USGS Releases New Estimate of Copper Potential for Northeast Asia

SPOKANE, Wash. — Significant amounts of undiscovered copper may be present in northeast Asia according to a new U.S. Geological Survey report. USGS scientists evaluated the potential for copper in undiscovered porphyry copper deposits in Russia and northeastern China as part of a global mineral resource assessment. The estimate of undiscovered copper is about 260 million metric tons, which is nearly 30 times the amount of copper identified in the two known porphyry deposits in northeast Asia.

Porphyry copper deposits are the main source of copper globally. Russia is an important source of copper, consistently ranking as sixth, seventh, or eighth in world production since 2000, and ranked seventh in 2014. The study area includes only two known porphyry copper deposits: 1), the world class Peschanka deposit in the Kolyma area of interior northeastern Russia that contains more than 7 million metric tons of identified copper resources, and 2), the Lora deposit in the Magadan area along the Pacific margin of Russia with about 1 million metric tons of identified copper.

Five mineral resource assessment regions with geology known to be conducive to hosting porphyry-type deposits (known as permissive tracts) are delineated in the new report. The largest tract evaluated, the Pacific Margin, extends across the entire Pacific Ocean margin of Russia (inboard of the Kamchatka Peninsula), and in addition to the known Lora deposit, contains 53 significant porphyry copper prospects, including the recently discovered Malmyzh prospect in the western Sikhote-Alin region of southeastern Russia, and at least 50 other smaller copper prospects. The geologically youngest tract, the Kamchatka-Kuril, extends from the mainland area of the Kamchatka Peninsula through the Kuril island chain, and encompasses 10 significant porphyry copper prospects, in addition to at least 17 other copper occurrences. The Pacific Margin tract is similar in tectonic setting, dimensions, geologic ages, and rock types to the rocks in the North American Cordillera that host numerous world-class porphyry copper deposits.

The Kolyma tract, located in the interior regions of northeast Russia, contains the known Peschanka deposit, and hosts five significant porphyry copper prospects and at least 19 other copper occurrences. The Chukotka tract, extending along the Arctic Ocean margin of northeasternmost Russia, is extremely remote, not well explored, and best known for hosting deposit types other than porphyry copper, such as mercury and tin-tungsten deposits. The geologically oldest region, the Kedon tract, a small region located in the interior of northeast Russia, is deeply eroded and metamorphosed and hosts few porphyry copper prospects compared with most of the geologically younger regions evaluated.

The full report, USGS Scientific Investigations Report 2010-5090-W, “Porphyry Copper Assessment of Northeast Asia—Far East Russia and Northeasternmost China,” is available online and includes a summary of the data used in the assessment, a brief overview of the geologic framework of the area, descriptions of the mineral resource assessment tracts and known deposits, maps, and tables. A GIS database that accompanies this report includes the tract boundaries and known porphyry copper deposits, significant prospects, and other prospects. Assessments of adjacent areas are included in separate reports, which are also available online.

This report is part of a cooperative international effort to assess the world’s undiscovered mineral resources. In response to the growing demand for information on the global mineral-resource base, the USGS conducts national and global assessments of renewable and nonrenewable resources to support decision making. Mineral resource assessments provide a synthesis of available information about where mineral deposits are known and suspected to occur in the Earth’s crust, what commodities may be present, and how much undiscovered resource could be present.