Gold mining has a legendary history in Ethiopia, with Ethiopian mines providing gold to the ancient Egyptian empire and possibly even King Solomon's Mines and the Queen of Sheba. Today, gold occurs in the PanAfrican age schist belt and Tertiary basaltic lavas of the Asosa region of Benishangul-Gumuz, western Ethiopia. There is widespread artisanal gold production in the Asosa region, with moderate activity by small numbers of local workers producing relatively large amounts of gold. There is a strong relationship between predominantly shear zone-hosted gold deposits and the Kuluck shear zone, suggesting a structural control on gold accumulation. Gold is also commonly associated with secondary sulphide mineralization and magnetite alteration in Asosa rocks. The source of the gold is thought to be the sub-volcanic intrusions generated during the subduction of the oceanic crust at the trench island-arc system, akin to what we see today in epithermal and porphyry type gold systems. Historical workings and anomalous gold concentrations in rock, soil and stream sediments point to a potentially significant untapped gold resource in the Asosa region of western Ethiopia.
Abstract:The Assosa region of western Ethiopia hosts newly discovered and potentially highly economic graphite-bearing schist units. Due to its unique physical and chemical properties, graphite is quickly becoming an increasingly important economic resource. Graphite occurs over much of the area, and is hosted predominantly by quartz-graphitic schist, quartz-feldspar-mica schist and quartzite. The quartz-graphitic schist covers an area of 37 km 2 , forming steep valleys and ridges across a 190 km long belt.Graphite is texturally-variable within and across units. Crystal habit varies from highly crystalline to irregular flakes. Flake sizes range from amorphous and crystalline small flake to coarse large flake (> 150 µm), with beneficiation of ~ 70% and yield potential of > 95% (froth flotation methods). The license area is already a well-known gold-hosting area, and potentially economic gold deposits occur within the graphite-bearing units. Overall, the site shows excellent geochemical indicators, field observations and historical accounts of high gold content. It is suggested that textural variations may be the product of (1) early in-situ formation during (early-to late-Proterozoic) prograde metamorphism and (2) later vein-type mineralization during retrograde metamorphism. The discovery of graphite in western Ethiopia is the first documented and preliminary studies suggest a high economic potential for the deposits.
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