The mineral systems approach to mineral deposit genesis, originally proposed by Wyborn et al

(1994), attempts to provide a framework that considers all the geological processes that control
the formation and preservation of mineral deposits. The mineral systems approach was
extended through the work of the Predictive Mineral Discovery Cooperative Research
Centre to include five major questions that provide key information on the geodynamic and
geological settings and other parameters associated with the genesis of the deposit. The mineral
systems concept has been further extended by Fraser et al. (2007) and places the deposit models
and types in a systems framework that includes geodynamic environment, tectonic setting, and
fluid/magma involved in mineralisation.

This approach to understanding mineralisation recognises that ore deposits are small
expressions of much larger earth process systems that operate on a variety of scales to focus
mass and energy flux.

Source-release-migration pathway-trap-seal model vs. analogue deposit model.

The formation of an ore deposit requires a source of metals, a mode of transport (usually a
hydrothermal fluid, but also can be a magma) and a site of deposition or accumulation, where
commodities become concentrated to enable economically viable extraction during a given
period. A mineral system includes all geological and geodynamic factors, at all scales, that
control the inception, evolution and preservation of ore deposits. Thus, the study of mineral
systems necessarily must integrate;

(1) local studies on recognised deposits, including such factors as;

_ local geology, rock types and structural controls

_ location of potential accumulation sites

_ the physico-chemical processes leading to deposition;

with
(2) regional scale studies including

_ geodynamic (tectonic) controls on timing and location of ore deposits (space-time

distribution)

_ terrane-scale physico-chemical processes that determine how ore deposits are formed;

_ the evolution of magmas and other energy sources and fluids at the scale of
mineralising systems that influence the location of individual deposits

_ regional context

Magmatic ore systems and hydrothermal mineral deposits within the same tectonic setting may
be interrelated. An example is provided by the Bushveld Igneous Complex, where magmatic,
magmatic-hydrothermal and hydrothermal deposits are part and parcel of the same event and
related tectonic setting.

Some mineral systems are diagnostic of specific tectonic settings. Conversely, most mineral
systems can usually be assigned to defined tectonic settings, providing that the geodynamic
evolution of the host terranes is reasonably well established. Other ore systems, such as some
of the SEDEX and MVT, may occur in extensional settings that are associated with the inboard
of subduction zones and therefore it remains difficult to precisely allocate them to a specific
tectonic setting.

Tectonic settings are also linked to supercontinent cycles, for example extension and divergent
margins, which occur during supercontinent break-up, and convergent margins associated with
amalgamation of terranes and assembly. The temporal evolution of supercontinent cycles,
assembly to break-up, provides the basis for understanding the temporal distribution of ore
systems.

Groves and Bierlein (2007) considered the geodynamic settings of ore systems in terms of (1)
intracratonic magmatism: (a) mantle basic magmatism, (b) deep alkaline magmatism; (2)
intracontinental rifting or continental break-up; (3) divergent margins; (4) convergent margins;
and (5) sediment-hosted deposits of non-diagnostic geodynamic setting.
 1. Intracratonic
magmatism
Continental crust of
intracratonic setti-
ngs can be charac-
terrised by anomal-
ous mantle magma-
tism above a thick
subcontinental man-
tle lithosphere (SC
ML). This mantle
plume-type magma-
tism is possibly rela-
ted to weak exten-
sion, due to failed
supercontinent break-up.

PGE in large layered intrusions (e.g. Bushveld Complex, South Africa), diamondiferous
alkaline pipes and iron oxide-copper-gold (IOCG) associated with A-type granitic magmas.

a. Large layered mafic-ultramafic intrusions with a well-defined magmatic stratigraphy

(ultramafic base and mafic upper layers). Chromitite seams, PGE and Fe-Ti-V magnetite layers
occur at predictable stratigraphic position within these layered intrusions. The Bushveld
Complex, the Great Dyke of Zimbabwe and the Stillwater Complex (USA) are typical
examples. They lie towards the centre of cratons. Smaller deposits such as that of Pana (Kola)
and Pennikat (Finland) lie closer to craton margins. The preservation and centralised position
of these large magmatic masses in cratonic areas are made possible by the thick and buoyant
subcontinental lithospheric mantle (SCLM). Thick and buoyant SCLM mostly underlies
Neoarchaean and Palaeoproterozoic terranes, which is where most of the large layered
complexes are emplaced. The basic magmas form in hotter than normal parts of the mantle,
probably as a result of uprise of mantle plumes beneath Archaean SCLM. Parent magmas must
be highly enriched in ore elements, particularly PGE, relative to normal magmas to produce
the high tonnages and high concentrations of metals in the mineralized layers or reefs.

