Epithermal deposits of Turkey

Abstract

In Europe and Middle East, Turkey is currently positioned as the largest producer of gold with a 2015 production of 27.5 t from predominantly porphyry and epithermal deposits. Although exploration for gold by advanced geochemical methods started in 1980s, Turkey entered into hard-rock mining based on cyanide process for extracting gold from low-grade ore in 2001. Before that, apart from placer mining, gold was sold in concentrate ore as by product in some deposits chiefly mined for base metals. Epithermal deposits are high-grade deposits dominated by open-space textures generally formed at depths of ~2 km with temperatures of < 400 °C. Due to their shallow-depth location, it is regarded that they represent easily mineable source of gold. This chapter is designed to focus attention on the geology of important epithermal gold mineralisation in Turkey with the aim to understand the basic regional and local geological setting and mineralogical and geochemical properties setting for the mineralisation. In the chapter the brief summary of selected epithermal deposits is emphasized the principal characteristics of important epithermal mineralisation all over Turkey including low, intermediate and high sulphidation types without taken into account their major economic element content on the base of reports from government and private companies and published or unpublished studies. Up to date, although literature on epithermal mineralisation in Turkey has been increasing with significant exploration and published data, still numerous questions remain unanswered and provide a source for future research.