The Boumadine deposit is described as shallow mineralizing system similar to volcanic-hosted epithermal veins developed in subaerial resurgent caldera environments (Bouabdellah and Levresse, 2016; Abia et al., 2003).
Mineralization is structurally controlled, consisting of zones of vuggy quartz and veins, veinlets, and tectonic-hydrothermal breccias.
Three successive and overlapping stages of mineralization are distinguished (Ait Saadi, 1992; Abia et al., 2003; Bouabdellah and levresse, 2016). The origin of the mineralization is probably the mixing between ascending deep seated fluid and meteoric waters that have generated precipitation of precious- and associated base-metal mineralization.
The Boumadine mineralization is structurally controlled and comprises a system of subvertical veins, veinlets, cemented breccias within veins and filling of tension gashes veins. Mineralized structures occur exclusively within the rhyolitic sequence of the Tamerzaga Formation.
The orientation of the mineralized structures is related to Ediacaran transcurrent tectonics represented by N30 to N-S strike-slip fault zones (Freton, 1988; Ait Saadi, 1992; Abia et al., 1999, 2003). The mineralization and associated alterations are developped at the proximity of magmatic vents. Alteration, which appears around the mineralization, develops an assemblage of major quartz and white micas with minor quantities of chlorite and calcite (Ait Saadi, 1992).