TRACE ELEMENT ENRICHMENT AND OCCURRENCE OF WESTERN ANATOLIAN BORATE DEPOSITS

Borate occurrences of western Anatolia were deposited in the intra-continental playa lake sediments during Miocene when the volcanic activity occurred from Paleogene to Quaternary. All mineralizations were associated with volcanic activity. Borate levels situated in the sequence that are intercalated with claystone, siltstone, tuff, marl and limestone. Western Anatolia borate deposits were formed in two types such as continuous and discontinuous. Emet, Bigadiç and Kestelek deposits have discontinuous while Kırka has continuous deposition in the region. Geological, petrological and mineralogical properties of these deposits have been studied by many authors[1-3]. However, geochemistry of these deposits have not been studied yet. The trace elements of Bigadiç borate deposits including Se, Sr, As, Sb, Mo, Li; Kestelek borate deposits containing Se, Sr, As, Sb, Cs, Li, Mo; Kırka borate deposits comprising Se, Cs, Sr, Li, As and Emet borate deposits involving As, Se, Cs, Li, Sr, Sb, Pb enrichments were determined with the averages of earth crust and andesite[4-8]. It can be concluded that based on the concentration of Se and Li elements can be gained into economical as by product, besides B.