0.005 0.015 0.025 0.035
207Pb/235U

FIG. 9. U-Pb concordia plots for late Oligocene and Miocene volcanic and subvolcanic rocks in the Veladero region. (a).
DC-120 andesitic tuff. (b). DC-111, dacitic tuff. (c). DC-163, dacitic tuff. (d). DC-249, dacitic tuff. (e). DC-374, dacitic tuff.
(f). DC-265, andesitic porphyry intrusion. (g). DC-304, dacitic intrusion.

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 GEOLOGY OF THE VELADERO HIGH-SULFIDATION EPITHERMAL DEPOSIT AREA, ARGENTINA
section or part of the Permian Guanaco Sonso Formation that
underlies the Veladero section. The latter rocks on the lower
western slopes of Veladero (Fig. 3a) are composed of massive,
lithic-rich, welded ignimbrite, and where silicified would ap-
pear to be a massive, matrix-supported breccia indistinguish-
able from those of the Cerro de las Tórtolas Formation.
Bedding in the Cerro de las Tórtolas Formation strikes
northerly and dips an average of 16° to the east (Fig. 10). The
fine sandstone and siltstone layers of limited lateral continu-
ity and the nonerosive base to the beds suggest a very low en-
ergy depositional environment. Shallow intrusions have
domed the rocks and steepened the bedding around the in-
trusions at Cuatro Esquinas and on Cerro Pelado to greater
than the average dip. At the margins of the Cerro Pelado
dome, the volcaniclastic rocks are rotated to a subvertical dip,
beds are commonly contorted and contain slump folds. These
textures and sedimentology of the volcaniclastic rocks suggest
that deposition, deformation, and dome intrusion were part
of a growing volcanic field. The Cerro Pelado dome is topo-
graphically high on Veladero and may represent the youngest
Infiernillo intrusive unit intruded into the Cerro de las Tór-
tolas Formation (Figs. 3a, 7a).
In the absence of large volumes of unequivocally juvenile
magmatic material within the breccias, fine-grained tuff (sam-
ples DC-374 and DC-375) lying on the fringes of the hydro-
thermally altered area was sampled for U-Pb geochronology.
Their irregular nonerosive basal contact and the presence of
N the Tilito Formation. Clasts in the matrix-supported, het-
78% of Planes
W E
S
Veladero section
Fabiana section
Equal angle projection
FIG. 10. Poles to bedding measured in the Cerro de las Tórtolas Forma-
tion located between the Límité and Fabiana faults (Veladero section) and in
the Fabiana section. Average dip of the Veladero section is 16° E. Steeper
dips are associated with shallow domes and their flanking coarse-grained
sandstone, conglomerate, and volcanic breccias.
0361-0128/98/000/000-00 $6.00
185
accretionary lapilli suggest the rocks are primary ash-fall de-
posits, presumably much like the tuffaceous siltstones seen
throughout the formation (e.g., Fig. 7c). One tuff yielded a
weighted mean 207Pb-corrected 206Pb-238U SHRIMP-RG age
on zircon of 16.4 ± 1 Ma (sample DC-375: Table 2, Fig. 8c).
A stratigraphically nearby tuff yielded a U-Pb TIMS age of
15.8 ± 1.0 Ma (sample DC-374: Table 3, Fig. 9e). Permian
zircons of identical age (~258 Ma) to the underlying Guanaco
Sonso Formation (Charchaflié et al., in press) are also present
in the air-fall (sample DC-375: Table 2, Fig. 8c).
Rio Turbio section: Conglomerate along the southern mar-
gin of the Rio Turbio valley (Figs. 4, 7d-e) are clast supported,
coarsely bedded, and polymictic. Clasts are subrounded and
derived from dacitic rocks petrologically similar to the In-
fiernillo intrusive unit domes intruding the Veladero section.
Other clast types include green andesites similar to the un-
derlying Tilito Formation and massive, fine-grained rocks that
are likely of sedimentary origin. Quartz and alunite, which
partially obscure the original sedimentary texture, largely re-
place the fine-grained volcaniclastic matrix of the conglomer-
ate (Fig. 7e). Feldspar-rich sandstone lenses are subordinate
volcaniclastic rocks. Tuff is present as thin (<5 cm), massive
beds that most likely are ash-fall deposits. No attempt was
made to date these rocks as the bedding and spatial associa-
tion with the rocks of the Veladero section provides strong ev-
idence that the two rock sequences are related.
