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Tectonic and metallogenic history of Mexico
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Special Publication 17, pp. 201–243
Chapter 6
Tectonic and Metallogenetic History of Mexico

Antoni Camprubí†
Instituto de Geología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ciudad Universitaria, 04510 México, D.F. (Mexico)
Abstract
Mexico is widely known to be a richly endowed country in both metallic and industrial mineral deposits, the
exploitation of which has constituted an economic activity of paramount importance for centuries. This paper
presents an analysis of the time and space distribution of over 200 mineral deposits, which is based on the avail-
able absolute and relative ages of mineralization and constitutes a modified and updated version of the analysis
of Camprubí (2009). Pre-Jurassic ore deposits are relatively scarce and of subordinate economic significance.
These include Ti-bearing anorthosites and rare element pegmatites in intracratonic environments, barite sedi-
mentary-exhalative (sedex) deposits, and ultramafic-mafic Cr-Cu-Ni(-platinum group element [PGE]) deposits
in oceanic environments. Since the Jurassic, the metallogenic evolution of Mexico can be understood as a prod-
uct of the evolution of two major regions: the Pacific margin and the Gulf of Mexico.
The Mesozoic evolution of the Pacific margin is characterized by rifting and separation of the Guerrero com-
posite terrane from the North American continent and the initiation of arc magmatism in an extensional conti-
nental margin setting. The ore deposits emplaced in this period are mostly polymetallic volcanogenic massive
sulfide (VMS) and Cr-Cu-Ni(-PGE) deposits associated with ultramafic-mafic complexes. These occur domi-
nantly near the boundaries of the Guerrero composite terrane. Porphyry-type deposits emplaced in the mid-
Cretaceous are subordinate and, apparently, small. These likely formed in island arcs that were later accreted
to the mainland. A shift from extensional to compressional tectonics resulted in the accretion of the Pacific ter-
ranes, most importantly the Guerrero composite terrane, to the Mexican mainland by the Late Cretaceous. This
tectonic shift gave rise to the initial stages of the Paleocene boom in porphyry-type and sulfide skarn deposits.
The continental arcs in these epochs represent the earliest stages for the Sierra Madre Occidental silicic large
igneous province. The earliest known examples of epithermal deposits in Mexico are Paleocene and include,
besides intermediate to low sulfidation deposits, the La Caridad Antigua high sulfidation deposit, in associa-
tion with the giant La Caridad porphyry copper deposit. The Late Cretaceous iron oxide copper-gold (IOCG)
deposits formed in northern Baja California and along the Pacific margin in southwestern and southern Mexico,
and continued forming in the latter regions into the Paleocene. Contrastingly, some Late Cretaceous IOCG
deposits formed several hundreds of km inland in northwestern Mexico, and are suspected cases for emplace-
ment in back-arc environments. The formation of orogenic Au deposits began in the Late Cretaceous, and they
kept forming into the Eocene as compressional tectonics progressed.
The formation of porphyry-type, sulfide skarn, and epithermal deposits continued during the Eocene, and
followed the eastward progression of the magmatism of the Sierra Madre Occidental. The number of known
examples of epithermal deposits relative to porphyry-type and sulfide skarn deposits increases with time. The
formation of IOCG deposits along the Pacific margin seemingly dwindled during the Eocene, although they
began to form close to the Chihuahua-Coahuila border, possibly in association with the earliest stages of miner-
alization in the Eastern Mexican alkaline province. Also, a group of U-Au vein deposits in Chihuahua, in asso-
ciation with felsic volcanic rocks, is apparently restricted to the Eocene. The maximum geographic extension
and climactic events of the Sierra Madre Occidental (for both magmatic and ore-forming events) were attained
during the Oligocene, as the arc kept migrating eastward and southward. As magmatism reached the Mesa Cen-
tral, epithermal and subepithermal, sulfide skarn, Sn veins associated with F-rich rhyolites, IOCG, and Sn-W
greisen deposits formed around the main reactivated fault zones, generating the highest concentration of ore
deposits known in Mexico. The focus of magmatism and mineralizing processes shifted progressively southward
in the Eastern Mexican alkaline province between the Oligocene and the Miocene, and intensified significantly
in northern Coahuila and Chihuahua in the Oligocene. This province also includes alkaline porphyry Cu-Mo
deposits, REE-bearing carbonatites, and polymetallic skarns.
During the Miocene, the magmatism of the Sierra Madre Occidental retracted dramatically southward and
began concentrating in an E-W arrangement that corresponds to the Trans-Mexican volcanic belt, while con-
tinental extension evolved into the opening of the Gulf of California. During this time, metallogenic processes
associated with the Sierra Madre Occidental virtually ceased. From the late Miocene, the formation of epith-
ermal deposits, sulfide skarns, and porphyry-type deposits resumed in the Trans-Mexican volcanic belt and the
Eastern Mexican alkaline province, whereas IOCG deposits seem restricted to the latter. The opening of the
Gulf of California represents the beginning of a new cycle in metallogenesis, with the formation of shallow ana-
logues of sedex deposits and sedimentary phosphorites along the Baja California peninsula, epithermal deposits
near the cul-de-sac of the Gulf, and recent VMS deposits in passive continental margins and mid-ocean ridges.
† E-mail: camprubitaga@gmail.com
201
202 ANTONI CAMPRUBÍ
The sedimentary-diagenetic history of the Gulf of Mexico includes the formation of Mississippi Valley-type
(MVT) and associated industrial mineral, red bed-hosted U and Cu-Co-Ni, sedimentary phosphorite, and sedex
deposits. The emplacement of MVT and red bed-hosted deposits was associated with the emplacement of
basinal brines through reactivated faults that controlled basin inversion. These faults also played a significant
role as channelways for magmas and associated magmatic-hydrothermal ore deposits of the Eastern Mexican
alkaline province.
Introduction comprehensive and useful review to date (Clark and Fitch,

Mexico is well endowed in a variety of mineral deposits. 2009) is rooted in the prodigious work of the Kenneth Clark
Besides petroleum and natural gas, Mexico is an important and Paul Damon team in the late 1970s and early 1980s (Clark
producer of many mineral commodities: it is a top producer et al., 1977, 1982; Damon et al., 1981, 1983). In addition, Fab-
of Ag (with an unsurpassed historical production) and Bi, a regat-Guinchard and Cortés-Guzmán (1978) compiled a large
collection of data in order to produce regional commodity
major producer of Cd, As, Mo, Pb, Zn, Sb, Mn, and Au, and
maps of economically productive Mexican ore deposits.
an important producer of Cu and Fe. It is also an important
Most ore deposits in Mexico are related to either (1) the
producer of industrial minerals such as celestine, fluorite, bar-
convergent plate margin along the Pacific coast and the result-
ite, and phosphorite. The mineral endowment of Mexico is
ing magmatic activity since the Jurassic or (2) the fluid dynam-
hosted by a vast variety of types or subtypes of ore deposits.
ics and geochemical processes in the sedimentary basins that
In order of importance, these include epithermal, porphyry- are part of the Gulf of Mexico megabasin, which also hosts the
type, sulfide skarn, Mississippi Valley-type (MVT) and associ- Mexican petroleum and natural gas fields. Although such pro-
ated deposits, volcanogenic massive sulfide (VMS), orogenic cesses probably account for the vast majority of ore deposits
gold, sedimentary-exhalative (sedex), and iron oxide copper- in Mexico, there are other types of deposits, like orogenic gold
gold (IOCG) deposits as the most prominent types. Others deposits, rare element pegmatites, or Ti-bearing anorthosites,
include ultramafic-mafic–hosted Cr(-platinum group element which formed in response to different processes. In the case
[PGE]) and Cu-Ni deposits, carbonatite-hosted rare earth of orogenic gold deposits, despite being unrelated to magma-
element (REE) mineralization, and Sn or U-Au veins associ- tism, they are related to the evolution of the Pacific margin.
ated with felsic volcanism. These underwent specific geologic Significant tectonic events like the opening of the Gulf of Cal-
processes and settings during their formation, such as various ifornia and the subsequent incorporation of the Baja Califor-
oceanic environments (e.g., suprasubduction or island arc), nia peninsula into the Pacific plate generated modern shallow
the obduction of oceanic crust, or continental magmatism, submarine hydrothermal Mn or Cu-Co-Ni deposits on the
which are closely confined in time.The metallogenic provinces western side of the Gulf (eastern coast of the Baja California
and epochs of Mexico have traditionally been loosely defined peninsula) and sedimentary phosphorites in the southern part
through the main physiographic provinces in which they are of the peninsula (Alatorre, 1988; Camprubí et al., 2008).
found (namely, Sierra Madre Occidental, Sierra Madre Ori- The geologic configuration of Mexico can be schematized as
ental, Sierra Madre del Sur, Sierra Madre de Chiapas, Trans- a grouping of accreted tectonostratigraphic terranes that
Mexican volcanic belt, Mesa Central, and the Baja California include a wide variety of volcanosedimentary series associated
peninsula). As these physiographic boundaries do not neces- with several Mesozoic magmatic arc to back-arc systems (e.g.,
sarily coincide with tectonic entities or terranes, this paper Centeno-García et al., 2008, 2011; Martini et al., 2013). The
will describe the metallogeny of Mexico organized into major core subcontinental basement upon which accretion took
tectonomagmatic events rather than using the traditional geo- place is named Oaxaquia, and extends NNW-SSE from Coa-
graphic subdivisions. huila to Oaxaca (Fig. 1). The complex structural architecture
Although the oldest known Mexican ore deposits date back of Mexico is characterized by fault or discontinuity zones at
to the Mesoproterozoic, the most metallogenically productive different crustal scales that have acted episodically as prefer-
geologic processes of the region started in the Jurassic. ential channelways for magmas and hydrothermal fluids over a
Besides the early work by González-Reyna (1956), the metal- long period of time. The critical shift from dominantly exten-
logeny of Mexico has been addressed by several authors at sional to compressional tectonomagmatic environments along
regional scales (Salas, 1975; Clark et al., 1977, 1982; Clark and the Pacific margin occurred between the Early and Late Cre-
de la Fuente, 1978; Fabregat-Guinchard and Cortés-Guzmán, taceous and led to the initiation of continental arc and back-arc
1978; Clark and Damon, 1979; Damon et al., 1981; González- magmatism, which was accompanied by the formation of
Partida and Torres-Rodríguez, 1988; Miranda-Gasca, 2000; related magmatic-hydrothermal ore deposits. This generally
Staude and Barton, 2001; Camprubí, 2009; Clark and Fitch, compressional period terminated in the Miocene when rifting
2009), or with regard to specific types of deposits (Damon et and the opening of the Gulf of California commenced.
al., 1980, 1983; Mead et al., 1988; Megaw et al., 1988; Albinson This paper has, in general, excluded those deposits that
et al., 2001; Camprubí et al., 2003; Singer et al., 2005; Cam- lack radiochronometric dating or other trustworthy geologic
prubí and Albinson, 2006, 2007; Ortiz-Hernández et al., 2006; information. Examples include the deposits that belong to the
Valencia-Moreno et al., 2006, 2007; González-Sánchez et al., sedimentary and diagenetic domain in northwestern Mexico,
2007, 2009; Mortensen et al., 2008). Different criteria have from which no absolute geochronological determinations
been used to characterize and categorize ore deposits in Mex- are available. In this paper, “skarn deposits” is used to mean
ico, but an approach integrating major geologic events and either mantos, chimneys, or skarns in the sense of Megaw
associated deposit types has not been attempted. The most et al. (1988) and Clark and Fitch (2009), as well as “distal
TECTONIC AND METALLOGENETIC HISTORY OF MEXICO 203
Fig. 1. General geologic configuration of Mexico based on tectonostratigraphic terranes and the distribution of the Oaxa-
quia subcontinental block, simplified from Centeno-García et al. (2008).
skarns,” the metallic minerals of which are essentially sulfides, mostly MVT, a few VMS, and several IOCG deposits, among
thus excluding iron oxide skarns, which are herein grouped others, are also hosted by such rocks. However, the “carbonate
into the IOCG clan instead. The morphology, structure, and replacement deposit” label can be tentatively used for massive
metal contents of the diverse skarn styles vary significantly to semimassive polymetallic sulfide deposits that formed by
between individual deposits, but all these differences fit in the replacement of carbonate rocks with no evidence for high-
a single genetic type, as is the case for epithermal deposits temperature skarn mineralogy and no clear epithermal origin.
(Camprubí and Albinson, 2006, 2007). The word “clan” in
the context of IOCG deposits is used to loosely group mag- Proterozoic to Jurassic Metallogenic Epochs
matic-hydrothermal deposit types rich in iron oxides, which Pre-Jurassic ore deposits are relatively scarce in Mexico.
contain variable amounts of copper and gold, among other Known Proterozoic ore deposits include Ti-bearing anortho-
elements. However, this grouping does not necessarily imply sites and rare element (U-Th-Nb-Ta-REE) pegmatites in the
that the deposits therein adhere to the specific IOCG model Oaxacan Complex, south of the Oaxaquia subcontinental
as defined in Williams et al. (2005). The term “subepithermal” block (Fig. 2). Rare element pegmatites are found in the
is used in this paper for deposits that share most of their char- region between Huitzo and Telixtlahuaca, including the El
acteristics with epithermal deposits, except for their depth of Muerto pegmatite, formerly mined for U and Th (Prol-
emplacement (>~1,000 m), and which may or may not be vis- Ledesma et al., 2012). Two sets of pegmatites were dated at
ibly associated with sulfidic skarns or porphyry-type depos- 1153 to 1063 Ma and 980 to 956 Ma by Solari et al. (2003) in
its. Therefore, the use of this term is similar to that in Lefort the Oaxacan Complex, whereas Ti-bearing anorthosites in the
et al. (2011). The term “carbonate replacement deposits,” in Pluma Hidalgo area were dated at 1010 to 998 Ma by Schulze
the sense of Megaw et al. (1988), is avoided, as it includes et al. (2000). North of the Oaxaquia subcontinental block,
skarns and several epithermal deposits in Mexico (those that there is a Neoproterozoic gold-bearing gneiss assemblage at
are emplaced in carbonate sequences; see a list of the latter El Novillo (Patchett and Ruiz, 1987; Eguiluz de Antuñano et
in Albinson et al., 2001). Also, it may constitute a misnomer if al., 2004).
Fig. 2. Age and geographic distribution of pre-Mesozoic ore deposits in Mexico. The extent of the Oaxaquia subcontinen-
tal block is indicated for reference.
Paleozoic ore deposits are also scarce (Fig. 2) and include melting age permits relating these deposits to similar occur-
the Carboniferous (Visean) VMS deposits in Teziutlán-Aire rences at other times in the Paleozoic, implying recurrence of
Libre (Puebla), which have been characterized as Besshi- similar mineralizing processes.
type deposits (Miranda-Gasca, 2007). The economically most
important Paleozoic deposits are the Late Devonian barite Mexico’s “Backbone” Metallogenic Provinces:
deposits in Sonora (Johnson et al., 2009), which are associ- The Accreted Pacific Margin
ated with hydrocarbon seepage (Canet et al., 2013). The ser- The present-day continental Mexico is composed of a mosaic
pentinites and refractory-grade PGE-poor chromitites in the of tectonostratigraphic terranes that were assembled during
Tehuitzingo-Tecomatlán region (Puebla) are part of a slice the Paleozoic and Mesozoic as the result of the complex inter-
of ophiolitic mantle sequence from a suprasubduction zone action between Laurentia, Gondwana, and the paleo-Pacific
(Proenza et al., 2004) that was probably obducted during the plate. Even though the Mexican tectonomagmatic evolution
Early Ordovician (Campa-Uranga et al., 2002; Galaz et al., is still a subject of debate, consensus over some principal tec-
2012) as part of a regional-scale orogenic event (Vega-Granillo tonic events exists. At the end of the Paleozoic, Pangea was
et al., 2007). Other small Paleozoic Cr-Ni-Cu-Co-PGE occur- assembled, resulting in the accretion of Oaxaquia and other
rences in ultramafic-mafic complexes are found in Sinaloa. pre-Mesozoic Gondwanic terranes to Laurentia. Subduction
The Re-Os model ages in platinum group minerals (PGMs) of the paleo-Pacific plate under the western margin of Pan-
of the Loma Baya chromitite deposit peak at ca. 300 (Car- gea is documented by a continental arc developed during the
boniferous) and ca. 130 Ma (near the Hauterivian-Barremian Permian and Early Triassic. During the Middle and Late Tri-
limit). Such model ages are interpreted by González-Jiménez assic, a cessation of magmatic activity was accompanied by the
et al. (2012) as ages of successive melting, and the latter is also deposition of wide fans of turbidites along the western margin
interpreted as the ultimate age for the emplacement of the of Pangea, which was a passive margin at that time. By the
PGE-bearing podiform chromitite bodies. The Carboniferous Jurassic, the Precambrian and Paleozoic Gondwanic terranes
underwent widespread extension triggered by the breakup interactions between the divergent and convergent plate
of Pangea, leading to the opening of the Gulf of Mexico and boundaries throughout the Mesozoic. Therefore, the conti-
other surrounding continental to shallow marine basins that nental crust of western Mexico can be understood as having
progressively subsided and deepened during the Early Cre- grown by the generation of oceanic and continental margin
taceous. Contemporaneously, subduction was reestablished arcs followed by accretion of these Mesozoic tectonostrati-
along the paleo-Pacific margin, producing magmatic activity, graphic terranes to the Proterozoic subcontinental block of
as well as the accretion of oceanic terranes that resulted in Oaxaquia and its “satellite” and already accreted Paleozoic
the progressive growth of the Mexican leading edge. Finally, terranes.
during the Late Cretaceous, the assembled terranes were
deformed in a fold and thrust belt, which represents the south- Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous
ern extensions of the Rocky Mountains belt and is controlled Subduction in the Pacific region can be traced back to the
by both the Sevier and Laramide structures. See the compre- Early Jurassic, and formed several island arcs and other sub-
hensive work by Centeno-García (2005), Centeno-García et duction-related submarine volcanic or volcanosedimentary
al. (2008, 2011), and references therein for detailed accounts assemblages (Centeno-García et al., 2008, 2011). Several VMS
on the tectonic history of the Mexican Pacific margin. deposits are found in these assemblages, which extend into the
The types of ore deposits that can be genetically attributed Cretaceous. Examples include the Tizapa-Santa Rosa, Campo
to a wide range of syngenetic and magmatic processes asso- Morado-Suriana, Tlanilpa-Azulaquez, Cuale-Bramador, and
ciated with the evolution of the accreted Pacific margin of San Nicolás-El Salvador deposits (Fig. 3). The latter constitute
Mexico occurred dominantly in oceanic environments during the largest VMS deposits in Mexico, with estimated reserves
the Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous and in continental arcs at over 100 Mt. Another set of VMS or syngenetic deposits
during the Late Cretaceous to Recent. Principal deposit types (La Minita and Sapo Negro in Michoacán) contain sulfides
include (1) polymetallic or Ag-Au epithermal/subepithermal at their base, overlain by massive barite, and, finally, Mn and
deposits, (2) porphyry Cu, Mo, Au, W deposits, (3) poly- Fe oxides at the top. This reflects a progressive increase in
metallic sulfide skarn deposits, (4) volcanogenic stratiform/ the oxidation state of the deposition site. Some VMS depos-
strata-bound massive sulfides (VMS) or barite deposits, (5) its formed in back-arc settings between the volcanic arcs and
magmatic-hydrothermal iron oxide deposits (herein assigned the subaerial terranes of eastern Mexico, and others formed
to the IOCG clan), (6) Sn veins associated with fluorine-rich within juvenile and slightly evolved arcs (Mortensen et al.,
rhyolites, (7) U(-Au) veins in rhyolites, and (8) a range of mag- 2008). In the case of the Ag-rich Cuale-Bramador deposits
matic deposits associated with ultramafic-mafic complexes. in Jalisco, a shallow submarine epicontinental environment is
Subordinate types of deposits are rare element pegmatites suggested (Bissig et al., 2008). This is the most likely environ-
and carbonatites, and Sn-W greisens. The above deposit types ment for the La Minita deposits as well, provided that VMS
are located along a broad northwest-southeast magmatic belt deposits are syngenetic to rudist reefs. The overwhelming
extending across the country that evolved from mostly sub- majority of Mesozoic VMS deposits in Mexico have been clas-
marine oceanic to incipient continental arcs in the Mesozoic, sified as Kuroko-type deposits, although Copper King is argu-
to subaerial continental magmatic arcs since the Late Creta- ably representative of the Cyprus type (Miranda-Gasca, 2000;
ceous. The latter include the silicic large igneous province of Mortensen et al., 2008). These deposits formed in association
the Sierra Madre Occidental, the Sierra Madre del Sur, the with either calc-alkaline, tholeiitic and alkaline submarine
Sierra Madre de Chiapas (the western and southern Sierras volcanic, or volcanosedimentary rock assemblages (González-
Madre), and the Eastern Mexican alkaline province. Partida, 1993), although the time and space distribution of
The Sierra Madre Occidental is the greatest silver-produc- these rock types in relation to mineralization is hitherto still
ing region in the world. The Mesozoic-Cenozoic magmatic poorly constrained.
activity in the Pacific margin can be divided into five major VMS deposits in the Guerrero composite terrane occur
episodes (Ferrari et al., 2005b, 2007a; Morán-Zenteno et al., in two distinct belts (Fig. 3): one of them is found near the
2005, 2007; Centeno-García et al., 2008, 2011): (1) Jurassic present Pacific coast (e.g., Cuale-Bramador, La Minita-Sapo
to Early Cretaceous, (2) Late Cretaceous to Paleocene, (3) Negro, Arroyo Seco), and the other one lies relatively far
Eocene-Oligocene, (4) early Miocene, and (5) middle Mio- inland, near the eastern boundary of this terrane (San Nico-
cene to Present. The latter corresponds to the Trans-Mexican lás-El Salvador and the deposits in the Guanajuato ranges—
volcanic belt, which contains recent and presently active vol- Tizapa-Santa Rosa, Tlanilpa-Azuláquez, Rey de Plata, and
canoes. The Mesozoic metallogeny in Mexico is closely related Campo Morado-Suriana). The latter constitutes the region
to almost continually active subduction-related processes that where VMS deposits are more abundant. The eastern part of
occurred in the western Pacific margin. Geologic evidence the Guerrero composite terrane is separated from ancestral
indicates a complex history of oceanic and/or fringed exten- North America by the Arperos basin. This basin is likely para-
sional arcs that experienced suprasubduction rifting, followed autochthonous, suggesting that the Guerrero composite ter-
by stages of compression and accretion (mainly the Guerrero rane is a rifted piece of North America rather than an exotic
composite terrane; Centeno-García, 2005; Centeno-García et terrane (Martini et al., 2013). VMS deposits were emplaced
al., 2008, 2011). Rifting was associated with the breakup of around the margins of the Guerrero composite terrane in
Pangea and the subsequent opening of the Gulf of Mexico rifted arc or back-arc settings, which also included deposits
(Centeno-García, 2005). Due to the geographic location of associated with ultramafic-mafic complexes. According to this
Mexico, which forms a relatively narrow “bridge” between the model, VMS deposits near the eastern boundary of the Guer-
Atlantic and the Pacific, it was likely subject to very complex rero composite terrane could be explained as deposits formed
Centeno-García et al. (2011)

