Features of gold-bearing quartz veins in an artisanal mining-dominated terrain, Batouri gold district, Eastern region of Cameroon

Vishiti, Akumbom; Étamé, Jacques; Suh, and Cheo Emmanuel

doi:10.18814/epiiugs/2019/019016

Cited by 16 publications

(11 citation statements)

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“…Silicification, sulphidation, sericitization, haematitization, and carbonatization are described as the main alteration processes. Fluid inclusion data from Batouri suggests moderately saline brine as ore-bearing fluid and mesothermal conditions of ore deposition consistent with the magmatic source of gold (Vishiti et al, 2019). The δ 3 4 S values for this system reflect a single homogenous and generally light source of sulphur.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 64%

Base metal-enriched gold-quartz veins in the eastern Cameroon goldfields, West-Central Africa

et al. 2022

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The Colomine and Bétaré Oya gold districts are among the main gold-producing districts in the reworked Paleoproterozoic terrain of eastern Cameroon. The characteristics of the mineralized and barren veins from these areas were investigated with the aim of helping artisanal gold miners and Small and Medium Size Enterprises (SME) active in the region to identify new gold targets. This could help boost the country's annual gold production and also generate local revenue for the indigenous community. Gold mineralization occurs in gently dipping NNE-SSW to NE-SW-trending quartz veins hosted by hydrothermally altered granitic rocks in the Colomine gold district and weathered mica schist in the Bétaré Oya gold district. The hydrothermally altered granite wallrock hosts millimetric-sized quartz lamellae/veinlets characterised by a quartz-sericite-muscovite-biotite±chlorite±albite assemblage. The mineralized quartz veins in both districts are fractured, brecciated, sheared, and vuggy, characterised by a quartz±gold±sulphide±hematite±limonite±goethite ±carbonate assemblage. Hematite occurs in a botryoidal form, ind icating the strong influence of supergene processes. This alteration phase is associated with supergene gold enrichment in the veins and constitutes the most attractive part to be exploited by artisanal and SMEs. The barren veins trend NW-SW to N-S and are generally massive to foliated. Gold ranges between 5 and 32 ppb in the wall-rock and up to 2070 and 4600 ppb in hematite-bearing quartz veins. Bulk geochemistry reveals Au-Mo (±Ag) element association in Colomine and Au-Ag-Mo-Cu in Bétaré Oya indicative of a sulfide-bearing granitic source.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 64%

Base metal-enriched gold-quartz veins in the eastern Cameroon goldfields, West-Central Africa

et al. 2022

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“…The wallrock Au contents reach a high of 2.6 g/t Au (Suh et al, 2006) and concentrations ranging from 0.048 to 0.191 g/t are recorded in the soils (Vishiti et al, 2015). Mineralogically the veins are composed of quartz ± gold ± carbonates ± haematite ± sulphides ± chlorite ± albite ± epidote and few selvages of wallrock bearing sericite (Vishiti et al, 2019). Thus the quartz veins are ferruginized and sulphidized.…”

Section: Batouri Gold Deposit Geologymentioning

confidence: 98%

“…In the Batouri gold mining district, primary gold mineralization is related to hydrothermally altered Pan African granitoids (Asaah et al, 2014;Tata et al, 2018) cut across by small-scale high grade auriferous discordant quartz veins/veinlets in structurally favourable sites (Suh et al, 2006;Asaah et al, 2014;Vishiti et al, 2019). The veins are enclosed by hydrothermally altered zones traceable in the wallrock (Suh and Lehmann, 2003;Suh et al, 2006;Suh, 2008;Asaah et al, 2014) and the soils (Vishiti et al, 2015).…”

Section: Batouri Gold Deposit Geologymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The granitoids reveal gold contents as high as 103.7 g/t in areas which are well-defined by silicification and sulphidation/ferruginization alterations (Tata et al, 2018). The mineralized quartz veins show a characteristic stockwork texture with gold contents that vary from 0.04-53.5 g/t (Suh et al, 2006;Asaah, 2010;Vishiti et al, 2019;Tchouankam et al, 2020). The wallrock Au contents reach a high of 2.6 g/t Au (Suh et al, 2006) and concentrations ranging from 0.048 to 0.191 g/t are recorded in the soils (Vishiti et al, 2015).…”

