Chukaru Peki Cu-Au deposit, Serbia

Discovery History, Geology and Ore Types

Vertrees M. Canby, Dejan I. Koelj, and Leon Z. Naftali
Contacts
Freeport-McMoRan Exploration Corporation
Vertrees_canby@fmi.com
Dejan_kozelj@fmi.com
Leon_naftali@fmi.com

Abstract
The concealed Chukaru Peki Cu-Au deposit in eastern Serbia was discovered in early 2012,
when a third attempt at the final hole of a phased greenfields drilling program intersected CuAu mineralization of the Upper Zone high-sulfidation mineralization at approximately 520m
depth and, at greater depth, the low-grade peripheral porphyry-style mineralization of the
underlying Lower Zone.
This initial discovery occurred after a nearly eleven-year program of exploration by geologists
and other staff of Freeport-McMoRan Exploration (FMEC) throughout Serbia which they had
initiated through Phelps Dodge Exploration (PD) in late 2001. The program continued through
Freeport McMoRan Copper and Golds acquisition of Phelps Dodge Corporation in 2007.
Reservoir Minerals had explored during 2006-2007 on the west side of the district, in a zone of
gold mineralization initially drilled by Eurasian Minerals during 2005. The current exploration
program at Chukaru Peki and on the surrounding exploration licenses in the Timok magmatic
complex is operated through Rakita d.o.o., the Serbian company representing the Timok joint
venture, currently a 55%-45% joint venture between FMEC and Reservoir Minerals Inc.
(formerly Reservoir Capital Corporation and Reservoir Capital BVI). Rakita was established by
an earn-in agreement concluded in March 2010 and a subsequent joint-venture agreement in
2015. The Timok joint venture resulted in expansion of the land package and targets originally
explored separately by FMEC and RM, with the Chukaru Peki deposit located in an area that had
been controlled and partially explored by PD during 2005-2009, and subsequently by Rakita
from 2010 up to present.
The Chukaru Peki deposit contains adjacent high-sulfidation and porphyry components, both of
which contain significant Cu-Au mineralization. The linked deposits and their distinctive Cu-Au
signatures are characteristic of districts of similar age and tectonic setting throughout the
Upper Cretaceous adakitic magmatic belt which extends from Romania to the Black Sea coast
of Bulgaria. Chukaru Peki shows strong similarity to the nearby Bor cluster of high-sulfidation
deposits and the underlying Bor River porphyry deposit, with notable differences including
post-ore concealment, a peripheral intermediate-sulfidation Au-polymetallic system, and
evidence for Miocene subaerial exposure and oxidation. Notably from an exploration
perspective, both deposits have comparatively narrow alteration envelopes relative to their

metal endowments, by comparison with other hydrothermal cells even within the same district.
Despite over 80km drilled to date, Chukaru Peki is still at an early stage of exploration due to
the large thickness of pre- and post-mineral cover, and the difficulty in resolving mineralization
except by deep drilling. An initial Inferred resource announced by Reservoir Minerals (RM) in
early 2014 for the Upper Zone portion of the deposit contains 65.3 Mt @ 2.6% Cu and 1.5 g/t
Au (new release dated January 27 2014). Portions of the Chukaru Peki deposit currently remain
open-ended at depth and laterally.
Strategic factors important to discovery were long-term commitment to an area of high metal
endowment, willingness to explore in a country that was still in transition from years of conflict
to a market-oriented democracy, and implementation of various deal structures that gained
time, or expanded target areas, to help sustain management support. The latter allowed the
exploration team adequate time to apply key concepts and tools namely, application of
improved geophysical methods, confirmation of intra-ore ages of some of the districts
volcanism, and increasing consideration of deep porphyry-type targets all of which were
evolving in parallel with field work in the district. For example, FMECs geophysical and
geological team had applied CSAMT (a deep resistivity method) elsewhere and its familiarity
with the method was critical to improve mapping beneath conductive post-mineral sediments,
if not to directly detect the ore itself. Better isotopic ages on rocks and ores in the district gave
further confidence that ore clasts entrained in some volcanic units might lead back to
partially-dismembered, undiscovered deposits, concealed by post-ore volcanic rocks which
might appear identical to the host-rocks themselves. The discovery of concealed, very highgrade porphyry mineralization in the early 2000s at both Oyu Tolgoi and Pebble East made the
search for a deeply-concealed yet high-grade porphyry target at Chukaru Peki appear
reasonable. Finally, recognition that an intermediate-sulfidation Au-polymetallic
vein/replacement system located west of Chukaru Peki at Corridor Zone was relatively unique
in the district, suggested it might be some distal component of a porphyry deposit.

