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Veliki Krivelj
Serbia
Main commodities: Cu Au Mo Ag


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The Veliki Krivelj porphyry copper deposit is approximately 3 km to the northeast of Bor deposit and is within the Timok Mountains of eastern Serbia, approximately 150 km SE of the capital, Beograd (Belgrade). See the Majdanpek record for their geological setting.

It has maximum sub-surface plan dimensions of 1500 x 700 m and a vertical extent of more than 800 m as indicated by diamond drilling. Historic production since operations commenced in 1982 has amounted to 0.51 Mt Cu, 120 Kt Mo, 60 t Ag and 10 t Au from ore with a recovered grade of 0.34% Cu, 0.4 g/t Ag and 0.07 g/t Au (Monthel et al., 2002). At a cut-off grade of 0.15% Cu, the deposit is quoted as originally containing a mineable reserve of approximately 2.5 Mt of Cu from ore averaging 0.44% Cu, within a larger geologic resource. The Mo content of the ore is generally only 0.003 to 0.005%, although it may locally reach 0.02 to 0.03%. The deposit has been previously described by Aleksic (1969, 1979); Jankovic et al., (1980); Jankovic (1990, 1990b).

The porphyry style mineralisation at Veliki Krivelj occurs in hydrothermally altered Upper Cretaceous sub-volcanic hornblende andesite and pyroclastic equivalent breccias, tuffs and agglomerates as well as the Upper Cretaceous volcano-sedimentary series of pelites and limestones. This mineralisation, prominent Late Cretaceous to Early Tertiary diorite and quartz diorite porphyry dykes as well as andesite dyke swarms, are all superimposed on earlier skarns formed in the Upper Cretaceous pelites and limestones.

Hydrothermal alteration is mainly developed in the pyroclastic facies of the host hornblende biotite andesite, predominantly as a potassic assemblage characterised by secondary biotite, accompanied by widespread silicification and by sericite on the margins. Pyrophyllite is found locally. On the periphery of the porphyry copper mineralisation, where silicification is weak, chlorite, epidote and calcite are developed. Late intense zeolite, gypsum and sporadically anhydrite are also apparent. Strong pyritisation is associated with the silicification.

Porphyry style mineralisation is dominated by chalcopyrite, pyrite, minor molybdenite, magnetite, pyrrhotite, hematite, traces of cubanite, enargite, bornite, covellite, chalcocite, galena and sphalerite. The occurrence of up to 50 m thick zones of pyrophyllite, alunite and kaolinisation in parts of the alteration system indicates the presence of advanced argillite alteration, although this has not been studied systematically.

The early skarn assemblage includes garnet, calcite, epidote, quartz, biotite, pyrite and sporadically wollastonite, with disseminated chalcopyrite.

The most recent source geological information used to prepare this decription was dated: 2005.    
This description is a summary from published sources, the chief of which are listed below.
© Copyright Porter GeoConsultancy Pty Ltd.   Unauthorised copying, reproduction, storage or dissemination prohibited.


    Selected References
Ciobanu, C.L., Cook, N.J. and Stein, H.,  2002 - Regional setting and geochronology of the Late Cretaceous Banatitic Magmatic and Metallogenetic Belt: in    Mineralium Deposita   v.37, pp. 541-567.
Clark A H and Ullrich T D  2004 - 40Ar- 39Ar age data for andesitic magmatism and hydrothermal activity in the Timok Massif, eastern Serbia: implications for metallogenetic relationships in the Bor copper-gold subprovince: in    Mineralium Deposita   v39 pp 256-262
Heinrich C A, Neubauer F  2002 - Cu - Au - Pb - Zn - Ag metallogeny of the Alpine - Balkan - Carpathian - Dinaride geodynamic province: in    Mineralium Deposita   v37 pp 533-540
Herrington R, Jankovic S and Kozelj D  1998 - The Bor and Majdanpek copper-gold deposits in the context of the Bor Metallogenic Zone: in Porter, T.M. (Ed), 1998 Porphyry and Hydrothermal Copper and Gold Deposits - A Global Perspective PGC Publishing, Adelaide,    pp 185-194
Lips, A., Herrington, R., Stein, G., Kozelj, D., Popov, K. and Wijbrans, J  2004 - Refined tuning of porphyry copper formation in the Serbian and Bulgarian portions of the Cretaceous Carpatho-Balkan Belt: in    Econ. Geol.   v99 pp. 601-609


Porter GeoConsultancy Pty Ltd (PorterGeo) provides access to this database at no charge.   It is largely based on scientific papers and reports in the public domain, and was current when the sources consulted were published.   While PorterGeo endeavour to ensure the information was accurate at the time of compilation and subsequent updating, PorterGeo, its employees and servants:   i). do not warrant, or make any representation regarding the use, or results of the use of the information contained herein as to its correctness, accuracy, currency, or otherwise; and   ii). expressly disclaim all liability or responsibility to any person using the information or conclusions contained herein.

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