The Rhodope Massif in northeastern Greece hosts a broad variety of magmatic-hydrothermal ore
deposits, which include skarn and Pb-Zn-Au-Ag carbonate-replacements at Thermes, reduced
intrusion-related gold systems at Kavala and Pangeon, intrusion-hosted Mo-Cu-W-Bi-Au veins at
Kimmeria, high- to intermediate-sulfidation epithermal Au-Ag-bearing polymetallic deposits at Sapes-
Kassiteres, Perama Hill, Mavrokoryfi, St Philippos, Pefka, and Kalotycho, and porphyry Cu-Mo-Au-
Re deposits at Maronia, Pagoni Rachi, Konos Hill, Kassiteres, Myli and Melitena. These deposits
mainly formed during two periods at about 33-26 Ma and ~ 22-19 Ma as a result of two stages of postorogenic,
back-arc extension in the Aegean Sea, metamorphic core complex formation and
contemporaneous post-collisional magmatism. Most ore deposits are mainly associated with
extensional detachment faults around metamorphic domes, which guided the movement of magmas
and favored fluid-rock interactions to precipitate the metallic minerals. All Oligocene porphyry Cu-
Mo-Re-Au deposits are spatially associated with subvolcanic intrusions emplaced in the footwall of
detachment fault systems that accommodated exhumation of the Biela-Kechros metamorphic core
complex. The Konos Hill, Pagoni Rachi and Myli porphyry deposits are located in supra-detachment
grabens on the southern side of the Biala reka-Kechros core complex. In association with the porphyry
deposits, the high-sulfidation style epithermal gold deposits (e.g., Sapes, Perama Hill, Pefka), occur
within the supra-detachment basins, where mineralization is controlled by steeply-dipping extensional
faults and associated fractures. A common feature of porphyry-style deposits in northeastern Greece is
the predominance of sodic-(potassic-calcic) alteration in the core of the ore systems, their low Cu
content, an extreme Re-enrichment (both in molybdenite and due to the presence of rheniite), and the
multistage introduction of gold during the evolution of the porphyry system, thus sharing some
similarities to porphyry gold-only systems.
The high-sulfidation Cu-Au-Ag-Te deposits evolved from high- to intermediate sulfidation ore
assemblages with time; however, reversals in fluid sulfidation states may indicate renewed
hydrothermal activity associated with coeval magmatic pulses. Both andesitic and rhyolitic magmas
produced high-sulfidation mineralization and alteration and local variations in metal enrichment may
reflect magma chemistry and/or depth of exposure within a single deposit.
Both the Oligocene (Kimmeria and Thermes) and Miocene (Kavala, Pangeon Mountain, and
Thasos Island) intrusion-related systems consist of a more reduced ore mineralogy compared to the
more oxidized porphyry Cu-Mo-Au systems in the belt, which formed by CO2-bearing fluids, and
display various ore textures (e.g., sheeted veins, greisen, and skarn-carbonate replacement types). Of
the intrusion-related deposits, those at Kavala and Pangeon Mountain are gold-bearing and coincide
with granitoid emplacement accommodated by movement of the ductile-to-brittle Strymon
detachment. They share mineralogical with Au-Bi-W intrusion-related ore systems elsewhere.
Magma generation in the time interval 34-26 Ma, which was related to delamination of sublithospheric
mantle, produced major porphyry Cu-Au-Mo and epithermal high and intermediate
sulfidation deposits in northern Greece. Post-collisional delamination of subcontinental lithospheric
mantle may have brought hot asthenosphere into contact with subduction-modified lithosphere, which
generated calc-alkaline to mildly alkaline Cu±Mo±Au porphyry deposits, with an exceptional
endowment in Au, Ag, Te, Se, and Re. The intrusion-related deposits in northern Greece are
genetically related to the formation of lamprophyres, which suggests that mantle-derived magmas
were also involved in their petrogenesis. In order to generate felsic compositions, as observed in the
plutons hosting the northern Greek intrusion-related gold deposits, parental basic to intermediate
magmas must have evolved during accent through crustal conduits by fractional crystallization and
crustal assimilation, and then resided in chambers in the crust where they became more reduced.
Although the Rhopope Massif was considered previously to be prospective mainly for porphyry-,
epithermal-, and carbonate-replacement base metal deposits, this metallogenic province also contains
low-sulfidation epithermal, orogenic and Carlin-style deposits. They probably formed prior to onset of
voluminous magmatism in the area, and are targets of future exploration.
