The new Northern Copper Belt of south-western Poland: a summary

Authors

  • Stanisław Speczik University of Warsaw, Faculty of Geology, Żwirki i Wigury 93, 02-089 Warszawa
  • Krzysztof Szamałek University of Warsaw, Faculty of Geology, Żwirki i Wigury 93, 02-089 Warszawa
  • Jan Wierchowiec University of Warsaw, Faculty of Geology, Żwirki i Wigury 93, 02-089 Warszawa
  • Krzysztof Zieliński Miedzi Copper Corp., Al. Jerozolimskie 96, 00-807 Warszawa
  • Alicja Pietrzela University of Warsaw, Faculty of Geology, Żwirki i Wigury 93, 02-089 Warszawa
  • Tomasz Bieńko University of Warsaw, Faculty of Geology, Żwirki i Wigury 93, 02-089 Warszawa

Keywords:

Deep copper and silver deposits, Northern Copper Belt, Fore-Sudetic Monocline, Stratiform copper mineralization, Kupferschiefer -type deposits

Abstract

The Northern Copper Belt is located in south-western Poland, a region well known for its copper and silver occurrences of varying significance. This area also includes the abandoned mines of the North-Sudetic Trough (Old Copper District), as well as the currently active New Copper District in the southern part of the Fore- Sudetic Monocline. The vast exploration programme of Miedzi Copper Corp. initiated in 2011 in the northern, deeper part of the Fore Sudetic Monocline provided new data about the deeper parts of this geological unit, located north of the known deposits. A number of prospective areas with Cu-Ag mineralization were investigated, which ultimately resulted in the discovery of three new Cu-Ag deposits. Both the prospective areas and the documented deposits form the so-called Northern Copper Belt, which as a whole has high potential for the identification of new ore deposits and an increase in resources. A description of these three new deposits is provided along with characteristics of the areas of their possible extension, and the additional prospective areas with hypothetical and speculative resources. The new deposits are compared to other Polish Cu-Ag ore deposits, with an emphasis on differences in their geological structure and mineralogy. The paper also presents a brief summary of the applied new exploration tools which have led to this discovery.

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Published

2022-12-06