Comment to "Porphyry-related high-sulfidation mineralization early in Central American Arc Development: Cerro Quema deposit, Azuero Peninsula, Panama" by Perelló et al., (2020)

Abstract

The Cerro Quema Au-Cu deposit is hosted by a dacite dome complex of the Río Quema Formation, a Late Campanian-Maastrichtian volcano-sedimentary sequence of the Panamanian magmatic arc. Its formational age is constrained at ~49 Ma by field evidences, crosscutting relationships and 40Ar/39Ar geochronology (Corral et al., 2016, Corral, 2021). The recent molybdenite Re-Os dates by Perelló et al. (2020) claim that ore is spatially and temporally related to the host volcanic domes at ~71 Ma. After a thorough review of the geologic, geochemical and geochronological data from the Cerro Quema area, it is concluded that the Re-Os dates of Perelló et al. (2020) are not representative of the Cerro Quema formational age. Their proposed formational age at ~71 Ma is significantly older than the age of the host rock (~67 Ma). Furthermore, they invoke a previously unrecognized regional-scale magmatic event solely based on their molybdenite Re-Os dates. Instead, the Cerro Quema genetic model discussed here, in which magmatic-hydrothermal fluids derived from porphyry copper-like intrusions associated with the Valle Rico batholith produced the Au-Cu mineralization at ~49 Ma, is consistent with the geology, geochemistry and geochronology of the Azuero Peninsula.