b. Deep mantle-derived alkaline magmatism is also largely located in Archaean cratons. The
origin of these alkaline magmas is attributed to the impingement of mantle plumes beneath the
SCLM, triggering melting of metasomatised lithospheric mantle material, or newly
metasomatised by volatiles derived from the mantle plume to produce magmas with a mixed
signature of refractory mantle and incompatible elements derived from metasomatized mantle.
Conditions near the base of the SCLM of relatively low T and high P are required for the
presence of diamonds mainly in metasomatized garnet hartzburgite or eclogite, brought to the
surface by kimberlitic magmas throughout the craton or lamproite magmas towards its margin.
 The iron-oxide Cu–Au
(IOCG) group of deposits
(Hitzman et al. 1992) is a
disparate group of depo-
sits that are rich in iron
oxides, including essenti-
ally sulphur-free P, F and
REE-bearing deposits.
The IOCG systems inclu-
de a widely diverse group
of ore systems. However,
Groves and Bierlein
(2007) pointed out that if
only IOCG of Precam-
brian age are considered,
then the IOCG family
becomes easier to define,
both as deposit style and in
terms of geodynamic
setting. They are all sited
within about 100 km of the
margins of Archaean
cratons (e.g. Carajas,
Brazil; Olympic Dam,
Australia; Palabora, South
Africa) or close to the
boundary between Arch-
aean and Proterozoic
lithosphere. The giant
Kiruna Fe–P deposits have
a similar lithosphe-ric
setting. They are all
related spatially and
temporally to widespread
anorogenic alkaline or A-
type granitic igneous
events in an intracratonic
setting in lithosphere that
is several hundred million
years older than the
metallogenetic event.
These associations strongly suggest that iron-oxide Cu–Au deposits are related to plume-
induced partial melting of SCLM previously metasomatized during subduction or other
tectonic processes along cratonic margins.
2. Ore systems related to continental break-up

Ore systems related to continental break-up are sited in rifted cratonic margins and intracratonic
rift basins.

Rifted cratonic margins: Orthomagmatic Ni-Cu-(PGE) deposits in mafic-ultramafic intrusions

are related to mantle plume events following supercontinent amalgamation, but preceding
extensive rift volcanism or ocean creation. They represent Ni–Cu sulphide segregation and
enrichment from high-MgO magmas of varying petrogenetic affinity, commonly involving
magma mixing, that formed smaller intrusive bodies than those hosting giant PGE deposits
within the cratons. The Ni–Cu sulphide deposits form adjacent to, and commonly outboard of,
Precambrian lithospheric margins (e.g. Voisey’s Bay, Jinchuan, Noril’sk). Other deposits
formed near continental margins as a result of mantle plume impingement on rifted Archaean
SCLM include the Fe–Ti oxide deposits related to anorthositic magmatism. These are restricted
in time to the break-up and dispersal of the Mesoproterozoic supercontinent, Columbia, when
mantle plumes are interpreted to have caused widespread decompressional melting and large
volumes of basaltic magmas that produced thick anorthositic crust on extended post Archaean
SCLM.

Intracratonic rift settings: Giant sedimentary rock-hosted mineral systems are formed in
intracontinental rift basins. These include the stratabound Cu-Co Copper belt type deposits of
Zambia, the SEDEX Pb-Zn and Broken Hill type Pb-Zn-Ag deposits of Australia and South
Africa. Their genesis may be linked to basinal brines circulating in the host sedimentary
succession, or perhaps to replacement by hydrothermal fluids and/or fluids discharged on the
seafloor. The giant Australian deposits (Mt Isa, McArthur River, Century) were developed at
1.65–1.6 Ga, following the assembly of the North Australian, South Australian and Western
Australian cratons, within the framework of the Columbia supercontinent. Broken Hill type
deposits are similar to and coeval with SEDEX but with higher Pb and Ag contents, and are
associated with bimodal volcanic sequences.