Fabiana section: Light yellow and gray tuffaceous sand-
stone, conglomerate, and heterolithic breccia crop out at the
Fabiana prospect (Fig. 4) where they unconformably overlie
erolithic conglomerate do not exceed 20 cm in longest di-
mension. They are subangular to subrounded, consisting of
dacites and porphyritic andesites similar to those found south
of the Rio Turbio and in the Veladero section. The bedded
volcaniclastic sandstones grade into massive, moderately
sorted, reworked tuffs (Fig. 7f-g). Discontinuous horizons of
well-sorted, fine ash-sized material with mud cracks indicate
deposition in ephemeral standing water in ponds or small
lakes. The rocks gently dip east (<15°) but are mostly sub-
horizontal. The transition from coarsely bedded breccias of
the Veladero section to bedded conglomerates of the Fabiana
section is gradual.
Infiernillo intrusive unit
Green weathered porphyritic intrusions of dacitic to an-
desitic composition and light gray to orange altered dacitic
domes form the Infiernillo intrusive unit, the intrusive equiv-
alent to the Cerro de las Tórtolas Formation. The intrusions
are generally elongated in a north-south direction (Fig. 4) and
range from a few hundreds of meters to as much as to 2 km in
length, but generally are less than 1 km in diameter. Some
complexes form prominent domical topographic features such
Cerro Pelado at Veladero and Cerro Colorado immediately to
the southeast of Veladero (Figs. 3a, 4, respectively). In the
Cerro Libori area (Fig. 4), 350 m of vertical outcrop shows the
transition from crystalline intrusive rocks at the lowest outcrop
level to near-surface and flow-banded dacitic domes at the
highest outcrops along the ridge (Charchaflié, 2003).
The intrusions of the Infiernillo intrusive unit, where rela-
tively unaltered, are characterized by plagioclase, hornblende,
185
186 CHARCHAFLIÉ ET AL.
and biotite phenocrysts. Plagioclase phenocrysts, 0.5 to 1 cm
long, compose up to 35 percent of the rock volume. Clinopy-
roxene is less common. Within the Cerro de las Tórtolas For-
mation, clasts lithologically similar to the porphyritic andesite
intrusions are interpreted as juvenile lithic fragments (Fig.
7c) derived from the erupting magma.
At Veladero, the subvolcanic domes are composed of highly
altered, quartz-poor porphyritic rocks with preserved band-
ing and flow textures. Monomict breccias surround the sub-
volcanic rocks. The breccias have a jigsaw-fit texture formed
by closely packed blocky fragments floating in a clastic matrix
of broken phenocrysts and highly altered volcaniclastic detri-
tus. Matrix-supported, monomict breccia with angular and
subrounded clasts lie adjacent to the intrusions and represent
the transition toward transported heterolithic breccia of the
Cerro de las Tórtolas Formation. Except for Cerro Libori,
domes of the Infiernillo intrusive unit are altered to advanced
argillic alteration assemblages or are pervasively silicified.
Rocks of the Infiernillo intrusive unit at the Cerro Libori
yield a U-Pb TIMS age of 16.6 ± 0.3 Ma (sample DC-265:
Table 3, Fig. 9f). Bissig et al. (2001) also reported an age of
15.3 ± 0.3 Ma (40Ar-39Ar data on plagioclase) from a dioritic
dome to the immediate west of Veladero. Available U-Pb
geochronology for Cerro Colorado (Fig. 4) is not conclusive
as the U-Pb TIMS ages on separate zircon aliquots scatter be-
tween 12 and 16 Ma (sample DC-304: Table 3, Fig. 9g; see
Appendix for further discussion). The oldest concordant U-
Pb age is 16.4 ± 0.3 Ma, which is consistent with other ages
from the Infiernillo intrusive unit. The U-Pb ages that range
down to 12 Ma may reflect Pb loss during the superposed ad-
vanced argillic alteration, which has a maximum calculated al-
teration age of 10.7 ± 0.9 Ma for hydrothermal alunite (40Ar-
39Ar data from Bissig et al., 2001). No attempt was made to
date the Infiernillo intrusive unit at Veladero due to the in-
tense acid leaching that accompanied formation of the ep-
ithermal deposit.
