The Chelopech deposit is one of the largest European gold deposits and is located 60 km east of Sofia, within the northern
part of the Panagyurishte mineral district. It lies within the Banat–Srednegorie metallogenic belt, which extends from Romania
through Serbia to Bulgaria. The magmatic rocks define a typical calc-alkaline suite. The magmatic rocks surrounding the Chelopech
deposit have been affected by propylitic, quartz–sericite, and advanced argillic alteration, but the igneous textures have
been preserved. Alteration processes have resulted in leaching of Na
2O, CaO, P
2O
5, and Sr and enrichment in K
2O and Rb. Trace element variation diagrams are typical of subduction-related volcanism, with negative anomalies in high field
strength elements (HFSE) and light element, lithophile elements. HFSE and rare earth elements were relatively immobile during
the hydrothermal alteration related to ore formation. Based on immobile element classification diagrams, the magmatic rocks
are andesitic to dacitic in compositions. Single zircon grains, from three different magmatic rocks spanning the time of the
Chelopech magmatism, were dated by high-precision U–Pb geochronology. Zircons of an altered andesitic body, which has been
thrust over the deposit, yield a concordant
206Pb/
238U age of 92.21 ± 0.21 Ma. This age is interpreted as the crystallization age and the maximum age for magmatism at Chelopech.
Zircon analyses of a dacitic dome-like body, which crops out to the north of the Chelopech deposit, give a mean
206Pb/
238U age of 91.95 ± 0.28 Ma. Zircons of the andesitic hypabyssal body hosting the high-sulfidation mineralization and overprinted
by hydrothermal alteration give a concordant
206Pb/
238U age of 91.45 ± 0.15 Ma. This age is interpreted as the intrusion age of the andesite and as the maximum age of the Chelopech
epithermal high-sulfidation deposit.
176Hf/
177Hf isotope ratios of zircons from the Chelopech magmatic rocks, together with published data on the Chelopech area and the
about 92-Ma-old Elatsite porphyry–Cu deposit, suggest two different magma sources in the Chelopech–Elatsite magmatic area.
Magmatic rocks associated with the Elatsite porphyry–Cu deposit and the dacitic dome-like body north of Chelopech are characterized
by zircons with ɛHf
T90 values of ∼5, which suggest an important input of mantle-derived magma. Some zircons display lower ɛHf
T90 values, as low as −6, and correlate with increasing
206Pb/
238U ages up to about 350 Ma, suggesting assimilation of basement rocks during magmatism. In contrast, zircon grains in andesitic
rocks from Chelopech are characterized by homogeneous
176Hf/
177Hf isotope ratios with ɛHf
T90 values of ∼1 and suggest a homogeneous mixed crust–mantle magma source. We conclude that the Elatsite porphyry–Cu and the
Chelopech high-sulfidation epithermal deposits were formed within a very short time span and could be partly contemporaneous.
However, they are related to two distinct upper crustal magmatic reservoirs, and they cannot be considered as a genetically
paired porphyry–Cu and high-sulfidation epithermal related to a single magmatic–hydrothermal system centered on the same intrusion.
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