At the Assarel and Medet porphyry copper mines, Bulgaria.   The group visited the operating Assarel mine to the east of Sofia and south-east of Chelopech (main panorama image above).   The group was hosted by technical staff from the owner Assarel Medet JSC, and was accompanied by expert consultant to the tour, Dr Radoslav Nakov, Deputy Director, Geological Institute of Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (facing camera on lower right image) who provided a technical briefing and discussion on the setting, geology, alteration and mineralisation of the district and individual deposits. The group was able to study the ore from Assarel, and then visited and inspected the hosts, alteration and peripheral mineralisation on the benches of the nearby past producing Medet porphyry copper mine (lower left).
Photographs by Mike Porter.