Vacas Heladas Formation
Hornblende- and biotite-phyric dacitic domes and flows
and subordinate andesite of the Vacas Heladas Formation are
fresh in comparison to older units of the region. These flows
partially cover the Cerro de las Tórtolas Formation at Fabiana
but elsewhere discordantly overlie or intrude volcanic rocks
of the Tilito Formation. The age of the Vacas Heladas For-
mation in the Veladero region is not well constrained (Char-
chaflié, 2003), but regionally these rocks were emplaced be-
tween 12.7 ± 0.9 and 11.0 ± 0.2 Ma (Bissig et al. 2001). The
dome at the Fabiana prospect (Fig. 4) is dated at 11.0 ± 0.2
Ma.
Discussion
Nature of the host rocks to Veladero
Jones et al. (1999) proposed that gold deposition and the
high-sulfidation epithermal mineralization at Veladero was
genetically associated with the emplacement of a diatreme
complex. Subsequent work (Charchaflié, 2003; Laidlaw,
2005) questioned this model based on volcanic facies analysis
supported by limited geochronologic data for alunite (Bissig,
2001) and U-Pb ages of the host rocks presented herein.
0361-0128/98/000/000-00 $6.00
Geologic mapping and volcanic facies presented herein (see
also Charchaflié, 2003) demonstrates that volcanic and vol-
caniclastic rocks from the Cerro de las Tórtolas Formation,
which host the deposit, are spatially linked to a series of
dacitic to andesitic domes of the Infiernillo intrusive unit.
Monolithologic, clast-supported breccia that dominates the
host rocks represents proximal volcaniclastic facies near the
domes. The proximal breccias grade outward to the east into
heterolithic, bedded volcanic breccia, conglomerate, and
finer grained volcaniclastic rocks. Well-bedded sandstone and
siltstone are significant components of the distal facies. The
low proportion of ash pyroclasts and vesiculated fragments
suggests that nonexplosive conditions prevailed at the time of
emplacement of the sequence. Although further mapping
and subsurface data are needed to corroborate the hypothe-
sis, available information suggests that the rocks of the Cerro
de las Tórtolas Formation are remnants of a dome field sur-
rounded by a volcaniclastic apron that was active ca. 16 Ma.
Explosive vent-clearing eruptions prior to dome emplace-
ment or explosions from the growing domes were likely the
source of fragmental juvenile material as well as the common
thin ash beds. Extensional deformation has tilted the volcani-
clastic rocks at Veladero to the east, separating that section
from the distal parts of the volcaniclastic apron at Fabiana.
Relationship between gold deposition and
host volcanic sequence
Throughout the El Indio belt, the bulk of the currently
known economic gold was deposited between 9.5 and 6 Ma
(Bissig et al., 2001, 2002), with the exception of Veladero (see
below). Gold deposition in each deposit was controlled by the
position of the water table beneath the Azufreras-Torta sur-
face but was temporally related to incision and scarp retreat
associated with the progressive formation of the younger Los
Ríos surface, which had begun by 9.5 Ma (Bissig et al., 2002).
Despite the apparent temporal restriction of gold deposition,
there is evidence for advanced argillic style alteration that is
older (i.e., contemporaneous with the Infiernillo intrusive
unit and the Cerro de las Tórtolas Formation: Maksaev et al.,
1984; Nasi et al., 1990; Martínez et al., 1993; Clavero et al.,
1997; Bissig et al., 2001). However, no significant gold depo-
sition is known to be associated with the older advanced
argillic alteration.
At Veladero in the Filo Federico area, 40Ar-39Ar ages on alu-
nite suggest that the advanced argillic alteration occurred in
the 10.7 to 10.9 Ma interval (Bissig et al., 2001). Unfortu-
nately at Veladero a link between advanced argillic alteration
and gold deposition has not been established, due to the lack
of paragenetic constraints. Nonetheless the spatial association
at Veladero does suggest that a genetic link is a reasonable
tentative conclusion. At the weakly mineralized, advanced
argillic alteration system at Cerro Colorado to the southeast
of Veladero (Fig. 4), a single disturbed 40Ar-39Ar spectrum on
alunite can be interpreted to suggest the potential of two ages
of hydrothermal activity at Cerro Colorado, one at about 8 Ma
and the other at about 10.7 Ma (Bissig et al., 2001). The older
age is calculated from a segment of the disturbed spectrum
and is consistent with other ages in the immediate Veladero
area, whereas the younger age is calculated from a different
segment of the same disturbed spectrum and is consistent
186
 GEOLOGY OF THE VELADERO HIGH-SULFIDATION EPITHERMAL DEPOSIT AREA, ARGENTINA
with ages reported from Pascua-Lama (Bissig, 2001). At Fabi-
ana to the east of Veladero (Fig. 4), 40Ar-39Ar ages for alunite
are slightly younger, suggesting that advanced argillic alter-
ation occurred between 10.4 and 10.0 Ma (Bissig et al., 2001).