Introduction
The Chukaru Peki (Pekis Hill) deposit of eastern Serbia, located about 155km southeast of
Belgrade, is the most recently-discovered of the roughly fifteen mineralized centers currently
known within the Timok magmatic complex (TMC). The TMC is a lens-shaped, extensional riftlike basin roughly 100 by 20km in size which is filled by Upper Cretaceous volcanic, intrusive,
and sedimentary rocks. Except for the sediment-hosted gold deposits recently discovered by
Avala Resources at Bigar Hill, Korkan etc. on the west side of the complex, the mineral deposits
of the TMC in order of total metal endowment and previous production comprise porphyry,
high-sulfidation, skarn, and polymetallic vein/replacement Cu-Au deposits, all of which are
related to magmatism of the TMC. Six of these deposits have been significant producers since
about 1900, including from north to south the Majdanpek porphyry cluster and surrounding
Tenka polymetallic-Au-Ag deposits, Choka Marin high-sulfidation Zn-Pb-Cu-Au-Ag deposit, Lipa
high-sulfidation Cu-Au deposit, Cementation (Cerovo) supergene-enriched porphyry deposit,
Veliki Krivelj porphyry Cu-(Au) deposit, and the Bor cluster of high-sulfidation and porphyry Cu-

Au deposits. Production continues up to the present from Majdanpek, Bor, Veliki Krivelj, and
intermittently at Cerovo. The Chukaru Peki deposit is within the Brestovac-Metovnica
exploration permit, about 6 km from Bor, where as of late 2014 a 400ktpa (concentrate) flashsmelter and acid capture-plant were in the final phases of construction. This report is an
interim update on the currently-understood geology and discovery history of Chukaru Peki.

Fig. 1: Location of the Chukaru Peki deposit, approximately 155km southeast of Belgrade and
6km south of Bor, eastern Serbia
The TMC has one of the larger aggregate copper-gold endowments (22 Mt Cu and 1000t Au) in
the Tethyan Belt, with the Bor-Majdanpek mining complex having historical production variably
estimated at about 5.5 million tonnes Cu and 150 tonnes Au, 400t Ag. Combined resources and
reserves stated by RTB Bor (Rudarska-Topionicarska Basen Bor, Serbias state copper mining
company www.rtbbor.rs) contain an aggregate of approximately 2.5 billion tonnes containing
approximately 10.5 million tonnes Cu and 11.7 million ounces Au, as calculated by RTB Bor and
using the Serbian resource-classification system. The largest known deposits to date are at Bor
(approximately 7Mt Cu) and Majdanpek (approximately 6 Mt Cu) . While the largest areas of
hydrothermal alteration and metal occurrences exist in the western TMC, roughly 90% of the
recognized Cu metal endowment and 80% of the districts Au are contained along the eastern
third of the TMC, in association with the early Phase 1 volcanism (Fig. 2b).
Regional Geologic Setting
Chukaru Peki is in the eastern TMC, a northern branch of broader Tethyan metallogenic belt.
The Tethyan belt formed during the closure of the Tethyan Ocean during collision of the African
and European plates. The TMC developed on a basement of crystalline low-grade Paleozoic
metamorphic rocks and intrusions of the Serbo-Macedonian massif, and unconformablyoverlying Mesozoic sedimentary rocks dominated by platform carbonates of Jurassic to
Cretaceous age. The complex has likely rotated clockwise to its current roughly northnorthwest orientation during later tectonic events. At about 81-88Ma (Zimmerman et al.,
2008), the TMC opened and filled with coeval magmatic and sedimentary rocks, with
intermittent mineralization events. Volcanism generally started with emplacement of a

coarser-textured hornblende-biotite andesite (Phase 1 andesite) on the east side of the

district, and evolved over time to a finer-grained, pyroxene-bearing (Phase 2) basaltic andesite
in the less productive western side of the district, outside of the Chukaru Peki area. Recent
age-dating and compilations of previous data (Zimmerman et al., 2008) indicate that
mineralization occurred intermittently with volcanism, a critical factor in assessing the
exploration significant of the widespread ore clasts that are entrained in the volcanic units.
Much of the district was covered by post-mineral Upper Cretaceous sedimentary and locally
volcaniclastic rocks, and then subjected to late Cretaceous compression, resulting in shortening
and thrust- or high-angle reverse faulting both within and immediately outside the TMC. At
Chukaru Peki, between the close of Upper Cretaceous compression and the onset of Miocene
subsidence and sedimentation, the post-mineral Upper Cretaceous sedimentary rocks were
locally removed and the underlying mineral system was exposed above the Miocene water
table. A relatively deep (locally >160m) partial to locally complete oxidation profile developed
in a portion of the high-sulfidation part of the deposit. Miocene sedimentation then concealed
this oxidized exposure at the deposits upper eastern fringe, which also represents its
shallowest known subcrop at about 250m below current surface. However, the initial discovery
was made roughly 900m to the west of this area, where alteration and weak mineralization
around the Upper Zone start about 500m below surface.