Section: Batouri Gold Deposit Geologymentioning

confidence: 99%

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Emplacement timing, temperature, and redox conditions of the Kambélé auriferous pluton, Batouri gold District, SE Cameroon

et al. 2022

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The Kambélé auriferous pluton in south-eastern Cameroon is within the Central African Fold Belt (CAFB). New zircon LA-ICP-MS U-Pb ages, REEs patterns, zircon Ce 4+ / Ce 3+ ratios, and Ti-in-zircon thermometry, have been used to decipher the timing of mineralisation, redox conditions and emplacement temperature of the pluton. Cathodoluminescence images of 12 representative zircon grains from the Kambélé pluton reveal two types of zircon grains: type 1 grains are characterized by dark cores, serrated margins and poorly defined zonation; type 2 grains are euhedral to subhedral, elongated, with core to rim zonation and with darker rims indicative of a pristine magmatic source. The zircon grains are depleted in light rare earth elements. Chondrite-normalised REE patterns show undefined Ce anomalies and negative Eu anomalies indicating moderately oxidised to reduced conditions. Zircon U-Pb age of the granitoid is constrained to Neoproterozoic with a mean age of 589±36 Ma indicating gold mineralisation during the Pan African orogeny. Crystallization temperatures range from 525-1033°C with a mean temperature of ~712°C, concomitant with granitoid emplacement temperatures within the Adamawa Yadé Domain of the CAFB.

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“…In the south eastern region of Cameroon where the Batouri goldfield is located, gold production began in 1934 [7]. Primary gold mineralization in the Batouri goldfield is inferred to be hosted in quar veins in wide bri le/ductile shear zones and Neoproterozoic granites, and it is likely to be buried in deeper crustal levels [8][9][10]. However, uplift, weathering and erosion may have brought the mineralization close to the surface [8][9][10].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Soil Geochemistry Combined with Particulate Gold Microchemistry Provides Evidence of Eluvial Gold Genesis and Anthropogenic Hg Use in Eastern Cameroon Goldfields

Vishiti,

Suh,

Ngatcha

et al. 2024

Minerals

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The identification of trace element anomalies in soils has been proven to assist semi-mechanized small-scale gold operations. This study employs soil geochemistry combined with the microchemical signature of particulate gold from the Batouri goldfield to (1) vector possible gold-endowed lithologies introducing particulate gold into the overlying regolith, and (2) assess anthropogenic Hg used in purification of both primary and alluvial/eluvial gold by artisans. The soil geochemistry shows irregularly distributed anomalies of elevated Cu especially in the saprolite soil layer. Whereas in the lateritic soil layer, a Au-Ag-Hg metal association is reported for the first time in this gold district and could be linked to anthropogenic Hg used in gold recovery. Particulate gold recovered from the soil varies in shape from euhedral and irregular to sub-rounded, indicating a proximal lode source. The gold grains range in size from nano-particles to >300 µm and are Au-Ag alloys. The gold particles reveal inclusions such as quartz, silicate, zircon and ilmenite suggesting that the grains were dislodged from quartz veins within the granitic basement. Systematic variation in the microchemical signature of the gold grains is suggestive of spatial and temporal evolution of the mineralizing fluid. These results are consistent with investigations from similar geologic settings worldwide and validate the combined utility of gold fingerprinting and pathfinder elements in soil to examine deposit genesis in other gold districts globally.

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Features of gold-bearing quartz veins in an artisanal mining-dominated terrain, Batouri gold district, Eastern region of Cameroon

Abstract: This contribution is part of the study funded by the International Union of Geological Science (IUGS) under its "Resourcing Future Generations" programme Coordinated at the University of Buea by CES

Cited by 16 publications

References 41 publications

Base metal-enriched gold-quartz veins in the eastern Cameroon goldfields, West-Central Africa

Base metal-enriched gold-quartz veins in the eastern Cameroon goldfields, West-Central Africa

Emplacement timing, temperature, and redox conditions of the Kambélé auriferous pluton, Batouri gold District, SE Cameroon

Soil Geochemistry Combined with Particulate Gold Microchemistry Provides Evidence of Eluvial Gold Genesis and Anthropogenic Hg Use in Eastern Cameroon Goldfields

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