The Kapan mining district in the southernmost Lesser Caucasus is one of the unique locations along the Central metallogenic Tethyan belt where ore-forming processes were associated to magmatic arc growth during Jurassic Neotethys subduction along the Eurasian margin. Three ore deposits of the Kapan district were investigated in this study, including Centralni West, Centralni East and Shahumyan. The ore deposits are hosted by Middle Jurassic andesitic to dacitic volcanic and volcaniclastic rocks of tholeiitic to transitional affinities below a late Oxfordian unconformity, which is covered by calc-alkaline to transitional Late Jurassic-Early Cretaceous volcanic rocks interlayered with sedimentary rocks.

The mineralization consists of veins, subsidiary stockwork and partial matrix-replacement of breccia host rocks, with chalcopyrite, pyrite, tennantite-tetrahedrite, sphalerite and galena as the main ore minerals. Centralni West is a dominantly Cu deposit, and its host rocks are altered to chlorite, carbonate, epidote and sericite. At Centralni East, Au is associated with Cu, and the Shahumyan deposit is enriched in Pb and Zn as well as precious metals. Both deposits contain high-sulfidation state mineral assemblages with enargite and luzonite. Dickite, sericite and diaspore prevail in altered host rocks in the Centralni East deposit. At the Shahumyan deposit, phyllic to argillic alteration with sericite, quartz, pyrite and dickite is dominant along polymetallic veins, and advanced argillic alteration with residual quartz is locally developed.