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Location: 1.5 km E from Odendaalsrus, South Africa
4PM6+MW, Free StateOdendaalsrusSouth Africa
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Tshepong North is situated in the Free State Goldfield, on the southwestern margin of the Witwatersrand Basin of South Africa, one of the most prominent gold provinces in the world. The major gold bearing conglomerate reefs are mostly confined to the CRG of the Witwatersrand Supergroup.The general orientation of the Witwatersrand Supergroup succession in this goldfield is interpreted as north-trending, within a syncline that is plunging to the north. The syncline has been divided by faults into the Odendaalsrus, Central Horst and Virginia sections. The Tshepong North mining right area is also affected by the Ophir and Dagbreek faults.Tshepong North exploited primarily the Basal Reef, which occurs within the Harmony Formation of the Johannesburg Subgroup of the CRG. Mineralization also occurs within the stratigraphically higher A and B reefs of the Kimberley (formerly Aandenk) Formation, within the Turffontein subgroup of the CRG. However, only the B Reef can be economically extracted. Mineralization is associated with the presence of medium to coarse, clast-supported oligomictic pebble horizons. The presence of allogenic pyrite and detrital carbon is also common.The principal gold-bearing orebody is the stratiform and strata-bound Basal Reef (known as the Basal Reef Zone or BRZ). This unit comprises a thin conglomerate at the base of the BRZ, overlain by clean “placer” quartzites. The Basal Reef is underlain by a thick series of siliceous and argillaceous quartzites comprising the Welkom formation and overlain by shales and quartzites of the Harmony formation, both of the Johannesburg sub-group of the Central Rand Group. Although not apparent within the mine lease area, the Basal Reef sits unconformably on the Welkom formation.The Basal Reef dips towards the east at 25° with a general north- south strike. The Lower Cycle Black Chert facies predominates in the majority of the lease area. Reef consists of an oligomictic small pebble matrix-supported conglomerate lag with a fly-speck carbon contact with moderate to high grade value trends striking north-west south-east. The EN area of the mine consists of the Loraine facies which consist of small to medium upward fining polimictic matrix supported conglomerate with low to moderate grades. The rest of the reef package constitutes barren siliceous fine-grained reef quartzite. The entire reef package reaches up to 120cm thick and is overlain by 4-6m thick Khaki shale.The Central Rand Group itself is overlain in turn by lavas and sediments of the Ventersdorp System and the more recent sediments of the Karoo Group.The B Reef occurs approximately 145m stratigraphically above the Basal Reef and varies in thickness from 30cm to 170cm. The conglomerate varies in character depending on the facies, with B1 being a small to medium pebble conglomerate and usually no more than 30cm thick with abundant carbon. The B2 facies is a small pebble lag in an argillaceous quartzite, with little to no mineralisation. B3 facies is a 20 to 150cm thick conglomerate, mature, well packed, with pebble sizes varying from small to cobble size, very polymictic, normally with abundant pyrite and some carbon. This is the most common facies.