El Remolino-La Fátima
(Early Jurassic)
El Fenómeno
(Early Cretaceous)
Prosperidad
(und. age)
Eréndira
(Early Cretaceous)
El Babalú
(Early Cretaceous)
Francisco I. Madero
(Early Cretaceous?) Los Gavilanes & La Paz
Sie
(Late Jurassic)
rra
M
a dr
Carmen e te
(und. age) rra
ne
San Ignacio
(Late Jurassic) Tiámaro
(Early Cretaceous)
Dios Me Ayuda El Encino
(und. age)
Aquila
Tlanilpa-Azuláquez
(Early Cretaceous)
Cuicatlán-Concepción Pápalo
0 500 km Mixteco terrane (Early Cretaceous?)
Xola San Juan Mazatlán

pa terra
(Early Jurassic)
Terrane boundaries
ne Maya terrane
Zapoteco Cuicateco
terrane terrane
Ixcuinatoyac Campo Morado-Suriana
(Triassic?) (Late Jurassic)
Fig. 3. Space distribution of ore deposits formed from the Triassic to the Early Cretaceous in the Pacific convergent
margin of Mexico, showing terrane names and other significant geologic features. Modified from Camprubí (2009). See
available ages in Table 1. The “und. age” labels indicate those deposits with ages that are undetermined but that have been
inferred from their stratigraphic position or from various sources, as cited in Miranda-Gasca (2000) and in Ortiz-Hernández
et al. (2006). The Baja California peninsula is depicted at its approximate prerifting position. Paleotectonic reconstructions
from this period were taken from Centeno-García et al. (2011). Following these, the area of Jurassic-Albian arc undergoing
synvolcanic extensional unroofing (green) is extended northward into known similar areas, and the Jurassic-Albian back-arc
basin is extended southward into the Petatlán-Papanoa region, as data from the Loma Baya deposit (González-Jiménez et al.,
2011, 2012) confirm that it formed in suprasubduction zone back-arc ophiolites.
in arc to back-arc environments, although only the San Nico- Baja California peninsula (Fig. 3), and also in southwestern
lás-El Salvador deposits have been satisfactorily identified as Mexico. All of these deposits occur in a narrow strip of land
having formed in a back-arc setting (Mortensen et al., 2008). that lies within a few hundreds of km east of the inferred loca-
Most of the ultramafic-hosted Cr-Ni-Cu deposits formed tion of the former subduction zone, similar to IOCG deposits
during the Early Jurassic and the Early Cretaceous in island in the Andean coastal ranges (see Sillitoe, 2003).
arcs and suprasubduction zones (Ortiz-Hernández et al.,
2006), although such deposits require detailed studies to Late Cretaceous to Paleocene
define their tectonomagmatic affinity. The Loma Baya chro- Porphyry deposits, low to high sulfidation epithermal
mitite deposits in Guerrero clearly show evidence for forma- deposits, sulfidic skarns, and IOCG-type mineralization
tion in back-arc ophiolites (González-Jiménez et al., 2012). formed in a series of Late Cretaceous to Paleocene continen-
Evidence for primitive arc development is found at the tal arcs (Valencia-Moreno et al., 2006, 2007; Fig. 4). Epither-
Early Cretaceous El Arco-Calmallí porphyry Cu-Au deposit mal deposits are subordinate and include El Barqueño (mostly
(Weber and López-Martínez, 2006), which constitutes the low sulfidation mineralization) and Caridad Antigua (high sul-
oldest porphyry-type deposit known in Mexico. However, no fidation). The latter was stacked on the La Caridad porphyry
deposits that formed in continental arcs older than the Late Cu deposit, and was preserved from erosion by being down-
Cretaceous have been documented. The IOCG clan deposits thrown by faulting (Valencia et al., 2008). The giant porphyry
are particularly abundant in the Alisitos terrane in the northern Cu-Mo(-W) deposits in northern Sonora (e.g., Cananea, La
Laramide Belt Late Cretaceous to Paleocene

El Pilar
Los Humos
Quitovac Milpillas
Mariquita
Capote Basin Black symbols: Late Cretaceous
Bella Esperanza White symbols: Paleocene
Huépac
Cerro del Oro Cumobabi
La Huertita
Guaynopa & Guaynopita
Carnaval & Cerro Mariachi La Esperanza
Sauzalito Tres Piedras San Antonio de la Huerta & Aurora
El Milagro Piedras Verdes
Tarachi
Álamos
La Reforma
El Batamote
TSMAFZ
San Pedro
SLTFZ
Cerro Túnel
Cerro San Pedro
Los Uvares Comanja de Corona
Concordia-Paredones Amarillos
Talpa de Allende (El Rubí, La América, Amaltea)
Arteaga Los Cimientos
Las Truchas El Limón

Aquila
Zaniza
0 500 km
Fig. 4. Distribution of magmatism and ore deposits formed from the Late Cretaceous to the Paleocene in the Pacific
convergent margin of Mexico. Modified from Camprubí (2009). See available ages in Table 1. The distribution of volcanic
and intrusive rocks was taken from Ferrari et al. (2005a, 2007a) for the Sierra Madre Occidental and Morán-Zenteno et al.
(2005, 2007) and Martínez-Serrano et al. (2008) for the Sierra Madre del Sur. Abbreviations: SLTFZ = San Luis-Tepehuanes
fault zone, TSMAFZ = Taxco-San Miguel de Allende fault zone.
Caridad) are part of the province that also contains the por- skarns are considered as part of the broad and loosely charac-
phyry deposits in southeastern Arizona and southwestern terized IOCG-type or magmatic-hydrothermal iron oxide
New Mexico. Porphyry deposits in Mexico are apparently deposits, in much the same fashion as similar deposits in the
cogenetic with their host batholiths, which may have been Andean coastal ranges (e.g., Sillitoe, 2003). The coeval occur-
derived from variable sources and magmatic processes, and rence of tholeiitic gabbrodiorites in southwestern Mexico
display different degrees of crustal contamination and assimi- and most iron deposits indicates continental extension and
lation of sedimentary materials (for detailed accounts, see crustal thinning in the region during the Paleocene, thus sup-
Valencia-Moreno et al., 2006, 2007; Zürcher and Titley, 2007; porting an Andean-like IOCG setting. Tholeiitic and calc-
Potra and Macfarlane, 2013). In southwestern Mexico there is alkaline rocks were emplaced in the same region
a significant concentration of mostly skarn hosted iron depos- simultaneously (Zürcher et al., 2001; Corona-Esquivel and
its (the “iron belt” of Damon et al., 1981; Clark et al., 1982) Henríquez, 2004). In the Alisitos arc, Baja California (Fig. 5),
such as Mezcala or Cerro Náhuatl, and more IOCG type mag- gabbros are also reported in association with parental mag-
matic-hydrothermal magnetite-apatite deposits such as Peña matic rocks for the Early Cretaceous San Fernando IOCG
Colorada, El Encino, or Zaniza. The available age constraints deposit, which probably formed during the short-lived conti-
in southwestern Mexico (Camprubí et al., 2006a, 2011) indi- nental rifting period at 111 to 110 Ma described by Busby et
cate that an early Paleocene magmatic episode was responsi- al. (2006) or later during a compressional event (Cruise et al.,
ble for such concentration of deposits, and might have 2007). Other iron oxide deposits in southwestern Mexico (see
generated other types of deposits as well. Hernández-Barosio Fig. 6), such as Las Truchas, La Guayabera, Aquila, Tibor,
(1989) explained the formation of iron oxide deposits in and Plutón, are interpreted to belong to the Paleocene IOCG
southeastern Mexico mostly as due to magmatic “segregation cluster on the basis of key geologic characteristics. These
and injection” during the Paleocene-Eocene. Iron oxide include (1) association with gabbros, diorites, and/or
TECATE California MEXICALI
TIJUANA
Pino Suárez Arizona
SAN LUIS RÍO COLORADO

Los Gavilanes
Cinco Hermanos
El Fenómeno Cerro El Topo
Altar Desert
Corte de Madera Olivia
Cretaceous batholiths Busby et al. (2006)
Ojos Negros
Mixzy Beltrán 32º Lower Cretaceous volcanosedimentary sequences Western belt:
oceanic arc
Lower Cretaceous marine sequences (Alisitos Group)
ENSENADA Colorado River
El Álamo delta Mesozoic metamorphic rocks
La Grulla
La Prosperidad Magmatic-hydrothermal iron oxide(-Cu-Au) deposits
Porphyry-type deposits
Eréndira W(-Au-Ag) skarn deposits
La Envidia VMS deposits
Agua Blanca Fault
117º Guadalupe Solís San Isidro Deposits in ultramafic-mafic complexes
Orogenic gold deposits (?)
G
SAN FELIPE
Unknown type (Au-Ag)
U
Turquoise deposits (supergene alteration of MHIO?)
L
F
El Babalú Mineralized areas during the Cenozoic
La Brújula
El Morro
Agua Chiquita
O
Palma del Gringo Cañada del Gringo
PUERTECITOS
SAN QUINTÍN Campo Rodríguez
F
El Taraicito La Huertita
El Manzano
La Tinaja Sauzalito, La Alejandra & La Tórtola
Cerro Blanco C
A
Cerro Pelón La Cochalosa
San Fernando
L
P
Santa Úrsula, El Salto & La Caramallola El Gato

I
A
San Pedro y San Pablo

F
C
Pícale & Yesenia

O
Santa Catarina
I
R
F
N
I
I
C
116º Palomas Ángel de la GuardaA

Island
BAHÍA DE LOS ÁNGELES

2 9º
O
C
E
A
N
San Jerónimo
Cedros
Island
Calmallí
El Arco
28º
115º 114º Baja California Sur 113º
Fig. 5. Distribution of Mesozoic rocks in the state of Baja California (simplified from the updated Geological Map of
Mexico by Ferrari et al., 2007b) showing the occurrences of ore deposits that formed during the Mesozoic or that are likely
of Mesozoic age, with special attention to the occurrence of magmatic-hydrothermal iron oxide deposits. The types of ore
deposits are interpreted from the descriptions of Juvera-Gaxiola et al. (1962), Andrade-Pulido and Estrada-Barraza (1965),
Ojeda-Rivera et al. (1965), Gastil et al. (1975), Krummenacher et al. (1975), Amaya-Martínez (1977), Pesquera-Velázquez
(1981), Martín-Barajas and Monjaraz (1989), Bon-Aguilar et al. (2001), Ortega-Rivera (2003), Arellano-Morales et al. (2005),
Servicio Geológico Mexicano (2005, 2011), Clark and Fitch (2009), and Torres-Carrillo et al. (2011). See ages in Table 1.
MHIO = magmatic hydrothermal iron oxide.
Fig. 6. Distribution of Mesozoic rocks and Cenozoic(?) batholiths in southwestern Mexico (simplified from the updated
Geological Map of Mexico by Ferrari et al., 2007b) showing the occurrences of ore deposits that formed during the Mesozoic
or that are likely of Mesozoic age, with special attention to the occurrence of magmatic-hydrothermal iron oxide deposits, of
which type the early Cenozoic deposits are also shown. The distribution of the majority of magmatic-hydrothermal iron oxide
deposits was taken from Flores-Aguillón (2005), and additional information from Cárdenas-Vargas et al. (1992, 1994), Werre-
Keeman and Estrada-Rodarte (1999), and Castro-Rodríguez and Mérida-Cruz (2008); the possible examples of orogenic
gold deposits were inferred based on information from Ruiz-Marqués and Núñez-Espinal (1993). See the inset of the map of
Mexico in Figure 3, and ages in Table 1.
monzogranites assigned to the Paleocene by geologic and km from the trench, a few others (Guaynopa, Cerro del Oro;
limited absolute age constraints, (2) complex interactions in Fig. 4) formed several hundred km farther inland. Although
the associated intrusive rocks, including evidence for magma no solid case for these IOCG deposits being emplaced in a
mingling or mixing, (3) iron oxide-dominated, sulfide-poor back-arc environment can be made on the basis of the cur-
ore deposits, (4) apatite-rich intrusives and iron oxide-bear- rent knowledge, given their locations inland, this hypothesis is
ing associations, and/or (5) potassic or sodic alteration assem- worth testing in future research.
blages commonly associated with carbonate-rich propylitic
alteration. Eocene to early Miocene
Despite the fact that the vast majority of IOCG-type depos- The climactic magmatism in the Sierra Madre Occidental
its that formed during this period occur in settings similar to is represented by ignimbritic silicic volcanism in two main
those in the Andean Coastal ranges, within a few hundred pulses: (1) from late Eocene to early Oligocene along the
entire Sierra Madre Occidental and the Mesa Central, and in epicontinental basins related to the passive margin of the
(2) during the early Miocene in the central and southern Gulf of Mexico. Intrusions within the carbonate rocks are spa-
Sierra Madre Occidental. The late Eocene to early Oligocene tially associated with some of the largest Zn-Pb-Cu-Ag skarn
(~35–30 Ma) magmatic episode constitutes the ﬁrst bimodal deposits in the country. These include the Zimapán, Mapimí,
andesitic-rhyolitic volcanic event of the early volcanic com- Charcas, Concepción del Oro, and San Martín deposits.
plex of the Sierra Madre Occidental (McDowell and Keizer, This group of deposits also includes known skarn deposits at
1977). The early volcanic complex is largely formed by andes- Mazapil (Fig. 7). This district contains the giant Au-Ag-Pb-
ites and, locally, rhyolitic volcanic centers, which are generally Zn Peñasquito deposit (with proven and probable reserves of
associated with economically relevant epithermal deposits. A ~1200 Mt, which correspond to >10 Moz Au and ~600 Moz
myriad of intermediate sulfidation polymetallic to low sulfida- Ag; see recent reports by Goldcorp), which is the largest Au
tion Au-Ag epithermal deposits formed in association with the deposit and the largest currently operating mine in Mexico.
early volcanic complex (Figs. 7, 8). This metallogenetic period The deposits at Peñasquito are hosted mainly by two breccia
includes the world-class epithermal Ag Guanajuato and Fres- pipes that crosscut carbonate rocks, with no Ca silicate assem-
nillo deposits, the latter of which is currently the largest active blages so far recognized. Some Paleocene to Oligocene skarn
silver mine in the world in terms of historical production and porphyry-type deposits in Sonora, like the Pilares deposit,
and proven reserves. In fact, this period constitutes the most are rich in tungsten (Mead et al., 1988; Valencia-Moreno et
prospective one for epithermal deposits in the Sierra Madre al., 2006, 2007). West of the carbonate platform, porphyry-
Occidental of Mexico (Camprubí and Albinson, 2006, 2007). type deposits formed in portions of the magmatic belt that
The magmatism migrated eastward from the Pacific margin were more proximal to the trench.
inland during the Eocene (Fig. 7), and calc-alkaline magmas Tin vein deposits associated with the emplacement of
intruded into the carbonate platform sequences that formed high-fluorine rhyolitic domes or granitic intrusions (greisen)
Well-recognized fault zones
0 500 km
Fig. 7. Distribution of magmatism and ore deposits emplaced during the Eocene in the Pacific convergent margin of
Mexico. Modified from Camprubí (2009). See available ages in Table 1. The Talamantes Mn deposit is identified by a gray star
identifying it as epithermal type, although the author could not confirm such affiliation. See magmatic centers of the Eastern
Mexican alkaline province in figure 7 of Camprubí (2009).
zones
0 500 km
Fig. 8. Distribution of magmatism and ore deposits emplaced during the Oligocene in the Pacific convergent margin of
Mexico. Modified from Camprubí (2009). Available ages are listed in Table 1. See magmatic centers of the Eastern Mexican
alkaline province in figure 7 of Camprubí (2009).
of Oligocene age are restricted to the borders of the Mesa Miocene to Present
Central (especially to the San Luis-Tepehuanes fault system; The early Miocene magmatic pulse, known as the Upper
Nieto-Samaniego et al., 2005, 2007; Fig. 8) and formed dur- Volcanic series, corresponds to the last volcanic episode in the
ing the Oligocene crustal extensional period as well. Examples Sierra Madre Occidental that is clearly ignimbritic (McDow-
include the Tlaquicheros, Villa de Reyes, Villa de Arriaga,
ell and Keizer, 1977). This igneous pulse is associated with
Ahualulco, Cosío, Sierra de Chapultepec, La Ochoa, Juan
mainly epithermal (Au-Ag and polymetallic) deposits (Fig. 9).
Aldama, Cerro de los Remedios, Sombrerete, Avino, and El
Most Miocene epithermal deposits are found in Nayarit or
Naranjo-Los Ángeles deposits (Table 1; Fig. 8). During the
Oligocene, new IOCG-type deposits were emplaced in the in the states nearby (southwestern Mexico), along with some
southern Sierra Madre Occidental and near the western edge tin vein deposits associated with Miocene calderas (Fig. 10).
of the Eastern Mexican alkaline province (Fig. 8; Cerro de Polymetallic deposits are probably associated with the con-
Mercado and the La Perla-Hércules cluster, respectively). tinuous volcanism that occurred between 19.55 and 12.6 Ma
The Paleocene IOCG deposits are interpreted to have been (Aguilar-Nogales, 1987a, b). The second important prospec-
emplaced at greater depth than their Oligocene counterparts. tive area for Miocene deposits is found near the eastern limit
The former contain coarse euhedral magnetite and pegma- of the Trans-Mexican volcanic belt (Figs. 10, 11), and includes
toid magnetite-apatite-pyroxene veins and are interpreted to epithermal deposits like those in the Pachuca-Real del Monte
have formed from hypabyssal iron oxide-rich melts (e.g., Peña district, as well as precious metal and polymetallic skarn, por-
Colorada; Camprubí and Canet, 2009; Camprubí et al., 2011), phyry, and IOCG-type deposits. The Pachuca-Real del Monte
whereas the latter show volcanic features (e.g., La Perla, district (inactive) has traditionally been regarded as the larg-
Cerro de Mercado; Cárdenas-Vargas and del Castillo-García, est single silver-producing district of all time (~45,000 t Ag,
1964; Lyons, 1988a). The potential for deeper deposits for the 220 t Au). The reason for such an exceptional amount of silver
Oligocene is unknown. in a single district, especially in such an uncommon place and
Table 1. Compilation of the Known
Deposit State Deposit type
Proterozoic (2500–542 Ma)

