Ananias Tsirambides

Greece has a large number of critical and strategic metal resources. The proven and indicated reserves of aluminum amount to 2.5 mt and their gross value €5.075 b. Those of chromium amount to 1.2 mt with gross value €4.320 b, while of cobalt are 129 th. t with gross value €3.348 b. The proven and indicated reserves of copper from Chalkidiki and Kilkis areas are approximately 3.04 mt and their gross value €24.776 b, while those of manganese are 2.25 mt with gross value €5.400 b. Molybdenum has been located in Pigi Kilkis with indicated reserves of about 7.7 th. t and gross value €326 m. Under mining are the vein type magnesite deposits of Gerakini Chalkidiki and North Evia. The total reserves (proven + indicated) of magnesite are 280 mt and their gross value €9.800 b. The most important lateritic Fe-Ni-bearing ores are those of Evia Island, Agios Ioannis Viotia, Lokrida Fthiotida, Mesopotamia and Ieropigi Kastoria. The proven and indicated reserves of nickel are 1.39 mt and their gross value €22.240 b. The Rizana/Lachanas porphyry-epithermal antimony deposit is considered the most important stibnite ore. The proven and indicated reserves of stibnite are at least 100 th. t with an average Sb content of 0.3 wt%. Copper, chromium, and cobalt present good prospects for mining. Platinum group metals (PGMs), with economic interest, are contained in the porphyry Cu deposits of Skouries Chalkidiki. Strymonikos Gulf, together with the neighboring coastal and submarine sands, is the most probable area for locating exploitable rare earth metals (REMs). There are excellent investment opportunities in the exploration and mining of Bi, Te, Ga, Ge, and In metals. The deposits of other critical and strategic metals of Greece should be adequately assessed.

Thirty seven floor sediment samples of Upper Pleistocene age from the Loutra Almopias Cave were collected from different beds and stratigraphic columns on the basis of their induration grade, grain distribution, and paleontological findings. Channel facies make up the bulk of the clastic sediments found in the cave passages. Slackwater facies compose the final layer of all the stratigraphic sections of the examined cave. The floor sediments are mineralogically immature, since they contain many ferromagnesian minerals, feldspars (especially plagioclase) and quartz. The extensive presence of silicate minerals means that the phyllites, gneisses, schists, ophiolitic rocks and the clastic Mariam Formation of the Almopia Zone are the main detrital load source, along with the flysch of the neighboring Pelagonian Zone. The presence of sand-sized grains, pebbles and cobbles of dolomitic or calcitic composition also designates the carbonate rocks of the Almopia and Pelagonian Zones as primary sources. The dolomite and calcite content of secondary chemical origin in the cave sediments is very limited. Kutnohorite, isomorphous with dolomite, was found for first time in a Greek cave. The provenance of the sediments is mixed; they are composed mainly of the weathering materials of the Alpine metamorphic basement and the carbonate rocks outcropping adjacent to the cave. The sediments were transported and deposited inside the cave, after rapid weathering and erosion of the surrounding rocks, under a tectonically active regime. The mineralogical variation in the stratigraphic columns demonstrates variations in the clastic load, due to the different weathering intensity periods. Most of the sediments are fluvial deposits, and one is considered a glacial deposit. Fossils of Lepus timidus (mountain hare) found within the cave represent the southernmost record of this species in Europe. Its presence signifies a cool phase at the end of the last glacial period before the onset of the warm Holocene Epoch.

GOLD METALLOGENY OF THE SERBOMACEDONIANRHODOPE METALLOGENIC BELT (SRMB)

Thirty two (32) locations of zeolitic rocks from Thrace (29 from Evros prefecture and 3 from Rhodope prefecture) were investigated for their mineralogical composition by X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) method. According to EU Regulation No 651/2013, clinoptilolite of sedimentary origin (zeolitic tuffs) with ≥80 wt% clinoptilolite, ≤20 wt% clay minerals, free of fibres and quartz, can be used as feed additive for all animal species. The zeolitic rocks of Thrace on average contain, 23-89 wt% HEUtype zeolite (clinoptilolite-heulandite), 8-45 wt% mordenite (ten locations), 24 wt% analcime (one location), 1-11 wt% mica, 1 11 wt% clay minerals, 3-37 wt% quartz, 2-29 wt% cristobalite, 3-34 wt% feldspars and 0-22 wt% amorphous materials. Only one location contains 89 wt% HEU-type zeolite (clinoptilolite-heulandite), 2 wt% clay minerals, is free of fibres, but unfortunately it contains 3 wt% quartz and 2 wt% cristobalite. Considering the mineralogical composition, the zeolitic rocks of Thrace do not meet the requirements of the EU Regulation No 651/2013, and thus cannot be used as feed additives for all animal species and consequently as nutrition supplements, since the zeolitic rocks in all locations, contain on average 3-37 wt% quartz, 2-29 wt% cristobalite, 8-45 wt% mordenite (fibrous zeolite) in 10 locations, 24-65 wt% zeolites (HEU-type ± mordenite ± analcime) in 28 locations, 74 wt% HEUtype zeolite in 2 locations and 77 wt% HEU-type zeolite in 1 location.

Unconventional hydrocarbon resources of Greece

Today Greece produces and exports raw bauxite and alumina, concentrates of galena and sphalerite and ferronickel. The indicated reserves of bauxite, located in the Mt Helikon-Mt Parnassus-Mt Giona-Mt Iti zone, are estimated at approximately 100 mt and those of aluminum 2.5 mt. The probable and indicated reserves of lead and zinc from Chalkidiki are approximately 3.125 mt. The total production of concentrates of galena and sphalerite is approximately 220,000 tpa. The proven reserves of nickel are approximately 1.392 mt and the production of ferronickel is approximately 18,500 tpa. Production of copper, silver and gold is pending in 2015. The probable and indicated reserves of copper from Skouries Chalkidiki are approximately 1.943 mt. In the Prefecture Units of Chalkidiki and Evros the probable and indicated reserves of gold are approximately 19.37 million ounces and those of silver 131.6 million ounces. Chromium, manganese and molybdenum present good prospects of exploitation. Calculated at current prices, the total gross value of the probable and indicated reserves of the metallic minerals of Greece is €79.4 billion.

Modern sand samples were collected from the Vertiskos Unit of the Serbomacedonian Massif, northern Greece, and were examined for their texture and mineralogical composition. They were collected from active channels and torrents. The textural study demonstrated that these modern sands are moderately to very-poorly sorted, often polymodal in grain size distribution, texturally and mineralogically immature to submature, and consist of coarse-grained gravelly sands to slightly-gravelly muddy sands. The dominant composition is quartzofeldspathic. All samples contain detrital minerals of metamorphic origin, mainly amphibole and garnet, in addition to minor amounts of pyroxene and detrital calcite. These sediments were deposited rapidly and close to their source, the metamorphic basement of the Vertiskos Unit. The mineral constituents of the samples indicate that the Vertiskos Unit is undergoing rapid physical weathering due to the temperate and seasonal climate. The results of this study suggest that these modern sands constitute one sedimentary petrologic province comprised of primarily of amphibole-garnet.