Abstract
Located in the southwestern of the Oume-Fettekro greenstone belt, the Agbahou gold deposit is controlled by structural factors. Geophysics, teledetection and core data suggest the presence of NE and NW faults. However, the NE-faults define two major shear zones (ATZ: Agbahou Tectonic Zone and WTZ: West Tectonic Zone) that control the Agbahou gold mineralization. These first order structures are subparallel to the regional tectonic grain mostly north-east oriented. They seem to respectively develop on the both arms (eastern and western) of an anticline moderately plunging ~25° towards northeast. Each shear-zone contains several second-order shear-zones or lenses of variable direction and of 50° - 80° dip. NW-faults however correspond to strike-slip faults and their development should be related to transcurrent tectonics. They acted as control channels on the distribution of gold mineralizations. The ductile-brittle character of shear-zones favored the ascent of hydrothermal fluids and the formation of multiple auriferous quartz veins: veins Type IIa and veins Type IIb relating respectively to the shear-veins and extensional veins. However, Agbahou also shows the existence of a disseminated sulphides-bearing mineralization within host-rocks. At Agbahou, the precipitation of gold probably occurred in a post to late ductile-brittle deformation period.
Highlights
The shear zones associated with birimian greenstone belts in West Africa
Our work suggests that the Agbahou deposit is controlled by two major shear zones: ATZ (Agbahou Tectonic Zone) and WTZ (West Tectonic Zone)
Geophysics and drilling have established the litho-structural context of the Agbahou gold deposit
Summary
The Agbahou gold deposit is characterized by NE and NW lineaments, highlighted by geophysical data and remote sensing (Gillick, 2001 [8], Houssou, 2013 [9]) These lineaments have never been studied directly because of the scarcity of rock outcrops and the lack of depth work (drillholes). Tshibubudze and Hein (2013) [10] have demonstrated such quartz veins intimately associated with the junction of NE and NW lineaments in the Essakane gold deposit in Burkina Faso. Their work made it possible to classify these quartz veins and establish a relationship between them and gold mineralization
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