Collectively, these data imply that the hydrothermal alter-
ation in the greater Veladero area took place over about a 1-
m.y. time frame, between 11 and 10 Ma. Regardless of the
precise timing of gold deposition, the 10.7 to 10.9 Ma Ar age
on the hydrothermal alunite at Filo Federico in Veladero
clearly indicates that the host ~16 Ma Cerro de las Tórtolas
Formation and the domes of the Infiernillo intrusive unit are
older than the superposed advanced argillic alteration by as
much as 5 m.y. Thus, there is no evidence to support a direct
relationship between the genesis of the host-rock package
and the epithermal alteration and gold deposition at Ve-
ladero.
On a district scale, the age of alteration and presumably
gold deposition at and peripheral to Veladero (11–10 Ma) ap-
pears somewhat older than the age of gold deposition at Lama
(9.5 ± 0.9 and 9.4 ± 0.2 Ma) and Pascua (8.7 ± 0.2–8.1 ± 0.2
Ma; Bissig et al., 2001, 2002; Chouinard et al., 2005), thereby
implying an episodic northwestward migration of hydrother-
mal activity with time.
Regional erosion surfaces and nature of deformation
The regional erosional surfaces recognized in the El Indio
belt are mapped in the Veladero area (Bissig et al., 2002).
There, volcaniclastic rocks from the Cerro de las Tórtolas
Formation disconformably overlie the Frontera-Deidad sur-
face. The Cerro de las Tórtolas Formation and subjacent
Frontera-Deidad erosional surface dip shallowly (<20°) to the
east at an elevation close to 4,400 m.a.s.l. (Fig. 6). At Fabiana,
the surface lies at slightly lower elevations. Along the Ar-
gentina-Chile frontier and to the east on the Cordillera de la
Ortiga, the Frontera-Deidad surface lies at approximately
5,000-m elevation (Fig. 6). Therefore, unlike throughout
much of Chile, the Frontera-Deidad surface near Veladero
has been deformed and lies at separate elevations due to
younger faulting.
The younger regional low-relief Azufreras-Torta erosional
surface at Veladero is cut into the tilted ~16 Ma rocks of the
Cerro de al Tórtolas Formation and the subjacent older fold
and thrust belt. This surface is locally covered by 11.2 Ma vol-
canic rocks (Figs. 3a, 6). In the Portezuelo Matías area (Figs.
4, 6), the Azufreras-Torta surface, which is at 4,400 m.a.s.l.,
lies topographically below the Frontera-Deidad surface.
However, in the Fabiana area, the Azufreras-Torta surface at
approximately 4,200 m.a.s.l. is topographically above the
Frontera-Deidad surface (Figs. 3b, 6).
Between Pascua and Veladero, Bissig et al. (2002) mapped
remnants of the Azufreras-Torta surface that are displaced
along a series of north-northeasterly striking faults from ele-
vations of about 5,000 m.a.s.l. at Pascua to about 4,200 m.a.s.l.
at the Fabiana prospect. The younger Los Rios surface, which
regionally was forming by 9.5 Ma, in the valley floors never
lies at distinctly different elevations. Implicit in the distribution
of the regional erosion surfaces are periods of deformation
followed by the next younger erosional cycle and deposition
of overlying volcanic and volcaniclastic strata. Deformation
must have occurred after deposition of the Cerro de las
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187
Tórtolas Formation and formation of the Frontera-Deidad
surface, but before formation of the Azufreras-Torta surface,
to account for the tilting of the strata and older surface at Ve-
ladero and the appearance of the latter surface above the un-
conformity that marks the Frontera-Deidad surface at Fabi-
ana. Similarly, the stair-stepped distribution of remnants of
the Azufreras-Torta surface between Veladero and Pascua im-
plies that faulting disrupted that surface prior to the full de-
velopment of the Los Ríos surface between 9.5 and 6 Ma. In
view of the differences in elevation of the Frontera-Deidad
surface from west to east across Veladero (Fig. 6), deforma-
tion appears to have been largely extensional. Furthermore,
deformation after the Azufreras-Torta surface, but preceding
the formation of the Los Ríos surface, broadly coincides with
formation of the Veladero high-sulfidation epithermal deposit
between 11 and 10 Ma.
