Date

2022-6-29

Author

Yurdakul, Emrecan

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The Öksüt high-sulfidation epithermal gold-copper deposit is hosted within the late Miocene Develidağ Volcanic Complex (DVC) in south-central Anatolia. Mineralization mainly occurs in two domains, the Keltepe and Güneytepe orebodies, where steeply-dipping and pervasively supergene oxidized breccia zones exploited funnel-shaped diatreme conduits within andesite porphyry. Emplacement of these breccias was largely controlled by sub-vertical faults with dominant normal-slip components. Mineralized breccias comprise a central zone of residual vuggy-massive silica alteration, laterally and vertically grading into zones of quartz-alunite and quartz- alunite- clay alteration. Silicified breccias contain relatively high gold grades, whereas significant mineralization was also encountered in quartz-alunite-clay alteration. In the oxide zone, gold occurs in native form, whereas in the hypogene zone it occurs both as native gold or within abundant pyrite accompanied by lesser enargite, marcasite, chalcopyrite, and tetrahedrite. In both mineralized domains mineralized breccias pass into barren argillic and then into biotite-magnetite-K-feldspar-anhdyrite alteration, the latter typical of porphyry-type systems. Sporadic zones of calc-silicate alteration are also present to the west of the tenement area. 40Ar/39Ar alunite and illite ages as well as U-Pb garnet ages range between 5.7 to 5.5 Ma and suggest that high-sulfidation epithermal alteration and mineralization developed contemporaneously with post-subduction magmatism at DVC, in relationship to regional E-W-directed extension. New age data also confirms Öksüt as the youngest known epithermal gold deposit in Anatolia, and possibly in the Western Tethyan metallogenic belt. The topographic prominence of the volcanic edifice combined with high permeability of the breccias favored deep supergene oxidation, thereby rendering Öksüt economically viable.

Subject Keywords

Central Anatolia, Kayseri, Öksüt, High-Sulfidation Epithermal, Gold, Copper

URI

https://hdl.handle.net/11511/98726

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Graduate School of Natural and Applied Sciences, Thesis