Fig. 2a, left: Location of the TMC relative to other Upper Cretaceous magmatic fields in the
Balkan Penninsula. Adapted from Zimmerman et al. (2010) and from Sutphin et al. (2013)
Fig. 2b, right: Simplified geology of the TMC, with Rakitas exploration licenses. Dashed line
represents the approximate boundary between Phase 1 (eastern) and Phase 2 (western)
volcanic rocks of the TMC

Structural Setting
The north-northwest oriented TMC coincides with a change to northerly strike of the
northwest-trending belt of Upper Cretaceous magmatic and sedimentary rocks as traced from
the Bulgarian border westward into Serbia. The complex has been subjected to three general
structural phases: 1) initial north-northwest oriented normal faulting associated with opening
of the TMC and volcanism, sedimentation and mineralization; 2) compression, roughly normal
to the current north-northwest orientation of the TMC; and: 3) subsidence and normal faulting
during the Miocene. Major faults and most geologic units strike parallel to the north-northwest
elongation of the TMC. In the Bor and Chukaru Peki area, major structures include the Bor
fault, a major west-dipping high-angle reverse fault which displaces the Bor deposits upward
and eastward by at least several hundred meters into their current position adjacent or above
the post-ore Bor clastic unit; and the Bor 2 fault, of similar strike and dip, which lies east of the
deposit, is concealed by Miocene sediments and is defined by drilling in the Chukaru Peki area.
Other parallel north-northwest faults concealed beneath Miocene sediments are indicated by
geophysical surveys. The presence of andesites in both the eastern and western blocks of the
Bor 2 fault and the lack of marker units preclude determination of its movement direction, but
like the Bor fault to the north, it forms the eastern faulted contact of the Chukaru Peki deposit
with unmineralized rocks.
Chukaru Peki is located roughly at the widest point in the TMC. A poorly-expressed, speculative
east-west to east-northeast zone of cross-structures, approximately 2.5km in width in the
deposit area, extends from the southern margin of the deposit to the northern limit of Miocene
rocks in the deposit area. While no major fault offsets are evident, a large east-west oriented
dacitic dike crops out immediately west of the deposit, an intermediate composition
subvolcanic plug cuts the andesites east of the deposit along this trend, and the Bor River
makes a distinct turn to a westerly orientation from northwest within this zone. In the
immediate Chukaru Peki area, an east-west paleo-valley is eroded into the Bor clastic unit near
the currently-defined southwestern margin of the deposit, along this trend. Geophysical data
indicate that the northern margin of the Miocene depositional basin is a east-northeast zone of
low resistivity, probably a basin-margin fault zone. The major Bor 2 fault (Fig. 3), which bounds
the eastern margin of the Chukaru Peki system, likely terminates northward into this zone,
suggesting that the east-northeast structure indicated by resistivity is a reactivated, initially
Upper Cretaceous-aged fault. Finally, very limited and widely-spaced drilling in the Lower Zone
and deep parts of the Upper Zone suggest a southward-decreasing gradient in Cu-Au grades
across a roughly east-west boundary in the Lower Zone mineralization. Collectively these
features suggest that an east-west structural zone influences the TMC in this area. The
intersection of this zone with the regional north-northwest faults may have localized the
Chukaru Peki deposit.
In the deposit area, the Upper Cretaceous volcanic and sedimentary rocks form a north-striking
monocline that dips roughly 30-45 west, bound by the Bor 2 fault on the east. Several northstriking, high-angle reverse faults occur on the west side of this monocline, including a new

