Spatial distribution and trace element geochemistry of laterites in Kunche area: Implication for gold exploration targets in NW, Ghana

Sunkari, Emmanuel Daanoba; Appiah-Twum, Michael; Lermi, Abdurrahman

doi:10.1016/j.jafrearsci.2019.103519

Cited by 25 publications

(27 citation statements)

References 49 publications

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“…On the other hand, the inheritance of latosol horizons is usually challenging to assess, and gold anomalies in latosols that are entirely or even partly developed after transported material may lead to false positives and spurious genetic relationships with underlying horizons. Furthermore, the usefulness of pathfinder elements such as Pb, Cu, As, Bi, Te, and Ag needs to be better assessed as they may positively correlate with Au (Anand & Butt, 2010;Sunkari et al, 2019). Nonetheless, at Couriège, Au is not associated with other metals, although the elevated Au and Bi grades in some samples from Achman Giraud latosol may suggest a primary association.…”

Section: Implications For Gold Explorationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…1A) in South America is an important mineral province hosting significant gold resources which are attractive for the exploration of gold deposits (Voicu et al, 2001;Milesi et al, 2003;Daoust et al, 2011;Velasquez et al, 2014;Tedeschi et al, 2018a;Guiraud et al, 2020, Combes et al, 2021. However, due to its low latitude geographic position, the Guiana Shield is covered mainly by a well-developed regolith and equatorial rainforest, representing a challenging environment for exploration (Freyssinet et al, 1989(Freyssinet et al, , 2005Butt, 1998;Butt et al, 2000;Anand & Butt, 2010;Theveniaut & Freyssinet, 2002;Butt, 2015;Sunkari et al, 2019). In addition, supergene processes can either hinder or modify primary (i.e., hypogene) gold resources Anand et al, 2019) through weathering, erosion and pedimentation.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Diversity of supergene gold expressions and implications for gold targetting in an equatorial regolith (AMG's Couriège Exploration Prospect, French Guiana)

Combes

Teitler

Eglinger

et al. 2021

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The Couriège prospect (French Guiana) provides key examples of the diversity of gold distribution related to supergene processes. The nature of gold in two contrasted weathering profiles is examined as a function of the weathering lithofacies. The autochthonous profile hosts weathered Au-bearing quartz veins whereas the pediment profile is enriched in free gold issued from dismantled gold-bearing quartz veins. The gold distribution is controlled by: (i) the preservation of primary gold as free gold in both transported and autochthonous horizons and as electrum inclusions in detrital pyrite, and (ii) the formation of secondary gold through dissolution/precipitation processes, expressed as gold spherulites on free gold grain surface, Ag-depleted rim around transported free gold grains and Ag-depleted gold micro-inclusions hosted by oxidised autochthonous pyrite. Gold enrichment through supergene chemical processes remains limited within the truncated autochthonous profile. A new conceptual model is proposed for the area, defining the role of chemical and physical processes in gold endowment, and accounting for the geomorphological context. The overall evolution includes (i) deep weathering and peneplenation, (ii) dismantlement and transport of lateritic material, and (iii) development of a latosol cover. This study highlights that gold exploration in tropical environments must consider the residual vs transported nature and the inheritance of targeted pedogenic horizons.Supplementary material at https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.5476187

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Section: Implications For Gold Explorationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Diversity of supergene gold expressions and implications for gold targetting in an equatorial regolith (AMG's Couriège Exploration Prospect, French Guiana)

Combes

Teitler

Eglinger

et al. 2021

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“…Principal component analysis (PCA) was the extraction method used during the R-mode FA, and varimax rotation was the chosen mode of displaying the factors. Kaiser (1960) criterion was applied to reduce the extracted factors to 3 with eigenvalues > 1 since several factors are usually extracted in the R-mode FA (Sunkari et al, 2019;Zango et al, 2019). Hierarchical cluster analysis was used to identify the element associations.…”

Section: Multivariate Statistical Analysesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Geochemistry, risk assessment, and Pb isotopic evidence for sources of heavy metals in stream sediments around the Ulukışla Basin, Niğde, southern Turkey

