GEOLOGIC RECONNAISSANCE of THE UZUNPINAR IRON MINE
AND VICINITY, KAYSERI PROVINCE
By
Patrick J. Barosh
US Geological Survey

ABSTRACT
       The Uzunpınar Iron Mine consists of two pits. The lower, larger pit is situated at the edge of a valley and the smaller upper pit is 1.1 km to the southwest on a limestone ridge. The upper pit is near the northern end of a northeast-trending mineralized fault zone that consists of altered limestone, silicified rock, hematite, and some magnetite. The lower pit exposes a west-trending magnetite-hematite lens that is directly on line with the fault zone and probably is controlled by an extension of the fault zone.
       The upper pit and nearby area is estimated to contain 4.000.000 metric tons of iron-rich rock of which a million tons is proven and the rest is probable. The lower pit is essentially mined out.

INTRODUCTION
       The Uzunpınar Mine is in the Elbistan K37-b₁ quadrangle in the northeast corner of Kayseri Province 51/2 km southwest of Uzunpınar Village (Figure 1). It can be reached from Kayseri by driving east 135 km on the Malatya highway, traveling north 5 km on the Viranşehir road to Karakuyu Village and thence 9 km east-northeast. The main part of the mine is at an altitude of 1815 meters at the northeastern base of a northeast-trending ridge.