Abstract
The Tizapa deposit is a strata-bound volcanogenic massive sulfide deposit, situated in Mexico State, Mexico. The deposit consists of several ore bodies, generally occur between Jurassic to Cretaceous meta volcanic rocks of green schist as footwall and meta sedimentary rocks of graphitic schist as hangingwall. The formation of several ore bodies is considered as the results of structural deformation due to folding and faulting. Drillings and underground drifts have traced the ore bodies over an area of approximately 1, 000 by 1, 200 meters. The sulfide ore bodies vary in thickness up to 20 meters, and they have north-northwest down dips with 30-40 degrees. The results of ore grade distribution analysis and patterns of metal zoning within the Tizapa ore bodies show continuity of ore bodies across the area studied when effects of deformation are removed, and the hypothesis that there was originally a single continuos ore body in the Tizapa deposit was supported. There are several areas enriched in Cu relative to other metals, that correspond with intensely altered footwall zones (Alteration index >90). These areas may be feeders to the metals. The higher Cu grade zone and strong alteration were also detected in the northeast of the ore deposit, that suggests there is high possibility that the ore deposit extends further to the north of the zone.
