Sediment-hosted Zn–Pb–Cu deposits in the Central African Copperbelt

Stratabound epigenetic sulphide Zn–Pb–Cu ore deposits of the Central African Copperbelt in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia are mostly hosted in deformed shallow marine platform carbonates and associated sedimentary rocks of the Neoproterozoic Katanga Supergroup. Economic orebodies, that also contain variable amounts of minor Cd, Co, Ge, Ag, Re, As, Mo, Ga, and V, occur mainly as irregular pipe-like bodies associated with collapse breccias and faults as well as lenticular bodies subparallel to bedding. Kipushi and Kabwe in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Zambia, respectively, are the major examples of carbonate-hosted Zn–Pb–Cu mined deposits with important by-products of Ge, Cd, Ag and V in the Lufilian Arc, a major metallogenic province famous for its world-class sediment-hosted stratiform Cu–Co deposits. The carbonate-hosted deposits range in age from Neoproterozoic to early Palaeozoic (680 to 450 Ma). The formation of the relatively older Neoproterozoic deposits is probably related to early collision events during the Lufilian Orogeny, whereas the younger Palaeozoic deposits may be related to post-collisional processes of ore formation. Fluid inclusion and stable isotope data indicate that hydrothermal metal-bearing fluids evolved from formation brines during basin evolution and later tectonogenesis. Ore fluid migration occurred mainly along major thrust zones and other structural discontinuities such as karsts, breccias and faults within the Katangan cover rocks, resulting in ore deposition within favourable structures and reactive carbonates of the Katangan Supergroup.     

Origin and palaeo‐environments of calcareous sediments in the Moshaweng dry valley,southeast Botswana

Quaternary sedimentation in the Moshaweng dry valley of southeastern Botswana is evaluated on the basis of geomorphological evolution and sedimentological analyses. Stratigraphic evidence reveals an upper surface (1095 m) containing abundant sil‐calcrete, an intermediate surface (1085 m) in which sil‐calcrete underlies nodular calcrete and lower (1075 m) surface in which sil‐calcrete and nodular calcrete are interbedded. This subdivision is reflected in the geochemical composition of the sediments which show an overall trend of decreasing SiO₂ content (and increasing CaCO₃ content) with depth from the highest to the lowest surface levels. The calcretes and sil‐calcretes represent modifications of pre‐existing detrital Kalahari Group sand and basal Kalahari pebbles which thinned over a Karoo bedrock high. Modification took place during wet periods when abundant Ca⁺⁺‐rich groundwater flowed along the structurally aligned valley system. With the onset of drier conditions, water table fluctuations led to the precipitation of nodular calcretes in the phreatic layer to a depth of about 20 m. A major geochemical change resulted in the preferential silicification of the nodular calcrete deposits. Conditions for silica mobilization may be related to drying‐induced salinity and in situ geochemical differentiation brought about by pebble dissociation towards the top of the sediment pile. As calcretization and valley formation progressed to lower levels, silica release took place on a diminishing scale. Thermoluminescence dating infers a mid‐Pleistocene age for sil‐calcrete formation suggesting that valley evolution and original calcrete precipitation are much older. Late stage dissolution of CaCO₃ from pre‐existing surface calcretes or sil‐calcretes led to the formation of pedogenic case‐hardened deposits during a time of reduced flow through the Moshaweng system possibly during the upper or late Pleistocene. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Genesis of sediment-hosted stratiform copper–cobalt deposits, central African Copperbelt

