Kamoa Resource Area

Congo (Dem. Rep.) / Katanga / Kolwezi /
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As of February 26, 2018, this is the defined indicated and inferred resource area for the Kamoa Deposit which due to its size is divided into several sections. The deposit is open in several directions beyond the currently defined resource. The initial mining is via the Kansanko Decline which access the Centrale and Kansanko Sud sections of the Kamoa deposit.

To date the mineralisation identified for the Kamoa project is typical of sediment-hosted stratiform copper deposits. Regionally the geology is comprised of sedimentary rocks of the 880–500 Ma Katangan basin that were deposited on Paleoproterozoic composite basement rocks. Katangan strata occur on both sides of the DRC–Zambian border and define a northerly-directed thinskinned thrust-and-fold orogenic system, known as the the Lufilian Arc, which was the result of the convergence of the Congo and Kalahari cratons. The Katanga Supergroup is a sequence comprised of the metasedimentary rocks that host the Central African Copperbelt mineralisation, and include the Roan, Lower Kundelungu, and Upper Kundelungu Groups. Copper mineralisation can occur at several of the stratigraphic levels within these Groups.

At the Kamoa deposit diamictites are situated in the Lower Kundelungu at its contact with Roan sandstones, and the mineralised stratigraphic sequence at the base of the diamictite comprises several interbedded units that seem to affect copper mineralisation. From bottom upwards the units are: clast-rich diamictite (Ki1.1.1.1), sandstone and siltstone (Ki1.1.1.2), and clast-poor diamictite (Ki1.1.1.3). The lowermost clast-rich diamictite (Ki1.1.1.1) unit generally hosts lower-grade (<0.5% TCu) mineralisation. Most higher-grade mineralisation occurs within the clast-poor (Ki1.1.1.3) unit, or in the sandstone and-siltstone (Ki1.1.1.2) interbeds that are present locally between the clast-rich (Ki1.1.1.1) and clast-poor (Ki1.1.1.3) diamictites. Hypogene mineralisation is characterised by chalcopyrite and bornite dominant zones.

As of February 26, 2018, the mineral resources statement for Kamoa for the Indicated category was 759 mt graded at 2.57% over 50.7 km2 with a vertical thickness of 5.5m, amounting to 43 billion pounds of copper. The Inferred category was 202mt graded at 1.85% over 19.4 km2 with a vertical thickness of 3.8m, amoutning to 8.2 billion pounds of copper.
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Coordinates:   10°47'5"S   25°15'13"E
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This article was last modified 1 year ago