Controls on Cu mineralization in central part of the Kerman porphyry copper belt, SE Iran: constraints from structural and spatial pattern analysis

Abstract

The Sarduiyeh area in the central part of the Kerman Porphyry Copper Belt (KPCB), SE Iran, contains numerous Cu deposits and prospects. This area is bound by E-W trending major faults, which show the northern and southern borders of fault duplex. Minor faults (first, second or third orders) were identified in three trends of NW, N-S and NE. Analysis of the fault kinematics data revealed an extensional fault duplex pattern for this area. In this fault zone, Cu deposits are associated with faults that have a special trend. This proposed kinematic model for evolution of Sarduiyeh extensional fault duplex emphasizes that the main Cu deposits in the Sarduiyeh area are located within the dilatational zones related to NW-SE trending normal faults. In this study, the spatial pattern analysis conducted by Fry, Fractal, Fracture density and buffer zones methods support the conceptual model of district-scale mechanism of structural controls on final emplacement of Cu deposits. This investigation of Sarduiyeh Cu mineralization revealed that the NW-SE trending faults are effective in localization of Cu mineralization in the central part of KPCB.