Refined Timing of Porphyry Copper Formation in the Serbian and Bulgarian Portions of the Cretaceous Carpatho-Balkan Belt

Petrology, geochemistry and U–Pb geochronology of magmatic rocks from the high-sulfidation epithermal Au–Cu Chelopech deposit, Srednogorie zone, Bulgaria

“…5). Therefore, as suggested by Lips et al (2004), these young ages most likely reveal argon loss or thermal resetting. Within the Chelopech area, the oldest dated rock unit is the dacitic dome-like body at Murgana, approximately 3.5 km to the northwest of the Chelopech mine ; sample CH 114 in Fig.…”

“…Most 40 Ar/ 39 Ar age spectra reveal a weak Eocene to Early Oligocene thermal overprint at about 40-32 Ma ). Lips et al (2004) also report 40 Ar/ 39 Ar ages for magmatic hornblende and biotite and hydrothermal white mica from the Elatsite and Medet porphyry-Cu deposits (Figs. 1 and 5).…”

New Constraints on the Main Mineralization Event Inferred from the Latest Discoveries in the Bor Metallogenetic Zone (BMZ, East Serbia)

“…The geochronological data indicate that the ABTS belt exhibits a regular distribution of radiometric ages of mineralization and magmatism and that these patterns are discernible both along and across strike. Thus, [9,10] suggest that mineralization shows a decrease in age along strike, from the Srednogorje (87-92 Ma), throughout the Timok-(81-88 Ma) up to the Banat-Apuseni sector (72)(73)(74)(75)(76)(77)(78)(79)(80)(81)(82)(83) [14]; in addition, the respective mineralization events were mostly short-lived, i.e., <1 m.y. Such an along-strike pattern is less obvious concerning the age of the accompanying igneous rocks; namely, each sector encompasses similar age ranges with almost 90% of radiometric data falling between 70 Ma and 90 Ma [12].…”

“…The latter two sectors: Timok and Banat-Apuseni are currently elongated N-S, due to Cenozoic (Miocene) clockwise rotations that produced a sharp inflection between the Timok and Srednogorje parts [4][5][6]. The ABTS is known to host some of the largest copper and gold deposits in Europe and its geology has been frequently studied in the last several decades (e.g., [2,[7][8][9][10][11][12][13], among others). The studies have covered various geological aspects of the origin and evolution of this belt and established a solid genetic link between magmatic and mineralization processes.…”

“…The studies have covered various geological aspects of the origin and evolution of this belt and established a solid genetic link between magmatic and mineralization processes. This knowledge is mainly based on stratigraphic relationships and geochronological data, including Ar-Ar [8,9], U-Pb zircon (e.g., [2,11,13]) and Re-Os molybdenite dating [10].…”