Relationship between the Veladero high-sulfidation
deposit and regional landforms
At Pascua-Lama, Bissig et al. (2002) argued that the tabu-
lar orebodies reflect a fundamental control by the paleogeo-
morphic surface at the time. At Veladero, the top of the ore
zone defines a horizon that lies between 4,200 and 4,400
m.a.s.l. (Laidlaw, 2005), approximately equal to the nearest
outcrops of the Azufreras-Torta surface. At Pascua-Lama
(Fig. 3b), as well as in the El Indio area (Bissig et al., 2002),
gold is found about 200 m beneath the Azufreras-Torta sur-
face, and the deposition was influenced by the incision of a
younger (10–6 Ma) planar landform (Bissig et al., 2002).
At Veladero, the tabular orebody geometry implies that the
extant paleogeomorphology likely controlled ore deposition,
as it did at Pascua-Lama. Unfortunately the connection to a
specific paleogeomorphic surface is not as clear at Veladero as
it is elsewhere in the El Indio belt (Bissig et al., 2002; Char-
chaflié, 2003; Charchaflié et al., 2003). Because post-16 Ma
tilting and normal faulting has deformed the Frontera-Dei-
dad and the Azufreras-Torta surfaces (see above; Fig. 6), the
connection between a specific paleosurface and the hydro-
thermal system is uncertain. Nonetheless, the orebody geom-
etry, the timing of advanced argillic alteration, and the inferred
time of gold deposition between 11 and 10 Ma is consistent
with previous proposals wherein the Veladero deposit was
controlled by the paleohydrology beneath a paleosurface dur-
ing early stages of formation of the Los Ríos surface.
Structural environment of ore formation
Formation of the Veladero deposit and the nearby and ap-
parently slightly younger Pascua-Lama deposit postdates
shortening that deformed the Tilito Formation and older
rocks in a complex fold and thrust belt. On a broad scale, ore
deposition appears to have broadly coincided with the time
when normal faulting disrupted the Cerro de las Tórtolas
Formation, the underlying Frontera-Deidad surface, and the
superposed and younger Azufreras-Torta surface. The north-
northwest–trending, tabular Veladero orebody, cutting across
the gently dipping and much older host rocks, directly over-
lies steeply dipping faults in the pre-16 Ma basement to the
Cerro de las Tórtolas Formation (Figs. 3b, 4). The spatial as-
sociation suggests that, at a minimum, those basement faults
likely controlled the rise of the auriferous hydrothermal
187
188 CHARCHAFLIÉ ET AL.
fluids, presumably from a magmatic source. Whether those
faults were active at the time of formation is not known. An-
swers to that question await mapping as mining progresses.
At Pascua, gold is deposited along a wide range of fracture
and fault orientations with intersections between structural
fabrics providing the best sites of breccia formation and ore
deposition (Chouinard, 2003; Chouinard et al., 2005). There,
gold is found principally along moderate to steeply dipping
fracture and fault meshes that trend, in decreasing order of
importance, 280° to 315° (Pascua trend), 345° to 010° (Pedro
trend), 010° to 030° (Experanza trend), 315° to 345° (José
trend), 030° to 065° (Raúl trend), and 065° to 100° (Escon-
dite); these mineralized trends essentially encompass 360° of
strike (Chouinard et al., 2005). The different mineralized
trends are important in different parts of the orebody
(Chouinard et al., 2005) and all were present in the host Pa-
leozoic granite prior to ore formation. Additionally, shallow to
intermediate dipping faults and fractures also host gold at
Pascua (Chouinard et al., 2005). The lack of a dominant min-
eralized trend coupled with their wide range of orientation in-
dicates no single extension direction-controlled dilatancy in
the Pascua high-sulfidation system. Instead, the multiple ori-
entations imply that the rocks extended in multiple direc-
tions, under conditions approaching uniaxial extension. As ex-
tensional reactivation of an older fault or fracture mesh can
be accomplished at very low effective differential horizontal
stress (Sibson, 2001), it follows that the lack of a dominant
fabric controlling dilatancy implies only limited deformation
accompanied formation of Pascua. Tosdal (2004) proposed
that this is a general, but not exclusive, case for high-sulfida-
tion epithermal deposits.
