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Bučim

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Porphyry copper (Cu-Au) deposit in Radovis, The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia

Names and other identifiers

GMRAP ID 382
Alternate names Buchim
Tract name Dinaride-Aegean Region (150pCu6002)
Group name Bucim Group
Included sites Bu?im, Damjan
Site status deposit

Geographic location

Country The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia
State or province Radovis
Geographic location 22.348638, 41.666657
Geologic map unit 22.348638, 41.666657
Nearby data
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Geologic information

Deposit type Porphyry copper
Deposit subtype Cu-Au
Age (Ma) 23Ma
Age determination method K-Ar
Age range 23 Ma
Age reference Singer and others (2008)
Minerals actinolite, azurite/malachite, biotite, bismuthinite, bornite, bravoite, chalcocite, chalcopyrite, chlorite, covellite, cubanite, epidote, galena, gold, hematite, kaolinite, krennerite, limonite, luzonite, magnetite, molybdenite, petzite, pyrite, pyrrhotite, rutile, sericite, tenorite, tetrahedrite, valleriite
Associated rocks andesite, latite, quartz latite porphyry, diorite, granodiorite, amphibolite, gabbro, gneiss, serpentinite
Tectonic setting postconvergence
Stratigraphic age Miocene

Commodity and development information

Development status Producer
Major commodities Cu, Au
Minor commodities Ag, Bi, Te
Tonnage (Mt) 150Mt
Cu grade (%) 0.3%
Au grade (g/t) 0.35g/t
Contained copper 450,000t
Gold-Moly ratio -9999

Reference information

Comments Buchim is one of the smallest porphyry Cu-Au deposit currently (2010) being mined. Host-rock age 27.5 to 24.5 Ma. Copper mineralization at Buchim is not as deeply eroded as that in the Damjan ore field. Disseminated and stockwork ore are associated with an andesite stock in basement gneiss. Alteration: potassic, sericitization, neobiotitization, and silicification. Discovered in 1955, into production in 1979; temporarily closed in 2008. A new SX-EW project is slated to produce cathode copper from stockpiled overburden and oxidized ore (average 0.2 to 0.3 percent copper) in 2011 (Solway Investment Group Ltd., 2011). Location: center of pit on GoogleEarth imagery. Southeastern Macedonia.
Study area name Europe
References Bogdanov (1983); Bogdanov (1986); Bonev and others (1989); Serafimovski and others (1996); Serafimovski and others (2010); Serafimovski and Tasev (2006); Volkov and others (2010); Solway Investment Group Ltd. (2011); Singer and others (2008)
Site reference Sutphin and others (2013)
Bogdanov, B.D., 1983, Porphyry copper deposits of Bulgaria: International Geology Review, v. 25, no. 2, p. 178–188. (Also available at http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00206818309466690.)
Bogdanov, B.D., 1986, Copper ore deposits in Bulgaria, in Petraschek, W.E., and Jankovi?, S., eds., Geotectonic evolution and metallogeny of the Mediterranean area and western Asia: Wien, Springer-Verlag, Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften, Schriftenrehe der Erdwissenschaftlichen Kommissionen, v. 8, p. 103–112.
Bonev, I.I., Iordanov, I.A., Ivanova-Panaiotova, V.G., Sotnikov, V.I., and Berzina, A.N., 1989, Relationship of skarn and hydrothermal mineralization in the Byrdtse molybdenum-copper deposit (Malko-Tyrnovo ore field, Bulgaria): Soviet Geology and Geophysics, v. 30, no. 6, p. 84–91.
Serafimovski, T., Cifliganec, V., Jankovi?, S., and Boev, B., 1996, Genetic model of the Buchim porphyry copper deposit, Republic of Macedonia, in Popov, P., ed., Plate tectonic aspects of the Alpine metallogeny in the Carpatho-Balkan region: UNESCO-IGCP Project No. 356 Annual Meeting, Sofia [Proceedings], v. 1, p. 63–75.
Serafimovski, T., Stefanova, V., and Volkov, A.V., 2010, Dwarf copper-gold porphyry deposits of the Buchim-Damjan-Borov Dol ore district, Republic of Macedonia (FYROM): Geology of Ore Deposits, v. 52, no. 3, p. 179–195. (Also available at http://dx.doi.org/10.1134/S1075701510030013.)Serafimovski, Todor, and Tasev, Goran, 2006, Sulfur isotope study of sulfides from some mineral deposits from the Lece-Chalkidiki metallogenic zone: Geosciences 2006, Sofia, Bulgaria, November 30–December 1, 2006 [Proceedings], p. 251–254, accessed August 3, 2011, at http://www.bgd.bg/CONFERENCES/Geonauki_2006/Sbornik/pfd_files/58.pdf.Singer, D.A., Berger, V.I., and Moring, B.C., 2008, Porphyry copper deposits of the world—Database and grade and tonnage models, 2008: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2008-1155, [45] p. and digital data, accessed December 31, 2013, at http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2008/1155/.Solway Investment Group Ltd., 2011, Buchim copper mine (Republic of Macedonia): Solway Investment Group Ltd. Web page, accessed September 13, 2013, at http://www.solwaygroup.com/itemf_3.htm.Volkov, A.V., Serafimovski, T., Stefanova, V., and Sidorov, A.A., 2010, Formation mechanism of dwarfish Cu-Au porphyry deposits of Macedonia: Doklady Earth Sciences, v. 431, no. 2, p. 429–434. [Original Russian text published in Doklady Akademii Nauk, 2010, v. 431, no. 5, p. 649–655.] (Also available at http://dx.doi.org/10.1134/S1028334X10040045.)