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Braden Pipe

Chile / Libertador General Bernardo OHiggins / Machali /
 geology, copper mine
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The Braden Pipe is a Breccia diatreme which lies at the center of the El Teniente copper molybdenum deposit. It forms a pipe 1200m in diameter at the surface which narrows to around 600m at a depth of 1800 meters. The pipe itself is poorly mineralized with a copper content of ~0.3 %. The mine levels surround the pipe and the infrastructure for each level is located within the pipe.

The creation of the pipe and deposit is related to the Late Miocene-Early Pliocene igneous activity on the western flops of the Andean Cordillera. Biotite K-Ar dating at El Teniente yielded radiometric ages of 4.6 to 4.7 Ma that were interpreted as the main mineralization event related to the formation of the El Teniente deposit. It is believed the Braden Pipe formed soon after mineralization.
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Coordinates:   34°4'58"S   70°21'15"W
This article was last modified 10 years ago