Çöpler mine

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Coordinates: 39°25′34″N 38°31′19″E / 39.426°N 38.522°E / 39.426; 38.522
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Çöpler mine
Location
Çöpler mine is located in Turkey
Çöpler mine
Çöpler mine
LocationÇöğler, İliç
Erzincan Province
CountryTurkey
Coordinates39°25′34″N 38°31′19″E / 39.426°N 38.522°E / 39.426; 38.522
Production
ProductsGold
History
Opened2010; 14 years ago (2010)
Owner
CompanyAnagold Inc.

The Çöpler mine (Turkish: Çöpler Altın Madeni) is a gold mine located in Erzincan Province, eastern Turkey. It is owned and operated by the Anagold Mining Inc., established in 2009. Explored in 1999, it is on an epithermal gold-silver-copper ore deposit, one of the largest in Turkey and in the world.The Çöpler mine started production in 2010.[1]

Background[edit]

Following the exploration of the epithermal gold-silver-copper ore deposit near the Çöpler village in the İliç district of Erzincam Province, eastern Turkey,[2][3] the company Anagold Alcaer Inc. was founded by the American Alcaer Gold Corp. and the Turkish Lidya Mining Co., a subsidiary of the Çalık Holding in a 80/20-share basis.[1] The construction works in the mine called Çöpler began in 2009. Gold production started by December 2010.[2] In 2020, Alcaer Gold Corp. merged with the Canadian SSR Mining Inc., which moved its headquarters from Canada to Denver, Colorado, United States.[4][5][3]

Geology[edit]

Çöpler is an epithermal porphyry copper-gold ore deposit, which forms part of the Middle Eocene Çöpler–Kabataş magmatic complex in central-eastern Turkey that 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 that 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, United States.[6]

Mining[edit]

Çöpler is an open-pit mining operation that obtains gold from oxide ore by heap leaching process, and from sulfur ore by pressurized oxidation cycle (POX) method, respectively. While the POX facility is a first in terms of gold production in Turkey, it is also one of the few POX facilities in the world.[1]

By June 2019, the company reported that it is planned to extract more than 10 million ounce (oz) of gold.[7] As of end 2022, the proven and probable mineral reserves are given as 47.7 million tonnes at an average grade of 2.11 g/t or 3.2 million oz of contained gold, excluding stockpiles.[8]

In the first ten years, about 2 Moz (56.7 t) gold was produced. The mine has more than 5 Moz (around 142 t) of gold resources planned to be produced in the next few decades. The partners have invested more than 1 billion US$, making one of the largest investments made in Turkish mining and eastern Turkey.[1]

Mining accidents[edit]

On 21 June 2022, a flange on a cyanide pipeline in the heap leaching field separated causing leakage, and cyanide spread into the environment. An administrative fine of 16.441 million Turkish lira (ca. 1 million US$) was imposed on the mine company.[9] The mine was closed for three months.[10] Operation resumed in September the same year.[11]

On 13 February 2024 a disaster occured when a huge mass of heap leach material slid towards a creek, and nine miners were trapped under the landslide. [12] Eight suspects were detained as responsible, and then put before the magistrates' court after their statements at the prosecutor's office. Six of the suspects, including the Canadian-national company manager, were arrested while two suspects were released on probation.[13]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d "Çöpler Altın Madeni" (in Turkish). Kşidya Madencilik. Retrieved 17 February 2024.
  2. ^ a b "Lidya Madencilik" (in Turkish). Çalık Holding. Retrieved 17 February 2024.
  3. ^ a b "Turkey minerals" (PDF). gbreports.com. 2013. Retrieved 2013-07-03.
  4. ^ "Kanadalı SSR Mining Şirketi 2,4 milyar Dolar Karşılığında Alacer Gold'u Satın Alıyor" (in Turkish). Ticaret Bakanlığı. 17 May 2020. Retrieved 17 February 2024.
  5. ^ Hastorun, Sinan. "The Mineral Industry of Turkey" (PDF). United States Geological Survey: 27.
  6. ^ İmer, Richards & Creaser 2013, Abstract
  7. ^ "Çöpler'de 10 milyon onsun üzerinde altın çıkarılması hedefleniyor -Alacer Anagold A.Ş Yönetim Kurulu Başkanı Dowling: İliç'te işletmekte olduğumuz altın madeni, dünya sınıfında bir altın madeni". Anadolu News Agency (in Turkish). 27 June 2012. Retrieved 17 February 2024.
  8. ^ "Our Operations Çöpler". SSR Mining. Retrieved 17 February 2024.
  9. ^ "Siyanür borusu patlamıştı: Erzincan'daki altın madenine 16,4 milyon lira para cezası". BirGün (in Turkish). Retrieved 17 February 2024.
  10. ^ "İliç'te siyanür sızıntısı: Altın madeninin faaliyeti durduruldu, bakanlık yetkilileri ve maden şirketi hakkında suç duyurusunda bulunuldu". BBC News (in Turkish). 25 June 2022. Retrieved 17 February 2024.
  11. ^ "Erzincan'da tonlarca toprak 9 işçiyi yuttu! Haziranda kapatıldı, Eylülde açıldı". Milliyet (in Turkish). 14 February 2024. Retrieved 17 February 2024.
  12. ^ Vock, Ido (13 February 2024). "Turkey gold mine: Nine workers missing after landslide". BBC News. Retrieved 17 February 2024.
  13. ^ "İliç'teki toprak kayması soruşturmasında altı tutuklama". Dünya (in Turkish). 17 February 2024. Retrieved 17 February 2024.

Sources[edit]

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