thrust fault recognized in detailed mapping of the Bor clastic unit (Vasic, 2015). The tilting of
the Upper Cretaceous units to their current orientation likely occurred in the late Cretaceous,
as the overlying Miocene units show only minor (0-15) tilting and are deposited on an
erosional surface of the deformed Upper Cretaceous rocks. The Miocene units in the deposit
area are bound on the south by a major north-northeast-striking normal fault.
Structural controls and measurable fault displacements within the deposit are difficult to
identify due to lack of exposure and lack of traceable marker units. Tectonic breccia is
widespread, particularly in the altered rocks below and around the margins of the Upper Zone,
and most lithologic and alteration contacts within the deposit are sheared or brecciated. A
north to north-northeast striking fault (East Boundary Fault) exists on the east margin of the
Upper Zone. Using the distribution of mineralization and higher-grade zones as one proxy for
structure, the axis of the Upper Zone including its high-grade massive sulfide body likely follows
a north-northwest structure, parallel to the main regional grain. The Lower Zone is emplaced
against unaltered andesites along the Bor 2 fault to the east, but remains open-ended to the
north, has a northward plunge, and based on limited current data, has a roughly east-west
striking southern boundary, possible along the east-west structural zone mentioned previously.
The post-mineral marl contains abundant calcite veining developed along numerous internal
folds and fractures, likely due to bedding-plane shearing in this unit during post-ore
compression.
Deposit Geology
The Chukaru Peki deposit as now defined has two components: the Upper Zone high-sulfidation
deposit, characterized by advanced argillic alteration and abundant breccia, veinlet, and
massive pyrite-covellite-(enargite); and the deeper, northwest-plunging Lower Zone porphyrytype mineralization characterized by quartz stockwork with potassic or sericite-chlorite
alteration, chalcopyrite and minor bornite as copper minerals, and low primary pyrite contents.
A second area of lower-grade high-sulfidation Au-Cu mineralization, characterized by
enargite>covellite+chalcocite and lacking the high-grade massive sulfide mineralization of the
Upper Zone deposit, is intersected by widely-spaced drill holes near the southeast margin of the
deposit and is loosely termed the East Zone. Fracture-controlled oxidation in the volcanic rocks
extends to about 410m below surface in this area, roughly 160m below the Miocene paleosurface.
The deposits are hosted by a thick (>1.7km) sequence of porphyritic andesitic lava and breccia
comprised of two main units, and two phases of intermediate-composition intrusions. The
andesites are overlain by a post-ore Upper Cretaceous marl (calcareous mudstone), and a
sandstone-conglomerate sequence (Bor clasitc unit) consisting of a lower arkosic, micaceous
sandstone and an upper coarser sandstone to conglomerate. Pebbles in the conglomerate
consist of metamorphic rocks from the margins of the TMC, lesser andesite clasts, and
occasional fragments of the underlying marl. The Bor clastic unit is conformably deposited on
the underlying marl. After compressional deformation and erosion, post-mineral Miocene
sediments were deposited in local basins bound by northeast and north-northeast faults. The

Miocene sediments consist generally of a lower, locally calcareous mudstone sequence and an
upper conglomerate sequence containing abundant volcanic fragments. The Miocene
sediments contain plant fossils, carbonaceous layers, and thin coals locally. The carbonaceous
and clayey layers of the Miocene sediments may be the source of current-channeling in
electrical geophysical surveys, reducing their depth of penetration. The Miocene clastic rocks
also contain alluvial magnetite concentrations that may be reflected in magnetic surveys.
Zeolite alteration of the Miocene sediments is widespread.

Fig. 3 Simplified geologic map of the Chukaru Peki deposit area, with key drill holes highlighted
The andesitic rocks at Chukaru Peki consist of two units of hornblende-biotite-plagioclase
andesite (termed the Upper and Lower Andesites), and at least two phases of intermediatecomposition intrusions including a feldspar-phyric porphyry and an equigranular diorite (Matt
Wetzel, personal communication, 2015). No pre-Cretaceous basement rocks have been
intersected yet to the drilled depths of 2.2km. The Upper Andesite consists of epiclastic
sediments and fragmental andesites characterized by large and abundant phenocrysts of
plagioclase, biotite and most distinctively, of hornblende. The unit ranges in thickness from just
a few meters over the center of the Upper Zone deposit, to tens or hundreds of meters
elsewhere, and is ostensibly similar to the unaltered andesites in the eastern footwall of the
Bor 2 fault. In the deposit area, the Upper Andesite is chloritic to locally argillically altered and
weakly anomalous in Cu and Au in the Chukaru Peki area, but is relatively fresh compared to
most altered portions of the Lower Andesite. In places it appears to be conformably deposited
on the Lower Andesite but elsewhere has tectonic contacts with the Lower Andesite, and
almost invariably has tectonic contacts with the underlying Upper Zone mineralization.

