Ore Mineralogical Study of Cerattepe Au-Cu (±Zn) VMS Deposit (Artvin-Turkey)

Abstract

The Cerattepe mine, one of the volcanogenic massive sulfide deposits in northeastern Turkey, is hosted within the late Cretaceous volcanic, intrusive and sedimentary rocks. Deposit’s main ore body contains high-grade massive copper sulfides and a gold-silver and barium rich oxide zone, characterized by dense alteration stages, is situated on top of it. Replacement, cataclastic, breccia, dissemination, dendritic, concentric growth, colloform, and framboidal textures were identified. Pyrite, sphalerite, marcasite, chalcopyrite, bornite, galena, tennantite-tetrahedrite, gold, covellite, digenite, chalcocite, cuprite and cubanite constitute the mineral paragenesis where quartz, calcite and barite account for the gangue minerals. Limonite, hematite, lepidocrocite, malachite, azurite and jarosite developed in the oxidation zone.