1. Mineral Resources
  2. Online Spatial Data
  3. Mineral Resource Data System (MRDS)

El Laco

Occurrence in Chile with commodity Iron
Map
XML
JSON
KML
B
Sections on this page
  1. Identification information
  2. Geographic coordinates
  3. Site location context
  4. Geographic areas
  5. Commodities
  6. Materials information
  7. Host and associated rocks
  8. Nearby scientific data
  9. Ore body information
  10. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  11. Reserves and resources
  12. Links to other databases
  13. Bibliographic references
  14. General comments
  15. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10078114
MRDS ID W026273
Record type Site
Current site name El Laco
Alternate or previous names Orebodies: Laco Sur, Laco Norte, Rodados Negros, San Vicente Alto, San Vicente Bajo, Cristales Grandes, Laquito.

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -67.49947, -23.84084 (WGS84)
Elevation 5000
Relative position ANTOFAGASTA, 400 KM E OF; SALTA, ARGENTINA, 150 KM FROM

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Chile(country)

South America(continent)

Land(continent)

Geographic areas

Country
Chile

Comments on the location information

  • IN THE CORDILLERA. COORDINATES ARE FOR THE LACO SUR DEPOSIT OF EL LACO. DEPOSITS SURROUND LACO PEAK. WHICH IS AN ANDESITIC-RHYODACITIC VOLCANO.

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Iron Primary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Actinolite Gangue
Apatite Gangue
Garnet Gangue
Opal Gangue
Pyroxene Gangue
Quartz Gangue
Scapolite Gangue

Analytical data

Result CHEMISTRY OF RESERVES: FE, 65 %
Result SIO2 , 1 - 2%
Result S, 0.1%
Result AND P, 0.3 - 0.4%
Result 430 PPM V, 100 PPM CR, AND 300 PPM T. TRACE ELEMENT DATA GIVEN BY NYSTROM AND HENRIQUEZ (1994).

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type Volcanic Rock (Aphanitic) > Pyroclastic Rock > Tuff
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Pliocene
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Pleistocene
  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type Volcanic Rock (Aphanitic) > Felsic Volcanic Rock > Rhyodacite
  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type Volcanic Rock (Aphanitic) > Intermediate Volcanic Rock > Andesite
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Volcanic Rock (Aphanitic) > Intermediate Volcanic Rock > Andesite

Nearby scientific data

(1) -67.49947, -23.84084
ListMap

Economic information

Ore body information

  • General form FLOWS
    Thickness 20M

Comments on the geologic information

  • GENERAL SUCESSION FROM BOTTOM TO TOP IS ANDESITIC LAVA (UP TO 30 M THICK), PYROCLASTIC ORE (UP TO 30 M THICK), MAGNETITE LAVA (UP TO 50 M THICK), PYROCLASTIC UNIT WITH FRAGMENTS OF MASSIVE ORE (ABOUT 20 M THICK), AND ANDESITIC FLOW. ORE BODIES ARE SURROUNDED BY NARROW METASOMATIC AUREOLES (UP TO 1 M THICK IN LAVA BUT WIDER IN TUFFS) WHERE HOST ROCK IS TRANSFORMED TO PYROXENE, SCAPOLITE, QUARTZ AND GARNET.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Occurrence
Commodity type Metallic
Significant No
Discovery year 1958

Reserves and resources

  • Type In-situ
    Estimate year 1970
    Total resources 625000000000mt ore
    Commodity Subtype Grade units Group Importance Year
    Iron Fe 65 wt-pct Iron Major 1970

Reference information

Comments on the other database information

  • RECORD NUMBER W026306 IS A POTENTIAL DUPLICATE OF THIS RECORD

Bibliographic references

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit FIVE ORE BODIES ARE KNOWN, LACO SUR, LACO NORTE, RODADOS NEGROS, SAN VINCENTE ALTO, AND SAN VINCENTE BAJO, LOCATED ON THE PEXIPHERY OF A NORTHWEST - TRENDING ELLIPTICAL ARE ABOUT 7 KILOMETERS LONG AND 3 KILOMETERS WIDE. SEE INDIVIDUAL REPORTS ON EACH ORE BODY.

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-MAY-1973 Cooper, Margaret (Shaffer, Glenn L.) U.S. Geological Survey
Updater 01-FEB-1994 Page, Norman J. U.S. Geological Survey
Updater 01-SEP-1994 Page, Norman J. U.S. Geological Survey

Beyond USGS

Supplemental information added by qvyshift.com. Not part of the original USGS MRDS record.

Maps centered on this site