Geology of VMS deposits in Northeast Africa and their research progress

XIANG Wenshuai; ZHAO Kai; ZENG Guoping; LI Fulin; WANG Jianxiong; HU Peng; ZHANG Zicheng

doi:10.12097/j.issn.1671-2552.2022.01.010

2022 Vol. 41, No. 1

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Article navigation > Geological Bulletin of China > 2022 > 41(1): 129-140

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XIANG Wenshuai, ZHAO Kai, ZENG Guoping, LI Fulin, WANG Jianxiong, HU Peng, ZHANG Zicheng. Geology of VMS deposits in Northeast Africa and their research progress[J]. Geological Bulletin of China, 2022, 41(1): 129-140. doi: 10.12097/j.issn.1671-2552.2022.01.010

Citation:

XIANG Wenshuai, ZHAO Kai, ZENG Guoping, LI Fulin, WANG Jianxiong, HU Peng, ZHANG Zicheng. Geology of VMS deposits in Northeast Africa and their research progress[J]. Geological Bulletin of China, 2022, 41(1): 129-140. doi: 10.12097/j.issn.1671-2552.2022.01.010

Geology of VMS deposits in Northeast Africa and their research progress

1.
China University of Geosciences (Beijing), Beijing 100083, China
2.
Wuhan Center of China Geological Survey, Wuhan 430205, Hubei, China
3.
China Geological Mining Company Ltd., Beijing 100029, China

More Information

Corresponding author: ZHAO Kai, 286877542@qq.com

Received Date: 11 January 2021

Revised Date: 19 November 2021

Publish Date: 15 January 2022

Abstract

Abstract

The Northeast Africa mainly includes Egypt, Sudan, Eritrea and Ethiopia, hosting rich mineral resources such as gold, silver, copper and zinc, and the main types of mineral deposits are VMS.Since the discovery of large VMS deposits such as Ariab and Bisha, mining companies from various countries have been conducting exploration and mining in this region, and the discovery of a large number of new deposits elevate the mineral resources of copper and gold.The summary of exploration and research progress of VMS deposits in those countries can provide references for enterprises that carry out mineral exploration and investment in this region.The host rocks of VMS deposits in this region are mainly bimodal felsic volcanic rocks, which indicate a certain correlation with the volcanic arc rock combination, and the main controlling factors for the deposits are shear zones, folds and characteristic metamorphosed volcanic-sedimentary series.The ages of these deposits are mainly concentrated in three stages ranging from 890 Ma to 695 Ma, and were formed in two types of paleotectonic environments, island arc on the margins of convergent plates and back-arc basin in the oceans.Most deposits experienced near-surface oxidation and supergene enrichment, with gold and copper relatively enriched near surface.The discovered VMS deposits are mainly distributed in the north-central part of the Arabian Nubian Shield, including Barka, Gabgaba, Eastern Desert terranes, and the prospects are near the Barka, Nakasib, Keraf, and Nugrus suture zones.
- VMS deposits /
- Northeast Africa /
- Nubian shield /
- metallogeny /
- mineral exploration engineering

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References

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