The time-space distribution of Eocene to Miocene magmatism in the central Peruvian polymetallic province and its metallogenetic implications

Eocene to late Miocene magmatism in the central Peruvian high-plain (approx. between Cerro de Pasco and Huancayo; Lats. 10.2–12°S) and east of the Cordillera Occidental is represented by scattered shallow-level intrusions as well as subaerial domes and volcanic deposits. These igneous rocks are calc-alkalic and range from basalt to rhyolite in composition, and many of them are spatially, temporally and, by inference, genetically associated with varied styles of major polymetallic mineralization. Forty-four new ⁴⁰Ar–³⁹Ar and three U/Pb zircon dates are presented, many for previously undated intrusions. Our new time constraints together with data from the literature now cover most of the Cenozoic igneous rocks of this Andean segment and provide foundation for geodynamic and metallogenetic research.The oldest Cenozoic bodies are of Eocene age and include dacitic domes to the west of Cerro de Pasco with ages ranging from 38.5 to 33.5 Ma. South of the Domo de Yauli structural dome, Eocene igneous rocks occur some 15 km east of the Cordillera Occidental and include a 39.34 ± 0.28 Ma granodioritic intrusion and a 40.14 ± 0.61 Ma rhyolite sill, whereas several diorite stocks were emplaced between 36 and 33 Ma. Eocene mineralization is restricted to the Quicay high-sulfidation epithermal deposit some 10 km to the west of Cerro de Pasco.Igneous activity in the earliest Oligocene was concentrated up to 70 km east of the Cordillera Occidental and is represented by a number of granodioritic intrusions in the Milpo–Atacocha area. Relatively voluminous early Oligocene dacitic to andesitic volcanism gave rise to the Astabamba Formation to the southeast of Domo de Yauli. Some stocks at Milpo and Atacocha generated important Zn–Pb (–Ag) skarn mineralization. After about 29.3 Ma, magmatism ceased throughout the study region. Late Oligocene igneous activity was restricted to andesitic and dacitic volcanic deposits and intrusions around Uchucchacua (approx. 25 Ma) and felsic rocks west of Tarma (21–20 Ma). A relationship between the Oligocene intrusions and polymetallic mineralization at Uchucchacua is possible, but evidence remains inconclusive.Widespread magmatism resumed in the middle Miocene and includes large igneous complexes in the Cordillera Occidental to the south of Domo de Yauli, and smaller scattered intrusive centers to the north thereof. Ore deposits of modest size are widely associated with middle Miocene intrusions along the Cordillera Occidental, north of Domo de Yauli. However, small volcanic centers were also active up to 50 km east of the continental divide and include dacitic dikes and domes, spatially associated with major base and precious metal mineralization at Cerro de Pasco and Colquijirca. Basaltic volcanism (14.54 ± 0.49 Ma) is locally observed in the back-arc domain south of Domo de Yauli approximately 30 km east of the Cordillera Occidental.After about 10 Ma intrusive activity decreased throughout Central Perú and ceased between 6 and 5 Ma. Late Miocene magmatism was locally related to important mineralization including San Cristobal (Domo de Yauli), Huarón and Yauricocha.Overall, there is no evidence for a systematic eastward migration of the magmatic arc through time. The arc broadened in the late Eocene to early Oligocene, and thereafter ceased over wide areas until the early Miocene, when magmatism resumed in a narrow arc. A renewed widening and subsequent cessation of the arc occurred in the late middle and late Miocene. The pattern of magmatism probably reflects two cycles of flattening of the subduction in the Oligocene and late Miocene. Contrasting crustal architecture between areas south and north of Domo de Yauli probably account for the differences in the temporal and aerial distribution of magmatism in these areas.Ore deposits are most abundant between Domo de Yauli and Cerro de Pasco and were generally emplaced in the middle and late Miocene during the transition to flat subduction and prior to cessation of the arc. Eocene to early Oligocene mineralization also occurred, but was restricted to a broad east–west corridor from Uchucchacua to Milpo–Atacocha, indicating a major upper-plate metallogenetic control.