GEOLOGICAL SETTING AND ORIGIN OF THE KISECIK GOLD DEPOSIT, HATAY, TURKEY

The Kisecik gold deposit, Turkey, is located ~200 km south of the Kahramanmaras triple junction of the African, Arabian, and Anatolian plates. This triple point is manifested by the intersection of the Dead Sea Fault Zone (DSFZ), the Cyprean Arc, and a segment of the left-lateral East Anatolian Fault Zone. Gold is hosted in the Late Cretaceous Kizildag ophiolite, which is part of the Southern ophiolite belt that runs from Oman to Turkey.

Gold in the Kisecik deposit (<100,000 ozs with an average gold grade of 0.1 to 0.2 ozs/ton) occurs in NW-SE trending quartz-sulfide veins within sheeted diabase dikes of the Kizildag ophiolite. Individual quartz veins, which exhibit crack-seal, open space filling, and cockscomb textures, can be traced up to 100 m and vary in width up to 1.5 m as fractures and shears in diabase. Silicification, chloritization, and carbonatization accompanied the emplacement of the gold veins. Native gold and electrum occur as inclusions in arsenopyrite, pyrite, chalcopyrite, sphalerite, pyrrhotite, and cubanite. These sulfides are intergrown with calcite, chlorite, and sericite. Fluid inclusion homogenization temperatures from primary two-phase liquid-vapor inclusions (~10-25% vapor) range from 203.4^o to 336.6^oC (n=168), with a prominent peak at ~250^oC. There is no petrographic evidence for the presence of daughter minerals or visible CO₂ or CH₄. Nearly all inclusions failed to freeze upon cooling. However, fluid inclusions in one sample showed salinities ranging from 4.3 to 6.4 equivalent wt % NaCl (n=6). Values of d³⁴S of pyrite, arsenopyrite, chalcopyrite, and sphalerite vary between 0.4 to 2.8 per mil (n=19), suggesting a reduced sulfur source, probably of magmatic origin. Gold-forming fluids were likely derived from metamorphic dehydration reactions produced by movement along the northern DSFZ; however, direct derivation of fluids from the Kizildag ophiolite cannot be ruled out.