3. Divergent margins

Mineral deposits formed in divergent margins during supercontinent break-up include a variety
of essentially sediment-hosted syngenetic and epigenetic deposits in passive continental
margins and deposits associated with oceanic spreading ridges. The latter may be tectonically
emplaced and preserved during subsequent ocean closure and basin inversion.

Syngenetic deposits of passive continental margins: These include beach sand deposits, such
as those in along-shore sedimentary ‘traps’ that typify both the eastern and western continental
margins of Australia and the large-scale sedimentary deposits of Fe and Mn (banded iron
formations; BIF), generally formed between 2.65 and 1.85 Ga. The largest accumulations of
Fe in iron formations are found in the Hamersley province of Western Australia, Carajas in
Brazil and the Sishen Fe deposits and Kalahari Mn oxides in South Africa.

Deposits formed during ocean spreading: Volcanogenic massive sulphides (VMS) typically
form at spreading centres in oceanic back arcs (e.g. Lau Basin in the Pacific Ocean) and at
midocean ridges. Mineral deposits that formed at spreading centres or in primitive backarcs are
rare because of their poor preservational potential. However, such deposits do occur in slices
of ophiolite obducted onto continental crust during ocean closure, and hence appear in
convergent margin settings in their final tectonic position. They include the mafic type of VMS
deposits, such as those of the Mesozoic Troodos of Cyprus and the Semail Complex of Oman,
which formed by hydrothermal circulation of modified seawater on the sea floor. Other deposit
styles include structurally modified, originally magmatic podiform chromite deposits that
occur in obducted Palaeozoic and Mesozoic mantle or crust–mantle transition zones of oceanic
lithosphere; for example, in Eurasia and Cyprus, Turkey and Oman. Precambrian examples of
both deposit styles are rare. Fore-arc settings can also produce VMS deposits, caused by
extension, thinning of the SCLM, due either to slab roll-back or mantle plumes, which channel
hot asthenospheric material through the rift sustaining high temperature submarine
hydrothermal activity.

4. Mineral deposit related to convergent margin tectonics

By far the greatest variety of mineral deposit types is associated with convergent margin
settings, largely because of the complexity of tectonic environments within these settings. This,
in turn, leads to a wide variety of magma types, metal source regions and hydrothermal fluid
compositions and P–T conditions that control mineral deposit formation under different
geodynamic regimes.

Arc-related magmatic–hydrothermal and hydrothermal: The classic deposit styles of

continental arc, and more rarely intraoceanic arc, environments are porphyry Cu–Au–Mo
deposits, which are typified by those of the Andes, North American Cordillera, Altaids and SW
Pacific. The majority of deposits are Mesozoic to Cenozoic in age because of susceptibility to
erosion in rapidly uplifting arcs, generally above thin, negatively buoyant SCLM, although
Precambrian examples with essentially similar features are known.

Porphyry deposits show the clearest relationship to subduction processes, being related to
dehydration of the subducting oceanic slab, and related high fluid flux into the overlying mantle
wedge, which resulted in its metasomatism, and generation of evolved high-level granitic
magmas from the hydrous, metal-enriched basaltic magmas produced by melting of this
metasomatized mantle. These high-level (<3 km depth), normally porphyritic intrusions
exsolve hot, boiling saline ore fluids that fracture the intrusion and its roof rocks and deposit
copper sulphides in this permeable carapace over 50–500 ka. Deposits in more primitive intra-
oceanic arcs (e.g. SW Pacific) tend to be more gold rich compared with those in more
continental settings (e.g. North American Cordillera), which may be enriched in Mo, or even
Sn (Bolivia) or W (New Brunswick, Canada) in rare cases. Epithermal high-sulphidation Cu–
Au–Ag deposits appear to represent the upper portions of porphyry systems in some cases.

Low-sulphidation epithermal Au–Ag deposits form at even shallower crustal levels (<1.5 km)
and lower temperatures (<300 °C) than porphyry–high sulphidation epithermal systems and
have an even more restricted time range, most being Tertiary or younger, although they have a
similar geographical position mostly around the Pacific Rim and in the Mediterranean region.
The deposits form in a variety of host rocks in volcanic regions with anomalously high thermal
gradients from mixed magmatic and meteoric fluids that boil or mix close to the surface,
creating physical and chemical gradients that induce metal precipitation below the water table.