On the regional scale, shortening and volcanism in the re-
gion between Chile and Argentina in general has been mi-
grating to the east. Thus, the Veladero region since deforma-
tion of the Tilito Formation prior to 16 Ma has largely
occupied a hanging-wall position in the cordillera-scale fold
and thrust belt. During this time and based on the geochem-
ical character of the volcanic rocks (Bissig et al., 2001; Kay
and Mpodozis, 2001, 2002), the crust has been thickening, re-
sulting in progressive uplift of the El Indio region to the mod-
ern elevations, reaching in excess of 5,000 m along the inter-
national border. Contemporaneous with the development of
significant topography, like that in the El Indio belt, is gravi-
tational instability and the development of localized upper
crustal extension as the unsupported high topography at-
tempts to flow laterally (Mercier et al., 1992; Stüwe and Barr,
2000; DeCelles et al., 2002). Indeed, microseismicity in the
Andes indicates that the far-field stress changes from com-
pression at elevations below 4,000 m.a.s.l. to tension above
that approximate elevation (Mercier et al., 1992), a direct re-
sult of gravitational instability. The net effect is the develop-
ment of localized extension in topographically high regions
(Suarez et al., 1983), whereas adjoining areas of high eleva-
tion may remain unextended. Extension in these topographi-
cally elevated regions is rarely large, on the order of less than
10 percent and more likely on the level of 1 percent (Mercier
et al., 1992). This magnitude of extensional strain on the scale
of the Andes is trivial. Nonetheless, such topography-driven
but localized extension can, over a small region such as
Veladero, significantly alter the upper crustal geometry and
0361-0128/98/000/000-00 $6.00 188
relationship between rock packages and influence any mag-
matic and associated hydrothermal systems.
Based on the sequence of events defined at Veladero, and
including Pascua-Lama (Bissig et al., 2001, 2002; Chouinard
et al., 2005), we infer that the normal faults around Veladero
formed in response to gravitational instability driven by local
excess topography. Furthermore, it is tempting to relate the
elongate form of the Veladero deposit to dilatancy above the
basement faults, as those faults would be favorably oriented
to be under a tensional stress field implied by the gravita-
tional instability provided by the excess topography. These
faults need not be reactivated significantly during mineraliza-
tion, but the presence of the hydrothermal fluid would lower
the effective stress required to enhance dilatancy and estab-
lish fracture permeability, permitting the buoyant rise of the
hydrothermal fluids from a magmatic source at depth. In con-
trast, the multiple orientations of the ore zones at Pascua
(Chouinard et al., 2005) suggest no significant regional con-
trol on synmineral dilatancy in that slightly younger deposit.
We propose the different structural settings at Veladero and
Pascua to reflect a changing stress state with time resulting
from the localized effect of topography-driven extension.
Conclusions
In the Veladero area, Permian dacite and rhyolite of the Gua-
naco Sonso Formation and late Oligocene to early Miocene an-
desite and dacite of the Tilito Formation are juxtaposed in a
northerly striking fold and thrust belt. Shortening predated de-
position of rocks older than the overlying Miocene Cerro de las
Tórtolas Formation and intrusion of the contemporaneous In-
fiernillo intrusive unit, which are dated at ~16 Ma at Veladero.
These volcanic and volcaniclastic rocks cover the Frontera-
Deidad surface, an erosional surface that truncates the fold and
thrust belt. The rocks also form a volcanic field that is sur-
rounded and partially buried by a volcaniclastic apron. The vol-
caniclastic breccias forming the apron are the principal host
rock to the Veladero epithermal gold deposit, which formed at
least 5 m.y. after the youngest voluminous host rocks. The de-
posit is a tabular silicified body, presumably controlled by a pa-
leowater table lying beneath a paleosurface at the time. Unfor-
tunately, post-16 Ma normal faulting obscures critical
relationships, making the link between a specific regional ero-
sion surface and gold deposition at Veladero less clear than at
the other deposits in the belt. Nonetheless, the Veladero de-
posit apparently is the oldest economic epithermal deposit in
the El Indio belt that collectively represents significant gold re-
sources formed after the Andes reached topographic elevations
above 4,000 m.a.s.l. when they started to extend locally. Ve-
ladero formed within a locally extended region, whereas Pas-
cua-Lama appears to have formed outside an extended region.
