Manganese Deposits of Turkey

Abstract

Turkey comprises different types of manganese deposits which were identified by the Mineral Research and Exploration Institute of Turkey (MTA) in 1965 (MTA. Manganese ore deposits of Turkey. General Directorate of Mineral Research and Exploration. Pub. No: 120, 38 p. (In Turkish), 1972). After many research works conducted on the formation and genesis of marine pollymetalic oxides that occur in the modern oceanic sediments, a new genetic classification of the marine ferromanganese manganese deposits was made by several workers (Frakes LA, Bolton BR. Geology 12:83–86, 1984; Rona 1992). Based on newly acquired knowledge, the manganese deposits of Turkey were divided into four main types according to host rocks, geological-tectonic settings and formation processes by Ozturk (Geol Eng 43:24–33. (In Turkish with English abstract), 1993a; Ozturk H. Ore Geol Rev 12:187–203, 1997; Ozturk H, Hein JR. Econ Geol 92:733–744, 1997). These types are (1) Black shale – hosted deposits, (2) Radiolarian chert – hosted deposits, (3) Oligocene – hosted deposits, (4) Volcanic arc – hosted and/or vein -type deposits. Although radiolarian chert – hosted type Mn oxides mineralization is widely distributed, they generally are small occurrences associated with ophiolitic melanges but some of them may be of economic value. Economically important Mn deposits are in the black shale rocks in southwestern Turkey and in the Oligocene sediments in the Thrace Basin. The Oligocene deposits are connected to the Black Sea region deposits, including Varna (Bulgaria), Nikopol (Ukraine) and Chiatura (Georgia). Exploration studies by drilling programs have been made by MTA for the Oligocene – hosted Binkilic deposit of the Thrace Basin (Bora E. Binkilic ve Sefaalan Bolgesinin jeolojisi ve manganez yataklari. [The geology and Mn deposits of the Binkilic¸ and Sefaalan area]. M.Sc. Thesis, Istanbul University, 47 p. (In Turkish, unpublished), 1969) and black shale – hosted Ulukent Mn deposit in Tavas region (Dogan H, Turkmen H. Ulukent – Tavas cevresindeki manganez yataklarinin jeoloji Raporu. [Geological report of the manganese deposits of the Ulukent-Tavas and surrounding area]. General Directorate of Mineral Research and Exploration Report No: 345, 87 p. (In Turkish, Unpublished), 1983).