Chemical and short‐wave infrared characteristics of white mica associated with the Gajah Tidur porphyry copper system at the deep Grasberg Cu—Au—(Mo) deposit, Indonesia

Abstract

The Grasberg Cu—Au—(Mo) deposit comprises the shallower Main Grasberg porphyry Cu—Au and the deeper Gajah Tidur (GT) porphyry Cu—Mo—(Au) systems. The GT porphyry preserves various types of white mica whose geochemical variations provide insights into the white mica‐dominated alteration of porphyry systems. The white mica assemblages within the GT porphyry system comprise: (1) muscovite‐anhydrite‐chlorite (MAC), (2) muscovite‐chlorite‐anhydrite (MCA), and (3) muscovite‐quartz ± pyrophyllite (MQP). These assemblages display zonation from central and deep parts of the system to its shallower and peripheral parts. The MAC alteration white micas are characterized by high Na, Fe, Ti, and V concentrations, and with short‐wave infrared Al—OH absorption wavelengths of 2203–2208 nm. The MCA white micas have higher Mg content than the other two GT white mica assemblages but similar Al—OH absorption wavelengths to the MAC white micas. The MQP alteration white micas have low Na, Fe, Mg, and Ti, but relatively high Si, Al, and F, and Al—OH absorption wavelengths are largely shorter than 2202 nm. We interpret that the high Fe and Ti content of the MAC white micas is due to inheritance of these elements from mafic minerals they replaced. The higher Fe content of these white micas explain their longer wavelength Al—OH absorption positions relative to the MQP white micas. In contrast, lower Fe content and shorter Al—OH wavelengths of the MQP white micas are caused by their higher Si and Al content, which reduces iron occupancy in the white mica crystal structure. White micas in this assemblage formed at lower temperature and probable lower pH condition that may have led to a replacement of Fe by Al. The short‐wave infrared Al—OH position of white mica together with the associated hydrothermal assemblage can be used as a proximitor for porphyry Cu hydrothermal centres. White mica associated with chlorite, anhydrite, and chalcopyrite, which commonly occur overprinting or adjacent to the potassic alteration center, are characterized by Al—OH absorption positions at 2200–2215 nm. By contrast, white mica associated with quartz‐pyrite are characterized by Al—OH wavelengths shorter than 2202 nm. In the distal part of porphyry Cu system, white micas may be associated with chlorite and have Al—OH absorption positions longer than 2204 nm.