Huitzo (El Muerto)– Telixtlahuaca Oaxaca Rare element (U-Th-Nb-Ta-REE) pegmatites
Pluma Hidalgo Oaxaca Ti-bearing anorthosites
Novillo Tamaulipas Au veins in gneiss
La Panchita Oaxaca Pegmatites
La Joya (San Andrés Nuxiño) Oaxaca Pegmatites
Paleozoic (542–251 Ma)

Tehuitzingo – Tecomatlán Puebla Cr-PGE in ophiolites

Teziutlán–Aire Libre Puebla Zn-Pb-Ag VMS (possible Besshi type)
Cerro Cobachi – Sierra El Aliso – Sonora Barite deposits associated with hydrocarbon seepage
Barita de Sonora – Mazatán
Triassic (251.0–199.6 Ma)

Vizcaíno Peninsula (several deposits) Baja California Sur Cr-Ni-Co-Cu-Au-PGE in ophiolites
La Dicha – La Esperanza (Ixcuinatoyac) Guerrero Cu and barite VMS
Early and Middle Jurassic (199.6–161.2 Ma)

El Remolino – La Fátima Sonora PGE in ultramafic-mafic complex (pyroxenites)

San Juan Mazatlán Oaxaca Porphyry Cu
Cedros Island Baja California Magnesites in ophiolites
El Arco – Calmallí Baja California Porphyry Cu-Au (with IOCG roots?)
Late Jurassic (161.2–145.5 Ma)

Cuale Jalisco Polymetallic VMS
Tizapa State of México Polymetallic VMS

San Nicolás – El Salvador Zacatecas Polymetallic VMS
Campo Morado – Suriana Guerrero Polymetallic VMS
El Gordo Guanajuato Polymetallic VMS
San Ignacio (Los Mexicanos) Guanajuato Polymetallic VMS
Molango Hidalgo Mn sedex
La Caja & La Casita formations Zacatecas / Coahuila / Sedimentary phosphorites
(many locations) San Luis Potosí
Early Cretaceous (145.5–99.6 Ma)

Francisco I. Madero Zacatecas Polymetallic VMS (?) overprinted by a Cenozoic skarn

Tiámaro Michoacán Porphyry Cu
Tlanilpa – Azuláquez district State of México Polymetallic VMS
Magdalena and Margarita Islands Baja California Magnesite and Cr in ultramafic-mafic complex
Concepción Pápalo Oaxaca Asbestos in ultramafic-mafic complex
Loma Baya Guerrero Cr-Ni-PGE in back-arc ultramafic-mafic complex

Dos Hermanas – La Virgen Zacatecas Polymetallic VMS

San Fernando Baja California Fe-Cu-Au IOCG deposit

Palmar Chico – San Pedro Limón State of México Cr-Ni-Co in island-arc ultramafic-mafic complex
Eréndira – Guadalupe Solís – Tepuxtete – Baja California Fe-Cu-Au IOCG deposits
San Isidro
San Juan de Otates Guanajuato Cr-Ni in island-arc ultramafic-mafic complex
El Tamarindo Guerrero Cr-Ni in island-arc ultramafic-mafic complex
Santa Úrsula – La Cochalosa Baja California Fe-Cu IOCG deposit

El Babalú Baja California Fe-Cu IOCG deposit
La Minita – La Blanca – Sapo Negro Michoacán Zn-Pb-Ba-Ag VMS
Ages of Ore Deposits in Mexico
Age (Ma) Dating method Selected references and comments
1063–1053 U/Pb Solari et al. (2003)

1010–998 U/Pb Schulze et al. (2000), Weber et al. (2010); source area for recent Ti-rich coastal placers
<1000? Sm-Nd Patchett and Ruiz (1987), Eguiluz de Antuñano et al. (2004)
980 Pb-a Cited in Salas (1975); mined for collector-quality minerals
930–770 K-Ar; Rb-Sr Cited in Salas (1975); unknown aim for mining
>481–478 U/Pb* The orebodies are part of the Xayacatlán Formation, which is crosscut by the Tetícic
metagranitoids, dated at 478 Ma (Campa-Uranga et al., 2002); the youngest detrital zircon
cluster in the low-grade rocks yielded U-Pb ages of 481 ± 16 Ma (Galaz et al., 2012); such
ages would represent the upper threshold for the obduction of the ophiolites, the formation
of which would be much older
345–327 U/Pb Ángeles-Moreno et al. (2003)
Late Devonian Johnson et al. (2009), Canet et al. (2013)
221.0–220.0 U/Pb Kimbrough and Moore (2003), Kimbrough and Ledesma-Vazquez (2008)
Late Triassic-Early Jurassic Klesse (1968)
Early Jurassic Biostratigraphy Rodríguez-Castañeda et al. (2003); the pyroxenites are hosted by the Caracahui and
Santa Rosa formations
190.6 K-Ar* Damon et al. (1983)
173.0 U/Pb Kimbrough and Moore (2003)
164.1 Re-Os Weber and López-Martínez (2006), cited in Valencia-Moreno et al. (2006, 2007)
157.2–154.0 U/Pb* Bissig et al. (2008)

156.7–103.4 Pb-Pb JICA-MMAJ (1991); other Pb-Pb model ages by Elías-Herrera et al. (2000) span 227 to
188 Ma; setting aside technical considerations, Late Jurassic ages are considered here to
be the likeliest due to the regional geologic context
151.3–147.9 U/Pb* Mortensen et al. (2008); largest VMS deposits in Mexico
146.2–142.3 U/Pb* Mortensen et al. (2008)
146.1 U/Pb* Mortensen et al. (2008)
145.0 U/Pb* Martini et al. (2011)
Oxfordian-Kimmeridgian? Okita (1992); largest Mn deposit in North America
Kimmeridgian-early Berriasian Soto-Pineda (1960), Rogers et al. (1961), Vivanco-Flores (1976)
141–133? U/Pb* Escalona-Alcázar et al. (2009); these ages correspond to the enclosing volcanosedimentary
complex, and are not restricted to the deposit; if this deposit were definitely ascribed to a
VMS model, the likeliest period for its formation would be closer to the 141 Ma age than the
133 Ma age, in accordance with the period with the highest production of VMS deposits
regionally; a late skarn overprint (Canet et al., 2009) remains undated, but it is likely to be of
Late Cretaceous or Cenozoic age
140.0–131.0 U/Pb; Ar/Ar Garza-González et al. (2006), Garza González-Vélez (2007)
139.7–138.8 U/Pb* Mortensen et al. (2008)
138–134 K-Ar Cited in Arellano-Morales et al. (2005)
138.0–123.0 Ar/Ar Delgado-Argote et al. (1992)
~130.0 Re-Os González-Jiménez et al. (in prep.); Re-Os model ages display two peaks at ca. 300 and ca.
130 Ma: the former is interpreted as a previous remelting age and the latter as the last
remelting episode that led to the emplacement of PGE-bearing chromitites; no reasonable
age estimates for obduction are available so far
117.94? Ar/Ar It is assumed that the nearby basaltic andesite dated by Iriondo et al. (2003) is likely to be
associated with the mineralizations
114.8–111.9? 100? U/Pb*, Re-Os Staude and Barton (2001) and Lopez et al. (2005) argued for an Early Cretaceous age; here,
the ages for the Misión San Fernando pluton by Busby et al. (2006) are used, plus Re-Os ages
by Duncan et al. (2011)
114.0–104.0 Ar/Ar Cited in Ortiz-Hernández et al. (2006)
113.4–98.6 Ar/Ar* Ortega-Rivera (2003)
112.8 K-Ar Cited in Ortiz-Hernández et al. (2006)

112.0 ? Cited in Ortiz-Hernández et al. (2006)
111.59? Ar/Ar* Busby et al. (2006); this age corresponds to the La Burra pluton, with which the Santa Úrsula
and nearby deposits are possibly associated
101.0–95.0? Ar/Ar* Cited in Ortega-Rivera (2003, supplementary material on CD)
100.4 Rb-Sr Ortigoza-Cruz et al. (1994)
Table 1.
El Fenómeno – Corte de Madera – Baja California W-Au skarns

Cerro El Topo – Los Gavilanes

Bacubirito Sinaloa PGE-Cu-Co-Ni in ultramafic-mafic complex (ophiolites),
and late Au-Ag veins
Late Cretaceous (99.6–65.5 Ma)

Las Truchas Michoacán Fe skarn (IOCG clan)

Aquila Michoacán Fe skarn (IOCG clan)

San Pedro Sinaloa Cu-PGE-Au in ultramafic-mafic complex
La Huertita Baja California W-Au skarn
Sauzalito – Minitas Baja California Porphyry Au-Cu?
Guaynopa Chihuahua Fe-Cu-Au IOCG deposit
El Encino Jalisco Fe Kiruna type (IOCG clan)

Guaynopita Chihuahua Porphyry Cu-Au
Concordia – Paredones Amarillos Baja California Sur Orogenic Au

La Esperanza Sonora Cu-Zn-Ni-Co skarn
Tobora Sinaloa W skarn
Los Uvares Baja California Sur Orogenic Au

Bacamacari Sinaloa Porphyry Cu
La Parrilla Durango Polymetallic skarn
Metates Durango Porphyry Au-Ag
El Milagro Baja California Fe-Cu-Au IOCG deposit
El Pilar Sonora Porphyry Cu
Talpa de Allende Jalisco Polymetallic VMS
(El Rubí, La América, Amaltea)
Caborca Sonora Porphyry Cu
El Promontorio Sonora Porphyry Cu
Quitovac Sonora Orogenic Au
Comanja de Corona Guanajuato Polymetallic skarn
Capote Basin Sonora Zn-Cu skarn
Los Naranjos Sinaloa Porphyry Mo-Cu
Peña Colorada Colima Fe skarn and Kiruna type (IOCG clan)
Los Humos Sonora Porphyry Cu-Mo
Santa María Zaniza Oaxaca Fe-Cu IOCG (?) deposit
El Limón Guerrero Au skarn
Mezcala Guerrero Fe-Au skarn (IOCG clan?)

Agua Dulce (Talpa de Allende) Jalisco Fe IOCG (?) deposit
Los Pilares (Mina Nyco) Sonora Wollastonite skarn
Verde Grande Sonora Cu skarn
Cerro del Oro Sonora Fe-Cu skarn (IOCG clan)
San Javier (Badiraguato) Sinaloa Ni-Cr-Co in diatremes (described as kimberlites) in an
ultramafic-mafic complex
Paleocene (65.5–55.8 Ma)

Carnaval Sonora W skarn
El Violín (Mochitlán) Guerrero Magnetite-apatite deposit (IOCG clan)
Cerro Mariachi Sonora W skarn
El Coralillo Sonora Porphyry Cu
Cerro San Pedro San Luis Potosí Porphyry Au-Ag
Lucy (Cananea district) Sonora Porphyry Mo-Cu
Milpillas Sonora Porphyry Cu-Au-Mo
La Mariquita Sonora Porphyry Cu-Mo
Cumobabi (San Judas) Sonora Mo-Cu-W porphyry (breccia pipes)
Los Cimientos Michoacán Porphyry Cu-Au
La Herradura Sonora Orogenic Au
Sierra del Alo Jalisco Magnetite-apatite deposit (IOCG clan)
Tarachi Sonora Porphyry Mo-Au
El Alacrán Sonora Porphyry Cu-Mo
Los Alisos (La Caridad district) Sonora Porphyry Cu-Mo
María (Cananea district) Sonora Porphyry Cu-Mo
Piedras Verdes Sonora Porphyry Cu-Mo
(Cont.)
100.0–83.0 Ar/Ar* Gastil et al. (1975), Krummenacher et al. (1975), Ortega-Rivera (2003); such ages can be
protracted to 108 Ma, with regard to the ages of productive plutons; some deposits cited in
Salas (1975) and Clark and Fitch (2009)
Probably Albian Cerecero-Luna et al. (1984), cited in Ortiz-Hernández et al. (2006)
99.0? ? Vázquez et al. (1986), uncertain age; unpublished Ar/Ar age by A. Camprubí and
27.74 Ar/Ar M. López-Martínez (2013)
98.6 K-Ar* Ruvalcaba-Ruiz (1983); Camprubí (2009) referred to some ages at 63.0 to 61.24 Ma, which
might also be associated with part of the deposit; see Camprubí and González-Partida (in prep.)
96.0 ? Rodríguez-Castañeda et al. (2003)
96–89 K-Ar* Gastil et al. (1975), Krummenacher et al. (1975), Ortega-Rivera (2003)
95–73 K-Ar*, Ar/Ar*, U/Pb* Ortega-Rivera (2003), and references therein
98.12–95.42 Ar/Ar González-Partida et al. (in prep.)
93.1 K-Ar Cited in Corona-Esquivel and Henríquez (2004); this age corresponds to a magnetite-bearing
gabbro, the association of which with the main Fe orebodies is uncertain; later granitic rocks,
with which the Fe mineralizations have been traditionally associated, were dated at 65 ± 3 Ma
92.4–84.4 U/Pb González-Partida et al. (in prep.)
91.0 K-Ar* Echo Bay (1997), cited in Cendejas-Cruz and Aldana-Hernández (2008), and Clark and Fitch
(2009)
91.0–89.0 U/Pb Pérez-Segura et al. (2009)
91.0–88.0 K-Ar* Henry (1985), cited in Clark and Damon (1979)
90.0–80.0 K-Ar*, FT* Carrillo-Chávez et al. (1999) advocate an epithermal model, whereas Clark and Fitch (2009)
propose an orogenic gold model instead, which is the position taken in this paper
88.0 K-Ar* Damon et al. (1980)
87.4–79.2 K-Ar* Clark et al. (1979)
85.0 K-Ar Warnaars and Girón-Garay (1999)
~79.0? Ar/Ar* Ortega-Rivera (2003)
73.9 Re-Os Del Río-Salas (2011)
71.9 K-Ar* Zárate del Valle et al. (2000); this age is unlikely to correspond to the formation of these
deposits, which are expected to be synchronous with those at Cuale (see above)
70.9–67.6 K-Ar* Damon et al. (1980)
69.6–51.8 K-Ar* Roldán-Quintana (1991)
69.51–61.29 Ar/Ar Iriondo (2001), Iriondo et al. (2005)
69.0 K-Ar* Gross (1975)
69.0–64.0 U-Pb* Meinert (1982)
68.5–65.0 K-Ar* Cited in Bustamante-Yáñez (1993)
68.0–48.18 Ar/Ar, K-Ar Camprubí et al. (2011), and references therein; largest iron deposit in Mexico
67.9–66.6 K-Ar* Damon et al. (1983), E. Pérez-Segura (pers. comm., 2012)
<67.0? K-Ar* Murillo-Muñetón et al. (1986)
66.6–65.4 Ar/Ar, Re-Os Canela-Barboza (2005)
66.2–62.2 U/Pb, Ar/Ar, Re-Os Meza-Figueroa et al. (2003), Levresse et al. (2004); listed among “typical” skarns, though such
labeling should be tested by the IOCG hypothesis; this district is one of the largest recent
mining developments for gold in Mexico
65.6 K-Ar* Juárez-Álvarez et al. (1985)
Late Cretaceous Cendejas-Cruz and Peña-Leal (1999), Saitz-Sau (2009)
Late Cretaceous Pérez-Segura (1985), Barton et al. (1995)
Late Cretaceous to early Paleocene González-Gallegos et al. (1991)
Late Cretaceous to early Paleocene Bustamante-Yáñez (1985), Servais et al. (1985)
64.9 K-Ar Mead et al. (1988)

64.9–62.1 K-Ar Miranda-Gasca and Roldán-Martínez (2003), Zamora et al. (1975)
64.1–49.6 K-Ar* Mead et al. (1988)
64.0 U/Pb Anderson and Silver (1977)
64.0 K-Ar Petersen et al. (2001)
63.8–63.0 Re-Os Barra et al. (2005), Del Río-Salas et al. (2012)
63.1–59.0 Re-Os, K-Ar Cited in Singer et al. (2005), Valencia-Moreno et al. (2006, 2007), Valencia et al. (2006)
63.0–60.4 Re-Os Barra et al. (2005); Del Río-Salas et al. (2012)
63.0–40.0 ? Cited in Mead et al. (1988), Singer et al. (2005), Valencia-Moreno et al. (2006, 2007)
62.8 K-Ar Cited in Valencia-Moreno et al. (2006, 2007)
61.0 Re-Os Quintanar-Ruiz et al. (2008)
61.0–53.0 K-Ar* Munguía-Rojas and Pérez-Vargas (1989)
60.99–60.0 U/Pb*, Re-Os Greig (2012) and T. Bissig, written communication, 2013
60.9–56.7 Re-Os, K-Ar Cited in Salas (1975) and Barra et al. (2005)
60.4–60.2 U/Pb Rascón-Heimpel and Valencia-Moreno (2007), Rascón-Heimpel et al. (2012)
60.4–57.4 Re-Os, K-Ar Barra et al. (2005)
~60.0 Re-Os Barra et al. (2005)
Table 1.
Cananea Sonora Porphyry Cu-Mo-Zn

