干旱区生态环境知识资源中心

The Centinela District exposes two of the largest exotic Cu deposits of the world: the El Tesoro and the Tesoro NE. The former presents two roughly tabular mineralized ore bodies: the copper wad-rich Lower manto, having copper wad, chrysocolla and minor atacamite, and the atacamite-rich Upper manto, having minor copper wad and chrysocolla. The Tesoro NE presents copper wad, chrysocolla, atacamite and malachite. Sedimentologic, stratigrafic and geochronologic data help elucidate the geomorphologic evolution of Centinela District and provide constraints on the location of the still undiscovered source area for the copper. In the case of the El Tesoro Lower manto it is likely situated to the north, whereas for the Upper manto of El Tesoro and for the Tesoro NE the source area it is probably situated easthward. Exotic mineralization occurred during the early Oligocene -middle Miocene, under semiarid-arid climatic conditions and prior to the onset of the hyper-arid conditions. This climate change is evidenced in the stratigraphic record by a change in the hosting-gravel lithofacies and of the paleosoil characteristics.