The Lower Andesite is the main host rock and is a finer-grained, plagioclase-hornblende-biotite
andesite with massive, flow-laminated, or breccia texture. Breccia textures ranges from those
containing a single andesitic component (likely flow- or dome-margin breccia), to mixtures of
various textural types and with local grading or fluidization fabric suggestion intrusive or
phreatic origin.
Mineralization and Alteration: Upper Zone
At a 0.55% Cu cutoff, the Chukaru Peki Upper Zone is a roughly north-northwest striking,
northward-plunging body about 350m by 260m in plan view, which contains an upper massive
sulfide portion (>50% total sulfides) underlain by breccia, veinlet and disseminated
mineralization with lower grades. The plunge length is roughly 450m, remaining partially openended to the north. In plan view (Fig. 3), the deposit overlaps the inferred southern margin of
the Lower Zone. The high-grade massive sulfide portion of the Upper Zone occurs as a gently
south-dipping cap at the apex of its shallower southern portion. Mineralization consists of
early, commonly fine-grained, colloform, porous pyrite containing minor covellite, which is
brecciated and cemented and veined by later covellite with lesser pyrite. Enargite accounts for
roughly 5-15% of the overall Cu in the Upper Zone deposit, and though it is somewhat
erratically distributed, in general occurs in the deeper and marginal portions, whereas the
upper high-grade massive sulfide is notably covellite-dominant. Traces of colusite
(Cu13V(As,Sb,Sn)S (Pacevski, A., 2014) are present in the ore, while traces of sphalerite and
galena are generally observed near the deposits margins. Native sulfur occurs sparsely both in
the ore as intergrowths with sulfides, and in late-stage pods and veinlets around the deposits
margins. Alunite occurs in contemporaneous intergrowths with covellite as vein and breccia
filling, but more commonly as disseminations and replacement of phenocrysts. Megascopicallyvisible barite is rare.
Alteration of the Lower Andesite unit in and around the Upper Zone deposit, based on logging,
SWIR measurements, and limited petrography, consists of an outer zone of chlorite-clayanhydrite-pyrite (>2% vol.) extending out to the lateral limits of drilling, an interior zone of
argillic alteration (kaolinite+dickite), and an alunite-bearing advanced argillic zone (defined by
the outer limit of alunite), which coincides closely with the Upper Zone deposit and rarely
extends more than a few meters outside of the 0.55% Cu shell. Vuggy silica is present only
locally and always within the Upper Zone. In general silicification increases in intensity
downward within the deposit. Much of the mineralization below the massive sulfide occurs in
quartz-alunite-pyrite rock cut by veinlets, breccia fillings, and patchy disseminations of pyrite,
covellite, and sparse enargite. The origin of the massive sulfide body is still under study (M.
Wetzel, personal communication), but textures suggest it results from both open-space filling
and metasomatic replacement. Its most enigmatic feature is the upper contact with the
overlying weakly chlorite-(clay) altered Upper Andesites. A narrow (1-3m) zone of strong clay
alteration at this contact invariably shows post-mineral brecciation but also generally preserves
a thin zone of gradational alteration and weak mineralization, including a narrow breccia
composed of strongly altered, variably pyritized, and weakly mineralized volcanic fragments.

Upper Zone geochemistry matches its relatively simple Cu-Fe-As-S mineralogy mentioned
above. The deposit contains low Ag, Pb and Zn values and traces of Sn (generally tens of ppm),
Bi (generally tens of ppm), and Tl (a few ppm, to tens of ppm). Petrography, logging and XRF
measurements indicate that ostensibly-pure pyrite may contain up to several weight % Cu.
Despite numerous gold assays in the 10-30g/t range from the Upper Zone, no coarse visible
gold has been found during logging nor was seen in early petrographic studies, nor identified in
screened fire assays. Preliminary gold-deportment studies that suggest a significant amount of
gold in the Upper Zone is contained in pyrite. This is similar to the Chelopech high-sulfidation
deposit in Bulgaria, perhaps the closest analogue (Wolfe et al., 2012).
Mineralization and Alteration: Lower Zone
The Lower Zone consists of porphyry-type mineralization containing primary chalcopyritepyrite-(molybdenite-bornite) mineralization associated with quartz+magnetite-hematiteanhydrite veining and replacement, widespread sericite-chlorite alteration, local secondary
biotite, and limited areas of secondary K-feldspar. Quartz veinlets are dominantly of A- and Btypes. Mineralization is hosted in the Lower Andesites and in the two phases of intrusive rocks
mentioned previously, which to date appear volumetrically minor and may be difficult to
distinguish from the host porphyritic andesites where strongly altered. Based on assays and
ongoing visual logging, Lower Zone mineralization has been intersected by 14 deep drill holes
over an area of approximately 1.5km long (east-west) by 500m wide (north-south); its
shallowest portion reaches approximately 750m below surface in the southeastern part of the
deposit in drill hole FMTC1340, and the top of the zone is deepest in the currently-drilled
northwestern extent, starting at about 1500m depth in drill hole TC140054/54a. Strong
mineralization extends locally down to the current limit of drilling at 2.2km. The down-plunge
portions of the Upper Zone have not yet been fully explored in areas where it may converge
with the Lower Zone. Drilling is inadequate to establish resources, but drill results to date
range from 395m of 0.3% Cu and 0.09g/t Au in the lower part of discovery hole 10bis2 near the
currently-inferred southern margin, to 705.8m of 0.91% Cu and 0.26g/t Au (from 1498m downhole) in drill hole TC140054a, at the systems northwestern portion. The highest-grade portions
of the Lower Zone are characterized by strong silicification or quartz stockwork veining,
magnetite, and low pyrite: chalcopyrite ratios (commonly <1:1), but so far contain only small
amounts of bornite. The higher-grade zones occur in chlorite-sericite as well as potassic-altered
rock.
The southern and eastern portions of the Lower Zone have been extensively overprinted by
argillic and locally advanced argillic alteration, to form an assemblage of covellite-digenitepyrite accompanied by quartz-clay+sericite+alunite alteration. In addition to alteration of the
gangue and primary sulfide minerals, the overprint mineralization commonly has higher overall
pyrite contents, slightly higher Cu grades, and lower Au:Cu ratios relative to adjacent primary
Lower Zone mineralization. The vertical range of overprint is at least 800m locally, reaching a
depth of approximately 1650m below surface in drill hole FMTC1219. Textures and partiallyreplaced residual patches of primary sulfides indicate much of the covellite-digenite
mineralization replaces primary disseminated and veinlet copper sulfides, but locally,

