©2020 Society of Economic Geologists, Inc.

SEG Special Publications, no. 23, pp. 185–201

Chapter 9

Orogenic Gold Deposits of the Kibali District, Neoarchean Moto Belt,

Northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo
Andrew Allibone,1,† Carlos Vargas,1 Etienne Mwandale,1 Justus Kwibisa,1 Richard Jongens,2 Sarah Quick,1
Nathan Komarnisky,1 Mark Fanning,3 Philip Bird,4 Doug MacKenzie,5 Rose Turnbull,6 and Joel Holliday1
1 Randgold Resources Ltd., Halkett Street, St. Helier, Jersey, Channel Islands JE2 4WJ
2 Anatoki Geoscience Ltd., New Zealand
3 Research School of Earth Sciences, Australian National University, Canberra ACT 0200, Australia
4 Department of Geography and Geology, Kingston University, Penrhyn Road, Kingston upon Thames, London, UK KT1 2EE
5 Department of Geology, University of Otago, P.O. Box 56, Dunedin 9054, New Zealand
6 GNS Science, Private Bag 1930, Dunedin 9054, New Zealand

Abstract
The Kibali district in the Democratic Republic of Congo hosts the large Karagba-Chaffeur-Durba (KCD)
deposit and smaller satellite deposits that together contained 20 million ounces (Moz) of gold when mining
recommenced in 2013. An additional 3 Moz of gold was probably mined from the district before 2013.
Gold deposits in the Kibali district are located along the KZ trend, a series of folds, contractional shear zones,
and altered lithostratigraphic units that coincide with the margin of an earlier 2630 to 2625 Ma intraorogenic
basin within the Neoarchean Moto belt. Fluids first responsible for barren carbonate-quartz-sericite alteration,
and later for siderite and/or ankerite (±quartz, magnetite, pyrite, and/or chlorite) alteration with associated
auriferous pyrite ± rare arsenopyrite veinlets, infiltrated and replaced the siliciclastic, banded iron formation
(BIF), and chert host rocks via fold axes, shear zones, and reactive BIF horizons. The complex shape and gentle
northeast plunge of the lodes across the Kibali district reflect the shape and plunge of coincident folds that
formed during early barren alteration. Many other folded BIF horizons across the wider Moto belt remain bar-
ren or only weakly mineralized, suggesting deep extensional structures that may have developed in the vicinity
of the KZ trend during basin opening and prior to gold mineralization, were important fluid pathways during
later contractional deformation and mineralization.

Introduction deposits, including Pakaka, Mengu Hill, Kalimva, Ikamva,

The Kibali district in the northeastern Democratic Republic
of Congo (DRC) hosts one of the largest gold deposits dis-
covered in Africa to date and numerous smaller deposits.
The original size of the gold resource in the Kibali district is
unclear because only limited records of mining undertaken
during much of the 20th century exist. However, the various
deposits in the Kibali district currently contain a combined
resource of 17 million ounces (Moz) (December 2018, Rand-
gold Resources Annual Report, 2018), with an additional
3 Moz extracted since mining recommenced in 2013. Rand-
gold estimates that an additional 3 Moz was mined from the
Kibali district between 1906 and 2013, implying the original
resource exceeded 23 Moz. Exploration is ongoing and the
full potential of the district remains undefined with miner-
alized rocks intersected >1,000 m below the surface in the
deepest holes drilled to date.
Gold deposits of the Kibali district are hosted by supra-
crustal rocks of the Moto belt, one of several belts of Archean
supracrustal rocks within the northeastern part of the Congo
craton (Fig. 1; BRGM, 1976). Approximately 85 to 90% of
the current resource in the Kibali district is located within
the large Karagba-Chaffeur-Durba (KCD) deposit, whereas
the remaining 10 to 15% is located within smaller satellite
†Corresponding author: e-mail, Rodinian@msn.com
doi: 10.5382/SP.23.09; 17 p.
Digital appendices are on the USB drive attached to the inside back cover
and are also available online.
and Aindi Watsa (Fig. 2). These deposits, and several other
prospects, are located along the N- to WNW-trending KZ
trend, which extends for 60 km across the central part of the
Moto belt. The KZ trend is a complex structure within which
different segments are dominated by either folds and/or shear
zones. Some segments are parallel to the structural grain of
the adjacent rocks, whereas others, such as the area around
the KCD deposit, appear to cut across the structural grain of
the surrounding rocks at a highly oblique angle. Additional
gold prospects are present in both the eastern and western
parts of the Moto belt, indicating that the KZ trend is not
the only regional-scale mineralized structure within the belt,
although it is the most highly endowed structure discovered
to date.
Since 2011, in-depth geologic and geochronologic investi-
gations have been undertaken on a variety of scales within the
KCD deposit, along the KZ trend, and throughout the Moto
belt to define more clearly the internal structure, hydrother-
mal character, and geologic context of gold deposits in the
Kibali district (Lawrence, 2011; Bird, 2016; Jongens et al.,
2016; Allibone and Vargas, 2017a). Key outcomes of this work
are summarized herein and the supplementary Figures A1
and A2.
All new geochronology referred to here was undertaken
using the U-Pb zircon sensitive high resolution ion microprobe
185
186 ALLIBONE ET AL.

