Biotite and its alteration products (primarily chlorite) from igneous rocks around the Ray and Esperanza (Esperanza-Sierrita) porphyry copper deposits, Arizona, were analyzed for copper by electron microprobe. The copper occurs in amounts >90 p/m (limit of detection) in most of the chlorites analyzed, is concentrated at the optical and chemical boundary of chlorite and biotite, and is not associated with sulfur. Most unaltered igneous and hydrothermal biotites analyzed contain <90 p/m Cu, and except for one sample, all copper that was detected can be explained as contamination by copper from chlorite grains. The paucity of detectable copper in igneous and hydrothermal biotite and its presence in daughter chlorite suggest that the positive association noted by some workers between the proximity of an ore deposit and the copper content of biotite might be partly the result: of increased amounts of chloritization of biotite near a deposit coupled with difficulty in physically cleaning the biotite separates. Additionally, previous speculations that (1) part of the copper in a deposit may come from altered biotite, and (2) copper in biotite indicates how copper behaves in a differentiating magma, are of doubtful value if based on data derived from analyses of bulk mineral separates.
