Lithostructural description and metalogeny of Alagbede gold deposit, West Central Nigeria

Abstract

Alagbede gold deposit located about 25km northwest of Malete in Moro Local Government Area of Kwara State, West Central Nigeria consists of gold-bearing quartz veins as stringers set in metasediments (quartzites and talc schist) overlying the migmatite gneiss basement. It is a southern extension of the northwestern end of Yauri goldfield, resulting from the development of the intercontinental Anka-Yauri-Iseyin (AYI) transcurrent fault during the Pan-African. Evidence of granitization abounds within the gneisses of the area. Structural features mapped in the area include folds, faults and joints. Discordant and concordant shear planes are partly healed with vein quartz ranging from 2-8m depth. The ongoing study indicates the preponderance of a reducing environment of sulphide association with fine-grained gold in vein quartz and schitose rocks. The general NNE to SSW trends suggest a temporal and spatial correlation with other Nigeria goldfields.

Keywords: Gold, Deposit, Metasediments, Transcurrent, Fault, Sulfide.