The Neoproterozoic central African Copperbelt is one of the greatest sediment-hosted stratiform Cu–Co provinces in the world, totalling 140 Mt copper and 6 Mt cobalt and including several world-class deposits (10 Mt copper). The origin of Cu–Co mineralisation in this province remains speculative, with the debate centred around syngenetic–diagenetic and hydrothermal-diagenetic hypotheses.The regional distribution of metals indicates that most of the cobalt-rich copper deposits are hosted in dolomites and dolomitic shales forming allochthonous units exposed in Congo and known as Congolese facies of the Katangan sedimentary succession (average Co:Cu = 1:13). The highest Co:Cu ratio (up to 3:1) occurs in ore deposits located along the southern structural block of the Lufilian Arc. The predominantly siliciclastic Zambian facies, exposed in Zambia and in SE Congo, forms para-autochthonous sedimentary units hosting ore deposits characterized by lower a Co:Cu ratio (average 1:57). Transitional lithofacies in Zambia (e.g. Baluba, Mindola) and in Congo (e.g. Lubembe) indicate a gradual transition in the Katangan basin during the deposition of laterally correlative clastic and carbonate sedimentary rocks exposed in Zambia and in Congo, and are marked by Co:Cu ratios in the range 1:15.The main Cu–Co orebodies occur at the base of the Mines/Musoshi Subgroup, which is characterized by evaporitic intertidal–supratidal sedimentary rocks. All additional lenticular orebodies known in the upper part of the Mines/Musoshi Subgroup are hosted in similar sedimentary rocks, suggesting highly favourable conditions for the ore genesis in particular sedimentary environments. Pre-lithification sedimentary structures affecting disseminated sulphides indicate that metals were deposited before compaction and consolidation of the host sediment.The ore parageneses indicate several generations of sulphides marking syngenetic, early diagenetic and late diagenetic processes. Sulphur isotopic data on sulphides suggest the derivation of sulphur essentially from the bacterial reduction of seawater sulphates. The mineralizing brines were generated from sea water in sabkhas or hypersaline lagoons during the deposition of the host rocks. Changes of Eh–pH and salinity probably were critical for concentrating copper–cobalt and nickel mineralisation. Compressional tectonic and related metamorphic processes and supergene enrichment have played variable roles in the remobilisation and upgrading of the primary mineralisation.There is no evidence to support models assuming that metals originated from: (1) Katangan igneous rocks and related hydrothermal processes or; (2) leaching of red beds underlying the orebodies. The metal sources are pre-Katangan continental rocks, especially the Palaeoproterozoic low-grade porphyry copper deposits known in the Bangweulu block and subsidiary Cu–Co–Ni deposits/occurrences in the Archaean rocks of the Zimbabwe craton. These two sources contain low grade ore deposits portraying the peculiar metal association (Cu, Co, Ni, U, Cr, Au, Ag, PGE) recorded in the Katangan sediment-hosted ore deposits. Metals were transported into the basin dissolved in water.The stratiform deposits of Congo and Zambia display features indicating that syngenetic and early diagenetic processes controlled the formation of the Neoproterozoic Copperbelt of central Africa.     

Bedload transport of small rivers in Malaysia

Numerous time-consuming equations, based on the relationship between the reliability and representativeness of the data utilized in defining variables and constants, require complex parameters to estimate bedload transport. In this study the easily accessible data including flow discharge, water depth, water surface slope, and surface grain diameter （ds0） from small rivers in Malaysia were used to estimate bedload transport. Genetic programming （GP） and artificial neural network （ANN） models are applied as complementary tools to estimate bed load transport based on a balance between simplicity and accuracy in small rivers. The developed models demonstrate higher performance with an overall accuracy of 97% and 93% for ANN and GP, respectively compared with other traditional methods and empirical equations.     

Petrology and geochemistry of post–kinematic mafic rocks from the Paleoproterozoic Ubendian belt, NE Katanga (Democratic Republic of Congo)

The Paleoproterozoic post-kinematic Ubendian mafic rocks from northeastern Katanga (Democratic Republic of Congo) are olivine-and-quartz tholeiites which in many respects resemble Phanerozoic continental tholeiites. The analogies are suggested by the petrographic features and the major element diagrams classically used to infer magmatic affinity. The clinopyroxene compositions straddle the boundary between clinopyroxenes from orogenic and extensional tectonic settings. In addition, the whole-rock compositions are mostly Ti- and P-poor as in low Ti–P continental flood basalts and in subduction-related mafic magmas. The same conclusion is sustained by the trace-element compositions (e.g., occurrence of mafic magmas with high Th/Ta and La/Ta values; low Sr/Ce ratios, etc). These geochemical features indicate involvement of a subduction component at the source of these extensional igneous rocks. Convective mixing of asthenospheric mantle with the overlying lithospheric mantle enriched during the Ubendian subduction or mixing of melts from both mantle components can account for the composition of the post-orogenic Ubendian mafic rocks.     

