Murray, S, Torvela, T orcid.org/0000-0003-1539-8755 and Bills, H (2019) A geostatistical approach to analyzing gold distribution controlled by large-scale fault systems – An example from Côte d’Ivoire. Journal of African Earth Sciences, 151. pp. 351-370. ISSN 1464-343X
Abstract
Geostatistical approaches can help to understand the general characteristics of an area, to suggest feasible geological models, and to quantify overall patterns in the occurrence of economic mineralisation. We use such an approach to demonstrate the relationships between large-scale faults of various ages and kinematics, lithologies, and gold mineralisation to facilitate understanding of crustal-scale structural controls of gold deposits. Our example comes from Côte d’Ivoire, which is known to have undergone at least three major phases of deformation, two of which produced transpressional faults resulting from ESE-WNW and, later, NE/ENE-SW/WSW, compression. Using aeromagnetic and surface geological data, we interpret these faults and suggest a multiphase Riedel model for the region, taking fault reactivation into consideration. With the help of this simplified model, the spatial relationships between the faults, lithology, and 909 known gold occurrences, including 554 artisanal mining sites, are analysed within a GIS. Using geostatistical methods, gold mineralisation was found to probably be a two-stage process, with the later D2 stage potentially being the peak mineralization event. Gold occurrences are most abundant within c. 3 km of both newly formed and reactivated NE-SW faults, most importantly P1 and Y2 faults, in areas of low-intermediate fault density, and close to lithological contacts within the greenstone sequences.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. This is an author produced version of a paper published in Journal of African Earth Sciences. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy |
Keywords: | gold; geostatistics; GIS; structural geology; Riedel fault model; Fault reactivation; Côte d’Ivoire |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Environment (Leeds) > School of Earth and Environment (Leeds) > Institute for Applied Geosciences (IAG) (Leeds) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 14 Jan 2019 10:39 |
Last Modified: | 24 Dec 2019 01:39 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Elsevier |
Identification Number: | 10.1016/j.jafrearsci.2018.12.019 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:140954 |