The matala lode of central zambia - a tourmalinite-hosted gold deposit

摘要

The Matala Lode of central Zambia is a gold-bearing quartz-torumaline breccia embedded in a sequence of Palaeo- or Mesoproterozoic paragneisses with intercalations of banded iron formation (BIF) and metabasites. It is located within the Mwembeshi Shear Zone (SMZ), a Neoproterozoic dislocation of regional extent. The MSZ hosts several small-scale gold deposits consisting mainly of auriferous quartz veins. In the Matala gold deposit, massive tourmaline mineralization is spatially associated with auriferous pyrite-bearing quartz veins. The tourmalinite has been emplaced prior to the auriferous quartz veins serving as a physico-chemical trap for the latter. Field geologic and textural evidence indicate a deformation history of the gold-quarz veins related to movement along the MSZ with emplacement of gold-quartz veins within tourmalinite at deep crustal levels followed by later brittle deformation with the latter producing the brecciated texture of teh Matala Lode.