Backarc-related submarine: VMS deposits of Cu–Zn–Pb (± Au–Ag–Ba) are forming at present

on mid-ocean ridges from hot plumes (>300 °C) of modified seawater, possibly with some
magmatic input, termed ‘black smokers’, but the vast majority of this mid-ocean ridge
lithosphere is subducted by negative buoyancy. Hence, Archaean to Cenozoic VMS deposits
that are preserved in the geological record are more likely to be from convergent margin
settings. The preserved deposits formed during arc-related rifting, mostly in backarc, but also
in fore-arc, settings associated with slab rollback during subduction of old, cold oceanic crust,
the impact of mantle plumes, or extension related to change in plate geometry during oblique
convergence. These processes, which caused thinning of the SCLM, provided the extensional
structural architecture and high thermal gradients required to sustain the long-lived and high-
temperature submarine hydrothermal systems that formed the VMS deposits.

Some gold-rich and pipe-like deposits, such as Mt. Lyell in Tasmania, which occurs in an
extensive VMS province, may represent the root systems of VMS deposits in the conduits that
channelled hydrothermal fluids to the near-surface or surface depositional sites of the VMS
deposits. The gold deposits of Lihir Island in the SW Pacific may be shallower, essentially
submarine, epithermal equivalents formed above fluid-metasomatized sub-arc mantle.

Magmatic–hydrothermal mineral deposits in far backarc settings or deformed continental

margins: Several deposit styles are sited in far backarc settings, normally within deformed
sedimentary sequences on the margins of cratons adjacent to thick Precambrian SCLM.

Many Phanerozoic Sn–W deposits are associated with fractionated S-type granites in rather
unusual tectonic settings that Kerrich et al. (2005) described as continent–continent orogens
(e.g. Alpine–Himalayas; Appalachian–Caledonian) that close an internal ocean. These are
commonly the only economic deposit style because there is limited juvenile crust formed
and/or preserved in such orogens. For other Mesozoic to Tertiary deposits, the tectonic
environment is more clearly defined as a far backarc setting as shown, for example, by the
tungsten skarns of the Yukon and the Sn–W deposits of the Tasman orogen of Australia. Tin
deposits also occur on the continental margin of accretionary orogens such as those of Bolivia
in the Andes.

Phanerozoic reduced intrusion-related gold deposits are a recently recognized deposit type (e.g.
Thompson et al. 1999) that occur in districts formerly known for their Sn–W deposits. They
therefore have a similar tectonic setting to those Sn–W deposits in far backarc or continental
margins of convergent margin settings. They are intrusion-centred deposits that, in the type
Tintina Province of Alaska and Yukon, range from skarns through granitoid-hosted sheeted
vein systems such as Fort Knox to gold-rich shear veins and distal base-metal and silver
deposits. The deposits postdate the major compressional phase in the hosting orogen, being
related to the onset of extension related to shallow subduction and/or mantle plume
impingement close to the cratonic margin. Highly unusual mixed mantle–crustal magmas,
derived from melting of metasomatized SCLM, are the proposed magmatic source of H2O–
CO2– CH4 ore fluids (e.g. Hart et al. 2004). The anomalous tectonic setting appears to be the
key factor controlling the coincidence of fertile reduced magmas and reactive host sequences
critical to the formation of this mineral deposit class.

Tertiary Carlin-type sediment-hosted gold deposits in the giant Carlin District of Nevada (e.g.
Cline et al. 2005) occupy a very similar tectonic position to the intrusion-related gold systems
of the Tintina Province, occurring in deformed shelf sedimentary rocks adjacent to the North
American cratonic margin during the onset of extension. The deposits lie on linear trends that
appear to be broadly anticlinal or horst zones developed over deep reactivated basement faults
marginal to the craton during compressional deformation involving thrusting, which emplaced
impermeable siliciclastic sequences over gold- and sulphur-rich shelf sequences (e.g. Emsbo
et al. 2003) to provide impermeable seals for the hydrothermal systems. Although their origin
is highly debated (Cline et al. 2005), the deposits of the Carlin District occur in a metallogenic
province that includes undoubted magmatic–hydrothermal skarn, porphyry and disseminated
gold deposits, and there is growing evidence for spatial relationship to broadly coeval granitic
plutons and dykes that are largely below the present level of erosion (e.g. Johnston & Ressel
2004). Interestingly, the anomalous giant Bingham porphyry system to the east in Utah (e.g.
Cunningham et al. 2004) is of indistinguishable age, has disseminated gold deposits similar to
those of the Carlin District, and was generated by magmas of mixed mantle–crust parentage
(e.g. Waite et al. 1997) very similar to those that generated the Yukon intrusion-related gold
deposits described above. Again, geodynamic setting appears to be a critical factor in
generating these anomalous and giant ore systems.

