Basin-internal derivation of hydrocarbons in the Witwatersrand Basin, South Africa: evidence from bulk and molecular δ13C data

Gold in the quartz-pebble conglomerates of the late Archean Witwatersrand Basin, South Africa, is often intimately associated with carbonaceous matter of organic/biogenic origin which occurs in the form of stratiform carbon seams and paragenetically late bitumen nodules. Both carbon forms are believed to be formed by solidification of migrating hydrocarbons. This paper presents bulk and molecular chemical and stable carbon isotope data for the carbonaceous matter, all of which are used to provide a clue to the source of the hydrocarbons. These data are compared with those from intra-basinal shales and overlying dolostone of the Transvaal Supergroup. The delta C-13 values of the extracts from the Witwatersrand carbonaceous material show small differences (up to 2.4 parts per thousand) compared to the associated insoluble organic matter. This suggests that the auriferous rocks were stained by mobile hydrocarbons produced by thermal and oxidative alteration of indigenous bitumens, a contribution from hydrocarbons derived from intra-basinal Witwatersrand shales cannot be excluded. Individual aliphatic hydrocarbons of the various carbonaceous materials were subjected to compound specific isotope analysis using on-line gas chromatography/combustion/stable isotope ratio mass spectrometry (GC/C/IRMS). The limited variability of the molecular parameters and uniform delta C-13 values of individual n-alkanes (-31.1 +/- 1.7 parts per thousand) and isoprenoids (-30.7 +/- 1.1 parts per thousand) in the Witwatersrand samples exclude the mixing of oils from different sources. Carbonaceous matter in the dolostones shows distinctly different bulk and molecular isotope characteristics and thus cannot have been the source of the hydrocarbons in the Witwatersrand deposits. All the various forms of Witwatersrand carbon appear indigenous to the Witwatersrand Basin, and the differences between them are explained by variable, in general probably short (centimeter- to meter-scale) hydrocarbon migration during diagenesis and subsequent hydrothermal infiltration. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved

Some observations on diamondiferous bedrock gully trapsites on Late Cainozoic, marine-cut platforms of the Sperrgebiet, Namibia

Namibia's southwestern coast, the Sperrgebiet, hosts one of the world's largest gem diamond placer deposits consisting of fluvial, marine and desert deflation/aeolian placer types. To date, the richest onshore placer discovered in the Sperrgebiet comprises several, Plio-Pleistocene to Holocene, littoral marine packages distributed northwards from the Orange River mouth for some 120 km to Chameis Bay. In this zone, known as Mining Area No. 1 (MA1), these Quaternary marine deposits are floored predominantly by siliciclastic rocks of the Late Proterozoic Gariep Belt that have been bevelled into a number of marine-cut platforms during the different Quaternary high sea level stands (notably, at + 30 m, + 8 m, + 4 m and + 2 m). In many places, these bedrock platforms are extensively gullied and potholed, forming abundant fixed trapsites that promote diamond concentration in the Late Cainozoic littoral sediments. Some observations on the distribution, orientation and incision of bedrock gullies in MA1 are presented here. Three principal bedrock gully types, all of which constitute good diamond trapsites, have been identified in the bedrock footwall between the Orange River mouth northwards to Chameis Bay, a distance of some 120 km: (i) swash-parallel gullies in the southern, proximal sector where the bedrock s2 dips 45°W and the abrasive gravels are most abundant, thus overriding lithological and structural controls in the footwall; (ii) strike-parallel gullies in the central reach where the bedrock s2 dips between 80° and 85°W and the abrasive bedload is reduced, resistant lithological units promote the formation of such features along the orientation of the metsediments; and (iii) joint gullies in the northern, distal portion where the bedrock s2 dips 45–60° to the E and coarse abrasive bedload is virtually absent, the structural pattern in the bedrock is exploited by marine erosion. In these Late Cainozoic placers, diamond concentration is further linked to the depth of the gullies incised into the marine-cut platforms. Maximum incision is noted on the seaward margins of the marine-cut platforms where high-energy littoral processes, acting in a micro-tidal range of ca. 1.8 m under strong prevailing southerly wind and South Atlantic derived southwesterly swell regimes, promote marine erosion and deep gully formation. Therefore, the most favourable diamondiferous trapsites in the Late Cainozoic marine packages of the southwestern Sperrgebiet are those developed in deep bedrock gullies of either swash-parallel, strike-parallel or joint pattern origin on the seaward margins of marine-cut platforms that represent discrete high sea level stands during the Quaternary

Geometallurgical Approach for Implications of Ore Blending on Cyanide Leaching and Adsorption Behavior of Witwatersrand Gold Ores, South Africa