Acknowledgments
This manuscript constitutes part of the M.Sc. thesis for the
senior author. Homestake Mining Inc. (now part of Barrick
Gold Corp.) supported the study financially and logistically,
and they are thanked for that support. Thomas Bissig, Nate
Brewer, and Raymond Jannas are thanked for their sugges-
tions to improve the manuscript. This represents MDRU
contribution 209.
October 5, 2006; March 23, 2007
 GEOLOGY OF THE VELADERO HIGH-SULFIDATION EPITHERMAL DEPOSIT AREA, ARGENTINA
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 GEOLOGY OF THE VELADERO HIGH-SULFIDATION EPITHERMAL DEPOSIT AREA, ARGENTINA
APPENDIX
U-Pb Geochronology
Samples from surface exposures were prepared for U-Pb
geochronology and mass spectrometry at the University of
British Columbia. Zircons from three samples were analyzed
at the Stanford-U.S. Geological Survey Sensitive High-Reso-
lution Ion Microprobe–Reverse Geometry (SHRIMP-RG)
Laboratory. Zircon was separated from 15- to 20-kg samples
by crushing, grinding, and heavy mineral concentration, using
a conventional Wilfley table followed by heavy liquid and
magnetic separation. Sample locations, shown in parentheses
after the ages, are listed in the coordinate system Gauss
Kruger Faja 2, Datum Campo Inchauspe.
Conventional U-Pb analyses
Zircons for analysis were grouped into fractions that in-
clude morphologically similar crystals. With the exception of
fine needlelike zircons, all zircon fractions were abraded be-
fore dissolution to minimize postcrystallization lead loss fol-
lowing the technique of Krogh (1982). Fractions were dis-
solved in a mixture of concentrated hydrofluoric acid and
nitric acid with a 233–235U-205Pb tracer. U and Pb were sepa-
rated using ion exchange column techniques (Parrish et al.,
1987), eluted separately, and loaded together on a Re fila-
ment with a phosphoric acid silica-gel emitter. Isotopic ratios
were measured with a single collector VG-54R thermal ion-
ization mass spectrometer equipped with a Daly photomulti-
plier. Uranium fractionation was determined on every run
using the 233–235U tracer. Daly runs of Pb isotope ratios were
corrected for a fractionation of 0.43 percent/amu determined
by replicate analyses of the NBS-981 Pb standard and values
recommended by Thirlwall (2000). The common Pb isotope
composition from Bissig et al. (2003) was preferred for data
reduction in conventional analyses because of the intense al-
teration. It was assumed that samples from Veladero have a
similar Pb isotope composition as the same units defined else-
where in the El Indio belt. Analytical results with their corre-
sponding uncertainties propagated through the age calcula-
tions following the numerical technique of Roddick (1987)
are summarized at the 2σ level in Table 2.
Tilito Formation
DC-120, andesitic tuff, 24.5 ± 0.2 Ma (6749475; 2409953):
The age is based on the 206Pb-238U age of four concordant
fractions (A, C, E, and F) and their respective uncertainties.
Four discordant fractions (D, G, H, and I) indicate the likeli-
hood of inheritance. Although fraction B has 206Pb-238U and
207Pb-235U apparent ages consistent with the rock age, it was
not considered in the age as it is reversely discordant.
DC-111, dacitic tuff, 22.8 ± 1.7 Ma (6750281; 2408702):
Four concordant fractions (A, B, F, and G) and a slightly dis-
cordant fraction (D) define the age of the sample. The asso-
ciated uncertainty is relatively large as it includes the entire
range of 206Pb-238U ages from fractions A, B, F, and G. Inher-
itance and lead loss appear to have affected the U-Pb system-
atics.
DC-163, dacitic tuff, 23.5 ± 0.9 Ma (6751366; 2405339):
The age is based on the 206Pb-238U age of two concordant frac-
tions (C and F) and agrees, within uncertainty, with the age
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191
obtained from U-Pb SHRIMP-RG analysis from the same
rock (see below). Fraction G yields a relatively younger age
that results from postcrystallization lead loss. Inherited and
xenocrystic zircon is common in this sample, as shown by the
isotopic composition of fractions A, B, D, and E.
