Genesis of the Olympias carbonate-hosted Pb-Zn (Au, Ag) sulfide ore deposit, eastern Chalkidiki Peninsula, northern Greece

Mineralogical and Geochemical Characterization of the Olympias Mine Tailings, Ne Chalkidiki, Greece

“…As indicated by the current study, the mineralogy of the Olympias orebody and its host rocks (Kalogeropoulos et al, 1989) is strongly reflected on the Olympias tailings, which contain both primary and secondary minerals. The formation of secondary minerals in Olympias tailings is predominantly associated with the weathering of the included sulfides and the dissolution of primary carbonates.…”

“…The Olympias Pb-Zn-Au-Ag ore deposit, which is intrusion related (e.g. Kalogeropoulos et al, 1989;Gilg and Frei, 1994) and associated to our study, is a stratabound (manto) and locally stratiform or fracture controlled sulfide mineralization, hosted mainly within the lower marble horizon of the Kerdylia Unit and along the contact with the overlying biotite gneiss (Kalogeropoulos et al, 1989). The main host rock of the mineralization is a calcitic and rhodochrosite-and/or Mn calcite-bearing marble.…”

“…The main host rock of the mineralization is a calcitic and rhodochrosite-and/or Mn calcite-bearing marble. Kalogeropoulos et al (1989), report that the Olympias orebodies consist mainly of pyrite, sphalerite, galena and arsenopyrite, accompanied by sulfides and sulfosalts such as chalcopyrite, tetrahedrite, boulangerite, bournonite, pyrrhotite, marcasite, geocronite and enargite, whereas the gangue minerals consist mainly of quartz, rhodochrosite and calcite. According to Chryssoulis and Cabri (1990), the bulk of the gold in Olympias is "invisible" and is predominantly carried by arsenopyrite and arsenian pyrite.…”

Metallic mineral resources of Greece

“…The Olympias deposit is generally strata bound or fracture controlled and in places stratiform. Its main mineral constituents are pyrite, galena, sphalerite and arsenopyrite with quartz, calcite and rhodochrosite as gangue minerals [10][11][12]. In Skra Kilkis the probable reserves of base and precious metals include: 4.7 mt of sulphides with 7.7% Zn+Pb, containing 172,000 t Zn, 113,000 t Pb and 80 t Ag.…”

“…Gold has been located in the submarine fan sandstones of the Ionian Zone [47]. The most important and economically significant ores of gold are located in Chalkidiki (Olympias, Skouries), in Perama Hill Evros, in Sapes Rhodope and in Kilkis (Antigonia, Gerakario, Vathi, Pontokerassia) [12,13,33,34,[48][49][50]. In October 2004 a new Greek Co acquired the initial Kassandra mines Co and the mining and processing of galena and sphalerite continued.…”