Lermi¹,

Sunkari²

2020

Turkish J Earth Sci

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Concentrations of selected elements (Al, Fe, Mn, Mo, As, Cd, Cu, Cr, Ni, Co, Pb, Sb, and Zn) and Pb isotope ratios were determined in 53 sediments from Alihoca, Gümüş, Horoz, and Çakıt streams around the south-central Taurides (Ulukışla Basin), Niğde, which is a known mining province in Turkey. Several pollution and risk assessment indices were used to assess possible heavy metal pollution in the stream sediments and the associated potential ecological risks. Concentrations of As, Cd, Cu, Cr, Ni, Co, Pb, Sb, and Zn were elevated in the streams located near ancient mines, active mines, and slag piles in the area, suggesting an influence from mining activities. The pollution assessment indices indicated that the sediments were significantly polluted by As, Cd, Sb, Zn, and Pb and moderately polluted by Cu, Ni, Cr, and Co. The sediments show very high potential ecological risk with As, Cd, Sb, and Pb as the principal contributors. Ni, Cr, As, Pb, Zn, and Cd exceeded the probable effect concentrations in most of the samples implying that their concentrations may frequently affect sediment-dwelling organisms. Multivariate statistical analyses indicate that the accumulation of heavy metals in the stream sediments is due to an interplay of anthropogenic activities (mining and agrochemical application) and geogenic processes (weathering of bedrocks and supergene alteration of base metal-rich mineralization). Pb isotopic tracing indicates that total Pb in the sediments (206 Pb/ 207 Pb = 1.09-1.29) is primarily from weathering and dissolution of ultrapotassic rocks (206 Pb/ 207 Pb up to 1.20) and galena (206 Pb/ 207 Pb up to 1.21) from the Pb-Zn-Au deposits in the area with some anthropogenic input from mine slag piles (206 Pb/ 207 Pb = 1.10).

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“…Principal component analysis (PCA) is a technique widely used to transform large variables such as element concentrations in rocks into a smaller number of independent variables (Pe-Piper et al 2008;Sunkari et al 2019). Such compositional data always sum up to a constant value that is influenced by a constraint commonly known as closure effect (Aitchison 1986;Aitchison and Greenacre 2002) and thus, requires a transformation to remove this constraint before conducting PCA (Muriithi 2015).…”

Section: Multivariate Statistical Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

Paleocurrent analysis, petrographic, geochemical and statistical appraisal of Neoproterozoic siliciclastic sediments, NE Voltaian Basin, Ghana: a multidisciplinary approach to paleogeographic reconstruction

Abu

Sunkari

Gürel

2020

J. Sediment. Environ.

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This study used sedimentary structures, facies analysis, petrographic studies, statistical techniques and geochemical data of the Bombouaka/Gambaga Group of the NE Voltaian Basin, Ghana to decipher the source of the sediments. Field measurements covered the Tossiegou, Poubogou, and Panabako Formations of the Bombouaka/Gambaga Group. The influence of hydraulic sorting was interpreted from the effects of highly resistant heavy minerals (identified in the petrographic studies) from polycyclic sources. Principal component analysis (PCA) was applied to the geochemical data to understand element associations. Two broad facies types were identified; lithofacies and ichnofacies. The lithofacies were observed as (a) asymmetric ripple marks on sandstones, (b) parallel lamination on silty/argillaceous sediments, (c) straight-crested and bifurcated ripples on shales, (d) flute casts and climbing ripples on sandy shales, (e) bipolar herringbone cross-bedding on quartz-rich sandstones, and (f) wavy lamination and cross-bedding on feldspathic sandstones. However, the ichnofacies include only Skolithos on quartzitic sandstones. The structural analyses suggest that about 85% of the paleocurrents were from NE to SW direction with subordinate directions from WNW to ESE. Based on the predominant paleocurrent directions, the sediments were probably derived from the basement Birimian rocks (metavolcanic and metasedimentary rocks with associated granitoids), previously paleogeographically located in the Amazonian Craton but now eroded, transported and transformed into the Birimian Supergroup from which the Voltaian sediments were derived. The PCA points to similar sources of granitoids and metasedimentary rocks. Therefore, the geochemical results and the PCA interpretations support the paleocurrent structures-inferred sources of the sediments in the NE Voltaian Basin.

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Spatial distribution and trace element geochemistry of laterites in Kunche area: Implication for gold exploration targets in NW, Ghana

Cited by 25 publications

References 49 publications

Diversity of supergene gold expressions and implications for gold targetting in an equatorial regolith (AMG's Couriège Exploration Prospect, French Guiana)

Diversity of supergene gold expressions and implications for gold targetting in an equatorial regolith (AMG's Couriège Exploration Prospect, French Guiana)

Geochemistry, risk assessment, and Pb isotopic evidence for sources of heavy metals in stream sediments around the Ulukışla Basin, Niğde, southern Turkey

Paleocurrent analysis, petrographic, geochemical and statistical appraisal of Neoproterozoic siliciclastic sediments, NE Voltaian Basin, Ghana: a multidisciplinary approach to paleogeographic reconstruction

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