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The Timna copper deposit
Abstract
The Timna copper deposit is a stratiform ore body of lowermost Cambrian age. The copper bearing strata consist of fine grained, bedded sandstones, shales, clays and lenses and layers of sandy dolomite indicating a shallow sea. They overlie a Precambrian basement complex which contains minor amounts of pyrite and copper sulphides.
The deposit lies on the fringe of the Dead Sea Rift Valley. It is highly faulted but no connection exists between faulting and mineralization.
Main copper minerals are chrysocolla, malachite, pseudomalachite, bisbeite and plancheite distributed in cracks, veinlets, lenses, joints, bedding planes and disseminated throughout the sediments.
Very extensive diagenetic processes resulted in migration of the copper.
No evidence was found for the existence of a primary copper ore body and no sulphides are known.
To cite this article
About: Y. Bartura
Timna Copper Mines, Elat, Israel.
About: U. Würzburger
Timna Copper Mines, Elat, Israel.