Gold production in South Africa is projected to continue its decline in future, and prospects for discovery of new high-grade deposits are limited. Many of the mining companies have resorted to mining and processing low-grade and complex gold ores. Such ores are technically challenging to process, which results in low recovery rates, excessive reagent consumption and high operating costs when compared to free-milling gold ores. In the Witwatersrand mines, options of blending low-grade gold ores with high-grade ores exist. Although it is well known that most of the Witwatersrand gold ores are highly amenable to gold cyanidation, not much is known on the leachability of blended ores, especially the effects of mineralogical and metallurgical variability between different gold ores. In this study, we apply a geometallurgical approach to investigate mineralogical and metallurgical factors that influence the leaching of blended ores in a set of bottle shaker and reactor column tests. Three gold-bearing conglomerate units, so-called reefs, i.e., Carbon Leader Reef, Ventersdorp Contact Reef and the Black Reef, all in the Carletonville goldfield, were sampled. The ores were prepared using a terminator jaw crusher followed by vertical spindle pulverizer (20 kg aliquot) and high-pressure grinding rolls (80 kg aliquot). Mineralogical analysis was conducted using a range of complementary tools such as optical microscopy, QEMSCAN and micro�XCT. The results show that Witwatersrand gold ores are amenable to the process of ore blending. Some of the ores, however, contain impervious inert gangue and reactive ore minerals. Leach solution can only access gold locked in impervious gangue minerals through HPGR-induced pores and/or cracks. The optimum ore blending ratio of the bottle shaker experiments (p80 = � 75 μm) comprises 60 Carbon Leader Reef, 20 Ventersdorp Contact Reef and 20 Black Reef and yields 92 recovered Au over a leach period of 40 h. Blended ores with high carbonaceous material (> 1 wt carbonaceous material, (Black Reef = 36�60) yield lower recoveries of 60�69 Au). Ore leaching at the mixed-bed reactor column (� 75 μm and � 5.6/+ 4 mm) yields about 70 over a leach period of two weeks. We therefore suggest that the feasibility of ore blending is strongly controlled by the mineralogy of the constituent ores and that a mixed-bed reactor may be a viable alternative method for leaching of the low-grade Witwatersrand gold ores. Material from certain reefs, such as the Black Reef, has synergistic/antagonistic (nonadditive) blending effects. The overall implication of this study is that ore blending ratios, effects of comminution on mineral liberation, an association of gold with other minerals, and gold adsorption behavior will greatly inform future technology choices in the area of geometallurgy. © 2019, International Association for Mathematical Geosciences

Application of Machine-Learning Algorithms to the Stratigraphic Correlation of Archean Shale Units Based on Lithogeochemistry

Data-driven methods have increasingly been applied to solve geoscientific problems. Incorporation of data-driven methods with hypothesis testing can be effective to address some long-standing debates and reduce interpretation uncertainty by leveraging larger volumes of data and more objective data analytics, which leads to increased repro-ducibility. In this study, lithogeochemical data from regionally persistent Archean shale units were aggregated from literature, with special reference to the Kaapvaal Craton of South Africa�namely, shales from the Barberton, Witwatersrand, Pongola, and Transvaal Supergroups�and the Belingwe and Buhwa Greenstone Belts of the Zimbabwe Craton. We examine the feasibility of using machine-learning algorithms to produce a geochemical classification and demonstrate that machine learning is capable of accurately correlating stratigraphy at the formation, group, and supergroup levels. We demonstrate the ability to extract highly useful scientific findings through a data-driven approach, such as geological implications for the uniqueness of the sediment compositions of the Central Rand and West Rand Groups. We further demonstrate that when lithogeochemistry and machine-learning algorithms are used, only about 50 samples per geological unit are necessary to reach accuracy levels of around 80�90 for our shale samples. Consequently, for many traditional tasks, such as rock identification and mapping, some expensive analyses and manual labor can be replaced by an abundance of cheaper data and machine learning. This approach could transform large-scale geological surveys by enabling more detailed mapping than currently possible, by vastly increasing the coverage rate and total coverage. In addition, the aggregation of historical data facilitates data reuse and open science. These results justify the need to bridge data-and hypothesis-driven techniques for the stratigraphic correlation and prediction of rock units, which can improve the accuracy of the inferred stratigraphic correlation and basin setting. © 2022 The University of Chicago. All rights reserved

Palaeoproterozoic to Palaeozoic magmatic and metamorphic events in the Shackleton Range, East Antarctica: Constraints from zircon and monazite dating, and implications for the amalgamation of Gondwana

A comprehensive set of new geochronological data from different parts of the Shackleton Range in East Antarctica, comprising U–Pb single zircon and Th–U–Pb single and multi-grain monazite data, combined with published results, reveal a complex tectono-thermal history of the Shackleton Range. Three distinct, spatially separated terranes or units with different magmatic and metamorphic history are now recognised: (i) the Southern Terrane (Unit I) contains detrital components as old as 2850 Ma, experienced magmatism between 1850Ma and 1810Ma and underwent amedium- to high-grade metamorphic event at 1710–1680Ma and, locally, again at 510 Ma; (ii) the Eastern Terrane (Unit II) occurs in the easternmost part of the Shackleton Range and contains c. 1060Ma old Grenvillian granitoids, which experienced metamorphism at c. 600 Ma; and (iii) the Northern Terrane (Unit III) is characterised by 530Ma old granites and diorites, which are hosted within paragneisses as well as mafic and ultramafic rocks. All rocks of Unit III experienced upper amphibolite- to granulite-facies and, locally, eclogite-facies metamorphism at 510–500 Ma. The geologic features of Palaeoproterozoic tectonism in the Southern Terrane are very similar to those of the Australo-AntarcticMawson Continent. Thismay indicate that theMawson Continent extends across the East Antarctic Shield into the Shackleton Range. The 1060Ma and 600Ma events in the Eastern Terrane have not been documented for any part of the Shackleton Range before and are correlated with Grenvillian and Pan-African tectonism in Dronning Maud Land. By implication, this suggests that the Pan- African Mozambique/Maud Belt continues into the Shackleton Range. The associated suture is located in the easternmost Shackleton Range and is related to the amalgamation of the Indo-Antarctic plate with West Gondwana. This was followed by further collision of the combined Indo-Antarctic/West Gondwanan block with East Gondwana at approximately 510Ma in theNorthern Terrane. A suture related to this latter collision can be traced in the Northern Shackleton Range and may continue northwards to the Sør Rondane Mountains and the Lützow Holm Bay area. Our data support the model that East Antarctica finally assembled during the Pan-African orogeny, rather than during earlier Mesoproterozoic events