Basic magmatism and geotectonic evolution of the Pan African belt in central Africa: Evidence from the Katangan and West Congolian segments

In the West Congolian and Katangan Pan African belts, late Proterozoic extensional tectonics related to the relaxation phase that followed the Kibaran collision ca. 1000 Ma ago evolved to reach a mature rift stage characterized by the E-MORB from Kimbungu (Bas-Zaire) in the Pan African West Congolian belt and Kibambale (Shaba, Zaire) in the Pan African Katangan belt.

These mature rifts (proto-oceans) closed during the Pan African orogenic event, in an embryonic collision between the Kalahari craton to the south and the Congo craton to the north. This embryonic collisional belt differs from the classical ones in the lack of subduction and collision magmatic associations. This difference is attributed to the limited extent of the collision (slight crustal thickning) and, notably, to the fact that it happened before the underthrust plate reached the minimum depth required to generate calc-alkaline magmas through subduction.     

Sulphur isotope constraints on formation conditions of the Luiswishi ore deposit, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)

Luiswishi is a Congo-type Neoproterozoic sediment-hosted stratiform Cu–Co ore deposit of the Central Africa Copperbelt, located northwest of Lubumbashi (DRC). The ores form two main Cu–Co orebodies hosted by the Mines Subgroup, one in the lower part of the Kamoto Formation and the other at the base of the Dolomitic Shales Formation. Sulphides occur essentially as early parallel layers of chalcopyrite and carrolite, and secondarily as late stockwork sulphides cross-cutting the bedding and the early sulphide generation. Both types of stratiform and stockwork chalcopyrite and carrolite were systematically analyzed for sulphur isotopes, along the lithostratigraphic succession of the Mine Series. The quite similar δ³⁴S values of stratiform sulphides and late stockwork sulphides suggest an in situ recrystallization or a slight remobilization of stockwork sulphides without attainment of isotopic equilibrium between different sulphide phases (chalcopyrite and carrolite). The distribution of δ³⁴S values (−14.4‰ to +17.5‰) combined with the lithology indicates a strong stratigraphic control of the sulphur isotope signature, supporting bacterial sulphate reduction during early diagenesis of the host sediments, in a shallow marine to lacustrine environment. Petrological features combined with sulphur isotopic data of sulphides at Luiswishi and previous results on nodules of anhydrite in the Mine Series indicate a dominant seawater/lacustrine origin for sulphates, precluding a possible hydrothermal participation. The high positive δ³⁴S values of sulphides in the lower orebody at Luiswishi, hosted in massive chloritic–dolomitic siltite (known as Grey R.A.T.), fine-grained stratified dolostone (D.Strat.) and silicified-stromatolitic dolomites alternating with chloritic–dolomitic silty beds (R.S.F.), suggest that they were probably deposited during a period of regression in a basin cut off from seawater. The variations of δ³⁴S values (i.e. the decrease of δ³⁴S values from the Kamoto Formation to the overlying Dolomitic Shales and then the slight increase from S.D.2d to S.D.3a and S.D.3b members) are in perfect agreement with the inferred lithological and transgressive–regressive evolution of the ore-hosting sedimentary rocks [Cailteux, J., 1994. Lithostratigraphy of the Neoproterozoic Shaba-type (Zaire) Roan Supergroup and metallogenesis of associated stratiform mineralization. In: Kampunzu A.B., Lubala, R.T. (Eds.), Neoproterozoic Belts of Zambia, Zaire and Namibia. Journal of African Earth Sciences 19, 279–301].     

