Eldorado 2001 - The New World Au & FeOx Cu-Au of South America

Enroute between Mantoverde and Copiapo the group was taken to an exploration project at which extensive hematite breccias (not dissimilar to those at Mantoverde) that have returned wide chip sample intervals of significant copper grades are exposed. This was the Cerro Breche prospect (left) of the private Chilean company, Buenaventura SCM. The aim was to provide an indication of how this style of mineralisation is expressed at the surface and in trenches before significant disturbance has taken place. The image to the right is an Atacama scene nearby on a back road to Copiapo. Photographs by Mike Porter