Geochronology and Critical Mineral Potential of Selected Laramide Porphyry and Related Deposits in Southwest New Mexico - SME Annual Meeting 2024

Southwestern New Mexico is part of a large belt of Late Cretaceous to Eocene copper porphyry deposits found in Arizona, New Mexico, and Mexico. These deposits are the result of arc magmatism that occurred during the Laramide orogeny. Recently, attention has been brought to other commodities that can be extracted as by- and co-products, many of which are critical minerals. A new compilation of the geochronology of these deposits shows two main pulses of magmatism that produced mineralized deposits and, along with new dates by the author, shines new light on the geologic history of these deposits and the role it plays in critical mineral abundance.