GEOLOGY OF GEMSTONE DEPOSIT UGLJAREVAC (CENTRAL SERBIA) AND CONTRIBUTIONS TO GENETIC MODEL

Abstract

Silica gemstone deposit Ugljarevac is situated within the ophiolite sequence of the Vardar zone central deep fault. Genetic processes of this deposit are connected to the Neogene calc-alkaline magmatic activity of the Vardar zone and hydrothermal activity triggered by it. Based on surface occurrences of listwenitized serpentinite containing silica mineralization, it can be inferred that the ore body is an elongated oval stock. Within the stock of hydrothermally altered serpentinite, the gemstone mineralization occurs as veins, stockworks and irregular bodies. Present gemstone types include chalcedony varieties (jasper, colourless and greenish chalcedony, carnelian and sard) and opal (opalized serpentinite). Homogenous pieces are very rare. Most often, various types of silica are intimately intermixed and combined. The mineralization has formed in two distinct hydrothermal phases, apparently in close time succession. Jasper and coloured chalcedony (and rare magnesite) are the products of the first phase of hydrothermal activity, while the colourless chalcedony is formed in the second phase. Newly discovered type of silica vein with central-symmetrical parallel banding gives new contributions to a genetic model, proving the precipitation process and its products are unpredictably changeable, heterogeneous and depending on the evolution of the local environment physico-chemical conditions, notably the contents of impurities and system's openness degree.

Key words: gemstone; silica veins; jasper; chalcedony; central Serbia