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Precambrian Auriferous Quartz-Pebble Conglomerates
Precambrian Auriferous Quartz-Pebble Conglomerates
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IN
PRECAMBRIAN AURIFEROUS QUARTZ-PEBBLE CONGLOMERATES
BRAZIL
WILSON SCARPELLI
INTRODUCTION
( JACOBINA ,)
261
MIDDLE PRQTEROZOIC
1 JACOBINA CROUP
++(::( GNEISS - GREENSTONE
Fig. 2. Regional geology of Jacobina. The gneiss-greenstone terrane that contains the Jacobina Group
is partially ovedain at West by Proterozsic sediments. At East it is in contact with a granulitic terrane.
At South and North, the Jacobina Group is folded due to strong compression fiom the Southeast; at
. center it presents a homoclinal dip to East.
JACOBINA, 18
volcanics. Both the compression and the volcanism are attributable to the wanning stages of
development of the gneiss-greenstone environment.
%P,"D CONGLOMERATE
: MAFlC DlKES
Fig. 3. Stratigraphic column of the Jacobina Group. Auriferous conglomerates are restricted to the
Serra do C6rrego Formation, at the base of the column. Maficvolcanics appear in the Cruz das Almas
Formation.
At the base of the group, the Serra do q r r e g o Formation, with 260 to 850 meters of
thickness, is made of upwards fining cycles of deposition, with conglomerates passing u@ to
quartzites.Remarkably, there is onlyonenarrow layer of shale. The quartzites and the
conglomerates are very clean and mature, both composed mostly of quartz,with minor heavy
minerals in the conglomerates and occasional sericite in the quartzites. They were deposited
on a braidedstream system, which flowed from theEast to the West,into the rift.
Overlying the Serra do Cbrrego, the Rio
do Ouro Formation, with 2,000 meters of
thickqess, is composed by marine clean quartzites,with about 60 meters of metapelites at the
top. Ripple marksnear the base indicate a transport direction from West, to East.
Above it, the C k z das Almas Formation has more than 800 meters of thickness, and
starts with a basal immature layer of conglomerate, with boulder-size pebbles of the Rio do
OuroFormation.With less than 200 meters of thickness,theformation grades, from
conglomerates to quartzite, to metasiltite, and to manganese and iron rich metapelites. Its
upper section is marked by the presence of mafic volcanic flows, and units of cherty iron
formations.
The group suffered strong compression from the East-Southeast, and was fractured,
faulted and pushed tothe West, assuming at Jacobina a homoclinal position, withdips of 55"
(Serra do C6rrego Formation) to 85" (Cruz das Almas Formation) to East. Mafic dikes filled
the deeper planes of faulting and probably represent the feeder of the mafic flows that occur
in the upperpart of the Cruz das Almas Formation.
about the middle of this length, and corresponds to the center of stream deposition in the rift
@ig the sedimentary pilewas being accumulated, the alluvial fan gradually expanded
toti and to the South, with the conglomerates becorning more lenticular, tongue-like
shaped, and spreaded over the fan belt.
FOR MAT16 N
Fig. 4. Stratigraphic column of the Serra do C6rrego Formation at Sacobina. The. approximate position
of the main auriferous esnglomerates, presently being mined, is shown. The majority of the lenses of
conglomerates are barren of gsld or of low grade.
CANAVIEIRAS
Fig. 5. Two views of the auriferous area of Itapicuru. At right a geological map of the Jacobina Group,
and at left a map of the Serra do Cdrrego Formation. The units are heavily displacedby faults, with
mafic dikes occupying fault planes. Itapicuru is sited at about the middleof the 35 km long Serra de
C6rrego Formation, and is the area where mineralization is stronger. It is also the only point where
there is mineralization at the baseof the group.
do COnt3@
ers, which split it into a lowerF,an intemediate
and a upper unit. There are economical conglomerates in the %owermd in the intemediate
units, but none in the upper. The naineralized conglomerates of this zone are tongue-l&e
shaped, and eonfoms to braided stream valleys atsp the alluvial fan.