particularly east of the base of the Upper Zone, the overprint contains veinlet- and breccia-fill
textures and intense quartz-alunite alteration similar to that in the lower parts of the Upper
Zone. The overprint is interpreted as the deep structurally-controlled equivalent of Upper Zone
mineralization.

Fig. 4: Textures of Lower Zone porphyry-type mineralization in HQ core.

Top: Overprinted mineralization from FMTC-14 at 1128 shows relict A-veins within intensely
clay-altered andesite(?), containing high-grade covellite-digenite-pyrite mineralization
Bottom: Primary Lower Zone mineralization from 908m in FMTC-28, with quartz stockworkmagnetite/specularite-sericite-K-feldspar mineralization containing chalcopyrite, traces of
bornite, and low pyrite: chalcopyrite ratios

History and Discovery

Recent archaeological excavations in Serbia indicate that the Vina culture carried out the
worlds oldest-known copper smelting at Belovode, west of the Timok district, around 7000
years ago (Radivojevic et al., 2010), but the source of their copper ores remains uncertain. The
Romans reportedly produced gold from the outcropping, oxidized, gold-bearing high-sulfidation
mineralization at Tilva Rosh (Red Hill) which prior to modern mining stood as a small hill above
the concealed Bor high-sulfidation Cu-Au deposits. Similar small excavations are common on
the oxidized gold-bearing lithocaps throughout the Balkans.
The first major modern discovery in the TMC was under leadership of renowned Serbian
industrialist and humanitarian Georgi Weifert, whose crews led by Felix Hofmann found the
concealed, rich Choka Dulkan copper deposit adjacent to Tilva Rosh, reportedly near the end of

an otherwise fruitless campaign of exploratory tunnel-driving in 1902. This led to major

development of the Bor district and was followed by discovery of many other adjacent highsulfidation and porphyry deposits, as well as the concealed Bor River porphyry in 1976.
Intensive and nearly continuous exploration in the TMC by private and subsequent Yugoslav
state-run exploration groups focused outcropping copper-gold deposits and alteration zones.
Little attention was paid to concealed targets, and as a result despite its location some 6km
from the Bor mines, no historic mining took place at Chukaru Peki, and only two exploration
holes (CP-B1, B2; Fig. 3) were drilled about 650m southwest of the deposit, reportedly on a
gravity anomaly. Neither hole penetrated the post-mineral Bor clastic unit to maximum depths
of about 650m. However, exploration and possibly minor production was carried out on an
intermediate-sulfidation Au-base-metal occurrence near Brestovac village, located some 2-3km
west of Chukaru Peki, which likely represents the far western edge of the Chukaru Peki system.
This is now termed the Corridor Zone. Modern exploration in the TMC focused almost
exclusively on copper, while bulk-minable gold mineralization was not recognized as a potential
target until resurgence of exploration in the early 2000s, culminating in Avala Resources
discovery of the Bigar Hill, Korkan, and other deposits of this newly-recognized gold province.
PD (acquired by Freeport McMoRan Copper and Gold in 2007) had conducted exploration for
copper and gold in the Balkans since 1996, first visited the Bor district and other prospects in
September 2001, and established its first local company, South Danube Metals (SDM), in 2003.
SDM acquired the Brestovac-Metovnica exploration license, covering the area of the stillunrecognized Chukaru Peki deposit, and in 2005 began intensive exploration, including rockchip sampling and mapping of limited outcrops, examination of ore clasts within volcanic
units, and most importantly did deep IP/R surveys attempting to penetrate Miocene
sedimentary cover rocks along extension of Bor-Majdanpek trend, in the area of the Miocene
Basin. It was recognized that Miocene and other cover rocks were likely far too thick to
consider open-pit targets. Weak and dubious IP anomalies were detected by the 2005 work,
and it was appeared that conductive Miocene overburden was strongly influencing the
responses. Nonetheless in 2005 PD/SDM drilled its highest-priority IP-resistivity targets,
ignoring one shallow IP target which was attributed to a known buried power cable - but which
overlies the Chukaru Peki deposit, at about 500m depth. Drill hole PDBC-3, located in the
southern Miocene Basin intersected 3m of ~1% Cu, 0.5g/t Au, 200ppm Mo, but considering the
extremely weak alteration in the surrounding rocks, it is still debated whether this interval
represents a vein or a large transported ore fragment. Hole PDBC-2 at the extreme north end
of the Miocene basin intersected approximately 100m of tectonized andesite with weak
chlorite-clay alteration containing 1-2% pyrite along with very weak, geochemically-anomalous
Zn-Pb-(Cu, Au) values, apparently in the host Lower Andesite unit. The hole passed into
relatively fresh rock at final depth of 430m. The bottom of PDBC-2 is only 500m northwest and
about 700m above the well-mineralized intercept in the northernmost hole at Chukaru Peki
(Fig. 3; FMTC1332, with 289m 0.91% Cu and 0.17g/t Au, starting at 1136m), but the weak
alteration and low anomalous metal values in this hole may nonetheless be part of the edge of
the Chukaru Peki system. Core from this interval was pulled and re-examined by FMEC staff
during a target-selection meeting in autumn 2011, when the location for discovery hole 10bis2,
along with two other sites on the Brestovac license (mostly geophysical targets), was selected.

