3D structural and geological modeling of the Kwatebala Cu–Co deposit, Tenke-Fungurume district, Democratic Republic of Congo

Abstract

The Kwatebala Cu–Co deposit is one of the giant deposits of the Central African Copperbelt and is part of the Tenke-Fungurume district, the world's largest known resource of cobalt, located in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The application of 3D implicit geological modeling in the Cu–Co Kwatebala deposit defined not only the lithological and ore models but also a complex structural framework. A total of six groups of faults were defined and suggest the occurrence of two tectonic events subdivided into five local stages in the Kwatebala Cu–Co deposit. The hierarchy of these stages was correlated to the tectonic evolution data in the literature showing initial thrusts defining the allochthonous position of the deposit in a pre-Lufilian stage. Salt tectonics-related moves in the early stages of Lufilian orogenesis, defining the Kwatebala diapiric structure. Posterior inverse faults of high angle and northward dip are probably related to the circulation of saline hydrothermal fluids responsible for a later Cu–Co synorogenic mineralization. Two later groups of faults displace the ore bodies, the first being related to thrust faults dipping south related to the end of the Lufilian arc evolution and finally the northwest faults that cut all the other previous structures.