Abstract
Au-bearing quartz veins in the Belikombone area are confined to major NW-SE orientations in schists and N-S and ENE – WSW in other host rocks. The objectives of this work were to study field, mineralogy and geochemical characteristics of gold mineralised quartz veins. Schists (chlorite rich) and gneisses (moderately magnetic) are the dominant rock types in the area with granite occurring as intrusions within the gneisses. Gold-bearing quartz veins occur in association with metamorphosed rocks ranging in composition from quartz ± gold to those that contain quartz ± gold ± sulphides ± iron-oxides ± sericite and mafic minerals. The mineralized veins contain Au from 0.50 to 25 ppm, while the quartz veins considered barren contain 0.20 ppm Au. The concentration of As in the quartz veins ranges from 0.30ppm to 10.70 ppm and it show positive correlation with Au in samples with high Au concentration. The ΣREE varies from 5.79 to 173.64 in the quartz veins. The investigated veins show evidence of multiphase deformation and it is associated with D<sub>2</sub> deformation in the area. This structural setting suggest that the emplacement of gold mineralization occurred during the late Pan African orogeny. The main alteration types are silification, sericitization and sulphidation processes.
Highlights
Quartz vein systems in regions that have experienced deformation remain the main depository for primary Au [1]
Gold is hosted by quartz veins [8, 17] and such is the case with the Belikombone gold prospect
The poles to quartz veins plotted on the stereographic projection and rose diagrams of the quartz veins show that the quartz veins in the schists are generally trending NW-SE (Figure 6), and are concordant to the foliations in the schist, which have a NW-SE trend
Summary
Quartz vein systems in regions that have experienced deformation remain the main depository for primary Au [1]. Deformation in these regions occur in stages and the migration of hot fluids (hydrothermal) from the subsurface into the resulting structures follow the sequence of deformation. These fluids eventually precipitate material into these structures forming lodes and veins that differ in their characteristics [1, 2]. Goldbearing quartz veins occur in association with metamorphosed rocks ranging in composition from quartz ± gold to those that contain quartz ± gold ± sulphides ± ironoxides ± sericite and mafic minerals
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