In 2007, SDM drilled another four holes totaling 1804m in Miocene Basin, again targeting
concealed mineralization. Drill hole PDBC-07-04 in the southern Miocene Basin hit weak pyritic
alteration but without anomalous metals, while other holes were barren and devoid of
alteration. During 2008-2009, FM farmed out its Serbian and Macedonian projects to Euromax
Resources, who drilled three shallow holes on the Brestovac-Metovnica license totaling
1,039.4m, with no resulting intercepts. In July 2005, Eurasian Minerals reported their drill
intersection of 2.95m of 25.83g/t Au, with adjacent Zn-(Cu, Au) intervals, in drill hole BN-1 in an
area of historic Au(?) workings near Brestovac village, west of Chukaru Peki, now termed the
Corridor Zone gold prospect (press release dated July 8, 2005). In 2006 Eurasian sold its Serbian
properties to Reservoir Capital Corp. (now RM) who continued to drill at Corridor Zone and
reported further encouraging intercepts. In 2010, after Euromax had relinquished its option,
FMEC and RM established the Timok earn-in agreement, and FMECs and RMs licenses in the
TMC area were re-issued to Rakita d.o.o., a project-dedicated Serbian joint-venture company
controlled by RM at the time. FMEC continued to fully fund exploration work and earned-in to
a 55% in Rakita during 2012. During the earn-in period, FMEC teams completed CSAMT surveys
on the Miocene Basin to penetrate conductive overburden, and on selected targets elsewhere.
CSAMT had not previously been applied. The Rakita JV also explored the Yanko Cu-Au
porphyry/skarn and Ogashu Kucaina intermediate-sulfidation Au targets, intersecting
interesting but relatively low-grade and deep mineralization at both during 2011. These lowergrade intercepts helped to sustain interest in the district.
In autumn 2011 and in preparation for the last stage of the years drill program, three drill holes
were selected in the Miocene Basin area south of Bor, based on combined CSAMT, magnetics,
geologic projections of the Bor fault and other geologic results, including re-examination of PDs
2006 drill hole PDBC-06-2 mentioned above. Data generated by Rakita and previously by RM in
the Corridor Zone and Ogashu Kucaina intermediate-sulfidation gold-polymetallic occurrences,
and also the ore-clast occurrences west of Chukaru Peki, were reviewed and discussed. In
addition to the weak alteration seen in PDBC-06-02, the deep CSAMT resistivity response along
CSAMT Line 80 was recognized to have arguable similarities to porphyry systems elsewhere,
and the third drill site of the program was selected along this profile.

