porphyry / IOCG
Copper prospectivityacross Australia, the USA, Canada & worldwide for copper.
Porphyry and IOCG copper, ranked and explained across Australia, the United States and Canada. Our global model maps copper anywhere in the world.
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✓ Australia
Ranked targets
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✓ United States
Ranked targets
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✓ Canada
Ranked targets
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Everywhere else
Global model
Ranked targets come with national models in Australia, the United States and Canada. Everywhere else, the global model returns the prospectivity map, the geology behind it and a confidence read. Next, the models are retrained on the full record and new sources, such as hyperspectral imagery, before we use them to rank and select ground.
How we rank copper ground
From a country to a decision.
- 01 · Atlas
Know the ground
The geology, structure, recorded deposits, tenure and geochemistry over the ground, on one map with the source of every layer.
See Atlas - 02 · Open Ground
Find ground you can peg
Which ground is open, held or excluded, read from each licensing authority's own register.
See Open Ground - 03 · Prospectivity
Rank it for copper
The ground scored for copper, with the evidence behind it and ranked targets in Australia, the United States and Canada. Anywhere else, the global model maps copper.
See Prospectivity - 04 · Spectral
Map the alteration
The alteration minerals and the structures that control them, from satellite: regional to district scale, and camp scale from WorldView-3.
See Spectral - 05 · Due Diligence
Check before committing
Tenure, land access, environment and the real cost to hold and test a copper position.
See Due Diligence -
Talk to us about copper
Partners, investors, publishers and researchers.
Live examples
See copper on real ground.
Example runs with the prospectivity map, the reasoning behind each target and the geology beneath it. No login needed.
The deposit system
The copper system.
Copper is the backbone metal of electrification: an excellent conductor of heat and electricity, ductile, corrosion-resistant and endlessly recyclable. MineDSS focuses on the two systems that supply most of the world's mined copper: porphyry copper deposits, large, relatively low-grade bodies formed above cooling calc-alkaline intrusions where magmatic fluids disperse copper and molybdenum through fractured rock; and iron-oxide-copper-gold (IOCG) systems, iron-oxide-rich bodies carrying copper and gold, often at the margins of large igneous provinces and deep crustal breaks.
Read more: the deposit model, why it matters and where it is used +
More on copper
Both build alteration and geochemical footprints far larger than the ore itself, and that footprint is what a prospectivity model learns to read.
The deposit model
Porphyry systems centre on felsic-to-intermediate intrusions and their stockwork fracture networks, with concentric alteration (potassic at the core, grading outward through phyllic to propylitic and argillic zones) and copper carried in sulphides such as chalcopyrite and bornite. They are strongly controlled by intrusive contacts and structural corridors, and frequently sit alongside skarn mineralisation where fluids react with carbonate host rocks. IOCG systems are hosted near major crustal-scale faults and brecciated basement, marked by intense iron-oxide (magnetite-haematite) alteration and a copper-gold association.
Why it matters
Copper is central to electrification, grid buildout, renewable generation and the wider energy transition: every motor, cable, transformer and building draws on it. Because no substitute matches its combination of conductivity, workability and cost, demand is structurally tied to infrastructure and industrial growth across the economy. That makes copper one of the most consequential exploration targets of the coming decades, and keeps the search for new tonnes continuous as existing mines mature and grades decline.
Where it's used
Copper's superb conductivity puts it at the heart of electrical wiring, power transmission and distribution, motors, transformers and electronics. It is essential to electric vehicles, wind and solar installations, and data-centre infrastructure, and its antimicrobial and corrosion-resistant properties suit it to plumbing, roofing and marine hardware. Alloyed as brass and bronze, it also serves architecture, machinery and countless industrial components.
Questions
Copper: common questions.
Which copper deposit types does MineDSS model? +
MineDSS models the two systems that hold most of the world's mined copper: porphyry copper deposits, formed above cooling calc-alkaline intrusions and typically carrying molybdenum, and iron-oxide-copper-gold (IOCG) systems, iron-oxide-rich bodies with a copper-gold association sited near major crustal breaks.
How is the model tested, and where can I run copper? +
Every MineDSS model is tested before it is served: we withhold whole blocks of ground, rebuild the model without them, and check that it still ranks the anomalous samples there above background, with test ground kept spatially separate. A model that does not pass our release gates is not used, for any mineral, in any country. National models for copper run in Australia, the United States and Canada, with ranked targets. Anywhere else in the world, the global model returns the prospectivity map, the geology behind it and a confidence read. Skill is model-level, never a specific site's measured accuracy, and never a discovery or JORC / NI 43-101 resource claim.
Which pathfinder elements track copper? +
The classic pathfinders are gold, molybdenum, arsenic, bismuth, tungsten and silver: elements that commonly accompany copper in porphyry and IOCG systems. These elements are part of the geochemical record our models learn from. In a run on any piece of ground, the map itself is read from geology and rock age, gravity and magnetics, radiometrics, terrain, satellite radar and spectral alteration, so it covers ground that has never been sampled.
Can I use MineDSS copper rankings as a resource estimate or drilling advice? +
No. MineDSS produces explainable prospectivity rankings that highlight ground worth further work; they are not JORC or NI 43-101 resource or reserve estimates, not a discovery, and not investment or drilling advice. The rankings are a decision-support layer to prioritise where to look, and should be followed up with conventional exploration, sampling and expert geological judgement.
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Partners
Exploration and mining companies interested in working with us.
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Investors
The record, the models and the ground they point to.
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Publishers and researchers
Geological surveys, universities and programmes whose work the record is built on.
MineDSS ranks prospectivity to help you decide where to explore next. It is not a discovery, not a JORC or NI 43-101 resource or reserve estimate, and not drilling or investment advice.