Title:
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The geology and geochemistry of tin and beryllium mineralisation in South West Ankole, Uganda
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A study has been made of tin and beryllium mineralisation in South-West
Ankole, including beryl-bearing granite pegmatites, quartz-mica cassiteritebearing
veins and hydrothermal quartz cassiterite-bearing veins. The
mineralisation belongs to one of several tectono-metallogenic provinces
which occur along the Kibaran orogenic belt, and the mineral deposits of
s.w. Ankole are situated at the northern end of this belt. The mineral
deposits are shown to occur in the exo- andendo~ontact zones of updomed
,pre- syn- and late-tectonic 'arena' granites which were emplaced during
the Kibaran orogeny, and the mineralisation which post-dates emplacement
of the granitic rocks, is shown to exhibit marked regional zoning with
respect to the granite boundaries.
The nature, mode of occurrence, time of formation and relationship of
the mineral deposits to each other and to the granitic and metasedimentary
rocks of S.W. Ankole are described and the granite pegmatites in particular
are classified and placed into a conventional classification scheme.
The results of a geochemical study of the mineralisation are presented
and show the distribution of tin and beryllium in all the Jnain rock types of
S.Y. Ankole. The geological and geochcmical data are applied to prove that
that mineral deposits are epigenetic in origin and Were formed as a result
of post-tectonic magmatic and hydrothermal processes which operated at the
end of the Kibaran orogeny. Details of the mode of occurrence, and
distribution of tin in tin-bearing rocks and minerals are presented and
hypotheses are advanced to explain the mechanisms of transport and
concentration of tin and beryllium during formation of the mineral deposits.
It 1s established that the tin and beryllium were probably derived from pre-existing granitic rocks containing average crustal abundances or
these elements, and that concentration occurred as a result of the magmatic
and hydrothermal processes that operated at the end of the Kibaran Orogeny.
Transport of tin is suggested to have been in the forln of alkali-hydroxyfluo-
stannate complexes.
Data on the alkali, fluorine and tin content of Inuscovites from all
the mineral deposits are presented, and it is shown that muscovites from
the hydrothermal quartz-cassitcrite-bearing veins can be distinguished from
those from the other mineral deposit types on their alkali and tin contents
and the use of muscovite as a prospecting indicator in searching for new
hydrothermal tin deposits (in S.W. Ankole) is advocated.
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