The anomalously gold-rich epithermal deposits of Cripple Creek, Colorado also best fit into
this geodynamic setting, representing volcanic and intrusive activity during extension within
the overall convergent-margin setting of the North American Cordillera (e.g. Jensen & Barton
2000). Similar alkalic gold-rich epithermal deposits are related to extension in backarcs in
anomalous tectonic settings around the Pacific at Emperor, Fiji, Ladolam, Bismarck
Archipelago and Porgera, Papua New Guinea. The gold-rich nature of these hydrothermal
systems is probably due to low degrees of partial melting of incompatible element (including
Au) enriched, metasomatized mantle to produce the source alkaline magmas (e.g. McInnes et
al. 2001) in backarc settings (e.g. Moss et al. 2001).

Orogenic gold and base metal deposits:

Convergent margin tectonic settings are well endowed with a great variety of ore systems,
including arc-related hydrothermal deposits, such as porphyry and epithermal systems.
Orogenic Au lodes, spanning ages from the Archaean to Tertiary formed by major
compressional and/or transpressional deformation events in fore-arcs and back-arcs at
convergent margins. Orogenic lode systems appear to form at all crustal depths perhaps to
about 20 km, thereby having a good preservation potential. These systems originate from the
flow of deep-sourced fluids caused by dehydration reactions and in some cases from
asthenospheric upwelling in a thinning SCML probably associated with far-field stresses. A
good example of this setting is the Cretaceous orogenic lodes of the Jiaodong Au field in
northeastern China.

Mineral deposits in foreland basins

Mineral systems of foreland basin include placers, palaeoplacers and Pb-Zn-Ba of Mississippi
Valley Type (MVT) and unconformity-related U deposits.

Giant placer deposits were formed from convergent margins around the Pacific Rim when rapid
uplift resulted in the denudation of orogenic lodes (e.g. Alaska, New Zealand, eastern
Australia). The richest and most famous palaeoplacers are those of the Witwatersrand basin of
South Africa. Models have been proposed that suggest a hydrothermal event(s) for the
Witwatersrand Au, but the placer origin remains the best explanation for the world’s largest
Au province. The geochronology of detrital zircons has demonstrated that the Witwatersrand
conglomerate units were deposited in a retro-arc foreland basin on a thick continental crust.
The Witwatersrand Au-bearing conglomerates contain rounded pyrite (called by South African
geologists, buckshot pyrite) and uraninite grains, whose presence in these sediments is a clear
indication of an oxygen-poor atmosphere or at least, climatic conditions, which have been
suggested to be related to a CO2-rich atmosphere, during degassing of frequent mantle plume
activity during Archaean times.

Mississippi Valley Type (MVT) ore systems form in foreland basins related to convergent
margins. These are stratabound ore systems that form by large-scale basin wide fluid flow,
which migrates from a zone of compression (e.g. thrust-and-fold belt) towards the undeformed
margins of the continental shelf, where carbonate reefs occur.

Unconformity-related U deposits contribute a substantial proportion of the world’s U

production. These hydrothermal deposits form in siliciclastic sequences near to unconformities
in foreland basins and are common in northern Australia and North America. The unconformity
U systems may be linked to supercontinent assembly at 1.8–1.7 Ga, which resulted in the
deposition of thick sedimentary successions.

It is noteworthy that the giant SEDEX Pb–Zn deposits of Northern Australia occur in
equivalent tectonic settings and sedimentary basins to the giant unconformity-associated
uranium deposits at Jabiluka, Ranger and Narbelek, and formed at approximately the same
time.