The lswer unit presen the important Joao Belo deposit,actudlly constituted of ehnree
distinct and superposed mineralized conglomerate layers,with a mineable grade of 2,8 g/t Au
over a eombined thicknessof 6 to 10 meters, and a strike length of 700 meters. The Joao Belo
Jeposit is being mined open-cast and underground.
Other deposits in this unit are the Mono do Vento (Fig. 7) and C u - C u reefs, with 1
meters of thickness and grades of 4 to 6 g/t Au, and the GS/SCO Pig. 8)$ where the
upper 6.5 meter of a thick conglomerate presenb local enrichments, due to winnowing of
sand and trapping of gold.
266
Gisements alluviaux d'or, La Paz, 1-5 juin 1991
W E
\ UPPER
\ CONGLOMERATIC
INTERMEDIATE
QUARZll
\
\ .,&y.\;-;
..v
SCHIST
a GNEISS
Fig. 7.Geological cross-section of the Moro deVento hill, East of Itapicuru. The locationof the Basal
Reef, the Main Reef Zone, and of the Morro do Vento Reef in the Upper Conglomeratic Zone are
shown. These layers have their maximum extension on the dip, as they were deposited by Stream
currents which flowed from the East (right) to the West (left).
HlGH G R A D E Z
0 HIGH-GRADE CONGLOMERATE
9''Auin a LOW GRADE CONGLOMERATE
QUARTZITE
JACOBIA G.5 R E E F
Fig. 8. Partial longitudinal section of the G:S/SCO conglomerate layer, on the Upper Conglomeratic
Zone. Channel samples and assay results in g/t Au show strong top concentration of gold, by fluvial
reworking, below a quartzite layer with marked through cross-bedding.
267
Gisements alluviaux d'or, La Paz, 1-5juin 1 9 9 1
The Caraça Group, at the baseof the Proterozoic, is made by a sequence of quartzites
(the Moeda Formation) at base, capped by metapelites (the Batatal Formation), below the
itabirites which make the Cauê Formation. In several places there are layers
of conglomerates
at and near the base of the Moeda Formation. Most often, the conglomeratesoccur in pale02
valleys, and appear as superposed conglomerate-quartzite fining upwards cycles. They were
obviously deposited by fluvial systems dischargingon the rifts.
The conglomerates rnay reach thicknesses of a few meters, are mostly madeof round
quartz-pebbles, ofsmalltomediumsizes,rarelybouldery,with a sandy matrix and some
sericite. Pyrite is comrnon, as round nodules or euhedral grains. Usually pebble supported,
they may gradeinto pyritic pebbly or gritty quartzifes.
Thebetter goldconcentration known occurs in theGandarelaSyncline,which is
located in the middle of the greenstone area, and appears with an intimate association of
uranium and gold. The better grades are usually restrictedto the very zone of contact with the
footwall greenstone, as, in most of 20 centimeters of sediments, be it mature or immature
10). In some areas, gold accumulations are not restricted
conglomerate, or even quartzite (Fig.
to paleo-Valley bottoms and are seen on paleo-slopes, at the very surface of contact between
footwall schists and hanging-Wall quartzites or conglomerates (Fig.11).
SAND
- 100 rn
GOLD DISTRIBUTION
Fig. 10. Deposition of conglomerates and sandy layers on paleo-valleys on the Gandarela Syncline.
Conglomerates at the bottom of the valleys might be polymitic. Gold concentrationsare represented
by inflections to the right of the vertical lines. .Gold values are restricted mostly to the basal contact,
rarely appearing in the overlying conglomerate-quartzite cycles.
RESIDUAL ( 3 0 L D . BARREN
PALEO-PAVEMENT
QUARTZITE
ON
AURIFEROUS
R A l NW A S H
QREENSTONE
S C H 1ST3
2m
I I
Fig. 11. At the Gandarela Syncline, residual gold on the paleo-pavement, some of which preserved
under barren quartzites. Rainwash caused short auriferous gritty layers entering the Valley.
269
a CVNGLOMERBTE, + 1 g / t A u
~ C L E A NQUARTZITE 200 m
SERICITE Q U A R T Z l l E t.