La Azulita Sinaloa Porphyry Cu-Mo
La Reforma Sinaloa Polymetallic skarn
San José del Desierto Sinaloa Porphyry Cu-Mo-W
Chutla Guerrero Fe skarn (IOCG clan)
Magistral (Choix) Sinaloa Porphyry Cu-Mo-W
Cosalá Sinaloa Fe skarn (IOCG clan), telescoped by IS polymetallic epithermal
Cuatro Hermanos Sonora Porphyry Cu-Au-Mo
San Manuel (Altar) Sonora Porphyry Au/LS Au epithermal
El Barqueño Jalisco LS-IS Au-Ag epithermal
San Antonio de la Huerta Sonora Porphyry Cu-Mo
Moctezuma Sonora Polymetallic skarn and IS epithermal; gossan
Santo Tomás – Cuchicari Sinaloa Porphyry Cu-Au-Mo
Arteaga Michoacán Fe skarn (IOCG clan)
Suaqui Verde Sonora Porphyry Cu-Mo
Tameapa Sinaloa Porphyry Cu-Au-Mo and polymetallic skarn

El Batamote Sonora Porphyry Cu-Au-Mo
La Caridad Sonora Porphyry Cu-Au-Mo
Huepac (Padercitas – Washington) Sonora Porphyry Cu-W-Mo-Ag (veins, breccia pipes)
San Alberto (Álamos) Sonora W-Cu skarn
Los Chicharrones Sinaloa Porphyry Mo
Tres Piedras Sonora Porphyry Mo-W-Cu (breccia pipes)
Cerro Túnel Sinaloa Porphyry Cu (breccia pipes)
Cerro Mazomique Sinaloa IOCG (hematite-magnetite-Au-Cu)
Bella Esperanza Sonora Porphyry Cu-Mo
Aurora Sonora Porphyry Cu-Mo
Ojos Negros Baja California Ni-Co in ultramafic-mafic complex
San Francisco (Autlán) Jalisco Mn lacustrine sedex
Eocene (55.8–33.9 Ma)
El Chacón Sonora Orogenic Au
La Caridad Antigua Sonora HS Cu-Au epithermal
El Maguey Guanajuato W-Bi skarn
Malpica Sinaloa Porphyry Cu-Mo
Sierra Pinta Sonora Orogenic Au
Tamcapa Sinaloa Porphyry Cu
La Guadalupana Chihuahua Porphyry W-Cu-Mo
Sonoita (El Desierto) Sonora W-Cu-Ag pegmatite
La Sorpresa Jalisco Porphyry Cu
Campo Bustamante Sonora Orogenic Au
La Colorada (Chalchihuites) Zacatecas Polymetallic skarn/IS epithermal veins and mantos
El Crestón Sonora Porphyry Mo
Pilares Sonora Porphyry Cu-Mo-W
La Toñita Sonora Orogenic Au
Florida-Barrigón Sonora Porphyry Cu-Au-Mo
Satevó (Batopilas district) Chihuahua Porphyry Au-Ag-Cu
La Guadalupana Chihuahua Porphyry W-Cu-Mo
Las Higueras Sinaloa Porphyry Mo-Cu
Villa Juárez Hidalgo Fe-Cu-wollastonite skarn
La Negra Sonora Orogenic Au
Tlayca Morelos Cu skarn
Badiraguato Sinaloa Porphyry Cu (breccia pipes)
Jacala Hidalgo Ag-Au skarn
Los Verdes (Yécora, Buenavista district) Sonora Porphyry W-Mo-Cu
La Choya Sonora Orogenic Au
Santa Rosa (San Felipe de Jesús district) Sonora Polymetallic skarn
Las Higueras Sinaloa Porphyry Cu-Mo
Mala Noche Durango Epithermal
Doña Marcia Sonora Orogenic Au
Piedras Verdes Sonora Cu in supergene enrichment zone
Palo Verde (El Tungsteno) Sonora W skarn
Batopilas Chihuahua IS Ag deep epithermal or subepithermal
Tronco de Peras Durango Polymetallic skarn
Charcas San Luis Potosí Polymetallic skarn
Baviacora Sonora W-Cu-Mo skarn
Cerro Colorado Chihuahua Porphyry Cu-Mo
San Martín Zacatecas Polymetallic skarn/deep IS Ag epithermal or subepithermal

(Cont.)
59.9 K-Ar Cited in Singer et al. (2005) and Valencia-Moreno et al. (2006, 2007); one of the largest Cu
deposits in North America
59.5 K-Ar Cited in Clark and Damon (1979), Valencia-Moreno et al. (2006, 2007)
59.2–58.6 K-Ar Cited in Bustamante (1978), Valencia-Moreno et al. (2006, 2007)
59.1 K-Ar Cited in Clark and Damon (1979), Valencia-Moreno et al. (2006, 2007)
59.0 K-Ar* Bastida et al. (1988)
59.0–56.0 ?* Cited in Bustamante (1978), Clark and Damon (1979)
58.5–57.7 (skarn) K-Ar Cited in Bustamante (1978), Clark and Damon (1979), Valencia-Moreno et al. (2006, 2007)
58.0–55.7 K-Ar, Re-Os Cited in Singer et al. (2005), Barra et al. (2005)
<58.0 K-Ar* Cited in Carrillo et al. (1984)
57.9 Ar/Ar Camprubí et al. (2006a)
57.3 130Te-130Xe Srinivasan et al. (1972)
57.2 K-Ar Cited in Clark and Damon (1979), Singer et al. (2005), Valencia-Moreno et al. (2006, 2007)
57.0 Re-Os Cited in Singer et al. (2005) and Barra et al. (2005)
57.0–53.0 (porphyry) Re-Os Cited in Bustamante (1978), Clark and Damon (1979), Singer et al. (2005), Barra et al. (2005)
54.1–52.2 (skarn) ?*
56.8 K-Ar Cited in Singer et al. (2005), Valencia-Moreno et al. (2006, 2007)
56.8–51.3 K-Ar, U/Pb, Re-Os Cited in Singer et al. (2005), Barra et al. (2005); one of the largest Cu deposits in North America
56.8–45.7 K-Ar Clark et al. (1979), Mead et al. (1988), Valencia-Moreno et al. (2006, 2007)
56.4 Ar/Ar Mead et al. (1988)
<56.1–55.7 Ar/Ar Mead et al. (1988)
<56.0 K-Ar* Henry (1985), cited in Clark and Damon (1979)
<56.0? ? Bustamante and Soberanes (1978)
55.8–53.5 K-Ar Cited in Salas (1975) and Valencia-Moreno et al. (2006, 2007)
Late Cretaceous to early Paleocene Cited in Ortiz-Hernández et al. (2006)
Paleocene? Zantop (1978)
55.54 Ar/Ar Iriondo (2001), Iriondo et al. (2005)

55.0 U/Pb Valencia et al. (2008)
55.0 K-Ar* Zárate del Valle (1986)
54.1 Re-Os Barra et al. (2005)
54.8 K-Ar Araux-Sánchez et al. (2001)
54.1 K-Ar* Damon et al. (1983)
54.0–51.5 K-Ar Cited in Mead et al. (1988) and Valencia-Moreno et al. (2006, 2007)
54.0 K-Ar Mead et al. (1988)
54.0 ? Cited in Valencia-Moreno et al. (2006, 2007)
53.6 (skarn) K-Ar Cited in Valencia-Moreno et al. (2006, 2007)
~53.0 ? Cited in Valencia-Moreno et al. (2006, 2007)
52.4 K-Ar Cited in Singer et al. (2005), Valencia-Moreno et al. (2006, 2007)
51.0 K-Ar Clark et al. (1979)
51.0 K-Ar* Cited in Bustamante (1978), Clark and Damon (1979)
51.0–49.0 K-Ar Flores et al. (2003)
50.0? ? Alam-Hernández et al. (2000)
50.0–49.0 K-Ar* Henry (1985), cited in Clark and Damon (1979)
<50.0 K-Ar* Flores-Castro et al. (2006)
49.5 K-Ar Cited in Salas (1975); Mead et al. (1988)
48.9 K-Ar* Clark et al. (1979)
48.4 K-Ar Cited in Castro-Escárrega (2007)
48.1 Ar/Ar, Rb-Sr Mead et al. (1988)
48.0–45.0? K-Ar* Cited in Wilkerson et al. (1988)
46.6 ? Cited in Megaw et al. (1988)
46.6–35.2 K-Ar Mead et al. (1988)
46.2 (skarn), K-Ar, Re-Os Damon et al. (1983), unpublished data by V.A. Valencia and A. Camprubí (2013)
44.0–43.7 (molybdenite)
Table 1.
San Marcos Caldera Chihuahua Continental volcanogenic-hydrothermal U

Güeras de Fernando Durango Ag-Au epithermal
Real de Ángeles Zacatecas IS polymetallic epithermal
Candelero Sinaloa LS Au-Ag epithermal
La Vasca Coahuila Polymetallic skarn
Cerro Mercado Coahuila Fe skarn (IOCG clan)
Tibor Michoacán Fe skarn (IOCG clan)
Sierra Peña Blanca Chihuahua Continental volcanogenic-hydrothermal U

Topia Durango IS(?) polymetallic epithermal
Zimapán Hidalgo Polymetallic skarn
Gavilán Durango Porphyry Au
El Burro – La Minita Coahuila Fe-Co-Ni skarns (IOCG clan?)
Talamantes Chihuahua Mn veins (epithermal?)
Las Fraguas (Poliutla) Guerrero LS Hg-Cu epithermal
Bismark Chihuahua Polymetallic skarn
El Melón Chihuahua Epithermal (?) barite veins
San Francisco Sonora Orogenic Au
San Dimas (Tayoltita) Durango IS-LS Ag-Au and polymetallic epithermal
Providencia – Concepción del Oro Zacatecas Porphyry Zn/polymetallic skarn
Real de Guadalupe Guerrero IS polymetallic epithermal
La Negra (Maconí) Querétaro Polymetallic skarn
Orión Durango Epithermal
Guanaceví Durango LS-IS polymetallic epithermal
Cerro Panuco Coahuila Porphyry Cu-Mo
Promontorio Durango Epithermal
Indé – Cieneguillas (Cerro Blanco) Durango Intrusion-related fluorite and polymetallic deposit (skarn?)
Taxco Guerrero Polymetallic skarn/IS epithermal
Dolores Chihuahua LS Au-Ag epithermal
Jilotlán Jalisco IS-LS polymetallic epithermal
Sierra del Gallego Chihuahua Continental volcanogenic-hydrothermal U
Los Reyes Chihuahua Cu-W skarn
Placeres del Oro – Pinzán Morado – Piedra Imán Guerrero LS Ag-Au epithermal and Fe veins (IOCG clan?)
Mapimí Durango Polymetallic skarn
Sombrerete Zacatecas Sn veins & IS polymetallic epithermal
Placer de Guadalupe (La Virgen – Puerto del Aire) Chihuahua Continental volcanogenic-hydrothermal U-Au-REE-Cd-Ge-V
San Ignacio (Villa Ahumada) Chihuahua Polymetallic skarns and REE-bearing carbonatites
El Cuarenta Durango Disseminated Hg (shallow epithermal?)
Sierra de Aconchi Sonora Rare element pegmatites/continental volcanogenic-hydrothermal
U deposits
Real de Catorce San Luis Potosí IS polymetallic epithermal
Santa María de la Paz San Luis Potosí Polymetallic skarn/IS deep epithermal or subepithermal
Inguarán Michoacán Porphyry Cu-W
Buenavista de Cuéllar Guerrero Fe skarn (IOCG clan)
Zacatecas Zacatecas IS to LS, polymetallic to Au-Ag epithermal
Villa Pasqueira (La Venada) Sonora W-Cu-Mo skarn
El Anteojo Chihuahua Fe skarn (IOCG clan)
Huautla Morelos IS polymetallic epithermal
Los Ángeles Chihuahua LS Au-Ag epithermal
Concheño Chihuahua LS Au-Ag epithermal
La Ciénega Durango IS-LS polymetallic epithermal
Oligocene (33.9–23.03 Ma)

La Verde Michoacán Porphyry Cu-Co
Velardeña Durango Polymetallic skarn/IS epithermal
Temascaltepec (La Guitarra) State of México LS-IS polymetallic epithermal
Chorreras Chihuahua Fe skarn (IOCG clan)
Aguachile Coahuila Fluorite-Be in ring-dike complex (skarn?)
La Azul (Taxco district) Guerrero Fluorite mantos, inconclusive type (MVT? epithermal?)

San Isidro Michoacán Porphyry Cu
Rancho Blanco Chihuahua Fe veins (IOCG clan)
Río Verde Durango Rhyolite-hosted Sn deposits
La Pasta Chihuahua IS Zn epithermal(?)
La Morena Coahuila IS polymetallic epithermal
Puerto Rico (Sierra del Carmen) Coahuila Pb-Zn MVT or skarn(?)
Hércules Coahuila Magnetite-apatite deposit (IOCG clan)
Tepetate – Villa de Arriaga San Luis Potosí Rhyolite-hosted Sn veins and gem-quality topaz deposits
El Tigre Sonora LS Au-Ag epithermal
Mulatos Sonora HS Au-Cu epithermal
(Cont.)
<46.0–45.0 K-Ar* Cited in Ferriz (1981), Reyes-Cortés et al. (2009)

<45.5 K-Ar* Clark et al. (1977)
45.2 FT Cited in Pearson et al. (1988)
<44.6 K-Ar*, U/Pb* Henry et al. (2003)
44.59 Ar/Ar* Iriondo et al. (2004)
44.3? Ar/Ar* Molina-Garza et al. (2008)
44.0–37.3 (32.0 ± 8) FT, K-Ar*, U/Pb George-Aniel et al. (1991) and Fayek et al. (2006) provided preliminary wide-dispersion data
(in parenthesis)
43.8 K-Ar Loucks et al. (1988)
43.6–40.8 K-Ar* Vassallo et al. (2008)
>43.2 K-Ar Warnaars and Girón-Garay (1999)
42.51–41.13 Ar/Ar* Iriondo et al. (2004)
<42.5 K-Ar* Clark et al. (1979)
<42.3 K-Ar* Pantoja-Alor (1986)
~42.0 K-Ar* Baker and Lang (2003)
<41.88 Ar/Ar* Iriondo et al. (2004)
~41.0 Ar/Ar* Pérez-Segura et al. (1996)
40.9, 38.6–31.9 K-Ar Enríquez and Rivera (2001), Henry et al. (2003)
40.0–38.8 K-Ar, Rb-Sr Cited in Megaw et al. (1988)
40.0–37.0 K-Ar* Albinson and Parrilla (1988)
39.6–38.1 K-Ar* Vassallo et al. (2008)
<38.7? K-Ar* Clark et al. (1979)
38.64 Ar/Ar Iriondo et al. (2003)
38.5 K-Ar Fries and Rincón-Orta (1965)
38.4 Ar/Ar* Tuta et al. (1988)
38.0–36.0? K-Ar* Cited in Camprubí et al. (2003)
38.0–35.0? Cited in Overbay et al. (2001)
<38.0 K-Ar* Grajales-Nishimura and López-Infanzón (1984)
>37.0 K-Ar* Bockoven (1981)
<36.6 K-Ar* Pantoja-Alor (1986)
36.0 K-Ar* Albinson (1988)
36.0–35.0 U/Pb González-Reyna (1956), Fries (1962)
36.0 Ar/Ar Nandigam et al. (1999), Nandigam (2000)
36.0–32.0 K-Ar*, Ar/Ar* Tuta et al. (1988)
<35.9 (pegmatites) K-Ar* Cited in Martínez et al. (1979)
35.7? K-Ar* Tuta et al. (1988), Gunnesch et al. (1994)

37.0–35.7 (skarn) Ar/Ar*, U/Pb Tuta et al. (1988), Gunnesch et al. (1994), Pinto-Linares et al. (2008)
35.5–34.7 Ar/Ar Meza-Figueroa et al. (2003)
35.5–30.8 K-Ar Cited in Camprubí and Albinson (2007)
34.8–34.1 Ar/Ar Mead et al. (1988)
34.5–33.0? Ar/Ar*, U/Pb* González-Torres et al. (2008)
<34.0? Cited in Albinson et al. (2001)
<34.0? Cited in Albinson et al. (2001)
<34.0? K-Ar* de la Garza et al. (2001)

33.4–30.2 K-Ar, FT Cited in Gilmer et al. (1988)
33.3–32.9 Ar/Ar Camprubí et al. (2003)
33.13–32.69 Ar/Ar* Iriondo et al. (2004)
~33.0 ?* Takeda (1977)
33.0–30.0 (U-Th)/He Ages by Pi et al. (2005); these authors advocate an epithermal model, whereas Tritlla and
Levresse (2006) advocate an MVT model
32.3 Rb-Sr Huspeni et al. (1984)
32.0? K-Ar* Takeda (1977) describes it as a skarn, and González-Sánchez et al. (2009) as an MVT deposit
32.0? ? Cited in Corona-Esquivel and Henríquez (2004)
32.0–30.0? Aguillón-Robles et al. (1994)
<31.7 K-Ar* Montaño (1986)
<31.6–>25.0 K-Ar*, Ar/Ar* Staude (2001)
Table 1.
La Perla – La Negra Chihuahua Magnetite-apatite deposit (IOCG clan)

Cerro de Mercado Durango Magnetite-apatite deposit (IOCG clan)
El Tovar Durango Epithermal
Peñón Blanco Durango LS-IS Au-Ag epithermal
La Ochoa Durango Rhyolite-hosted Sn deposits
Cerro de los Remedios Durango Rhyolite-hosted Sn deposits
San Carlos Chihuahua Polymetallic skarn/IS epithermal
Río Verde (El Realito, El Refugio) Guanajuato Fluorite MVT

Guanajuato Guanajuato IS to LS polymetallic to Au-Ag epithermal

San Francisco del Oro – Santa Bárbara – Parral Chihuahua Polymetallic skarn/IS epithermal
Gavilanes – La Negra Durango LS-IS Ag-Au and polymetallic epithermal
San Nicolás Tamaulipas Polymetallic skarn to IS epithermal (?)

