in Tin Exploration
Outline
Property
Description and
Location
Geological
Setting and
Mineralization
Regional Geology
Units present in the area include:
The Palaeoproterozoic (Lower
Proterozoic) Basement comprising
Rusizian and AnteRusizian units,
composed: dolomites, quartzites,
amphibolites, mica schists and
migmatite gneisses.
The upper Mesoproterozoic rocks
(loosely termed Burundian in the
eastern DRC, Burundi and Rwanda)
composed of dominant micaceous
schists and buff to red arenaceous
phyllites with minor interbedded
quartzites and amphibolites.
Shales and conglomerates are also
found in the upper parts of this
sequence.
Regional Geology
The
upper
contact
of
the
Palaeoproterozoic basement with
the
overlying
Mesoproterozoic
sediments is poorly exposed and
rarely observed, probably due to
faulting complicated by tectonometamorphic effects and granite
intrusions.
Both units have been intruded by
different generations of granites.
These intrusions are commonly
believed to be the source of the
numerous tin occurrences in the
region, with the granites themselves
containing elevated levels of tin.
Property Geology
Major observations from the MPC work in the project area are as
follows:
The eastern part of the Project area is underlain by metasediments
comprising micaceous schists, quartzites, phyllites and amphibolites,
with minor calcareous rocks. The metasediments in the central part of the
permit area strike north-south with dips between 30 and 40 to the east.
The regional folding of these units is gentle. Metasediments in the east of the
permit area generally strike north-northwest to south-southeast
In the west of the Project area, a granite pluton gives rise to subdued
topography, compared with the topography in the area underlain by
metasediments. Mapping of the area by MPC defines the granite as a
medium-grained pink porphyritic granite, comprising predominantly
quartz and pink feldspar, with minor muscovite and hornblende.
Mineralization
The tin mineralization found so far at the Bisie Project is confined to the
north-south striking, easterly dipping metasediments that occur
approximately 3 km east of the granite contact.
It appears that the cassiterite was emplaced first, followed by copper in the
form of chalcopyrite and bornite, then by lead and zinc mineralization.
Chlorite alteration is extensive in parts and is thought to be the result of
the last stage of fluids entering the system.
The tin and copper mineralization is predominantly found in zones
dominated by intense chloritic alteration, although mineralized zones with
no chlorite have also been intersected by drillholes.
The host rocks are predominantly highly chlorite-altered amphibolites,
fine- to medium-grained chlorite schists and to a lesser extent, the
adjacent biotite schists and quartz schists.
Mineralization
The largest volume of cassiterite
observed in drill core occurs as discrete
massive veins ranging from 2 mm to 0.64
m in thickness.
The cassiterite veins are massive,
pinkish brown, fine-grained and often
botryoidal, and show compositional
layering thought to be due to variations
in the iron content. (WOOD TIN)
The dominant geological control is
structural emplacement of cassiteritebearing veins.
The pressure-temperature conditions at
the time of tin deposits are important
controls and probably reflect distance
from the source granite
Mineralization
Copper mineralization is generally associated with the cassiterite zones.
Most of the copper mineralization occurs in the form of blebs, lenses and
veins, with the latter two being parallel to the schistosity.
The copper mineralization is generally fairly widespread but higher grades
are sporadic.
Higher grade copper intercepts usually occur adjacent to and
overlapping the high tin grade intercepts, if not directly correlating with
them.
Most of the zinc mineralization occurs in a massive pyrite unit, together
with lead and silver further south at Golgotha.
The intensity of the galena and sphalerite replacement of the pyrite
appears to be structurally controlled.
Mineralization
Artisanal workings are concentrated at
Golgotha in the south and Gecomines
in the north (Figure 7-3).
Drilling has also focused in these
areas. The tin mineralization is better
developed at Gecomines, with thicker
and more numerous cassiterite veins,
and substantial copper mineralization
in parts.
At Golgotha, there is less cassiterite
and the veins are generally thinner.
However the lead and zinc
mineralization is more prevalent,
possibly due to the presence of the
massive pyrite unit
Deposit Types
Deposit Types
The Bisie tin deposit is a cassiterite-bearing stockwork or vein system
adjacent and possibly distal to underlying source granite.
From the composition of the mineralization, it was concluded that the
mineralization has a low temperature origin, with a probable hidden
fractionated granitic source.
Fluorine and lithium are absent from the ore forming fluids and base metal
sulphides scarce.
This may indicate the source granite to be at depth below the surface.
Three dimensional modelling of the Mineral Resource indicates that the
deposit can be simply described as a steeply dipping tabular sheet of
variable grade mineralization consisting of irregular veins and
disseminations of cassiterite that is complex on a small scale.
Geostatistical
Analysis
Objective
Study area
Block modeling
Variogra
m fitting
Block
modelin
g
Ordinary
kriging
Evaluati
on
Resourc
e
estimati
on
Variogram fitting
To confirm the spatial distribution of data set
Spherical model
Where,
: Nugget effect
: Partial sill
: Range of influence
The dataset Sn * Density has statistical
uniformity
Sn*S
G
Sectional validation
To compare the average value of the block model against the
input data
Sections of Elevation
Mineralized zone
Sections of Northing
Result
Resource estimation from block modeling
Idea of resources estimation
Bloc
k
cell
Block modeling
References
Jeremy C Witley, Russell A Heins,
2014: Alphamin Resources
Corporation Bisie Tin Project North
Kivu Province, Democratic Republic
of Congo
http://
congomines.org/system/attachments/ass
ets/000/000/636/original/Alphamin-Bis
Thank you!