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Location: 28 km SE from Francistown, Botswana
Farm 75 – NQ Northeast DistrictP O. Box 20164FrancistownBotswana
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The Mupane deposits are located in an area known as the Mupanipani Hills, ridges formed by outcrops of banded siliceous and graphitic iron formation (GIF). These units of so-called „iron formation? are hosted by a sequence of metasediments, including coarse grained carbonate bearing conglomerates, para amphibolites, marbles, metapelites and minor orthoamphibolites. The host rocks are all variably schistose depending on the abundance of micaceous components (Tomkinson and Putland 2006).The geology of the properties and the style of the gold mineralisation varies between the various deposits.The Tati Greenstone Belt (TGB) hosts numerous small scale nickel and gold deposits.The nickel deposits consist almost entirely of disseminated to semi massive sulphide bodies hosted by a series of late stage troctolitic intrusive bodies on the northeastern edge of the greenstone belt.The belt has been extensively prospected in the past due to the abundance of numerous small scale narrow quartz vein hosted gold deposits. These deposits are all clearly related to late stage, high level brittle shear zones developed within the volcanics and sediments of the belt. The deposits were generally refractory in the fresh sulphides and contained significant amounts of arsenopyrite and some stibnite although the gold is principally hosted within pyrite and to a lesser extent pyrrhotite (i.e. Map-Nora Lodes). The alteration associated with the mineralisation varies depending on the host rocks but typically consists of biotite, muscovite, chlorite, carbonate and ubiquitous quartz either as veins or silicification. Very few of these deposits appear to have developed significant magnitude to be worthwhile propositions for modern gold mining.In style the gold mineralisation conforms to the Archaean Lode Gold or Orogenic Gold style of mineralisation. They all appear to have formed late in the history of the belt and closely resemble mineralisation seen in the Archaean greenstone belts of Canada, South America and Australia.Mineralisation is a “disseminated-style" in well-bedded, silicified quartz-rich parts of the graphitic iron formation (GIF) at Tau and Tholo and partly silicified graphitic schists at Kwena. This style of mineralisation is unlike that of most Achaean gold deposits being a broad siliceous zone. Mineralisation is not dominated by discrete veins and the deposit lacks sharply-bounded loads. The mineralized parts are however distinctive due to the silicification of the GIF.The ore zone at Tau lies within the GIF unit. In comparison to unmineralized GIF, mineralized GIF is substantially altered. The addition of silica, remobilized silica, carbonate, wallrock fragmentation and the addition of vein quartz and sulphides have in large part overprinted the original features of the GIF. Mineralized GIF is highly siliceous and carbonated, highly deformed with the graphitic units strongly sheared. Deformation is ductile, with a very minor brittle component, mostly fracturing, and specifically fracturing of arsenopyrite. Minor vein quartz are brecciated, sheared and incorporate much of the GIF wallrock. Arsenopyrite is the most visual sulphide phase, and gold mineralisation is sulphidation of wallrock by this phase.
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