Tunantza breccia-pipe hosted gold deposit (Cordillera Del Condor, southeastern Ecuador) and issues of classification of similar deposits

For the first time, original data from the Tunantza deposit, located in the Cordillera del Cóndor in the Sub-Andean zone of southeastern Ecuador, are presented. The study includes a geological map, descriptions of host rocks and mineralized structures, which serve as the basis for the preliminary classification of the deposit and understanding its origin. Geological materials and documentation from surface outcrops and underground workings at the Tunantza deposit are used; the petrographic study involves the analysis of 96 thin sections. Literature data on similar deposits are used. Important characteristics of the deposit and similar objects are obtained. A classification of these deposits based on the position of mineralization relative to the pipe is proposed. The results demonstrate the relationship between the deposit and the type of mineralized structures and should be used as a tool in the exploration and classification of epithermal and porphyry deposits.