Fig. 12. Composecl longitudinal seetion of the auriferous andomerates of @si&Velho. Drill holes
.
The Iayers with t1 glt have less thm 300 meters of width and one meter of
thichess. 270
Gisements alluviaux d'or, La Paz, 1-5juin 1991
1 0 0 rn
I I
M A F I C D1lKE
OUARTZITE
CONGLOMERATE UNIT
CHLORITE - BIOTITE SCHIST
T A L CS 2 H I S T
CH D R I L L HOLE C O L L A R
3.'.2/4= GOLC C O N T E N T IN P P M / C E N T I M E T E R S
Fig. 13. Map, at left, and cross section, at right, of Goids Velho. The mineralized conglomerates are
quitescarce. A diabasedikepresentsgoldfollowingasilicifiedfracture.Thestructure is of an
overturned syncline, and the greenstone rocks are s h o w at right.
In the conglomerates, there are dark carbonaceous clasts enriched in pyrite, gold and
uranium, and there are suggestions that they represent concentrations
of organisms. Unbroken
material-of similar nature,formingcentimeter-sizewellpreservedorganic-like structures
were seen in the quartzites.
SUMMARY
'Ibis text incorporates data collected by several geologists that worked during the
yearsin behdf of UnigeoGeologia e ineragao and Sacobina inerapo e ComGrcio,
amd Geiis Velho. Specid a are presented to
olinari, regarding Jacobina, uerque and %os6
, and Vitbrio Takai, re conglomerates.
dgments are also presented to Joao Pereira, who carefully pregared the illustrations
BALDINI v., V., 1978. Prospeesao de Ouro em Sacobina. Congr. Soc. Bras.
Geolog ife,
BARBOSA C.C., HBRSCRBFT F.D., ELB E.F., 1991. Minerdizagxs aurifera em
conglomerados de seixss de quartzo ern Jacobina. Jac. Min. Corn. int. rept., 28 p.
J.D., 1958. Uranium-bearing auriferous reefs at Sacobina, Brazil. Ec. Geol., V. 53:
417425.
Co%D.P., 1967. Regional environment of the Jacobina auriferous conglomerate. Ec. Geol., V.
62: 773-780.
LEOG.W., Cox D.P., CARVALHO
J.P.P., 1964. Geologia da parte su1 da serra de Jacobina.
. do D.N.P.M. Brasil, vol. 209.
NIER W.E.L.? 1975. Sedimentol al aspects of lthe Serra do Cdrrego Fm. with reference
to the maln unit at Cuzcuz a orro do Vents near Jacobina. Unigeo int. rept.
MNTERW.E.L., RENGER FE., SmEGERs A., 1990. Early Proterozoie gold placers of the
Formation within the Gandarela Syncline. Ec. Geol., V. 85: 943-951.
"ILINARI L., 1982. Mineralizagoes auriferas ern Jacobina. I Simp6sio do Ouro, Salvador,
Bahia.
M O L I N L.,
~ I GAMAH.B., S C H ~ M I . P1986.
., Estrati rafia do Grupo Jacobina, Min. Morro
Velho int. regt.
I L., SCARPELLI W., 1988. Depositos de ouro de Jacobina. In Principais Dep6sitos
Minerais do Brasil, D.N.P.M., V. 3: 463-478.
272
Gisements alluviaux d'or, La Paz, 1-5 juin 1991
OW W.G., 1975. A preliminary sedimentological study of the Serra do C6rrego Fm. Unigeo
int. rept.
W.,1978-1982. Relat6rios Finaisde Pesquisa ao D.N.P.M., Unigeo.
SCARPELLI
W.,1988. Gold mineralization in Moedaconglomerates. Unigeo int. reports.
SCARPELLI
SIMSJ.F.M., 1976. The geology of the auriferous Jacobina Series in the vicinity of Jacobina,
Simpdsio de Depdsitos de Ouro, Ouro Preto.
WHITEM.G., 1957. Uranium in the auriferous conglomerates at the Canavieiras Gold Mine,
Eng.Min. e Metal., vol.26, no 155: 279-282.
273