Geological and geocchemical characteristics of Tovuzçay dam upper section (Tovuz-Azerbaijan) placers

In this study, gold and heavy element enrichments were investigated by mineralogical, petrographic and geochemical analyzes of samples collected from stream sediments and placers in the lower Tovuzçay river bed, located between Vahidli, Aşağı Öysüzlü and Yukarı Öysüzlü villages in the upstream part of the Tovuzçay Dam lake in the Lesser Caucasus region of Azerbaijan. Tovuzçay placer gold deposit is located in the Lesser Caucasus region of the Tethys Tectonic Belt, one of the world's important gold and copper provinces, extending from Pakistan to Iran, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey. The main rivers in the Tozuv region are the Tovuz River, which connects to the Kür River, and its tributaries, the Esrik River and Akınca River, and the Zeyem River in the eastern part. Sedimentary and magmatic rocks formed from the Middle Jurassic to the present day crop out around Tovuzçay. The Middle Jurassic (Bajosian) aged Arıkdam volcanics, which form the basement of the region, are covered by Vahidli rhyolites and Asrikçay pyroclastics. These units are cut by the Upper Jurassic - Cretaceous aged Gosha Granite and all units are unconformably covered by Quaternary-Holocene aged alluvial material. The primary ore minerals determined in the region by XRD studies on placer samples taken from the Upstream Section of Tovuzçay Dam are hematite, magnetite, chalcopyrite and pyrite formations. The gangue minerals in the mineralization of Tovuzçay placers are, in order of prevalence, calcite, quartz, barite, kaolin and albite. When the Au values of the placer samples that were chemically analyzed were examined, Au values of 0.00-0.125 mm (2 pieces), 0.125 -0.250 mm (2 pieces) and over 2 ppm were determined in 4 samples.