Porphyry and epithermal deposits in Greece: An overview, new discoveries, and mineralogical constraints on their genesis

Trace Elements in Magnetite from the Pagoni Rachi Porphyry Prospect, NE Greece: Implications for Ore Genesis and Exploration

“…Significant porphyry-style mineralization hosted in microgranite, has already been described from the Thrace metallogenic district, thus documenting a genetic link between porphyry-style prospects and the microgranitic magmatism (e.g., the Maronia porphyry Cu-Mo-Re-Au [53] and the Aisymi-Leptokarya porphyry Mo [45,54] systems). The existence of microgranitic bodies in the Pagoni Rachi area, as well as the presence of F-rich phases in advanced argillic alteration assemblages in epithermal-style mineralization [31,48,49], locally superimposed on the porphyry-style ores in the broad area, is also compatible with a deep, large-scale microgranitic intrusion, which could (at least partly) control the alteration styles and contribute to the metal endowment of the Pagoni Rachi porphyry prospect.…”

“…Subsequent hydrothermal alteration of the magmatic and/or the sedimentary rocks led to the formation of significant metallic mineralization, mainly in the Rhodope (Thrace), and to a lesser extent the Serbo-Macedonian (Chalkidiki) domains [39,42,44,45].…”

“…The metallogenic province of Thrace hosts a plethora of porphyry-and epithermal-style deposits and prospects (see Melfos and Voudouris [44]; Voudouris et al [45]), which are enriched in a variety of elements, including precious and critical metals (e.g., Au, Ag, Re, Te, Se, In, Ga, and Ge). A number of porphyry style deposits has been recognized in the broader area with the most important of them being the Konos Hill [31,[46][47][48][49], the Pagoni Rachi [50][51][52], and the Maronia [53] Cu-Mo-Re-Au systems, as well as the recently discovered porphyry Mo prospect in the Aisymi-Leptokarya area [45,54]. Epithermal-style mineralization in the area include, among others, the important Viper [55] and Perama Hill [56] Au-Ag deposits, as well as the St. Philippos [51][52][53][54][55][56][57] and Pefka [58] polymetallic deposits that have been exploited in the past.…”

Metallogeny of the Tethyan Orogenic Belt: From Mesozoic Magmatic Arcs to Cenozoic Back-Arc and Postcollisional Settings in Southeast Europe, Anatolia, and the Lesser Caucasus: An Introduction

“…The Cenozoic ore deposits include porphyry Au-Cu(-Mo) deposits, carbonate replacement and skarn deposits, vein-type and breccia-type high-to lowsulfidation epithermal systems with base and/or precious metals, and sedimentary rock-hosted epithermal Au deposits. They are linked to extensional tectonics, particularly exhumation of metamorphic core complexes and low-angle detachment faults, and are preferentially associated with high-K calc-alkaline to shoshonitic magmatism (e.g., Marchev et al, 2005;Márton et al, 2010;Bonsall et al, 2011;Yig it, 2012;Berger et al, 2013;Kaiser Rohrmeier et al, 2013;Sánchez et al, 2016;Siron et al, 2016Siron et al, , 2018Smith et al, 2016;Delibaş et al, 2017;Melfos and Voudouris, 2017;Voudouris et al, 2019). The ore deposits become progressively younger from the northern Rhodope massif in Bulgaria and Greece to the southern Aegean region.…”

“…The collection of papers included in this special issue covers a geologic evolution from Mesozoic arc construction and arc maturation associated with subduction-related magmatism to Cenozoic back-arc and postcollisional magmatism and tectonics. The main ore deposit types that were formed during this geodynamic and metallogenic evolution are porphyry-epithermal systems and associated skarn and carbonate replacement deposits (e.g., Ciobanu et al, 2002;Heinrich and Neubauer, 2002;von Quadt et al, 2005;Yig it, 2009;Richards, 2015Richards, , 2016Menant et al, 2018;Kuşcu et al, 2019a, b;Voudouris et al, 2019;Zürcher et al, 2019). The ore deposits covered in this special issue contain Cu and Au as the dominant commodities, locally accompanied by base metals, i.e., Pb and Zn, and other valuable by-products, such as Mo and Re.…”