Mineralogical and Geochemical Constraints on Gold Enrichment in the Tchiquele Epithermal System, Southern Angola

• Author(s): Kumoleha, António ; Nogueira, Pedro ; Simões, Pedro Pimenta ; Marinho Reis, A. Paula
• Date: 2025
• Persistent ID: https://hdl.handle.net/1822/98278
• Origin: RepositóriUM - Universidade do Minho
• Document Type: Other
• Language: English
• Contributor(s): Universidade do Minho

Description

[Excerpt] The Tchiquele gold deposit, located in southern Angola, re-mains underexplored despite its metallogenic potential within the sub-Saharan African context. This study aims to character-ize its mineralogical, geochemical, and paragenetic features through an integrative approach to refine its classification and evaluate its potential as a low- to intermediate-sulfidation epi-thermal system. Gold mineralization occurs mainly in quartz veins and pods hosted by altered volcanic and volcaniclastic rocks, structurally controlled and largely covered by laterites that obscure surface exposures and affect geochemical patterns. Forty-five repre-sentative whole-rock samples were collected from multiple ex-traction levels developed by the operating company, spanning different depths and lateral positions. Samples were analysed by ICP-MS for 63 elements, and mineralogical relationships were investigated using XRD, petrography, and SEM-EDS. [...]