Dinamita Durango Fe-Cu skarn (part of the IOCG clan?)
América-Sapiorís Durango Rhyolite-hosted Sn deposits
El Sauzal Chihuahua HS Au-Cu epithermal
El Presón – Leones Chihuahua HS Au-Cu epithermal
Villa de Arriaga San Luis Potosí Rhyolite-hosted Sn deposits
Villa de Reyes San Luis Potosí Rhyolite-hosted Sn deposits
Tlayca Morelos Au-Ag skarn
Las Cuevas San Luis Potosí Fluorite MVT

Sain Alto Zacatecas Hg veins (shallow epithermal?)
Fresnillo Zacatecas IS polymetallic epithermal
Avino-Zaragoza Durango Rhyolite-hosted Sn deposits
Ahualulco San Luis Potosí Rhyolite-hosted Sn-Hg deposits and polymetallic (epithermal?)
veins
Ocampo Chihuahua LS Au-Ag epithermal
Ajoya Sinaloa LS-IS polymetallic epithermal
Pueblo Nuevo Durango Epithermal
San Carlos Tamaulipas REE-bearing skarns and pegmatites (alkaline magmatism)
El Rincón (La Gloria) Tamaulipas Au-Ag-Co-Ni-Cr skarns

Lluvia de Oro Sonora Orogenic Au
El Pilote Coahuila Fluorite skarn
Guadalcázar San Luis Potosí Granite-hosted Sn-W greisen, partly skarn, late Ag-Hg veins
(epithermal?)
Comanja de Corona Guanajuato IS-LS polymetallic epithermal
Cusihuiriachic Chihuahua IS polymetallic & HS Au-Cu epithermal
San José de Gracia Sinaloa Ag-Au epithermal
San Martín Querétaro LS Au-Ag epithermal
La Encantada Coahuila Polymetallic skarn
Bacís Durango LS-IS polymetallic epithermal
El Oro-Tlalpujahua State of México/Michoacán IS-LS polymetallic epithermal
Canoas Zacatecas Hg breccias and veins (shallow epithermal?)
Santa Eulalia Chihuahua Polymetallic skarn
Naica Chihuahua Polymetallic skarn
El Rodeo Durango LS(?) Ag-Au-fluorite epithermal
San Antonio Sonora LS(?) Au epithermal
Los Vasitos Sinaloa Fe skarn (IOCG clan)
Cinco Minas (Hostotipaquillo) Jalisco LS(?) Au-Ag epithermal
El Picacho Tamaulipas Th-Y-Nb-REE carbonatites
La Colorada Sonora LS(?) Au epithermal
Granaditas (Arizpe) Sonora Volcanogenic U veins
Coneto de Comonfort Durango Sn veins in rhyolites, Ag veins (IS epithermal?)
Monterrey Formation (San Hilario) Baja California Sur Sedimentary phosphorites
Miocene (23.03–5.33 Ma)

Lluvia de Oro Durango LS Au-Ag epithermal
Almagres Veracruz Synsedimentary shallow submarine Fe
Magdalena basin (Mesa del Álamo) Sonora Lacustrine-hydrothermal borates
Altagracia Oaxaca LS-IS(?) Ag-Au epithermal
Bolaños Jalisco IS-LS polymetallic epithermal
Tubutama basin Sonora Lacustrine-hydrothermal borates
San Pedro Analco Jalisco LS(?) Au-Ag epithermal
El Indio-Huajicori Nayarit LS(?) Au-Ag epithermal
El Zopilote Nayarit IS(?) polymetallic epithermal
El Pinabete Nayarit IS(?) polymetallic epithermal
(Cont.)
31.5–27.2? K-Ar* Cited in Labarthe-Hernández and Tristán-González (1988), Corona-Esquivel and Henríquez
(2004)
31.4–29.7 FT, Ar/Ar, (U-Th-Sm)/He Lyons (1988a), Iunes et al. (2002), McDowell et al. (2005)
31.3 Ar/Ar Unpublished data by A. Camprubí and A. Iriondo (2013)
31.1–29.6 K-Ar* Tuta et al. (1988)
31.1–28.6 K-Ar* Tuta et al. (1988)
31.0 (skarn) ? Immitt (1985)
<30.9–30.5 K-Ar* Tuta et al. (1988) seem to advocate a skarn model, whereas surveys carried out by this paper’s
author suggest a fault-controlled MVT deposit
30.7–27.0, 30.2, 28.47 K-Ar, Ar/Ar, Rb/Sr Gross (1975), Saldaña-Alba (1991), Randall et al. (1994); unpublished data by A. Camprubí,
A. Iriondo, and T. Uysal (2013)
30.6–26.5 K-Ar Grant and Ruiz (1988)
<30.5 K-Ar* Clark et al. (1977), Henry et al. (2003)
<30.45? Ar/Ar* It is assumed that the nearby diorite dated by Iriondo et al. (2003) is likely associated with the
mineralizations
<~30.0 ? Sellepack (1997), Feinstein and Goodell (2007)
<~30.0 K-Ar* Padilla-Palma et al. (1995)
30.0–29.0 K-Ar* Torres-Hernández et al. (2001)
30.0–29.0 K-Ar* Torres-Hernández et al. (2001)
30.0 Pb-a Pantoja-Alor (1983)
29.9–29.2? K-Ar* Vassallo et al. (2008); Tuta et al. (1988) favor a skarn model, whereas Levresse et al. (2003)
advocate an MVT model; largest fluorite mine in the world
29.7–28.4 K-Ar* Tuta et al. (1988)
29.7 Ar/Ar Velador et al. (2010); largest active silver mine in the world
<29.3 K-Ar Tristán-González et al. (2009)
<29.2–27.8 K-Ar* Clark et al. (1979); Swanson and McDowell (1985)

<29.1? K-Ar* Henry et al. (2003)
28.8 K-Ar Cepeda-Dávila et al. (1975)
28.78 Ar/Ar* It is assumed that the nearby monzonite dated by Iriondo et al. (2003) is likely to be associated
with the mineralizations
28.5 Ar/Ar Rothemund et al. (2001)
28.4 U/Pb Levresse et al. (2006, 2011)
28.3–28.0 Ar/Ar*, K-Ar* Tuta et al. (1988)
>28.2 K-Ar* Nieto-Samaniego et al. (1996)

28.1 K-Ar Clark et al. (1979)
27.5 K-Ar* Cited in Camprubí et al. (2003)
27.0 K-Ar Albinson et al. (2001)
27.0 K-Ar Cited in Albinson et al. (2001)
27.0–26.3 K-Ar*; Ar/Ar* Tuta et al. (1988)
26.2–25.9 ? Cited in Megaw et al. (1988)
<26.0 ? Cited in Clark et al. (1977)
<25.59? Ar/Ar* Iriondo et al. (2004)
24.5–21.65 Ar/Ar Unpublished data by A. Camprubí, A. Iriondo, and M. López-Martínez (2013)
24.0–17.5? K-Ar Ramírez-Fernández et al. (2000)
23.8–22.5 Ar/Ar Zawada et al. (2001)
>23.5 Ar/Ar* González-León et al. (2000)
Oligocene to Miocene Ponce-Sibaja and Gutiérrez-Tapia (1978)
Late Oligocene to early Miocene Alatorre (1988)
23.0–20.0 K-Ar* Cited in Camprubí et al. (2003)

<23.0 Pollen Martínez-Hernández et al. (2001)
22.7–21.5 K-Ar* Miranda-Gasca et al. (1998)
<22.31–7.09 (~15–16?) Ar/Ar* Iriondo et al. (2004)
22.2 K-Ar* Lyons (1988b)
22.0 K-Ar* Gómez-Caballero et al. (1980)
≤~21.0? Nieto-Obregón et al. (1981)
≤~21.0? Ar/Ar* Cited in Camprubí et al. (2003) **
≤~21.0? Ar/Ar* Cited in Camprubí et al. (2003) **
≤~21.0? Nieto-Obregón et al. (1981)
Table 1.
Nuevo Milenio Nayarit LS(?) Au-Ag epithermal

Los Nopalitos Nayarit Sn veins in rhyolites
Los Espejos – Las Cruces Nayarit Sn veins in rhyolites
Mezquital del Oro Zacatecas LS(?) Au-Ag epithermal
San Martín de Bolaños Jalisco IS polymetallic epithermal
Pachuca-Real del Monte Hidalgo IS-LS polymetallic epithermal

Angangueo Michoacán IS-LS polymetallic epithermal
La Yesca Nayarit IS(?) polymetallic epithermal
Santa María del Oro Nayarit LS(?) Au-Ag epithermal
Cebadillas (Compostela) Nayarit LS Au-Ag epithermal
Cerro Colorado Chiapas IOCG clan?
Ixtacamaxtitlán (Sotoltepec – Tuligtic) Puebla Porphyry Au/polymetallic skarn/LS epithermal
Santiago Zacatepec Mixes Oaxaca Polymetallic skarn
San Antonio Sonora Orogenic Au
Caballo Blanco Veracruz Porphyry Cu-Au / HS Au-Ag epithermal

Tzitzio Michoacán LS Ag-Au epithermal
El Carmen Chiapas IOCG clan?
Cerro Colorado – Cerro Bustillo Chiapas IOCG clan?
Tatatila – Las Minas Veracruz Polymetallic and Fe-Cu-Au skarns (IOCG clan) / stacked by
IS polymetallic epithermal?
Sinaí – La Escondida (Sierra Pinta) Baja California HS-IS-LS(?) Au-Ag-Cu epithermal
San Felipe Baja California HS-IS-LS(?) Ag-Au epithermal
El Boleo Baja California Sur Shallow Cu-Co-Zn and Mn sedex

Tolimán Chiapas Porphyry Cu
Xoconostle Michoacán HS Au-Ag-Hg epithermal
Sierra de Chapultepec Zacatecas Sn veins in rhyolite domes
El Naranjo – Los Ángeles (Sombrerete district) Zacatecas Sn-W-In-Ga veins in rhyolite domes
El Gavilán Baja California Sur Shallow Mn sedex(?)
El Chico Hidalgo IS-LS(?) polymetallic epithermal
Lucifer Baja California Sur Shallow Mn sedex
Pliocene–Present (5.33–0 Ma)

Sierra Peña Blanca Chihuahua Supergene oxidation and reduction events
Ixhuatán Chiapas Porphyry Au-Ag and Cu-Au-Mo, and alkaline LS Au epithermal
Santa Fe Chiapas Cu-Au skarn
Punta Mita Nayarit Hg-Ba in shallow submarine vents, passive margin
La Victoria Knoll Baja California Hg-Ag-Cr in Fe-Mn submarine crusts
Guaymas basin Offshore Sonora / Cu-Co-Zn-Ni-Au-Ag VMS
Baja California Sur
Concepción Bay Baja California Sur Mn-Ba-Hg in coastal vents, passive margin
21°N East Pacific Rise Offshore Nayarit / Cu-Co-Pb-Ag-Cd-Mn-Ba “Cyprus-type” VMS
Baja California Sur
Popocatépetl stratovolcano Puebla / State of México HS Au-Ag-Cu mineralization
Colima stratovolcano Jalisco Au in high-temperature sublimates
Pathé – Yexthó (Tecozautla) Hidalgo / Querétaro LS kaolinite epithermal in geothermal field
Los Azufres Michoacán LS polymetallic-bearing epithermal fluids in geothermal field
Barra de Colotepec – Mazunte – La Colorada – Oaxaca Ti(-REE-Ag) fluvial and beach placers
La Ventosa
América-Sapiorís Durango Sn and topaz alluvial and fluvial placers
Coneto de Comonfort Durango Sn-Au alluvial and fluvial placers
Guadalcázar San Luis Potosí Sn-Au-Ag alluvial and fluvial placers
Placer de Guadalupe Chihuahua Au-U alluvial and fluvial placers
El Tambor Sinaloa Au alluvial and fluvial placers
El Boludo Sonora Au alluvial and fluvial placers
Xicotepec de Juárez Puebla Bauxites
Tenejapa Chiapas Bauxites
Notes: Asterisks (*) denote age determinations on rocks hosting or postdating rocks of ore deposits and are to be interpreted accordingly; age determinations
were carried out in host and overlying rocks (*), and are considered to yield reasonable age ranges for the formation of the epithermal deposits, correlating
their age with the local geology (**); Aguilar-Nogales (1987a), based on several geochronological determinations in country rocks, suggested a preferential
range of ages for epithermal deposits in Nayarit between 19.55 and 12.60 Ma; in many deposits, the cited authors did not assign the deposits to the types noted
here; the author of this paper did so by interpreting the data provided in the existing publications; also, in many cases the authors used the ages they obtained
for purposes other than characterizing ore deposits and may not refer to them explicitly; thus, again, the author of this paper must be held responsible for the
interpretation given here; the “Laramide” age spans ~80 to ~40 Ma in northwest Mexico (Late Cretaceous to Eocene; Staude and Barton, 2001); some of the
“recent” deposits, none of them dated so far, may have started forming during the Pliocene-Pleistocene or before; the term “polymetallic” stands for metal
associations that generally include base (Zn-Pb-Cu ± Cd ± Sn) and precious (Ag-Au) metals; different metal associations are otherwise noted
(Cont.)
≤~21.0? Speculative age**

≤~21.0? Speculative age
≤~21.0? Speculative age
≤~21.0? Ar/Ar* Cited in Camprubí et al. (2003)
20.8 FT Cited in Scheubel et al. (1988)
20.3 K-Ar McKee et al. (1992); historically, largest silver mine in the world, long inactive and now possibly
surpassed by Fresnillo
<20.0 Ar/Ar Corona-Chávez et al. (2001)
<19.5 Ar/Ar*, K-Ar* Cited in Aguilar-Nogales (1987a,b), Camprubí et al. (2003)**
<19.5 Ar/Ar*, K-Ar* Cited in Aguilar-Nogales (1987a,b), Camprubí et al. (2003)**
<19.0 ? Cited in Motolinia-García and Zaldívar-Ruiz (1980)
18.0 ? Cited in Clark and Fitch (2009)
17.8 (porphyry Au) Ar/Ar Tritlla et al. (2004); presently under intensive exploration for epithermal veins
17.52–17.33 Ar/Ar* Unpublished data by A. Camprubí and M. López-Martínez (2013)
17.0–7.48 K-Ar* Negendank et al. (1985), Ferrari et al. (2005a); the likeliness of one of the ages is disputed, and
no clear association can be established between the ores and the dated rocks
<14.0 K-Ar* Cited in Benítez et al. (1977)
13.0–12.0 K-Ar* Cited in Clark and Fitch (2009)
<12.7 K-Ar* Montesinos and Virgen-Magaña (1983)
11.0? (intrusive rocks) K-Ar* Negendank et al. (1985); presently under intensive exploration
<9.5 K-Ar* Gastil et al. (1975), Krummenacher et al. (1975)

~9.0 ? Cited in Clark and Fitch (2009)
7.1–6.76 (Cu-Co-Zn), Ar/Ar, magneto- Holt et al. (2000), Conly et al. (2011)
7.0 (Mn) stratigraphy, K-Ar
<5.45 K-Ar Pasquarè et al. (1988)
Miocene? Bracho-Valle (1960)
Miocene? Bracho-Valle (1960)
Middle Miocene to Pliocene Camprubí et al. (2008)
Late Miocene Nolasco-Vargas and Huitrón-Esquivel (1977)
Late Miocene to early Pliocene Cited in Camprubí et al. (2008)
3.1, 1.6, 0.085, 0.041 U series Fayek et al. (2006)

~2.8 K-Ar, Ar-Ar Miranda-Gasca et al. (2005)
2.29–2.24 K-Ar Cited in Valencia-Moreno et al. (2006, 2007)
Recent Prol-Ledesma et al. (2002)
Recent Hein et al. (2005)
Recent Lonsdale et al. (1980)
Recent Canet et al. (2005), Camprubí et al. (2008)

Recent Bischoff et al. (1983)
Recent Larocque et al. (2007)

Recent Taran et al. (2000)
Recent Aguilera (1907)
Recent González-Partida and Torres-Rodríguez (1997)
Recent Carranza-Edwards et al. (1988)
Recent Smith et al. (1957), Fabregat (1966)

