THE BAUXITE DEPOSITS OF SEYDIŞEHIR REGION (MORTAŞ AND DOĞANKUZU DEPOSITS); THEIR GEOLOGICAL, MINERALOGICAL AND GEOCHEMICAL CHARACTERISTICS

Turkey hosts essential bauxite deposits, typically of the karstic-type. The most economically important bauxite deposits of Turkey form in the Seydişehir-Akseki region of the central Taurides Mountains. The Mortaş and Doğankuzu deposits are the most important deposits in that region. The bauxite beds contain boehmite, hematite, rutile, smectite, quartz, diaspore, calcite, pyrite, marcasite and goethite. Brown to red-colored bauxite minerals are massive, oolitic – pisolitic textured. The Seydisehir schists could be possible parent rocks of bauxites, and have unearthed acidic source (mostly granite) with hornblende and plagioclase minerals. The schists were compositionally mature with minimal alkali feldspar sediments. The Mortaş deposit is 400 m long and up to 40 m thick; it averages 10 m thick. It has about 5 million tons of ore reserves, with ~50 percent Al2O3. The Doğankuzu bauxite deposit is situated 2 km southwest of the Mortaş deposit, with 14.9 million metric tons of ore at 61 percent Al2O3. The Doğankuzu ore was deposited on a fault-controlled karst surface of Cenomanian limestone succession, which was overlain by 5- to 10-cm-thick Santonian limestones. The bauxite has been mined by the Seydişehir aluminum factory, which was founded in 1973, and privatized in 2005. The plant is capable to produce 65.000 ton liquid aluminum per year, around 15% of Turkey’s Aluminum demand.