The Çöpler mine is one of the largest gold mines in Turkey and in the world.[1] The mine is located in Erzincan Province.[1] The mine has estimated reserves of 6 million oz of gold.[1]
Çöpler is an epithermalporphory copper-gold deposit which forms part of the Middle Eocene Çöpler–Kabataş magmatic complex in central-eastern Turkey which formed on the north-eastern margin of the Tauride-Anatolide microcontinent. The intrusive rocks at Çöpler were emplaced into Late Paleozoic-Mesozoic metamorphosed sedimentary rocks. Dating of igneous rocks indicate a brief magmatic and hydrothermal history at Çöpler less than a million year long about 43.8–44.6 Ma. The composition of magma indicate it was generated in a convergent margin. Çöpler is, however, located to far away from the Maden–Helete arc and therefore must have formed in a back-arc setting, similar to that in the Bingham Canyon Mine, Utah.[2]
Mineral resources of Turkey