5. Sediment-hosted deposits of non-diagnostic geodynamic setting

The stratiform to strata-bound sediment-hosted Pb-Zn-Cu deposits, such as those of the

Zambian Copper belt and Kupferschiefer and the so-called SEDEX deposits, are difficult to
classify in terms of geodynamic setting at the time of their formation. Although there is general
agreement that they formed in intracratonic rift basins during crustal extension, there is
considerable controversy concerning their broader-scale tectonic setting and the driving force
for hydrothermal fluid flow at the time of mineralization. For example, many of the deposits
could be considered to form during far-field compression in originally extensional basins in far
backarc settings related to convergent-margin geodynamic settings.
The host of some stratabound copper deposits, such as those of the Zambian Copperbelt, almost
certainly formed in an intracratonic rift setting although a passive margin setting has also been
suggested. They are related to the initial dispersal of Rodinia at c. 800 Ma. Although there is
general agreement for the Neoproterozoic Zambian Copperbelt that (1) the source of metals
was underlying oxidized red beds, (2) the source of sulphur was evaporites in the hosting
sequence and/or petroleum, and (3) mineralization was multi-stage, there is considerable debate
concerning whether the economic deposits formed mainly during diagenesis or during
inversion of the intracratonic basins during later orogeny. The Permian Kupferschiefer in
Europe also appears to have been a large intracontinental basin floored in part by red beds, and
containing evaporites and petroleum, with multi-stage copper and anomalous PGE–gold
mineralization of debated timing.

SEDEX deposits are stratiform to stratabound massive Zn–Pb ± Cu deposits that formed during
sedimentation or early diagenesis from basinal brines circulating in host sedimentary
successions. The Proterozoic examples of Northern Australia appear to have formed in
intracontinental failed rifts that were, however, linked to ocean basins. These giant Proterozoic
deposits (e.g. Mt. Isa, McArthur River, Century) formed at c. 1650–1600 Ma, following shortly
after the final assembly of Proto-Australia at c. 1780–1700 Ma, as part of the global
supercontinent Columbia which was assembled via collisions between Laurentia, Baltica and
Siberia at c. 1850–1700 Ma. This was the first supercontinent assembly of major crustal
fragments, providing a foundation for the extensive sedimentary rift basins in which the
SEDEX deposits could form in response to episodic extension related to tectonism at the
margins of the cratonic blocks. Reactivation of deep extensional faults, close to the sutures
along which the old cratonic fragments were assembled, appears critical for the generation of
SEDEX deposits in the rift basins. If this model is correct, the Proterozoic SEDEX deposits
formed in such rift basins during far backarc extension in a convergent margin setting and
hence in a similar geodynamic setting to the Sn–W, intrusion-related gold and Carlin-type
deposits.

Palaeozoic SEDEX deposits (e.g. Sullivan, Red Dog) occur in rifted continental margins, and
hence could also be included in the category of deposits related to divergent margins. In terms
of their hosting sedimentary basins and genesis, however, Palaeozoic SEDEX deposits appear
broadly similar to their Proterozoic analogues. Their position on a late Devonian continental
reconstruction suggests that they are related in some way to the assembly of Pangaea, and may
also owe their origin to distal convergent tectonics, as suggested for Proterozoic SEDEX
deposits.

Broken Hill-type (BHT) deposits show similarities to SEDEX deposits although they have
much higher Ag and significantly higher Pb contents than the former. In Australia, BHT
deposits at Broken Hill and Cannington are broadly coeval with SEDEX deposits at Mt. Isa
and McArthur River, but are hosted in quartzo-feldspathic sedimentary sequences rather than
sequences rich in reduced dolomitic siltstones and shales that host SEDEX deposits. The
occurrence of bimodal volcanic sequences together with the amphibolite to granulite
metamorphic grades that characterize these deposits, in the absence of evidence for significant
crustal thickening to produce these metamorphic conditions, suggest that more extreme crustal
and lithospheric thinning was involved than in normal SEDEX basins. The isolation of the
giant deposits in districts with only minor associated deposits, combined with their low S, but
high P and REE contents, and high precious-metal (Ag) enrichment, are suggestive of an
alkaline affinity in concert with the evidence for extreme extension of the basin. However,
confirmatory evidence remains elusive.

In spite of 80 years of mining and research, the genesis of the copper orebody in the giant Pb–
Zn–Cu deposit at Mt. Isa remains equally controversial. The interdigitation of the Cu and Pb–
Zn (± Ag) orebodies was originally interpreted as reflecting a biogenic control on the entire ore
system. Structural, fluid and geochronological studies more recently have led to a change from
a syngenetic chemical concept to that of an epigenetic, massive metasomatic replacement
system developed during or just postdating the peak of the Mesoproterozoic Isan Orogeny at
c. 1500 Ma. In this respect, the Mt. Isa copper deposit is probably more akin to the class of
orogenic gold and base-metal deposits.