Recent Smith et al. (1957), Fabregat (1966)
Recent Fries and Schmitter (1948)
Recent González-Reyna (1956)
Recent González-Reyna (1956)
Recent Wilson et al. (2009)
Recent Wing-Morales (1987)
Recent Wing-Morales (1987)
Abbreviations: FT = fission track dating, HS = high sulfidation, IOCG = iron oxide copper-gold deposits, IS = intermediate sulfidation, LS = low sulfidation,
MVT = Mississippi Valley-type deposits, sedex = sedimentary-exhalative deposits, VMS = volcanogenic massive sulfide deposits
0 500 km
Fig. 9. Distribution of magmatism and ore deposits emplaced during the early Miocene, before the establishment of the
Trans-Mexican volcanic belt (TMVB), at the Pacific convergent margin of Mexico. Modified from Camprubí (2009). See
available ages in Table 1.
time for epithermal deposits in Mexico, is unknown. East of Special case: The Eastern Mexican alkaline province
Pachuca, the Ixtacamaxtitlán area in Puebla (Fig. 11) contains The Eastern Mexican alkaline province formed between
small porphyry gold (dated at 17.8 Ma; Table 1) and skarn the late Eocene and Recent times, and constitutes a belt
deposits overprinted by low sulfidation epithermal deposits. that runs subparallel to the Pacific margin along most of the
Recent deposits and modern hydrothermal activity southern Gulf of Mexico (Figs. 7, 8, 9, 11). It comprises some
alkaline intrusive and volcanic complexes, the ages of which
The geothermal fields in central Mexico and the Baja
decrease southward (see ages for the magmatic complexes
California peninsula are modern analogues for shallow epi-
thermal deposits. Epithermal metallic mineral associations of the Eastern Mexican alkaline province by Sewell, 1968;
have been described from active volcanoes. Thus, Taran et Bloomfield and Cepeda-Dávila, 1973; Nelson and Gonzalez-
al. (2000) reported gold as a sublimate in the Colima volcano Caver, 1992; Nandigam et al., 1999; Ramírez-Fernández et al.,
and Larocque et al. (2007) described metallic mineral associa- 2000; Iriondo et al., 2003, 2004; Ferrari et al., 2005a; Molina-
tions similar to those in high sulfidation epithermal deposits in Garza et al., 2008; Viera-Décida et al., 2009; see also fig. 7 in
pumice fragments of the Popocatépetl volcano. These include Camprubí, 2009). The Eastern Mexican alkaline province is
enargite, tennantite, base metal sulfides, kaolinite, and alu- situated up to >1,000 km east of the Pacific magmatic arc.
nite, among several other minerals. It reflects a change in magmatism from subduction-related
In addition, erosional degradation of previously formed to intraplate in origin due to slab rollback and continental
deposits led to the formation of numerous alluvial, fluvial, and extension (Ramírez-Fernández et al., 2000; Aranda-Gómez
coastal placer deposits of Au, Sn, U, and Ti throughout west- et al., 2005, 2007; Viera-Décida et al., 2009) related to the
ern Mexico. See the exhaustive inventory of these deposits by southward propagation of the Rio Grande rift. The prevail-
Clark and Fitch (2009), of which only the most significant are ing tectonic regime in the region during the formation of ore
noted in Table 1. deposits in the Eastern Mexican
Fig. 10. Geographic distribution of possibly Miocene epithermal deposits in southwest Mexico (after Aguilar-Nogales,
1987a, b), Oligocene-Miocene ignimbrites of the latest magmatic pulses of the Sierra Madre Occidental in the area, and
major structural features (simplified from Ferrari et al., 2005b, 2007a). Same symbols as in Figure 9.
alkaline province was extensional (Labarthe-Hernández and and some of them are rich in Co-Ni-Cr assemblages. In the
Tristán-González, 1988). In north-central (Chihuahua) and southern part of the Eastern Mexican alkaline province, in the
northeastern Mexico (Tamaulipas) at the El Picacho and Palma Sola region in Veracruz, an alkaline magmatic complex
Villa Ahumada complexes, respectively, the Eastern Mexi- (dated at 17.0 and 7.48 Ma; Negendank et al., 1985; Ferrari et
can alkaline province contains REE-bearing carbonatites al., 2005a) hosts a group of porphyry and epithermal deposits
and carbonatite-related skarns, agpaites, and related alkaline currently under exploration that are similar to those in the
metasomatism (Rubinovich-Kogan et al., 1988; Nandigam et southwest Pacific (e.g., Richards and Kerrich, 1993; Richards,
al., 1999; Nandigam, 2000; Ramírez-Fernández et al., 2000). 1995). In a tectonomagmatic context similar to the above, the
Considering the occurrence of the assemblage of ore deposit porphyry-type, sulfide skarn, and low sulfidation alkaline epi-
types at a regional level and the arguably strong affinity thermal deposits (roscoelite-bearing and telluride-rich min-
between carbonatites and the IOCG type (Groves and Viel- eral associations) in the Ixhuatán region in northern Chiapas
reicher, 2001; Gandhi, 2003; Pirajno, 2009), it is likely that the (Miranda-Gasca et al., 2005) likely represent the southern-
Eastern Mexican alkaline province includes the IOCG-type most end of the Eastern Mexican alkaline province metallo-
group of deposits in eastern Chihuahua and western Coahuila genic belt.
(e.g., La Perla and Hércules; Table 1; Figs. 7, 8). Some deposits in central Mexico (porphyry and epithermal
Further study may also explore the possible genetic link deposits: Caballo Blanco, Tzitzio, Xoconostle) and in Chiapas
between IOCG-type and epithermal deposits in northeastern (epithermal, porphyry, and sulfide skarn deposits: Ixhuatán,
Chihuahua. In northern Coahuila, a group of Eocene to Oli- Santa Fe) are spatially associated with Recent magmatism of
gocene polymetallic (Zn-Pb-Cu-Ag-Au) skarn deposits (Figs. either the Trans-Mexican volcanic belt or the Eastern Mexi-
7, 8) is related to calc-alkaline to alkaline magmatism as well, can alkaline province (Table 1; Fig. 11).
Sierra Pinta
Terrane boundaries
Terrane boundaries
Volcanic
Volcanicrocks
rocks(outcrops)
(outcrops)
0 500 km
Fig. 11. Distribution of magmatism and ore deposits emplaced between the late Miocene (since the establishment of the
Trans-Mexican volcanic belt) and the Present in the Pacific convergent margin of Mexico. Modified from Camprubí (2009).
Available ages are listed in Table 1. The Trans-Mexican volcanic belt (middle Miocene to Present) is shown in order to indi-
cate the extent of older magmatic rocks that are covered by it. The Xoconostle and Tzitzio deposits are genetically associated
with the Trans-Mexican volcanic belt, not with the volcanism of the Sierra Madre Occidental. The El Boleo and El Gavilán
deposits in the Baja California peninsula are not associated with arc magmatism, but instead with continental extension, and
the Monterrey Formation is composed of sedimentary phosphorites. See magmatic centers of the Eastern Mexican alkaline
province in figure 7 of Camprubí (2009).
Late Miocene to Recent: The Gulf of California the Kimmeridgian-early Berriasian phosphorite formations
The opening of the Gulf of California since the late Mio- in the proto-Gulf of Mexico are associated (e.g., Rogers et
cene is associated with the long-term continental extension al., 1961). Phosphorites formed in both regions during early
in the Sierra Madre Occidental (Ferrari et al., 2005b, 2007a). stages of continental rifting.
Both of these phenomena are part of the southern Basin and Most of the deposits associated with the opening of the Gulf
Range. The ore deposits in this area formed in a distinctive of California are Miocene to Pliocene, relatively shallow, syn-
metallogenetic context. genetic (and partly epigenetic) stratiform deposits that can
There is a group of epithermal deposits in northern Baja vaguely be ascribed to a shallow analogue to the sedex-type
California (e.g., San Felipe), of Miocene to Pliocene age, deposits. This is the case of the synsedimentary Co-Cu-Zn-
which formed in association with the extensional regime of Mn El Boleo deposit and the Mn Lucifer deposit, which occur
the Gulf of California (Clark and Fitch, 2009) rather than arc in the same stratigraphic section, and for which a hydrother-
magmatism like those in the Sierra Madre Occidental. The mal origin in a shallow submarine environment was proposed
southern half of the Baja California peninsula hosts the most (Freiberg, 1983). Del Río-Salas et al. (2008) further refined
important sedimentary phosphorite deposits in Mexico in the the genetic model for these deposits to indicate an exhalative-
late Oligocene-early Miocene Monterrey Formation, which intraformational environment restricted to isolated basins in
formed in a relatively shallow submarine environment (Ala- a diagenetic stage related to the initial evolution of the Gulf
torre, 1988). The tectonosedimentary setting for such phos- of California. Other deposits on the western coast of the Baja
phorites (continental rifting) is similar to the one with which California peninsula (Fig. 11) are Mn veins and stockworks
and other Mn oxide and barite deposits like those in the Con- in two preferential areas, both marginal epicontinental basins,
cepción Peninsula (e.g., El Gavilán, Santa Rosa; Camprubí et in northeastern and east-central Mexico (Fig. 12). The latter
al., 2008; Rodríguez-Díaz et al., 2010) and smaller deposits region contains several fluorite deposits, among which the
distributed southward along the coast (Mapes-Vázquez, 1956; Las Cuevas (the largest fluorite deposit in the world, with cur-
see fig. 1 in Camprubí et al., 2008). Moreover, small recent rent reserves of ~50 Mt at 70% fluorite) and the Río Verde
deposits and coastal hydrothermal vents that precipitate min- deposits stand out. In addition, some celestine, strontianite,
eral associations like those in the “fossil” deposits occur at Zn-Pb, barite, red bed-hosted Cu, and sulfur deposits occur
Concepción Bay (Canet et al., 2005; Camprubí et al., 2008). around the margins of the San Luis-Valles platform. These
Such vents are dominated by meteoric water (Prol-Ledesma deposits and their distribution are reminiscent of the distri-
et al., 2004) and the classification of all these deposits in terms bution of similar deposits in northeastern Mexico. The MVT
of deposit type is difficult, although they can be generically and red bed province of northeastern Mexico (González-
classified as veins in rift and extensional settings. Sánchez et al., 2007, 2009) formed in the basin that covered
Both shallow and deep hydrothermal systems are wide- most of the present state of Coahuila and part of the neigh-
spread at the Pacific passive margin (Hein et al., 2005) and boring states. The likeliness of this region to host MVT depos-
in the Gulf of California, for example, the Cu-Co-Zn-Ni-Au- its was early stated by Rosas-Solís and Sámano-Tirado (1983)
Ag vents in the Guaymas basin (Lonsdale et al., 1980), the when comparing the Appalachian structural features in the
Hg-Ba-Tl vents in Punta Mita (Fig. 11; Prol-Ledesma et region with those in the United States. Similar deposits are
al., 2002), and in the black Cu-Co-Pb-Ag-Cd-Mn and white also found along the Chihuahua trough (Caballero-Martínez
barite smokers on the East Pacific Rise at the 21°N latitude and Sánchez-Rojas, 2011), northwest of the Coahuilan basins
(Bischoff et al., 1983). The latter are forming in an actualistic (Fig. 12). The basins in northeastern Mexico are composed of
Cyprus-type VMS setting. horsts (paleogeographic features as paleoislands and part of
the North American mainland) and grabens (main depocen-
The Gulf of Mexico Megabasin ters) that controlled the sedimentary regimes and the result-
The Gulf of Mexico opened during the Middle-Late Juras- ing sedimentary facies. Such faults later played a decisive role
sic as a result of the breakup of Pangea (e.g., Anderson and (1) in governing the deformation styles of the Sierra Madre
Schmidt, 1983). Goldhammer (1999) and Padilla y Sánchez Oriental that led to the inversion of the basin, (2) as channel-
(2007) illustrated the evolution of the major basins in the ways for the mineralizing basinal brines for MVT and associ-
region. A thick sedimentary sequence with terrigenous, evap- ated deposits, and (3) as channelways for the emplacement
oritic, and carbonate facies was deposited in the resulting pas- of magmas that led to the formation of magma-related ore
sive margin and horst-and-graben marginal subbasins. Late deposits of the Eastern Mexican alkaline province. González-
Cretaceous orogenic episodes produced significant shorten- Sánchez et al. (2007, 2009) catalogued over 200 occurrences
ing of most of the Mexican crust. The eastern front of these of MVT and associated deposits in this region. The epigen-
orogenic episodes in Mexico is represented by the Sierra etic deposits in this province show regional-scale mineralogi-
Madre Oriental fold-and-thrust belt, and the deformation cal zonation that allows the definition of the following, from
styles attenuate easterly toward the passive margin of the Gulf south to north: (1) the Southern MVT celestine subprovince,
of Mexico. Today, part of the basin hosts oil and gas fields, but associated with the Coahuila paleoisland and the Parras basin,
also Mississippi Valley-type (MVT), red bed-hosted uranium (2) the Cu subprovince, which contains red bed Cu-(Co-Cr-
(roll-front) or Cu(-Co-Ni) (Kupferschiefer-type) deposits, Pb-Zn-U-fluorite) deposits hosted by clastic formations along
sedex Mn deposits, sedimentary phosphorites, sedimentary major faults, (3) the Central MVT Zn-Pb subprovince, partly
iron oxide-hydroxide deposits of uncertain origin, and sulfur associated with the San Marcos fault but also distributed in
deposits in cap rocks of evaporite diapirs (see fig. 4 in Cam- the central part of the Sabinas basin, (4) the Central MVT
prubí, 2009). As described above, the carbonate formations barite subprovince, located in the central part of the basin,
also host skarn (mostly polymetallic) and other deposits asso- and (5) the Northern MVT fluorite subprovince, associated
ciated with the magmatism of the Sierra Madre Occidental or with the Burro-Peyotes paleopeninsula and the La Babia fault
the Eastern Mexican alkaline province. (Fig. 12; see also fig. 2 in González-Sánchez et al., 2009).
The mineral deposits of synsedimentary origin in this The Celestine subprovince accounts for one the largest
region are relatively scarce, although they have an outstanding concentrations of celestine known in the Earth’s crust, and
economic significance. The giant Oxfordian-Kimmeridgian the most important deposits are found in the Sierra de Alami-
(?) Molango sedex Mn deposit constitutes the largest mantos and San Agustín districts onto the Coahuila paleoisland
ganese deposit in the Americas (Okita, 1992), with 35 Mt of (Fig. 12). Other important deposits are found in Múzquiz
proven and over 250 Mt of probable reserves (from recent (barite), Buenavista (fluorite), Cuatro Palmas (fluorite, and
corporate reports of Compañía Minera Autlán). Sedimen- some U-rich bodies), Sierra Mojada (Zn-Pb), Reforma (Zn-
tary phosphorites occur in the Kimmeridgian-Early Berria- Pb) in Coahuila, and Tres Marías (Zn-Pb-Ge) in Chihua-
sian La Caja and La Casita formations, and are distributed hua. The Southern Cu subprovince contains several Cu-rich
among several locations in the states of Coahuila, Zacatecas, deposits hosted by red beds of the Early Cretaceous San
and San Luis Potosí (Soto-Pineda, 1960; Rogers et al., 1961; Marcos Formation (mostly microconglomerates, sandstones,
Vivanco-Flores, 1976). The epigenetic and (mostly) strata- and arkoses) along the southern shoulder of San Marcos fault,
bound deposit types in northeastern and eastern Mexico are in the Cuatrociénegas area, Coahuila. Very similarly, the Las
MVT and red bed hosted (Kupferschiefer-type Cu-Co-Ni- Vigas Cu deposits in Chihuahua are hosted by red beds of the
etc. and roll-front uranium) deposits. These are distributed Las Vigas Formation (mostly sandstones), which occurs along
New Mexico
Grants mineral belt
Texas
Lee (1978), Ludwig et al. (1984),
Gabelman and Boyer (1988)
SANTA FE
ALBUQUERQUE
OUACHITA-MARATHON
OROGENIC BELT
(PENNSYLVANIAN)
HOUSTON
CORPUS CHRISTI
GULF
OF
MEXICO
BROWNSVILLE
MATAMOROS
0 400 km
the southern shoulder of the La Babia fault. These deposits and of reactivated fault zones (Nieto-Samaniego et al., 2005,
are akin to those in Trans-Pecos Texas (Price et al., 1988) and 2007), regardless of the occurrence of different terranes, or
may share a common genesis with them. The formation of the types or ages of the basement.
some MVT deposits in northeastern Mexico predated oro- 3. The available geochemical data for Cenozoic deposits
genic deformation whereas others postdated it. The mineral- (O, H, He isotopes and composition in volatile species in fluid
izing fluids are thought to be basinal brines and fluid flow was inclusions; e.g., Albinson et al, 2001; Camprubí et al., 2006b;
partially driven by either lithostatic pressure or orogenic com- Camprubí and Albinson, 2007) suggest the occurrence of mul-
pression. Mineralization formed mostly strata-bound deposits tiple likely sources for mineralizing fluids but also that metal-
within evaporites or reefal limestones (González-Sánchez et carrying hydrothermal pulses for epithermal deposits were so
al., 2007, 2009). The Oligocene La Coma uranium red bed- well endowed because of their juvenile magmatic component.
hosted (roll-front) deposits occur in a context similar to that of
the deposits of the Cu subprovince, although their formation Sulfur isotope data show both sedimentary/metasedimen-
was probably diachronic, as part of the Gulf Coast uranium tary and magmatic sources of sulfur as a critical metal ligand
province of southern Texas (Finch, 1996). in most epithermal deposits (Camprubí and Albinson, 2006,
2007, and references therein), and the relative amount of H2S
Regional Features That Govern the Emplacement of in solution correlates positively with the proportion of rela-
Ore Deposits: Controversies and Paradigms tively oxidized magmatic fluids in inclusion fluids implied by
N2/Ar ratios (Albinson et al., 2001; Camprubí et al., 2006b;
The role of the basement on magmatism: Camprubí and Albinson, 2007). However, the largest metallif-
Which ones are failed hypotheses? erous porphyry deposits in Mexico occur in regions underlain
Much has been said about the influence of the Guerrero by the North American craton in northern Sonora and have
composite terrane with regard to the chemistry of ore depos- strong crustal geochemical signatures (see Valencia-Moreno
its and mineralizing fluids. It has been suggested that the et al., 2006, 2007), as would normally be expected for S-type
abundance of ore deposits in western Mexico is due to the granitic rocks. The wide variety of metal associations of por-
“fertility” of the basement, to the point that the Mesozoic phyry-type deposits of Mexico (Cu, Cu-Au, Cu-Mo, W, Cu-W,
VMS deposits have been traditionally considered as precon- Mo, etc.; Valencia-Moreno et al., 2006, 2007), along with their
centrations of metals contained in Cenozoic deposits (e.g., de emplacement in island or continental arcs and other locations
Cserna, 1971). This hypothesis is still evident in several recent toward back-arc environments, suggests that their petrogen-
geologic-mining maps edited by the Mexican Geological Sur- esis ranges widely from intermediate, largely mantle derived
vey. In general, this scenario is unlikely, due to the following I-type rocks to highly evolved felsic, S-type (or peraluminous?)
reasons: rocks characterized by considerable crustal assimilation.
The small El Pilote fluorite skarn is the only deposit where
1. The distribution of Mesozoic VMS deposits is relatively the case of a direct relationship to preexisting deposits may
limited, as they are largely confined to the southern portion be made (Levresse et al., 2006, 2011). Fluorite in this deposit
of the Guerrero composite terrane in two belts (east and west may have been remobilized from strata-bound deposits simi-
boundaries of the terrane), whereas Cenozoic magmatic- lar to those in the nearby La Encantada MVT deposit.
hydrothermal deposits are vastly widespread and their occur-
rence does not mimic the extent of particular terranes, or the Reactivation of preexisting faults and metallogeny,
types or ages of the basement (compare Fig. 3 with Figs. 4, as exemplified around the Mesa Central and
7, 8). in northeastern Mexico
2. The distribution of Cenozoic deposits follows only the Tectonostratigraphic terranes (Fig. 1) controlled the
distribution and migration of Cenozoic magmatism (as noticed emplacement of ore deposits of the oceanic magmatic “realm”
by Damon et al., 1981; Clark et al., 1982; Camprubí, 2009) during the Mesozoic independently from each other and
Fig. 12. Distribution of Late Cretaceous(?) to Paleogene epigenetic strata-bound ore deposits of the sedimentary and dia-
genetic realm in northwestern Mexico and southwestern United States (states of Chihuahua, Coahuila, Durango, Guanajuato,
Nuevo León, San Luis Potosí, Tamaulipas, Zacatecas, New Mexico, and Texas). It encompasses the distinctive metallogenic
provinces of (1) northeastern Mexico, (2) the Chihuahua basin (Chihuahua trough), (3) the San Luis-Valles platform, (4) the
Rio Grande rift, (5) the Gulf Coast, (6) the Delaware basin, (7) the Grants mineral belt, and (8) a group of barite, celestine,
and Zn-Pb mineralization in salt diapir caps. The latter represents some modern mineralization similar/analogous to MVT
deposits (though not strictly so) in diapir caps and other occurrences. Uranium deposits similar to those of the Grants min-
eral belt also occur in Utah, Colorado, and Arizona, and are also hosted by the Morrison Formation (not shown in this map).
Recent occurrences of mineralizations similar to MVT deposits are also included in this figure. The most abundant featured
types or styles of ore deposits are Mississippi Valley-type and associated barite, celestine, and fluorite deposits, epigenetic
metalliferous (Cu-Co-etc. and U) deposits hosted by clastic sequences, and speleogenetic sulfur deposits or deposits associ-
ated with diapir caps. Sulfur and Zn-Pb MVT deposits within the late Paleozoic Delaware basin in Texas and New Mexico,
related to the Late Cretaceous to Paleocene Laramide uplift, are shown for comparison due to their occurrence in an analo-
gous sedimentary-diagenetic and orogenic setting, though host rocks are much older than those in northeastern Mexico and
the Chihuahua basin. Some sulfur thermogenic sulfate reduction-derived deposits occur in Texistepec and Jáltipan in south-
ern Veracruz (diapir caps) and Guaxcamá in the San-Luis Valles platform. Also included in the map are the caverns of Sonora,
Texas, in which celestine and metatyuyamunite occur.
irrespective of other geologic features. This resulted in a pat- Sevier and Laramide orogenies and, therefore, the polyme-
tern for the distribution ore deposits in which most ultramafic- tallic sulfide skarn deposits (and also some iron oxide skarns)
mafic complexes and VMS deposits occur near the terrane that occur along the Sector Transversal de Parras might be the
boundaries and their suture zones (Fig. 3). The configuration result of the forceful emplacement of their “parental” magmas
of the continental crust that resulted from terrane accretion through reactivated boundaries in the basement. Such reacti-
and crustal thickening includes suture zones that ultimately vation is reflected by Paleozoic basement rocks of the Parras
formed structurally weak areas susceptible to reactivation. region thrusting northward onto the Mesozoic sedimentary
The most evident case for the above is the southern border of sequence (Tardy et al., 1974). This interpretation, albeit
the Mesa Central (the over 700-km-long San Luis-Tepehu- speculative at this stage, would explain the concentration of
anes fault system), as it runs almost alongside the northeast- magmatic-hydrothermal ore deposits, which occurs along the
ern section of the suture zone between the Guerrero narrow strip of land that delineates the Sector Transversal
composite terrane and the Mexican paleomainland. The first de Parras, whereas immediately north and south of it no ore
ore deposits were emplaced at this suture following the shift deposits of magmatic-hydrothermal types are known for hun-
from extensional to compressional tectonomagmatic environ- dreds of km (Figs. 7, 8).
ments in the Late Cretaceous (the La Parrilla skarn; Fig. 4). The reactivated faults of northeastern Mexico controlled
The ore deposits continued to be emplaced along the San the emplacement of types of deposits that belong either to
Luis-Tepehuanes fault system until the voluminous and cli- the magmatic continental or to the sedimentary-diagenetic
mactic magmatism of the Sierra Madre Occidental invaded realms. These faults initially formed as the result of the
this region during the Oligocene and produced what arguably breakup of Pangea and the subsequent opening of the Gulf of
constitutes the most remarkable areal concentration of mag- Mexico, in a horst-and-graben arrangement. This is the case of
matic-hydrothermal ore deposits in Mexico (Fig. 8). Addition- the >1,000-km-long La Babia and San Marcos faults, and the
ally, several sulfide skarns or porphyry-type deposits (e.g., smaller faults that limit the La Mula or Monclova basement
Cerro San Pedro, Charcas, Santa María de la Paz, and Real de highs within the Sabinas basin (Chávez-Cabello et al., 2005,
Catorce) formed along the N-S–running Taxco-San Miguel de 2007). Such faults controlled (1) the distribution of depocen-
Allende fault system, which constitutes the eastern boundary ters and other sedimentary and paleogeographic features, (2)
of the Mesa Central. The rest of the crustal-scale fault-con- the geometry of the Sevier and Laramide deformation (and
trolled areas that limit the Mesa Central (see Nieto-Samaniego the subsequent inversion of the basins), and (3) the preferen-
et al., 2005, 2007) also exert a control on the metallogeny. This tial emplacement sites of ore deposits. The outflow of basinal
would have occurred as magmatism focused in areas that (1) brines and their interaction with evaporites, reefal carbonate
were already structurally weak, (2) contain penetrative dis- rocks, or red beds generated MVT and associated celestine,
continuities in the basement, or (3) experienced long-lasting fluorite, and barite deposits, and red bed-hosted Cu-Co-Ni-
faulting that generated channelways for the upflow of both Zn and U deposits (González-Sánchez et al., 2007, 2009).
magmas and mineralizing fluids, as suggested by Miranda- The formation of magmatic-hydrothermal ore deposits of the
Gasca (2000) and Nieto-Samaniego et al. (2005, 2007). How- Eastern Mexican alkaline province in northeastern Mexico
ever, once the magmatism retreated southward during the began in the Eocene (Fig. 12). Such deposits and their paren-
early Miocene and the main terrane suture and fault systems tal magmas were emplaced in association with the La Babia
were out of reach of the remaining magmatism, ore-forming fault or near it (e.g., the La Encantada and La Vasca skarns
processes ceased in the Mesa Central and focused in other in northern Coahuila), with the faults that bound the Mon-
regions (Fig. 9). clova paleoisland or basement high (e.g., the Cerro Pánuco
The northern boundary of the Mesa Central, known as the porphyry Cu-Mo deposit in the Monclova intrusive belt,
Sector Transversal de Parras of the Sierra Madre Oriental, southeastern Coahuila) and, perhaps, the Tamaulipas paleo-
constitutes a special case. Unlike the San Luis-Tepehuanes archipelago (e.g., the cluster of REE-bearing carbonatite-
or the Taxco-San Miguel de Allende fault systems, the Sector related or polymetallic skarns and pegmatites at San Carlos,
Transversal de Parras is not currently associated with recent San Nicolás, and La Gloria in central Tamaulipas).
faulting. In spite of this, several ore deposits, mostly sulfide
skarns and associated deposits (e.g., Concepción del Oro, Discussion
Mazapil, Mapimí, Velardeña), formed along this geologic fea-
ture. The array of skarn deposits in the Sector Transversal de Metallogenic epochs
Parras probably constitutes the most economically productive Epithermal, skarn, porphyry, VMS, IOCG clan, and volcano-
skarn belt in Mexico, and it includes the recently discovered genic tin and uranium deposits overlap in time and space dur-
giant Peñasquito Au-Ag-Pb-Zn deposit (which is tentatively ing the Cenozoic and the Mesozoic (Fig. 13), and also partially
labeled as a generic carbonate replacement deposit or car- overlap deposits associated with ultramafic-mafic complexes.
bonate replacement deposits) in the Mazapil skarn district, Other types of deposits, genetically unrelated to magmatism,
Zacatecas. The emplacement of such deposits and their asso- such as orogenic gold (associated with the Laramide orog-
ciated intrusions occurred largely during the Eocene and the eny), sedex, phosphorites, MVT, and red bed-hosted deposits
Oligocene, the most productive epochs for mineralization (associated with sedimentation and basin dynamics in epi-
along the boundaries of the rest of the Mesa Central as well continental environments), do not share the same time and
(Figs. 7, 8). The Sector Transversal de Parras may reflect the space distribution as the above types. Clark and Fitch (2009)
reactivation of part of the suture zone between the Central determined six preferential time intervals in the metallogenic
terrane and the Oaxaquia subcontinental block during the history of the region: Proterozoic, Paleozoic, Permo-Triassic,
Jurassic to Early Cretaceous, Late Cretaceous to early Mio- to form after crustal thickening through orogeny. This is sup-
cene, and late Miocene to Present. However, the tempo- ported by the fact that from the Paleocene onward, IOCG
ral distribution of ore deposits in Mexico is heavily skewed deposits no longer formed in southwestern-southern Mexico
toward the Cenozoic (Fig. 13). During the Cenozoic, the age (compare Fig. 4 with Figs. 7, 8). Likewise, the cessation in
distribution of ore deposits forms several peaks that reflect the formation of IOCG deposits in the Alisitos terrane during
the emplacement of specific types of deposits at specific times the Late Cretaceous (Fig. 4) is concurrent with a transition to
and in well-defined regions. Besides the ill-defined Protero- compressional tectonics. However, IOCG deposits continued
zoic and Paleozoic metallogenic provinces (Fig. 2), several to form between the Eocene and the Oligocene, several hun-
time-space slices can be determined for the Mesozoic and dreds of km inland (Figs. 7, 8), near the southern border of
the Cenozoic, based on the time and space distribution of ore the Mesa Central (e.g., Cerro de Mercado in Durango) and in
deposits and on their dominant types: (1) pre-Middle Jurassic association with the Eastern Mexican alkaline province (e.g.,
in southern and western Mexico, mostly deposits associated the La Perla-Hércules cluster in Chihuaha-Coahuila, Tatatila-
with ultramafic-mafic complexes, (2) Middle Jurassic to Early Las Minas in Veracruz). These are similar to the Late Creta-
Cretaceous in southwestern Mexico, mostly VMS deposits, (3) ceous IOCG-type deposits Cerro del Oro and Guaynopa in
Cretaceous in southwestern Mexico and the Pacific margin, Sonora and Chihuahua (Table 1).
mostly deposits associated with ultramafic-mafic complexes, The occurrence of carbonate rocks in the path of the magma
and some magmatic-hydrothermal iron oxide deposits, (4) upflow determined the formation of skarn-related deposits, as
Late Cretaceous to early Eocene in the northwestern and well as the style of mineralization and geometry of epithermal
Pacific areas, dominantly porphyry-type deposits, and also deposits. Their mineralogy and metal content was seemingly
with magmatic-hydrothermal iron oxide deposits, and an determined to a large extent by the chemistry and metal
increasing amount of skarns with time, (5) Late Cretaceous to endowment of mineralizing fluids (Albinson et al., 2001; Cam-
late Eocene in northwest Mexico, with orogenic gold deposits, prubí and Albinson, 2006, 2007; Camprubí et al., 2006b). The
or around the Gulf of Mexico, which contains mostly Missis- time and space distribution of magmatism and epithermal
sippi Valley-type, Cu-U-Co-Zn red bed, and Mn sedimentary- deposits in the Sierra Madre Occidental and other contempo-
exhalative deposits, (6) early to late Eocene in northwestern raneous magmatic belts are generally coincident, especially
and central Mexico, dominantly skarn and epithermal depos- during the Oligocene-Miocene and around the suture zones
its, (7) Oligocene virtually everywhere, dominantly epither- of the Guerrero composite terrane and the Mesa Central. This
mal deposits, Sn veins, and greisen (in the southern portion suggests “a prevailing deep-seated control on mineralization
of the Mesa Central) and some skarns throughout Mexico, (8) that links ore genesis to magmatic processes” (Simmons et al.,
latest Oligocene to early Miocene in southwestern and cen- 2005, p. 512). The known relationships (in space and time;
tral Mexico, dominantly epithermal, and (9) middle Miocene genetic) between ore deposits suggest that they constitute a
to Present, with epithermal deposits in continental Mexico, suite that encompasses porphyry-type deposits, sulfide or
sedex around the Gulf of California, and supergene/residual industrial-mineral skarns (excluding, in principle, iron oxide
deposits or placers throughout Mexico. skarns), and epithermal types, among others. Examples in
Most types of deposits and the vast majority of dated depos- Mexico for such relationships are abundant (Deen and Atkin-
its are genetically associated with magmatism of different son, 1988; Gunnesch et al., 1994; Morales-Ramírez et al.,
composition and tectonomagmatic affinity, emplaced at dif- 2003; Valencia et al., 2005, 2008; González-Partida and Cam-
ferent crustal levels. Hence, it is no surprise that they mimic prubí, 2006; Camprubí and Albinson, 2007). These deposits,
the time and space distribution of magmatism. Orogenic gold in turn, are associated with dominantly continental arc-related
deposits, although not associated with magmatism, occur magmatism that spans calc-alkaline (including both adake-like
along the Pacific margin as a consequence of the orogenies and fluorine-rich magmas) to alkaline assemblages. The rela-
that were accompanied by magmatism. tive abundance of porphyry-type deposits and the scarcity of
epithermal deposits during the Paleocene compared to
Overview of the Mexican “backbone” metallogeny Eocene to Miocene may be attributed to deeper levels of ero-
The metallogenic history of the Pacific convergent margin sion and lack of preservation potential for epithermal deposits
in Mexico can be documented from the Jurassic as a succes- (compare Figs. 4, 7). This is consistent with the distribution of
sion of VMS-, porphyry-, skarn-, and epithermal-dominated Eocene deposits that are found at the bottom of deep canyons
epochs that include several other types of associated depos- that were carved into the large volcanic pile in the central
its. The magmatic arcs of this long-lasting convergent margin Sierra Madre Occidental (e.g., Tayoltita in Durango).
were first established on relatively thin continental or oce- Unlike most metallogenic provinces with epithermal depos-
anic crust under epicontinental seas. At that time, submarine its, high sulfidation epithermal deposits are uncommon in the
hydrothermal activity led to the formation of VMS deposits. Mexican “backbone” region, despite the presence of econom-
Once the general tectonomagmatic environment shifted ically significant examples such as the deposits at El Sauzal
from extensional to compressional, porphyry and epithermal in Chihuahua. Instead, intermediate sulfidation deposits are
deposit types followed. The occurrence of IOCG-type depos- dominant, although most deposits have intermediate sul-
its close to the subduction trench at the time of the tectonic fidation roots and early stages and low sulfidation tops and
transition and initial establishment of a continental arc is late stages, thus developing different styles of mineralization
noteworthy and similar to those in the Andean coastal ranges. upon different magmatic settings (see fig. 14 in Camprubí
IOCG deposits in Mexico are interpreted to have formed on and Albinson, 2007). These deposits are typically polyme-
relatively thin crust. Available data suggest that they ceased tallic and/or Ag rich and some are overprinting skarn and/or
7 6 5 4 3
Epithermal HS in the TMVB HS to LS in NW Mexico
deposits HS to IS-LS? around GC LS to IS in SW & E-central Mexico IS-LS Mesa Central & SMS IS-LS in Durango & SMS HS to IS in NW Mexico & Zacatecas IS-LS
?
Porphyry Chiapas Central Mexico Central Mexico NW towards central Mexico
deposits
Skarn Chiapas Central Mexico Intersection between the SMO & SMOr Intersection between the SMO & SMOr, & in Sonora Sonora, Sinaloa, Zacatecas Sonora & SW Mexico
deposits
IOCG(?) Isthmus of Tehuantepec Sinaloa Durango & NE Mexico SW Mexico, Sinaloa, Baja California (Pacific margin)
deposits
Sn Mesa Central & Nayarit Mesa Central Volcanogenic U deposits in Chihuahua
deposits ? ?
"Permissive” age range for MVT & red-bed deposits in NE Mexico
?
Orogenic / lode gold deposits in NW Mexico & Sinaloa (& SW Mexico??)
Eastern Mexican Alkaline Province – Trans-Pecos

Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt (TMVB) Upper Volcanic Supergroup (UVS, SMO) Lower Volcanic Complex (LVC, SMO)
Climax of ignimbrite volcanism (SMO)
Rifting in the Gulf of California Laramide Orogeny
Crustal extension, Mexican Basin and Range Crustal extension along the Pacific margin
Last ignimbrite flare-up (SMO) Largest volcanic pulse (SMS)
Extension and rifting-off of the

Baja California Peninsula begins
Basaltic-andesitic volcanism
of the TMVB begins
Holocene 0-
10-
20-
30-
40-
50-
60-
(Ma)
Pliocene Miocene Oligocene Eocene Paleocene
Pleistocene Neogene Paleogene
Quaternary Cenozoic
LVC (Sinaloa & BC)
(Ma)
Neogene
Paleogene Cretaceous Jurassic Triassic Permian Carboniferous Devonian SilurianOrdovician Cambrian
Cenozoic Mesozoic Paleozoic

Phanerozoic
0-
(Ma)
Neo- Meso- Paleo- Neo- Meso- Paleo- Eo-
proterozoic proterozoic proterozoic archean archean archean arch.
Phanerozoic Proterozoic Archean Hadean
“Precambrian”
Key to types of ore deposits Ma gm at ic- h yd ro th er m al

