The Alpine Wilson cycle in the Dinarides produced a succession of fertile belts, including Permian-Triassic Fe-Ba and Pb-Zn-Ba systems, Jurassic oceanic Cr-VMS mineralization, Late Cretaceous porphyry Cu-Au deposits, and Cenozoic Pb-Zn-Ag belt (Palinkaš et al., 2009). Individual belts contain hundreds of millions of tonnes of ore, for example up to 500 Mt in the Ljubija Fe district, 172 Mt in the Vareš Fe-Pb-Zn-Cu-Ag-Au district, 23.9 Mt of chromite ore in the Mirdita ophiolite, and at least 40 Mt Cu and 1,570 t Au within Late Cretaceous Banatite-Timok-Srednogorie belt. Their formation required very different scales of mass transfer, from approximately 1,800-2,230 km³ of basinal brines in Ljubija, through 40,000-60,000 km³ of hydrothermal fluids in Vareš, to 100-300 km³ of boninitic melts in Mirdita and >1,000 km³ of fertile arc magmas in the Banatite-Timok-Srednogorie belt. Most of these metallogenic events developed within only a few million years, and all are directly linked with large scale regional tectonics.
In contrast, the Sava Suture Zone represents one of the least productive segments of the Alpine Wilson cycle in Dinarides. Initially interpreted as a Late Cretaceous remnant-ocean/back-arc system (Schmidt et al., 2020), it occupied approximately 15% of the surface area of the Dinaridic Neotethys and remained tectonically active for about 50 My, almost a quarter the lifespan of the Dinaridic ocean. Its geodynamic setting should allow elevated heat flow and existence of SEDEX-VMS, porphyry and epithermal mineralization. Instead, magmatism is sparse, economically significant ore deposits (as well as non-economical) are absent, and evidence for fluid flow is lacking. Plausible explanation is that no true ocean existed after the Jurassic obduction, but rather an oblique subduction creating scarce bimodal magma intrusions as initially proposed by Spahić and Gaudenyi (2022).
The new cycle in Dinarides begin within the barren Sava Suture Zone, where Early-Middle Miocene post-collisional extension generated the Western Balkan Li-B metallogenic belt. The new metallogenic belt is estimated to contain at least 3.2 Mt Li and 20 Mt B (Borojević Šoštarić and Brenko, 2023). Current genetic models relate syngenetic Li-B mineralization to fault-controlled extensional lacustrine basins, arid climate and high heat and fluid flow related to exhumation of metamorphic core complexes.
It all begins with tectonics, but individual metallogenic belts will develop only where favourable tectonic structures are joined with heat and fluid flow, metal sources and geochemical barrier.
Borojević Šoštarić, S. & Brenko, T. (2023). The Miocene Western Balkan lithium-boron metallogenic zone. Mineralium Deposita, 58, 639-658.
Palinkaš, L.A., Borojević Šoštarić, S. & Palinkaš, S.S. (2008). Metallogeny of the Northwestern and Central Dinarides and Southern Tisia. Ore Geology Reviews, 34, 501-520.
Schmid, S.M., Fügenschuh, B., Kounov, A., Matenco, L., Nievergelt, P., Oberhänsli, R., Pleuger, J., Schefer, S., Schuster, R., Tomljenović, B., Ustaszewski, K. & van Hinsbergen, D.J.J. (2020). Tectonic units of the Alpine collision zone between Eastern Alps and western Turkey. Gondwana Research, 78, 308-374.
Spahić, D. & Gaudenyi, T. (2022). On the Sava Suture Zone: Post-Neotethyan oblique subduction and the origin of the Late Cretaceous mini-magma pools. Cretaceous Research, 131, 105062.
How to cite: Borojevic Sostaric, S.: Beyond tectonics – controlling mechanisms for ore formation in the Dinarides, 17th EGU Émile Argand Conference on Alpine Geological Studies, Fruška Gora, Serbia, 14–16 Sep 2026, alpshop2026-70, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-alpshop2026-70, 2026.
