© БАН, Геологически институт „Акад. Страшимир Димитров“, 2023 www.geologica-balcanica.eu GEOLOGICA BALCANICA 52 (1), Sofa, April 2023, pp. 3–12. https://doi.org/10.52321/GeolBalc.52.1.3 LA-ICP-MS study of malachite from copper deposits in the Rosen ore field, Burgas ore district, SE Bulgaria Nikoleta Tzankova Department of Mineralogy and Petrography, University of Mining and Geology “St Ivan Rilski”, 1700 Sofia, Bulgaria; e-mail: nikoleta.tzankova@mgu.bg (Received: 01 September 2022; accepted in revised form: 09 December 2022) Abstract. Archaeological findings of malachite ore pieces, and objects made of malachite or copper, raise the question of where the raw material was mined. Research in this direction is a challenge in modern applied mineralogy, especially concerning minerals from the oxidation zone of copper-bearing ores. According to recent studies in this field, a complex research method, including impurity elements, will provide a better distinction between different sources. The present paper is focused on the content of impurity elements in malachite ore samples from copper deposits in the Rosen ore field, SE Bulgaria, with mining activity in the past: Propadnala Voda, Sarneshko Kladenche, Meden Rid, Korucheshme, and Rosen. The nickel concentra- tion obtained by LA-ICP-MS analyses is above 1000 ppm (1012.80–1505.15 ppm) in all studied samples, accompanied by the following element impurities: Zn, Co, Mg, As, Sb, Fe, Ag, Au, Sn, Se, and Te. The quantitative concentrations of Zn, Co, Mg, As, Ag, and Se vary in different ranges in the examined malachites from each locality. Based on this, it seems possible to differentiate between samples of each mineralization. These data would have to be supplemented by the analyses of more malachite ore samples from the region. Tzankova, N. 2023. LA-ICP-MS study of malachite from copper deposits in the Rosen ore field, Burgas ore district, SE Bulgaria. Geologica Balcanica 52 (1), 3–12. Keywords: LA-ICP-MS, malachite, impurity elements, copper deposits, SE Bulgaria. INTRODUCTION Malachite is one of the first ores for producing cop- per metal and pigment for eye paint, mural painting, coloring glaze, and glass. It was a well-known raw material for making amulets, beads, and other small objects. The use of malachite and other green stones for the mentioned purposes in the Balkans goes back several millennia (Chernykh, 1978; Todorova, 1981; Todorova and Vajsov, 2001; Šljivar, 2006; Avramova, 2002). Indications of deliberate collec- tion of pieces of copper ore are known in the pre- pottery Neolithic A (PPN A), around 9,500 BC, in Halan Chemi of present-day Eastern Turkey. Oxide and carbonate secondary copper ore minerals were crushed for obtaining color pigments (Rosenberg, 1995; Zimmermann, 2011; Kunze and Pernicka, 2020a). Pieces of malachite ore are not rare in Bul- garian archaeological sites: Akladi Cheiri, Cherno- morets (Leshtakov et al., 2020b), Budzhaka, So- zopol (Leshtakov, 2013), Alepu (Leshtakov et al., 2020a), Hadzhidimitrovo, Yambol (Petrova et al., 2014), Sarnevo, Stara Zagora (Tzankova and Va- sileva, 2017), Lubimets-Dana Bunar 2 (Kunze and Pernicka, 2020b), Karanovo III-IV pits (Leshtakov, 2013), and others. One of the most famous malachite finds is from Aşaği Pinar in Turkish Thrace – high-qual- ity malachite beads and Chalcolithic workshops (Kunze and Pernicka, 2020a). Malachite pieces,