Volcanogenic massive sulphides (VMS)
Metam orp hic -or oge ni c
Porphyry-type metalliferous deposits
Undifferentiated orogenic (shear zones), lode and mesothermal gold deposits
Se dim en tar y- sy ns e di me nt ar y Non-iron oxide skarns
Sedimentary phosphorites Epithermal deposits
Hydrothermal-sedimentary borate deposits Sub-epithermal deposits
Sedimentary-exhalative (SEDEX) and shallow submarine/coastal exhalative deposits Sn veins associated with topaz rhyolites, and Sn-W greisen-hosted deposits
Synsedimentary shallow submarine Fe deposits (non-exhalative?) Deposits of the IOCG ‘clan’ (including iron-oxide skarns)
Placers Volcanogenic hydrothermal U deposits
Epi gen etic -di ag en eti c-a uthi ge ni c Ma gm at ic
Mississippi Valley type (Pb-Zn) and associated deposits (F, Sr, Ba) Miscellaneous types of deposits associated with mafic-ultramafic rocks
Res idu al Rare-element deposits in carbonatites
Supergene oxidation/enrichment, gossan Rare-element deposits in pegmatites
Bauxites Ti-rich anorthosites
porphyry-type ores, whether they are stacked or telescoped. this is needed to trace the formation of any type of deposit, it
The abundance of intermediate sulfidation vs. the scarcity is especially necessary for comparatively poorly studied types,
of high sulfidation epithermal deposits is probably a result such as those included in the IOCG clan and ultramafic-mafic
of the exceptionality of the volcanism of the Sierra Madre complex–related deposits.
Occidental silicic large igneous province. The Sierra Madre 3. Similarly, it is necessary to establish a specific program
Occidental is ranked third in terms of volume (>3.9 × 105 for geochronological determinations in mineral deposits of
km3) and second in terms of magma flux (>22 km3/kyr) among the sedimentary-diagenetic “realm” in the region adjacent to
silicic large igneous provinces worldwide (Bryan, 2007). Such the Gulf of Mexico, as none of them has ever been properly
exceptional magmatism, which is associated with the progres- dated.
sion of the Sevier and Laramide orogenies, slab flattening, 4. In light of new age constraints, reevaluation of the role
and rapid subduction of the Farallon plate, accounts for the of the Sevier and Laramide orogenies as plausible agents for
rapid crustal thickening in Mexico during the Cenozoic. The the mobilization of basinal brines as mineralizing fluids for
possible connection between such magmatism and the domi- MVT and associated deposits, including red bed-hosted U
nance of intermediate sulfidation over high sulfidation depos- and Cu-Co-Ni deposits, is needed. Likewise, geochronologi-
its remains hitherto an unresolved issue, at least in terms of cal determinations for the deformation in the Mexican fold
the likely depth of emplacement of the respective “parental” and thrust belt are also necessary, both for the assessment of
intrusives (see hypothetical case scenarios in fig. 14 of Cam- the mobilization of basinal brines and for the determination
prubí and Albinson, 2007). The establishment of a dominantly of the evolution of this orogen, as it constitutes the southern
extensional regime that resulted in the Basin and Range prov- termination of the Sevier and Laramide orogenies.
ince after the Laramide orogeny, including the Great Basin 5. Tectonomagmatic evaluation of the Eastern Mexican
in Nevada, the Gulf of California, the late phase extension of alkaline province is also needed. It is likely due to intraplate
the Rio Grande rift and, possibly, the Eastern Mexican alka- magmatism during continental extension and slab rollback.
line province, did not stop magmatic-hydrothermal mineral- Or, perhaps, other hypothetical scenarios like back-arc con-
izing processes but rearranged them, both geographically and tinental extension need to be invoked. Other deposits or
genetically. Interestingly, a case has been made for mutually regions would benefit from a similar analysis (e.g., IOCG-
exclusive low sulfidation and high and intermediate sulfida- type deposits emplaced distally from the trench, such as those
tion epithermal deposits both in time and space in the Great in western Chihuahua and eastern Sonora during the Late
basin of Nevada, within the dominantly extensional tectono- Cretaceous, compared to the trench-proximal “Andean”-type
magmatic context of the Basin and Range province (John, IOCG deposits).
2001; Sillitoe and Hedenquist, 2003). As mentioned above, 6. Further research assessing different metallogenic asso-
this does not seem to be the case for epithermal deposits associations of VMS and other deposits in the Guerrero compos-
ciated with the Sierra Madre Occidental (compressional tec- ite terrane and in the basin separating it from the mainland
tonomagmatic context). (Arperos basin) during the Mesozoic is needed. In addition,
the striking lack of VMS deposits in the northern half of the
Future research topics and developments in Guerrero composite terrane when compared to the southern
Mexican metallogeny half needs to be addressed in terms of its tectonomagmatic
The regional metallogenic analysis above leaves many affiliation.
unresolved issues that underline the need for further studies. 7. The various types of deposits that are currently being
Besides persevering with obvious general topics, several spe- labeled generally as “IOCG” deposits should be differen-
cific lines of further research are listed below: tiated, especially in terms of their elemental associations,
modes of emplacement, depth and temperature of formation,
1. There is a need for detailed studies devoted to the docu- and association with well-defined tectonomagmatic settings or
mentation of mineralogy, fluid geochemistry, and mechanisms other types of deposits (e.g., carbonatites).
of formation of ore deposits in general. This is the prerequi- 8. The general prospectiveness or likeliness of the Trans-
site for correct identification of ore deposit types and for put- Mexican volcanic belt to host economic ore deposits has
ting solid metallogenetic models together. been traditionally overlooked or underestimated. However,
2. Geochronological determinations of ore deposits and magmatism in the Trans-Mexican volcanic belt evolved from
genetically associated magmatic rocks are necessary, along intermediate to mafic, then to felsic and to compositionally
with petrogenetic determinations that may lead to more pre- variable magmatism (Gómez-Tuena et al., 2005, 2007) and,
cise definition of tectonomagmatic environments. Although therefore, it is a good candidate to host ore deposits of the
Fig. 13. Histographic representation for the occurrence in time of ore deposits in Mexico with known ages, based on Table
1. The black boxes cover the time span obtained in individual deposits or overlying/underlying rocks. The time span of major
geologic events was drawn from Henry et al. (2003), Ferrari et al. (2005b, 2007a), Morán-Zenteno et al. (2005, 2007), and
Centeno-García et al. (2008). The two available analyses from Caballo Blanco (Veracruz) are shown in gray boxes for reasons
explained in Table 1. Although this deposit is marked here as epithermal, it is not known whether the analyzed rocks were
more closely associated with epithermal or porphyry mineralization. Also in gray are MVT deposits with poorly understood
associations with the dated rocks. Abbreviations: GC = Gulf of California, HS = high sulfidation, IS = intermediate sulfida-
tion, LS = low sulfidation, LVC = Lower volcanic complex (SMO), MVT = Mississippi Valley-type deposits, SBC = Sinaloan
Batholithic Complex, SMO = Sierra Madre Occidental, SMOr = Sierra Madre Oriental, SMS = Sierra Madre del Sur, TMVB
= Trans-Mexican volcanic belt, UVS = Upper Volcanic Supergroup (Sierra Madre Occidental).
calc-alkaline suite (e.g., Camprubí and Albinson, 2006, 2007). as volcanic rock-related uranium or tin vein deposits, greisen,
In fact, the ages of several ore deposits (mostly epithermal) and carbonatites.
are in accordance with the ages of magmatism in the Trans- 5. Magmatism and metallogeny reached regions over 1,000
Mexican volcanic belt (Fig. 11). km to the east of the subduction trench during the Paleogene,
9. The actual distribution of orogenic gold deposits beyond with several isolated magmatic centers along a narrow strip
those in northern Sonora, especially along the southwestern along the Gulf of Mexico, known as the Eastern Mexican alka-
and southern edges of continental Mexico along the Pacific line province. The ore deposits in this region span Eocene
margin and in the Baja California peninsula, should be to relatively recent ages (younging southward), and include
determined. REE-bearing carbonatite/skarn, volcanic rock-related ura-
10. The petrogenesis and metallogeny of known types of nium, and alkaline low sulfidation epithermal deposits.
ore deposits that occur in association with fluorine-rich rhyo- 6. During the early Miocene, before the establishment
lites, besides tin veins, and likeliness for the formation of ore of the Trans-Mexican volcanic belt, the magmatism of the
deposit types unknown to date should be assessed (e.g., rare Sierra Madre Occidental retreated dramatically southward
element pegmatites). and, almost exclusively, epithermal deposits formed in south-
central Mexico. Subsequent continental extension and rifting
Conclusions that drove the Baja California peninsula northwestward and
1. Pre-Mesozoic metallogenic provinces and epochs in initiation of the Trans-Mexican volcanic belt magmatism gen-
Mexico are ill defined due to scarce data and relatively scarce erated two genetically different arrays of ore deposit types,
rock assemblages of that age. The ore deposits that are known beginning in the late Miocene: (1) sedimentary phosphorites
to occur during such prolonged periods of time are (1) Pro- and shallow analogues to sedex deposits that formed along the
terozoic rare element pegmatites, Ti-bearing anorthosites, western coast of the Gulf of California, epithermal deposits
and Au-bearing gneisses, and (2) Paleozoic VMS (Besshi that formed near the northern limit of the Gulf, and active
type?), sedex, and deposits associated with ultramafic-mafic VMS examples that are forming along the oceanic ridge or
complexes. The metallogeny of Mexico from the Mesozoic in passive-margin basins; and (2) several epithermal deposits
onward can be explained through the geologic evolution of (plus other likely associated types) that have formed since the
two major regions: the Pacific margin and the Gulf of Mexico. late Miocene along the Trans-Mexican volcanic belt.
2. The most prolific metallogenetic epoch at the Pacific 7. The second major metallogenic region of Mexico is the
margin began early in the Mesozoic. It can be divided into western rim of the Gulf of Mexico megabasin, which is consti-
oceanic and continental magmatic environments, and the tuted by sedimentary-diagenetic deposits. These include Mis-
change from one to the other occurred between the late Early sissippi Valley-type and associated industrial mineral deposits,
Cretaceous and the earliest Late Cretaceous. As dominantly red bed-hosted Cu-Co-Ni or U deposits, sedex Mn deposits,
extensional settings shifted to compressional ones (mostly sedimentary phosphorites, and sulfur deposits in evaporite
Laramide orogenic pulses) and the continental crust thick- diapir caps. The vast majority of such deposits remain undated,
ened, the magmatic arcs (and deposit types) shifted from oce- although the giant Molango sedex Mn deposits correlate with
anic to continental ones, which evolved into the Sierra Madre Oxfordian-Kimmeridgian (?) sequences, the sedimentary
Occidental silicic large igneous province. This is paralleled by phosphorites in northeastern and east-central Mexico corre-
a change from dominantly submarine to subaerial ore deposit late with Kimmeridgian-early Berriasian sequences, and the
types. formation of the epigenetic types of ore deposits in the region
3. Between the Jurassic and the Early Cretaceous, the can be ascribed to pre-, syn-, or postorogenic epochs relative
dominant environments for ore deposition are favorable for to the Laramide (and Sevier?) orogeny. The Laramide oro-
VMS and deposits associated with ultramafic-mafic com- genic pulses are also the driving forces for the emplacement
plexes. Also, a few examples of porphyry-type and IOCG clan of orogenic gold deposits along the Pacific margin, especially
deposits occur during this period of time. The tectonomag- in northwestern Mexico.
matic assemblages with which these deposits are associated 8. All of the types of ore deposits mentioned above have
are dominantly island/primitive arcs, although the deposits in been subject to various degrees of erosion and/or supergene
ultramafic-mafic complexes comprise several other possible processes since their hypogene emplacement. Such processes
settings (see González-Jiménez et al., 2011). generated placer deposits (Au, Sn, Ti, etc.), gossans and
4. Between the Late Cretaceous and the Paleocene the supergene enrichment zones, and small magnesite, bauxite,
production of ore deposits shifted to types typical for con- and laterite occurrences. Some of these secondary processes
tinental arcs, such as porphyry, sulfide skarn, IOCG clan occurred quite recently, whereas some occurred as early as
deposits, and a few epithermal deposits. As the continen- the Eocene, as in the case of the supergene enrichment zone
tal magmatism migrated eastward and attained its climactic at Piedras Verdes, or the Pliocene, as with the oxidation and
magma production and areal coverage between the Eocene reduction events in U deposits at Sierra Peña Blanca.
and the Oligocene, so did the ore deposits. However, the rela- 9. Besides the ill-defined Proterozoic and Paleozoic metal-
tive abundance of the different types of deposits varies with logenic provinces, no less than nine time-space slices can be
time, as the proportion of epithermal over porphyry-type and determined for the Mesozoic and the Cenozoic: (1) ill-defined
sulfide skarn deposits increased markedly during the Eocene pre-Middle Jurassic, (2) Middle Jurassic to Early Cretaceous in
and, especially, the Oligocene. This is interpreted as a result southwestern Mexico, (3) Cretaceous in southwestern Mexico
of decreasing degrees of erosion with time. Other types of and the Pacific margin, (4) Late Cretaceous to early Eocene
deposits also formed during the Eocene and Oligocene, such in the northwestern and Pacific areas, (5) Late Cretaceous to
late Eocene in northwest Mexico, with orogenic gold deposits, ——1987b, La Yesca, un yacimiento manganoargentífero con posibilidades
or around the Gulf of Mexico, with sedimentary-diagenetic de aprovechamiento: Pachuca, Hidalgo, Consejo de Recursos Minerales,
Unpublished report, 17 p.
deposits, (6) early to late Eocene in northwestern and central Aguilera, J.G., 1907, Los kaolines de la Hacienda de Yexthó, Hgo.: Boletín de
Mexico, with porphyry-type and sulfidic skarns as the most la Sociedad Geológica Mexicana, v. 3, p. 25–33.
abundant types, (7) Oligocene all across Mexico, with epither- Aguillón-Robles, A., Aranda-Gómez, J.J., and Solorio-Munguía, J.G., 1994,
mal deposits as the most abundant type, (8) latest Oligocene Geología y tectónica de un conjunto de domos riolíticos del Oligoceno
Medio en el sur del estado de San Luis Potosí, México: Revista Mexicana
to early Miocene in southwestern and central Mexico, and (9) de Ciencias Geológicas, v. 11, p. 29–42.
middle Miocene to Present in several locations, with either Alam-Hernández, C., Vélez-López, J., and Hernández-Pérez, I., 2000, Texto
hypogene or supergene to sedimentary deposits. guía carta magnética “Cuernavaca” E14-5, escala 1:250,000: Pachuca,
10. It has been determined that, in some regions, the Hidalgo, Consejo de Recursos Minerales, 20 p.
emplacement of types of ore deposits of either the mag- Alatorre, A.E., 1988, Stratigraphy and depositional environments of the
phosphorite-bearing Monterrey Formation in Baja California Sur, Mexico:
matic-hydrothermal or sedimentary-diagenetic “realms” was Economic Geology, v. 83, p. 1918–1930.
controlled by reactivated large-scale faults. The fault zones Albinson, T., 1988, Geologic reconstruction of paleosurfaces in the Sombre-
south of the Mesa Central may represent reactivated portions rete, Colorada, and Fresnillo districts, Zacatecas state, Mexico: Economic
of the sutures between the Guerrero composite terrane and Geology, v. 83, p. 1647–1667.
the mainland. Such fault zones arguably played a paramount Albinson, T., and Parrilla, L.V., 1988, Geologic, mineralogic and fluid inclu-
sion characteristics of polymetallic veins, Real de Guadalupe mining dis-
role as channelways for both the emplacement of magmas and trict, Guerrero, Mexico: Economic Geology, v. 83, p. 1975–1984.
hydrothermal fluids, as magmatism extended into these areas. Albinson, T., Norman, D.I., Cole, D., and Chomiak, B.A., 2001, Controls on
The clearest example is the climactic magmatism of the Oli- formation of low-sulfidation epithermal deposits in Mexico: Constraints
gocene centered on the San Luis-Tepehuanes fault system, from fluid inclusion and stable isotope data, in Albinson, T., and Nelson,
C.E., eds., New mines and discoveries in Mexico and Central America:
but this association is also evident for deposits as old as Late Society of Economic Geologists Special Publication Series, v. 8, p. 1–32.
Cretaceous in the same region. Other remarkable examples Amaya-Martínez, R., 1977, Yacimientos de fierro en la porción central del
of reactivated faults as effective channelways for the emplace- Estado de Baja California Norte: Consejo de Recursos Minerales, VI Semi-
ment of ore deposits include those in northeastern Mexico nario Interno sobre Exploración Geológica-Minera, p. 361–376.
(e.g., San Marcos and La Babia faults). Such faults governed Anderson, T.H., and Schmidt, V.A., 1983, The evolution of Middle America
and the Gulf of Mexico-Caribbean region during Mesozoic time: Geologi-
not only sedimentation and deformation features, but also (1) cal Society of America Bulletin, v. 94, p. 941–966.
the emplacement of deep basinal brines into shallower parts Anderson, T.H., and Silver, L.T., 1977, U-Pb isotope ages of granitic plutons
of the basin, thus resulting in the formation of MVT and red near Cananea, Sonora: Economic Geology, v. 72, p. 827–836.
bed-hosted deposits between the Late Cretaceous and Paleo- Andrade-Pulido, J., and Estrada-Barraza, S., 1965, Geología regional y
yacimientos minerales de la porción noroeste del estado de Baja California,
cene, and (2) the emplacement of discrete magmatic centers México: Pachuca, Hidalgo, Consejo de Recursos Naturales No Renovables,
and a variety of associated magmatic-hydrothermal ore depos- Unpublished report, 276 p.
its of the Eastern Mexican alkaline province since the Eocene. Ángeles-Moreno, E., Sánchez-Martínez, S., Centeno-García, E., Mortensen,
J.K., Solé-Viñas, J., Solís-Pichardo, G., and Schaaf, P., 2003, Geology, geo-
Acknowledgments chemistry and structural geology of the mylonitic complexes of the Teziutlán
basement, Puebla State, in eastern Mexico: Geological Society of America
Financial support for this study was received from the Abstracts with Programs, Paper 9-2, https://gsa.confex.com/gsa/2003CD/
PAPIIT-DGAPA program of UNAM through grants IN103807 finalprogram/abstract_52417.htm.
and IN110810, and from CONACYT (Basic Science Research Aranda-Gómez, J.J., Luhr, J.F., Housh, T.B., Valdez-Moreno, G., and Chávez-
program) through grant 155662. Additional funding was Cabello, G., 2005, El volcanismo tipo intraplaca del Cenozoico tardío en el
received from the internal annual research budget of the centro y norte de México: Una revisión: Boletín de la Sociedad Geológica
Mexicana, v. 57, p. 187–225.
Instituto de Geología of UNAM. I also wish to thank several ——2007, Late Cenozoic intraplate-type volcanism in central and northern
colleagues and friends with whom I had many fruitful discus- México: A review: Geological Society of America Special Paper, v. 422, p.
sions while writing this paper or during the process of sorting 93–128.
out the ideas that led to it, especially Elena Centeno-García, Araux-Sánchez, E., Vega-Granillo, R., and Enríquez-Minjárez, E., 2001,
Características geológicas de un yacimiento mesotermal asociado a zonas
Michelangelo Martini, Elisa Fitz-Díaz, Tawn Albinson, Car- de cizalla en el noroeste de Sonora, in Acta de Sesiones XXIV Conven-
les Canet, Eduardo González-Partida, Francisco González- ción Internacional AIMMGM: México, D.F., Asociación de ingenieros de
Sánchez, Martín Valencia-Moreno, Alexander Iriondo, Aldo Minas, Metalurgistas y Geólogos de México (AIMMGM), p. 25–32.
Izaguirre, José M. González-Jiménez, Luca Ferrari, Ángel F. Arellano-Morales, R., Terán-Ortega, L.A., and Maraver-Romero, D., 2005,
Nieto-Samaniego, and Dante J. Morán-Zenteno. Massimo Monografía geológico-minera del estado de Baja California: Pachuca,
Hidalgo, Consejo de Recursos Minerales, Publication M-22e, 170 p.
Chiaradia initiated the earliest version of this paper, and he Baker, T., and Lang, J.R., 2003, Reconciling fluid inclusion types, fluid pro-
is cordially rethanked for that. Also, Thomas Bissig is thanked cesses, and fluid sources in skarns: An example from the Bismark deposit,
for his invitation to submit this paper; he and Alan Galley Mexico: Mineralium Deposita, v. 38, p. 474–495.
are wholeheartedly thanked for their thorough reviews. Víc- Barra, F., Ruiz, J., Valencia, V.A., Ochoa-Landín, L., Chesley, J.T., and
tor Valencia and John Thompson also reviewed early and Zurcher, L., 2005, Laramide porphyry Cu-Mo in northern Mexico: Age
constraints from Re-Os geochronology in molybdenite: Economic Geology,
late versions of the manuscript, respectively. This paper was v. 100, p. 1605–1616.
improved considerably through these reviews. Barton, M.D., Staude, J.M., Zürcher, L., and Megaw, P.K.M., 1995, Porphyry
copper and other intrusion-related mineralizationin Mexico: Arizona Geo-
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Tectonic and metallogenic history of Mexico

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Porphyry copper deposits of NW Mexico View project

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Tectonic and Metallogenetic History of Mexico

Introduction comprehensive and useful review to date (Clark and Fitch,

Centeno-García et al. (2011)

Xola San Juan Mazatlán

Laramide Belt Late Cretaceous to Paleocene

Talpa de Allende (El Rubí, La América, Amaltea)

Arteaga Los Cimientos

Las Truchas El Limón

TECATE California MEXICALI

SAN LUIS RÍO COLORADO

Santa Úrsula, El Salto & La Caramallola El Gato

San Pedro y San Pablo

Pícale & Yesenia

116º Palomas Ángel de la GuardaA

BAHÍA DE LOS ÁNGELES

Well-recognized fault zones

Table 1. Compilation of the Known

Deposit State Deposit type

Proterozoic (2500–542 Ma)

Paleozoic (542–251 Ma)

Triassic (251.0–199.6 Ma)

Early and Middle Jurassic (199.6–161.2 Ma)

Late Jurassic (161.2–145.5 Ma)

Early Cretaceous (145.5–99.6 Ma)

Ages of Ore Deposits in Mexico

Age (Ma) Dating method Selected references and comments

1063–1053 U/Pb Solari et al. (2003)

157.2–154.0 U/Pb* Bissig et al. (2008)

112.8 K-Ar Cited in Ortiz-Hernández et al. (2006)

Deposit State Deposit type

El Fenómeno – Corte de Madera – Baja California W-Au skarns

Late Cretaceous (99.6–65.5 Ma)

Paleocene (65.5–55.8 Ma)

Age (Ma) Dating method Selected references and comments

64.9 K-Ar Mead et al. (1988)

Deposit State Deposit type

Cananea Sonora Porphyry Cu-Mo-Zn

Age (Ma) Dating method Selected references and comments

55.54 Ar/Ar Iriondo (2001), Iriondo et al. (2005)

Deposit State Deposit type

San Marcos Caldera Chihuahua Continental volcanogenic-hydrothermal U

Oligocene (33.9–23.03 Ma)

Age (Ma) Dating method Selected references and comments

<46.0–45.0 K-Ar* Cited in Ferriz (1981), Reyes-Cortés et al. (2009)

35.7? K-Ar* Tuta et al. (1988), Gunnesch et al. (1994)

33.4 K-Ar Cited in Valencia-Moreno et al. (2006, 2007)

Deposit State Deposit type

La Perla – La Negra Chihuahua Magnetite-apatite deposit (IOCG clan)

Miocene (23.03–5.33 Ma)

Age (Ma) Dating method Selected references and comments

<29.2–27.8 K-Ar* Clark et al. (1979); Swanson and McDowell (1985)

>28.2 K-Ar* Nieto-Samaniego et al. (1996)

23.0–20.0 K-Ar* Cited in Camprubí et al. (2003)

Deposit State Deposit type

Nuevo Milenio Nayarit LS(?) Au-Ag epithermal

Pliocene–Present (5.33–0 Ma)

Age (Ma) Dating method Selected references and comments

≤~21.0? Speculative age**