Early Tertiary epithermal gold mineralization, Bahcecik prospect, northeastern Turkey

The Bahcecik prospect is located in the eastern Pontide tectonic province of the eastern Black Sea region of Turkey. It is one of the first low sulfidation epithermal systems to be described from this area of Turkey. Gold mineralization occurred within Late Cretaceous to early Tertiary volcanic rocks and is localized along east-trending normal faults and lithologic contacts. An early quartz–sericite alteration event was focused along the major fault in the area and resulted in precipitation of arsenian (?) pyrite with anomalous gold. A later, more spatially extensive, advanced argillic alteration event overprinted the quartz–sericite event. Native gold was precipitated during this event as disseminations and fracture fillings in quartz. Gold mineralization is restricted to the high-temperature portion of the alteration zone characterized by quartz veins with diaspore–pyrophyllite selvages. The prospect area was subjected to Tertiary to Holocene supergene alteration.