Genesis of the Samba Cu deposit of the Central African Copperbelt in Zambia: Constraints from geochemistry and geochronology

Abstract

The Samba Cu deposit is located in pre-Katangan Supergroup basement metavolcanic rocks of the Central African Copperbelt in Zambia. To better understand the formation of the Cu deposit, we use geochronologic, geochemical, and S isotopic data obtained for the deposit’s host rocks and sulfide minerals. Laser ablation−inductively coupled plasma−mass spectrometric (LA-ICP-MS) dating of zircon from host rocks, including quartz-sericite schist and biotite-sericite-chlorite schist, yields ages of 1967 ± 17 Ma and 1960 ± 20 Ma, which are interpreted as the crystallization ages of the original volcanic rocks. Re-Os analyses of molybdenite intergrown with chalcopyrite constrain sulfide deposition to 548.1 ± 7.5 Ma and 524.1 ± 7.3 Ma, which correspond to the timing of the Cu mineralization. LA-ICP-MS U-Pb analyses of metamorphic rutile from the biotite-sericite-chlorite schist yield a U-Pb age of 508.3 ± 6.6 Ma, which is interpreted to represent the age of regional metamorphism. The new data suggest that the Cu mineralization at Samba was synchronous with the Lufilian orogeny.