Ground uplift at rotting volcanoes in the Bolivian Altiplano: A proxy for active lithocap formation and sulphide ore mineralisation in the Central Andes?

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Joachim Gottsmann
• Subject Area: Geophysics ; Geodesy, Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing, Geoinformatics, Cartography
• Term: since 2026
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 581232900

Modern economies and technological advances, such as the Green Energy Revolution heavily depend on materials built from critical metals. Porphyry copper deposits (PCDs) are one significant source of such raw materials, including copper, molybdenum, rhenium, gold, silver, palladium, bismuth, zinc, and lead. These metals are traditionally mined in large open pits and target ancient mineralisations dating back tens to hundreds of Ma, such as in the copper belt of northeast Chile. This proposal marks a dramatic shift from accepted targets of future PCD exploration to shift the focus on current and ongoing PC mineralisation in the Bolivian Altiplano of the Central Andes. Building on our previous findings of 30 km3 of anomalously high density rocks located at depths between 2 and 5 km at the centre of a large ground deformation anomaly below Uturuncu volcano in the Bolivian Altiplano, we hypothesise that other nominally extinct and hydrothermally heavily eroded (rotten) volcanoes in the Altiplano exhibit similar high-density anomalies indicative of hydrothermal overprinting of former magmatic intrusions by metalliferous brines and lithocap formation. We therefore propose to target a select set of volcanoes that share common surface features of active lithocap formation, including Uturuncu’s immediate neighbour Cerro San Antonio, a 50 km-long NNE-SSW striking unnamed volcanic chain extending from the Chile-Bolivia border towards the west of Uturuncu, and the Cerros Pastos Grandes located 75 km NW of Uturuncu where a new ~50 km broad circular ground deformation anomaly was recently detected by satellite geodesy. Our central working hypothesis that underpins the entire project is that the southern Altiplano of Bolivia hosts active and ongoing generation of PCDs. The mineralisations are closely linked to anomalous geophysical activity observed in the Altiplano over the past 60 years. The project will shed the first light on the subsurface architecture of a geophysically unexplored part of the Altiplano with the potential to fundamentally change the understanding of current critical metal enrichment with significant ramification for science, technology and energy security.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• International Connection: Bolivia, United Kingdom, USA
• Cooperation Partners: Professor Dr. Jon D. Blundy; Susi Ebmeier, Ph.D.; Gonzalo Fernandez, Ph.D.; Professor Dr. Matt Pritchard