Iron oxide copper gold ore deposits to be within Neoproterozoic to Mesoproterozoic basement. Worldwide, ages of recognised IOCG deposits range from 1.8 Ga to 15 Ma, however, the majority are within the 1.6 Ga to 850 Ma range. Ore minerals in IOCG deposits are typically copper-iron sulfide chalcopyrite and gangue pyrite, forming 10–15% of the rock mass. Supergene profiles can be developed above weathered examples of IOCG deposits, as exemplified by the Sossego deposit, Para State, Brazil, where typical oxidised copper minerals are present, e.g.; malachite, cuprite, native copper and minor amounts of digenite and chalcocite. Alteration is a mixture of sodic-calcic (albite-epidote) to potassic (K-feldspar)
Iron ore is mined in Minnesota and Michigan in the U.S., Eastern Canada and Northern Sweden. Magnetite bearing banded iron formation is currently mined extensively in Brazil, which exports significant quantities to Asia, and there is a nascent and large magnetite iron-ore industry in Australia. Direct-shipping iron-ore (DSO) deposits (typically composed of hematite) are currently exploited on all continents except Antarctica, with the largest intensity in South America, Australia and Asia. Most large hematite iron-ore deposits are sourced from altered banded iron formations and rarely igneous accumulations. DSO deposits are typically rarer than the magnetite-bearing BIF or other rocks which form its