The six Oremine properties are aligned along NE-SW direction on the NW slopes of the Madra dağı which is at the south of the Biga Peninsula, NW Turkey. The property at the most northeastern is situated at 13 km south of Burhaniye and the most southwestern is at 12 km southeast of Ayvalık. Burhaniye and Ayvalık towns are at the coast of the Edremit Golf and 100-130 km away from the regional capital, Balıkesir.
Geology
The peaks of the Madra dağı is composed of the Miocene granitic rocks which intruded to the meta-sandstones, meta-mudstones, meta-volcanic rocks of the Karakaya Complex, including Permian limestone blocks. These basement rocks are widespread in the northern properties.
Intermediate-acidic volcanic rocks were partly formed contemporaneously with the plutonic rocks and are dated from 30 to 15 my. The volcanosedimentary rocks sometimes include granitoid blocks and usually cut by granitic dykes. Andesite and dacite domes and granite dykes are seen in all the Oremine Properties, except the southwest. At the eastern part of the properties are covered by schists cut by the main granite body and at the western and southwestern parts by volcanic tuff and lacustrine limestone, marl and sandstone and by aluvium on the plains. A latite dome at the center of Oremine licenses seems to be the latest magmatic phase.
Ore mineralization
Oremine Ayvalık properties are between two working gold deposits, Bergama - Ovacık gold deposit at 35 km southeast, and Havran -Küçükdere gold deposit at 20 km northeast. The Ovacık deposit contains 0.8 Moz Au and O.8 Moz Ag, and the Mn-rich Bahçedere mineralisation is smaller.
The Ayazmant Fe ore is only 3 km southeast of the properties of 3149360 and 3149361. It is at the contact of the granitoids and shows a skarn type of mineralisation. The Ayazmant deposit cannot be mined for iron in large scale because of the high Cu content. A Cu enrichment plant has been built up.
The Kubaşlar gold deposit is just 0.5 km southeast of the property of 3149375. The gold is in a 50 m thick and a few hundred m long silisified zone which extends along the direction of NW-SE. This direction extends into the Oremine property.
Similar to Kubaşlar but bigger silica zones also present in oremine licenses. Many silica zones present in dacitic tuffs, in a 5 km long, NE-SW direction zone along the center of Ayvalık licenses. The silica zones seem to extent perpendicular to the main structure, along KB-GD direction and cut by young E-W faults.
The silica zones include not high Au grades (usually less than 1 g/t), but the Au mineralisation seems to be continuous. On the other hand some silica blocks found in soil between silica zones show high grade Au mineralisations (up to 21 g/t). The area will be explored by soil geochemistry and by more rock sampling.
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