On the problems of the Litija ore field

Abstract

All available information on the now inaccessible Pb-Zb-Ba deposits Litija, Zavrstnik, Zagorica, Maljek, Hrastarija and Štriglovec was critically evaluated. Data were completed and numerous earlier unsolved questions were answered. In the studied area the existence of a Middle Triassic tectonic-erosional phase was proved, the Old Tertiary overthrust structure analyzed and the relative ages of various neotectonic fault systems established. Special attention was attributed to the Litija, or Sitarjevec, deposit. On the ground of data on position of thick shale intercalations within Carboniferous sandstone the geological structure of the deposit was reconstructed, proofs on the conforming or unconforming position of orebodies collected, and certain relationships between the pre-ore and post-ore tectonics clarified. With geochemical investigations the presence of an extensive dispersion halo was proved, in which the anomalies produced by Pb, Hg and Ba are the best expressed. Also the position of other deposits in space and in stratigraphic column was defined. At the end also the author’s views on genesis and age of mineralization are presented. Orebodies are hydrothermal, subvertical, epigenetic and predominantly discordant, with poorly expressed vertical zoning. The work is a synthesis of understanding of geological structure and mineralization in the Litija ore field.