Keywords: Critical Raw Materials; Serbia; economic geology; ore deposits; mineral resources
Serbia hosts diverse mineral commodities classified as Critical Raw Materials (CRMs) by the European Union, including Sb, Co, Bi, W, Nb, Ta, Ge, Hf, Sc, Ga, Be, Li, rare earth elements (REEs), fluorspar, boron minerals, barite, phosphate, graphite, and bauxite. Based on the current level of geological exploration, CRMs in Serbia can be classified into two groups: 1) commodities with defined mineral resources (Sb, Co, Li, phosphate, and boron minerals) and 2) commodities represented by mineral occurrences with insufficient data for mineral resource estimation (Bi, W, Ge, Hf, Sc, Ga, Be, Nb, Ta, REEs, fluorspar, barite, graphite, and bauxite). The CRMs with defined mineral resources include Sb in hydrothermal jasperoid and vein deposits, Co in lateritic Ni-Co deposits, Li and boron minerals in world-class sedimentary-hydrothermal Li-B deposits, and phosphates in sedimentary deposits. The CRMs represented by mineral occurrences or exploration targets include Bi in Fe-Cu skarn and polymetallic Pb-Zn deposits, W in Au-W vein and skarn-related mineralization, Nb, Ta, Be, and Hf in pegmatites, greisens, and granitoid complexes, Ge, Sc, and Ga as by-products of porphyry Cu-Au and hydrothermal polymetallic Pb-Zn deposits, REEs in monazite-bearing alluvial sediments associated with Th-U mineralization, fluorspar and barite in hydrothermal vein and metasomatic deposits, graphite in metamorphic deposits, and bauxite in karst-type deposits. Serbia hosts a broad spectrum of CRMs associated with diverse ore-forming systems. Although mineral resources have been defined for only a limited number of commodities, the numerous documented mineral occurrences indicate potential for future resource definition through geological exploration.
How to cite: Petrović, S., Simić, V., and Jelenković, R.: Critical Raw Materials of Serbia, 17th EGU Émile Argand Conference on Alpine Geological Studies, Fruška Gora, Serbia, 14–16 Sep 2026, alpshop2026-77, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-alpshop2026-77, 2026.
Precambrian rocks in the eastern Serbia make the deformed basement of the Alpine collisional zone and appear in the Danubian and Getic units of the Serbian Carpathians. These metamorphosed magmatic and sedimentary rocks localize some major gold deposits, which were historically mined.
The most prominent deposit is Blagojev kamen, located around 10km east from the town of Kučevo in eastern Serbia. This deposit was mined for gold and tungsten until 1964 (Janković, 1990). The mineralization is in foliated quartz veins in Precambrian greenschists of the Getic unit. Beside native gold and scheelite, these veins also incorporate pyrite and occasionally sphalerite, galena and chalcopyrite.
The genesis of Blagojev kamen was historically associated with the proximal paleozoic Neresnica granitoid complex, however Janković (1990) argues that this deposit is most likely a metamorphosed VMS deposit. Bugarin & Ljubojev (2007) state that this deposit was formed during syngenetic stage (formed during magmatic-metamorphic events) and epigenetic stage (formed during younger magmatic events).
Bugarin and Krgović (1997) report that the fluid inclusions from Blagojev kamen area homogenize in the interval of 200-300° and contain increased amount of chlorine and CO2. The recent studies like Başer (2022) also measured that the homogenization temperatures of inclusions are between 250-350°C and argue that the deposit was probably formed in metamorphic conditions.
Another similar deposit is Mijin Kladenac, located between the town of Zaječar and the border with Bulgaria. This deposit was mined in the Middle Ages and in the period before WW2 and explored again during the 1980s. Some of the mining corridors are still preserved on the surface. The mineralization in Mijin kladenac locality is found in altered Precambrian greenschists of the Danubian unit, in form of parallel quartz veins. This mineralization mainly contains pyrite, marcasite, galena, sphalerite and arsenopyrite, with significant gold and silver content (Kovačević et al, 2003). Mijin Kladenac is also classified as a metamorphosed VMS deposit by different authors like Kovačević et al. (2003).
Our preliminary results of inclusion studies from Mijin Kladenac imply that the fluids in quartz veins were formed in temperatures between 100 and 300°C and contain increased amounts of CO2. Ore paragenesis, mineralogy and fluid contents imply that these two deposits are more likely metamorphic deposits, similar to Precambrian orogenic gold deposits in Canadian Abitibi belt.
How to cite: Velojić, M. and Radonjić, M.: Are Precambrian gold deposits in eastern Serbia metamorphic or metamorphosed?, 17th EGU Émile Argand Conference on Alpine Geological Studies, Fruška Gora, Serbia, 14–16 Sep 2026, alpshop2026-33, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-alpshop2026-33, 2026.