DC-249, dacitic flow tuff, 23.9 ± 0.2 Ma (6745928;
2406582): Recovered zircon are of poor quality. The age of
the sample is calculated from a single concordant fraction A
formed by multifaceted, prismatic, and elongated grains, a
morphology that most likely represents magmatic zircons.
Fractions B, E, and C yield discordant ages and represent the
inherited population.
Cerro de las Tórtolas Formation and
Infiernillo intrusive unit
DC-374, dacitic tuff, 15.8 ± 1 Ma (6749918; 2407920):
Three concordant fractions (B, C, and F) overlap to define
the age of the sample. The reported age is a conservative es-
timate that takes into account the extreme 206Pb-238U ages
from fractions B and C. The age is indistinguishable from a
U-Pb SHRIMP-RG age yielded by sample DC-375 collected
less than 5 m away from DC-374. Both conventional and
SHRIMP-RG analyses revealed zircon inheritance.
DC-265, andesitic porphyry, 16.6 ± 0.3 Ma (6745430;
2408695): The age is constrained by 206Pb-238U ages of three
concordant fractions (A, B, and E). Fraction D is discordant
and it was not considered in the age calculation but yielded a
similar 206Pb-238U age as the rock.
DC-304, dacitic intrusive, 16.4 ± 0.3 Ma (6747921;
2408801): The U-Pb isotope data are not conclusive as four
concordant fractions range in age between 16 and 12 Ma.
Other fractions have clear evidence of inheritance. The ad-
vanced argillic alteration age of 10.7 Ma from Bissig et al.
(2001) is younger than the youngest possible U-Pb age. It is
possible that the intense acid leaching associated with this su-
perposed alteration could have damaged the zircons, causing
partial to near-complete Pb loss at the time of the hydrother-
mal system. If true, the oldest concordant U-Pb age of 16.4 ±
0.3 Ma may date the crystallization of this rock. Unfortu-
nately, the scatter in concordant U-Pb ages precludes accept-
ing this age, except tentatively.
U-Pb SHRIMP-RG
Three samples were analyzed using the Stanford-U.S. Ge-
ological Survey SHRIMP-RG. Reviews of the ion microprobe
technique and data interpretation are given in Williams
(1998) and Ireland and Williams (2003). Operating conditions
are described by Ayuso et al. (2005). Zircon was mounted in
epoxy in a 2.54-cm disk and analyzed using an oxygen beam.
Ages and Pb corrections were referenced to internal uranium
standard SL-13 and U-Pb standard R-33 (419 Ma). Common
Pb used for age corrections is from the average crustal growth
curve of Stacey and Kramers (1975). The zircon and Pb iso-
tope data were reduced using SQUID 1.02 and ISOPLOT
3.00 (Ludwig, 2001, 2003).
The ages for the rocks dated using the SHRIMP-RG tech-
nique are based on the weighted mean 207Pb-corrected 206Pb/
238Pb age. This age is used because the measuring statistics on
192 CHARCHAFLIÉ ET AL.
204Pb are poor in young rocks, thus precluding the use of this
isotope of Pb to correct for common Pb in the zircons.
Tilito Formation
DC-128b, porphyritic andesite, 25 ± 1.4 Ma (6752667
2411190): The reported age is a weighted mean of eight
207Pb-corrected 206Pb-238U ages determined from elongate,
prismatic zircon crystals, which are most likely to be mag-
matic. Age, uncertainty, mean standard weighted deviation,
and probability values do not vary significantly if zircon grain
1 is excluded from the analysis.
DC-163, dcitic tuff, 23 ± 1.1 Ma (6751366 2405339): The
age is a weighted mean of eight 207Pb-orrected 206Pb-238U
ages determined in elongate, prismatic zircon crystals, which
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are most likely to be magmatic. Age, uncertainty, mean stan-
dard weighted deviation,and probability values do not vary
significantly if zircon grain 3 is excluded.
Cerro de las Tórtolas Formation and
Infiernillo intrusive unit
DC-375, dacitic tuff, 16.4 ± 1.0 Ma (6749918 2407920):
The reported age is a weighted mean of six 207Pb-corrected
206Pb-238U ages determined near the rim of clear, elongate,
and prismatic zircon crystals, which are assumed to be mag-
matic. The Permian inherited zircons (grains 5 and 8) were
not considered in the statistical analysis. The calculated age,
uncertainty, mean standard weighted deviation, and probabil-
ity values do not vary significantly if zircon grain 4 is excluded.