Metallogeny of precious and base metal mineralization in the Murchison Greenstone Belt, South Africa: indications from U–Pb and Pb–Pb geochronology

Jaguin, Justine; Poujol, Marc; Boulvais, Philippe; Robb, L. J.; Paquette, Jean‐Louis

doi:10.1007/s00126-012-0422-7

Cited by 15 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…These stream sediment data therefore suggest that the exploration strategy to be employed in the region must recognize the granitic batholiths as the principal lithology whose aureoles must be carefully mapped and sampled. Granite-related gold deposits also with a similar As-Mo-W paragenesis have been recognized in other parts of the world [e.g., 30,31] and references therein] and the results of this study suggest that such deposit type exists in northern Cameroon. In these other studies the granites are late and play a major role in the gold metallogenic system.…”

Section: Interpretation and Discussionsupporting

confidence: 82%

Gold grade variation and stream sediment geochemistry of the Vaimba-Lidi drainage system, northern Cameroon (West Africa)

Embui¹,

Omang²,

Vivian³

et al. 2013

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Stream sediment geochemistry remains a versatile tool in exploration especially in regionswhere knowledge of the primary mineralization is lacking and the exploration activities are still at reconnaissance stage. In this study, we investigate the concentrations of gold and associated elements in stream sediment samples from the Vaimba-Lidi drainage system in northern Cameroon; a relatively remote area where alluvial gold is worked locally, and exploration activities are at early stage. The main river and its principal first and second order tributaries were sampled, panned for gold grain recovery and the 100 μm size fraction analyzed for Au by fire assay with Ni finish. A suite of other elements were analyzed for by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). Gold grades estimated by the panning and weighing technique rarely exceed 1 g/t while the Au concentrations from chemical analysis range from 3.0 to 354.0 ppm. The spatial distribution of gold and all the other elements are presented as point symbol maps and the data analyzed using multivariate statistics. From the principal component analysis (PCA), the As-Mo-W-Ag as well as the Au-Zn factors point to the presence of primary hydrothermal gold-sulphide mineralization in the area and this can be further investigated. These results highlight the importance of multielement analysis and multivariate statistical interpretation of sediment geochemical data in inferring the nature of the underlying primary mineralization in any region.No represents the number of samples with concentrations above their detection limit used to calculated the statistics, Min, Max, Std. D represents the Minimum, Maximum concentration value and standard diversion, respecively, / represents no value. t

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Section: Interpretation and Discussionsupporting

confidence: 82%

Gold grade variation and stream sediment geochemistry of the Vaimba-Lidi drainage system, northern Cameroon (West Africa)

Embui¹,

Omang²,

Vivian³

et al. 2013

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“…The La France Formation is a small area in the south-center part of the belt that comprises quartzites as well as kyanite and staurolite-bearing micaschists, indicating recrystallization under amphibolite facies conditions (Block et al, 2013). Important plutonic activity is largely documented between 2.97 and 2.92 Ga (Baderoukwe granodioritic batholith, Jaguin et al, 2012b; Discovery granite, Poujol, 2001; Rooiwater gabbro-diorite complex, , and may be related to the accretion between the northern and the southern terranes .…”

Section: Geological Setting: the Murchison Greenstone And Granitoids Terrainmentioning

confidence: 99%

Archaean S-Type granites: petrology, geochemistry and geochronology of the Lekkersmaak and Willie plutons, Kaapvaal Craton, South Africa

Poujol

Jaguin

Moyen

et al. 2021

South African Journal of Geology

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S-type granites correspond to reworking of pre-existing continental material and form by partial melting of (meta)sediments. Early-to-mid Archaean S-type granites are rare and are more frequently found, usually as relatively small intrusions, during the Neoarchaean and the Archaean-Proterozoic transition. In the context of Archaean geology, their paucity is therefore significant, in that it matches the uncommon nature of processes during this period. In this study, we focus on the Late Mesoarchaean Willie pluton and Neoarchaean Lekkersmaak pluton, which crop out to the south of the Murchison Greenstone Belt in the Northern Kaapvaal Craton, South Africa. These intrusions represent the oldest S-type plutons known so far in the region. We constrain their petrogenesis by documenting their petrology, mineralogy (mineral composition), geochemistry (major and trace elements, Sr, Nd and O isotopes) and zircon U-Pb geochronology. The large Lekkersmaak and smaller Willie plutons represent two granites sharing many geochemical characteristics; they are both peraluminous, Ms-bearing S-type granites although they are more sodic and less potassic than typical S-type granites. The Willie granite was emplaced 2 816 ± 9 Ma ago while the Lekkersmaak yielded an emplacement age of 2 771 ± 2 Ma. Therefore, S-Type magmatism in the area occurred twice at 2.82 Ga and then 40 Myr later at 2.77 Ga, involving comparable immature metasedimentary sources and conditions of partial melting. Finally, a sample from the Lekkersmaak pluton devoid of S-type features as it is muscovite-free and aluminum poor was emplaced 2 734 ± 11 Ma ago. This confirms the episodic nature of magmatic activity south of the Murchison Greenstone Belt.

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“…The ores appear to be orogenic despite being associated with significant metamorphic remobilization. The simultaneous occurrence of both gold and antimony in their various forms suggests that a single process was responsible for this enrichment (Jaguin et al, 2012;Pearton, 1982).…”

Section: Consolidated Murchisonmentioning

confidence: 99%

Depositional environment - The original control on gold processing

Youlton¹,

Kinnaird²,

Youlton³

2021

J. S. Afr. Inst. Min. Metall.

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SYNOPSIS Methods for treating and processing refractory gold ores are well established. However, what is less well understood is how the formation of the gold-bearing deposits affects gold processing and extraction. In order to evaluate the effect of ore genesis on gold extraction a number of South African gold deposits were studied. These included complex Pilgrim's Rest samples as well as refractory Fairview, Barbrook, and Consolidated Murchison samples. We found the refractory nature of gold ores is controlled by a limited number of well-understood mineralogical factors. Solid solution gold is linked to low temperature and pressure conditions in fine-grained sedimentary lithologies, while reactive pyrrhotite can form from hydrothermal fluids associated with mafic magmatic rocks. These formational controls can be used to identify and avoid complex deposits at a desktop study phase, or address and reduce complications further along the pipeline using early mineralogical studies. Keywords: gold processing, refractory gold, ore mineralogy.

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Metallogeny of precious and base metal mineralization in the Murchison Greenstone Belt, South Africa: indications from U–Pb and Pb–Pb geochronology

Abstract: that the formation of meso-to epithermal Au-Sb mineralization at fairly shallow levels was accompanied by submarine extrusion of felsic volcanic rocks to form associated Cu-Zn VMS mineralization.

Cited by 15 publications

References 18 publications

Gold grade variation and stream sediment geochemistry of the Vaimba-Lidi drainage system, northern Cameroon (West Africa)

Gold grade variation and stream sediment geochemistry of the Vaimba-Lidi drainage system, northern Cameroon (West Africa)

Archaean S-Type granites: petrology, geochemistry and geochronology of the Lekkersmaak and Willie plutons, Kaapvaal Craton, South Africa

Depositional environment - The original control on gold processing

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