Memi deposit, Nicosia District, Cyprusi

Regional Level Types
Memi deposit	Deposit
Nicosia District	District
Cyprus	Country

The massive sulfide deposits of Cyprus have been a product of exploration since antiquity. It is a fact that the wealth of the Roman period depended on the production of copper from the mines of Cyprus. The latest research and exploitation resumed in 1878 with the concession of the island to Great Britain by the Ottoman Empire. The massive sulfide deposits of the island are considered equivalent to those currently formed along the seafloor spreading axis.

Their genesis is directly related to the circulation of hydrothermal fluids enriched in metals, such as copper, iron and zinc. These hydrothermal fluids circulate in the rocks of the oceanic crust and discharge at the bottom of the ocean along the axis in the form of hot black smokers. These hydrothermal fluids are formed due to seawater circulation, the primary source of sulfur, which infiltrates the rocks through cracks formed in the bottom expansion zones. The ascending magma heats the seawater, washes out metallic elements from the surrounding rocks and ascends. The discharge of hydrothermal solution from the seabed in the form of black smokers favours the deposition/precipitation of metal sulfides due to the fall in temperature and other physicochemical conditions. In the cases of secondary enrichment zones due to the oxidation of ore deposits, gold and silver concentrations were created, known to the Cyprus miners as the devil's mug.

The recent mining activities at the Memiminetookplaceduringtheperiod 1954-1971 and partly during the period 1987-1990, with periodic pauses due to the reduced demand for pyrite in the world market. The exploitation was done superficially by the method of open pit excavation, but in the mine were also found supported small galleries, mostly around the main deposit. Around 2 125 000 tons of pyrite ore with an average sulfur content of 24.5% were extracted. The ore was processed at a mineral processing plant at Mitsero to produce sulfur concentrate by flotation method with an average content 48%. The deposit was formed neat the contact of Lower pillow lavas and the Basal group. The ore was characterized as spongy with irregular cavities, which are usually partly filled with silica. In some cavities, gypsum developed. Sphalerite and hematite were identified in accessory amounts in the ore. Secondary copper minerals identified in small amounts include covellite, azurite and chalcanthite. The export of the final product until 1974 was done by loading ships at the quay of Karavostasi and, after 1974 by loading ships at the quay of Vasilikos.
The mine is currently considered inactive since the Mining Lease expired in 1992 and has not been renewed since. The crater that trenches in front of you is about 50 000 square meters and has been created by the open pit exploitation of the ore deposit in the recent past. At the periphery of the crater, you can see the rocks that hosted the ore. Due to the intense tectonic activity associated with an elevation of the Troodos above sea level and the intense erosion that followed, the massive sulfide deposits were exposed to the surface resulting in their erosion and oxidation and the formation of extensive oxidation zones (gossans). These mainly consist of hydroxides and iron oxides that are intensely reddish and yellowish in colour and silicon dioxide.

Today the area is a habitat for various species of birds, due to the neutral active acidity (ph 8.3) of the water in the crater. The blue-green colour of the water during the spring with touches of turquoise gives way to the blue in summer, which success the light green colour of autumn and invites every nature lover to revisit it.

Other Regions, Features and Areas containing this locality

References