Eliopoulos published Chapter 10 in 2013 that porphyry Cu ± Mo ± Au deposits are major sources of these metals and are associated with alkaline and calc-alkaline rocks. Porphyry-type deposits range from porphyry Cu–Au, like Grasberg (Indonesia), Mamut (Malaysia), Santo Tomas II (Philippines), Skouries (Greece), Cadia (Australia), British Columbia (Copper Mountain, Ajax/Afton, Mount Polley, Galore Creek, Mt Milligan), Cu–Au– Mo deposits, like the giant deposit at Bingham Canyon, Utah, to porphyry Mo such as the Boss Mountain (central British Columbia).
A variety of porphyry Cu, Mo, Cu–Mo and Au-rich deposits define the metallogeny of the Andean belt, extending from Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia to Argentina and Chile, covering the early Cretaceous to Pleistocene age span. The Alpine-Balkan-Carpathian Dinaride belt belongs to the Alpine-Himalayan system, extending from
western Europe through Iran and the Himalaya to China and Malaysia, and is the result of convergence of the African, Arabian and Indian plates and their collision with Eurasia. Major calcalkaline magmatism, extending over at least 25 million years (from about 90 to 65 Ma) in each segment of the metallogenic belt, is associated with certain segments only, due probably to the complex geometry of the collision interface.
Although the Andes and Alpine-Balkan-Carpathian belts differ in terms of the subduction age span, they host some of the world’s largest porphyry-type deposits and oldest mining areas. Alkaline porphyry deposits represent significant gold resources owing to their large sizes. Recently, elevated levels of platinum group elements (PGE), particularly Pd and Pt, have been reported from mineralization associated with several of the alkaline porphyry deposits in the Cordillera of British Columbia (Copper Mountain,
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