Perkins, W. 2008.   Some Frequently Asked Questions about the Mount Isa Deposit, and Enigmatic Textures of the Ores. In: (Eds.) Gideon Rosenbaum, Declan De Paor, Daniel Köhn, Guiting Hou, and Talat Ahmad, General Contributions, Journal of the Virtual Explorer, Electronic Edition, ISSN 1441-8142, volume 28, paper 1, doi:10.3809/jvirtex.2008.00187

Some Frequently Asked Questions about the Mount Isa Deposit, and Enigmatic Textures of the Ores

W.G. Perkins

Geoscientist

Geological Survey of Queensland Department of Mines and Energy

80 Meiers Road

Indooroopilly Queensland 4068

Australia

Telephone 07 3362 9325

Fax 0733629343

email william.perkins@dme.qld.gov.au

Abstract

There is ongoing debate about the relative and absolute timing of formation of the Mount Isa copper and lead-zinc orebodies. This paper provides additional examples to support those illustrated in Perkins (1997,1998) and Perkins et al. (1998), which argued that these ore systems were cogenetic and formed late in the main deformation event which affected the mine environment (D3). This is done in terms of key questions which are often asked about the deposit, particularly in a regional context.

Keywords: Mount Isa, copper orebodies, lead-zinc orebodies, alteration, deformation, replacement