Geochemistry and Tectonic Setting of Mafic Igneous Units in the Neoproterozoic Katangan Basin, Central Africa: Implications for Rodinia Break-up

Geochemical compositions of mafic igneous rocks in the Katangan basin in Central Africa (Democratic Republic of Congo, hereafter Congo, and Zambia) provide the basis for the geodynamic interpretation of the evolution of this Neoproterozoic basin located between the Congo and Kalahari cratons. The Katangan basin is subdivided into five major tectonic units: the Katangan Aulacogen, the External Fold and Thrust Belt, the Domes Region, the Synclinorial Belt and the Katangan High. The metamorphosed mafic igneous rocks investigated occur in the Katangan Aulacogen, the External Fold and Thrust Belt and the Domes Region. The earliest magmatic activity produced continental tholeiites emplaced on Paleoproterozoic crust during the early stages of intraplate break-up. This continental tholeiite magmatism was followed by an association of alkaline and tholeiitic basalts emplaced in the Katangan continental rift and then by tholeiitic basalts with E-MORB affinity marking a young oceanic crust. These volcanic associations mark different stages of evolution from pre-rift continental break-up up to a continental rift similar to the East African rift system and then to a Red Sea type incipient oceanic rift. A similar evolution occurs in the Damaran basin in southwestern Africa, although no pre-rift continental tholeiites have been recorded in this segment of the Pan-African belt system.     

Sr and Nd isotope systematics of Francistown plutonic rocks, Botswana: implications for Neoarchaean crustal evolution of the Zimbabwe craton

The Francistown plutonic rocks at the south-western margin of the Zimbabwe craton consist of three igneous suites: Sanukitoid, Tonalite–Trondhjemite–Granite (TTG) suites and High-K granites. The TTG suite is subdivided into High Aluminum-TTG (HA-TTG) and Low Aluminum-TTG (LA-TTG) sub-suites. Their Rb–Sr isotope systems were partially homogenized by post-crystallization thermo–tectonic events, in which hydrothermal solutions and migmatization played an important role. Therefore, the Rb–Sr isochron age of 2427±54 Ma can only be regarded as a lower limit to the Francistown plutonic rock age. The large errors in the Sm–Nd isochron dates of Francistown granitoids indicate that these dates are not really constrained. In this study we compared the rock types of Francistown and adjacent areas, adopting the precise U, Th–Pb single zircon SHRIMP ages from the Vumba area as references. For TTG and Sanukitoid suites, the age we adopted is ca. 2.7 Ga, which is close to their depleted-mantle Sm–Nd model ages (T _DM). For High-K granites, the age adopted is ca. 2.65 Ga, which is also close to their Sm–Nd isochron age. The highest ε _Nd ^t values of Sanukitoids and TTG are +2.1 and +2.3, respectively. The positive ε _Nd ^t values and trace element geochemistry support partial melting of a depleted mantle and young oceanic crust for the genesis of Sanukitoid and the TTG suites respectively. The lowest ε _Nd ^t values of Sanukitoids and TTGs are −1.0 and −1.1, respectively, indicating contamination by continental crust, up to 10 and 14%, respectively. The ε _Nd ^t values of TTG decrease with decreasing Al₂O₃ and Sr contents and increasing Eu negative anomalies (Eu*–Eu), suggesting that the TTG magmas underwent a coupled fractionation crystallization and crustal contamination, and that the LA-TTG was the product of the fractionation and contamination of the HA-TTG sub-suite. In contrast, negative ε _Nd ^t values for the High-K granites (from −0.4 to −3.5) indicate the involvement of LA-TTG and some materials from an old continental crust in their genesis. The products of partial melting of both oceanic and continental crusts at the south-western margin of the Zimbabwe craton occurred within a short time interval (from 2.7 to 2.65 Ga ago) suggesting that the Francistown plutonic rocks were formed in a active continental margin environment, where a young ocean plate (Limpopo oceanic plate) subducted underneath an old continental plate (Zimbabwe craton).