Fig. 5: Ore clasts of various types from various points near Chukaru Peki. Left: massive sulfide
fragments in porphyritic andesite in the Brestovac road-metal quarry along Brestovac creek;
upper right: oxidized ore fragment in andesitic fragmental rocks on the east bank of Brestovac
creek. Lower right: ore fragment in a roadcut south of Chukaru Peki (photo D.Kozelj).
Starting in fall 2011 Rakita drilled the three planned holes totaling 1,735.4m in the Miocene
Basin. The first two hit long intervals of fresh andesite in the east block of the Bor 2 fault. The
third hole was initially lost due to difficult ground conditions at the top of the andesite
sequence. A re-attempt of the hole intersected weak clay-pyrite alteration followed by
increasing quartz-alunite-pyrite alteration with local covellite mineralization, but the hole was
again lost. The third attempt was the successful hole 10bis2 which eventually intersected 266m
of 1.08% Cu and 0.28g/t Au starting at 598m in the Upper Zone, and continued drilling into
early 2012 to intersect the Lower Zone, including 395m of 0.3% Cu and 0.09g/t Au, starting at
1469m. Accelerating exploration and evaluation work since 2012 has continued to expand and
generally improve the Upper and Lower zones.
Conclusions
The concealed Chukaru Peki deposit is a typical paired high-sulfidation and porphyry Cu-Au
system, similar in most characteristics to the nearby Bor and Bor River deposits and other
analogues worldwide. Continuing exploration will define its ultimate size and economic value.
With the benefit of perfect hindsight, the deposits existence could be reasonably predicted by
simple extension of the productive brownfields portion of the TMC into a covered area,
supported by the local evidence including ore clasts, a significant distal epithermal vein/breccia
system, and indications of a crossing structural grain. In reality, impediments to discovery were
significant: the thick, conductive post-mineral cover increased the target hurdle size and

necessary grade, while reducing the usefulness of geophysics and other targeting tools. Despite
recognition that alteration halos around the districts large deposits could be narrow, negative
early drilling results appeared to eliminate large swaths from prospectivity - and in fact several
of the early barren holes were quite close to the eventual discovery, if considered outside of
geologic context and under normal porphyry-copper greenfield exploration grid-drilling
assumptions. Predictions of maximum expected grade and tonnage based only on ranges from
analogues within the district, could have significantly under-valued the targets potential.
These obstacles were overcome by long-term management support, involvement of partners at
key points in critical roles, and a superb local exploration team. Collectively these cleared the
path for the critical four phases of drilling required to eventually discover Chukaru Peki.
Acknowledgements
This summary is dedicated to the memory of William V. Smart, formerly of Phelps Dodge
Exploration, whose exploration vision initially brought PD into the Balkans in the 1990s; and to
the late Slobodan Jankovic, Serbias renowned metallogenist. While Mr. Smart never visited
Serbia, he knew, travelled with, and greatly admired Professor Jankovic.

References
BRGM publication BRGM/RC-51448-FR
Eurasian Minerals news release July 8 2005 http://www.eurasianminerals.com/i/pdf/2005-0708_NR.pdf
Eurasian Minerals news release Oct. 30 2006 http://www.eurasianminerals.com/i/pdf/2006-1030_NR.pdf
Pacevski, A., Microscopic and SEM-EDS studies of 10 samples from drill-holes FMTC1341, 1344,
1348, and FmTX1224; Belgrade, Feb. 2014
Sutphin, D.M., Hammarstrom, J.M., Drew, L.J., Large, D.E., Berger, B.R., Dicken, C.L, and
DeMarr, M.W.; Porphyry Copper Assessment of Europe, Exclusive of the Fennoscandian Shield;
USGS, Reston, VA. USA, July 2013.
Radivojevic, M., Rehren, T., Boric, D., Pernicka, E., Sljivar, D., Brauns, M.; On the origins of
extractive metallurgy: new evidence from Europe. Journal of Archaelogical Science, vol. 37,
2775-2787, 2010.
Reservoir Minerals Inc., new release, dated January 27 2014
Rudarska-Topionicarska Basen Bor, website www.rtbbor.rs

Vasic, V; Sedimentological Analysis of Bor clastites exposed west from the Chukaru Peki
Deposit, Belgrade, September 2015. Internal Rakita company report.
Yankovic, S.P., Ore Deposits of Serbia (Yugoslavia): Regional metallogenic settings,
environments of deposition, and types. Belgrade, 1990.
Wolfe, B., Fellows, G., Barker, C., Barnes, J.F.H., and Meik, S.S.; Preliminary Economic
Assessment Report for the Chelopech Pyrite Recovery Project, Bulgaria; Dundee Precious
Metals, Sept. 7 2012.
Zimmerman, A., Stein, H.J., Hannah, J.I., Kozelj, D.I., Bogdanov, K., Berza, T., 2008, Tectonic
configuration of the Apuseni-Banat-Timo-Srednogorie belt, Balkans-South Carpathians,
constrained by high precision Re-Os molybdenite ages, Mineralium Deposita, vol. 43 p. 1-21,
2008.