• Login
     
    View Item 
    •   ORFEO Home
    • Royal Museum for Central Africa
    • RMCA publications
    • View Item
    •   ORFEO Home
    • Royal Museum for Central Africa
    • RMCA publications
    • View Item
    JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.

    Complex mineralogical-geochemical sequences and weathering events in the supergene ore of the Cu-Co Luiswishi deposit (Katanga, D.R. Congo)

    Authors
    Fontaine, L.
    De Putter, T.
    Bernard, A.
    Decrée, S.
    Cailteux, J.
    Wouters, J.
    Yans, J.
    Show allShow less
    Discipline
    Earth and related Environmental sciences
    Subject
    Geodynamics and mineral resources
    Audience
    Scientific
    Date
    2019
    Metadata
    Show full item record
    Description
    The Luiswishi Cu Co ore deposit (Haut-Katanga, D.R. Congo) belongs to the Katanga Copperbelt (KCB), a worldclass Cu Co district. The primary orebodies in the KCB consist of sulphide ore hosted in Neoproterozoic finegrained siliciclastic and carbonate sedimentary rocks. The secondary weathered ores are still poorly documented, though most of them are strongly enriched in both copper and cobalt with regard to the primary sulphide ores. Combined mineralogical (transmitted and reflected light microscopy, XRD, SEM-EDX) and geochemical investigations (FUS-MS and FUS-ICP) on both host rocks and ore minerals allow identifying and characterizing three distinct zones in the studied profile, at Luiswishi, from base to top: the protore, which contains sulphides and massive dolomite; the cementation zone where oxides and sulphides coexist, and the saprolite, comprised of oxidized ores only. The mixed oxidized-sulphide zone occurs down to about 100m in depth. At Luiswishi, the formation of the oxidized ores proceeded as follows: (1) oxidation of the primary sulphides (mainly chalcopyrite, carrollite and pyrite); (2) rapid neutralization of the released acidity by carbonate minerals (mainly dolomite) and Mg-chlorite in the host rock; and (3) concomitant precipitation of a wide range of oxidized mineral phases: goethite, malachite, heterogenite, pseudomalachite, amorphous copper silicate compound. Complex geometries and recurring mineralogical successions within heterogenite malachite, or malachite copper silicate malachite aggregates are highlighted in the weathering profile. Mineralogical transformations in the weathered profile result in an overall selective leaching of the LREE and a concomitant residual enrichment in HREE. The leached LREE accumulate in the cementation zone, where both secondary chalcocite-type sulphides and residual and replacement goethite form, by oxidation within the rims and cracks in chalcopyrite. Deriving from a specific protore, the oxidized S.D.1b (formerly Black Ore Mineralized Zone or B.O.M.Z.) shows a specific geochemical response to weathering, with enrichment in both LREE and HREE and positive Ce-anomaly in the saprolite.
    Citation
    Fontaine, L.; De Putter, T.; Bernard, A.; Decrée, S.; Cailteux, J.; Wouters, J.; Yans, J. (2019). Complex mineralogical-geochemical sequences and weathering events in the supergene ore of the Cu-Co Luiswishi deposit (Katanga, D.R. Congo). , Journal of African Earth Sciences, DOI: 10.1016/j.jafrearsci.2019.103674.
    Identifiers
    uri: https://orfeo.belnet.be/handle/internal/12418
    doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jafrearsci.2019.103674
    Type
    Article
    Peer-Review
    Yes
    Language
    eng
    Links
    NewsHelpdeskBELSPO OA Policy

    Browse

    All of ORFEOCommunities & CollectionsBy Issue DateAuthorsTitlesDisciplinesThis CollectionBy Issue DateAuthorsTitlesDisciplines
     

    DSpace software copyright © 2002-2016  DuraSpace
    Send Feedback | Cookie Information
    Theme by 
    Atmire NV