A Central African
Republic Kibali
South
North
5°N

Phanerozoic
B Sudan

rocks
Neoproterozoic rocks Uganda
Mesoproterozoic rocks
International
Paleoproterozoic rocks borders
0°
Undifferentiated Meso- Kenya
archean, Neoarchean Lakes
and Proterozoic rocks Democratic
Republic of Rwanda M
Probable Archean Congo G
granitoid gneisses B
Burundi N
Neoarchean granitoids
GP
Neoarchean volcanic Early 5°S
and sedimentary rocks Tanzania Paleozoic
Mesoarchean gneisses, supracrustal rocks, orogenic
and basement, some belt that
25°E

Neoarchean granitoids includes

B
reworked
Archean
material
30°E

4°S West Nile Gneiss

10°S

Fig. 2
Isiro
3°S Belt Kibali
Scale: 500 km
35°E
Moto
Tele Belt
North Belt Ngayu Major gold deposits
2°S Belt B = Bulyanhulu
G = Geita
Kilo GP = Golden Pride
Belt M = North Mara
Scale: 250 km N = Nyakafuru
1°S Mambasa
Belt
40°E
30°E
28°E
26°E

Fig. 1. A. Geologic map of central and eastern equatorial Africa showing the distribution of Archean and Proterozoic rocks
in the Congo craton, and the location of major Neoarchean gold deposits, compiled from maps in BRGM (1976), Kabete et
al. (2012b), Nyachenko and Hagemann (2014), and Westerhoff et al. (2014). Cenozoic sedimentary and volcanic cover has
been omitted to emphasize the Precambrian geology. The Kibali district is located in the northeastern part of the Democratic
Republic of Congo. B. Summary geologic map of the northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo, showing the distribution
of Archean plutonic and volcano-sedimentary rocks, the location of the Kibali mining district, and the area covered in more
detail in Figure 2.

(SHRIMP) technique at the Australian National University,
Canberra. Information on the location, petrographic charac-
ter, and whole-rock chemistry of the dated samples discussed
in this paper are presented in the supplementary electronic
file Table S1. Details of the dating method and the data col-
lected are presented in the supplementary electronic file
Table S2. All supplementary files are available at www.eco-
nomicgeology.org.
Exploration and Mining History
Records of artisanal alluvial gold mining in the Kibali district
date back to 1903 when the area was visited by two Austra-
lian prospectors, although gold was most likely discovered
in the area long before the arrival of foreigners. Commercial
extraction of gold from both alluvial and hard-rock sources
commenced in 1906 (Woodtli, 1954). In 1926, the Belgian
government founded the Société des Mines d’Or de Kilo-
Moto (SOKIMO) to manage gold mining activity in both the
Kilo and Moto belts in the northeastern DRC. Mining activ-
ity in the Kibali district was particularly intense during the
1950s when both open-pit and underground workings were
developed around the KCD deposit and other sites along
the KZ trend. SOKIMO also undertook regional exploration
programs that identified other hard-rock gold occurrences
elsewhere in the Moto belt. Commercial mining activities
declined rapidly after the DRC independence in 1960, but
artisanal mining activity continued. In 1966, SOKIMO was
restructured and became the Offices des Mines d’Or de Kilo-
Moto (OKIMO), which continued to oversee minor workings
in the Kibali district for the next 40 years.
 740000E 750000E 760000E 770000E 780000E 790000E 800000E 810000E 820000E 830000E
RG00531, 2631 ± 7 ?
Major shear zone

North ?
Ikamva Intrusive or
Bird (2016) sheared

360000N
Ganga 2636 ± 9 contact ?

V
Kalimvax x
RG00069
<2639 ± 8

V
x
RG00463 KZ Trend
2622 ± 9

V
RG00180 RG00122
Mengu 2632 ± 6 RG00118 2638 ± 6
V
2639 ± 6 Belengo
V
x Pakaka x RG00127 x

350000N
RG00060 x 2638 ± 7
2626 ± 5

V
Giro KCD
x RG00188 V
RG00053 x
x 2630 ± 4 ? V
<2646 ± 5 x ? V
x RG00056 ?
2622 ± 7 RG00254
Gau 2633 ± 9
RG00044 x
2625 ± 8 Aindi ?

340000N
Watsa

x Zambula
RG00017
2620 ± 4 KZ Trend
RG00592
x x 2615 ± 4
RG00098 ?
RG00103 x 2614 ± 6
Fe, Zr, Y, Nb-rich sanukitoid

330000N
2616 ± 7
granitoids < ca. 2600 Ma old
Gold mineralization, further contractional deformation ca. 2620-2600 Ma
Andiu-
Manganzi RG00094 Plutonic rocks ca. 2625-2610 Ma
2636 ± 10
Zembe x Altered igneous rocks Calc-alkaline granitoids
east of the KZ Trend
Ultramafic plutonic Granitoid rocks - undated
rocks, age ? ca. 2625-2610 Ma old ?

320000N
Contraction, metamorphism, basin inversion, folding
RG00304
x
RG00285 Volcanic, sedimentary, and granitoid porphyry intrusive rocks, ca. 2629-2626 Ma
x 2593 ± 20 2584 ± 9
Scale 10 km Tonalite-granodiorite porphyries
OROGENIC Au DEPOSITS, KIBALI DISTRICT, NE DRC

SHRIMP U-Pb zircon

2645 ± 5 x maximum eruptive or Dominantly basalt or dacitic Conglomerate, gritstone,
depositional age volcaniclastic rocks respectively sandstone, siltstone, chert, BIF
Fold hinges- + 20ppb soil
Extension, basin development

310000N
mineralized Au along the 2636 ± 10 x SHRIMP U-Pb zircon
southern KZ Trend emplacement ages Plutonic rocks ca. 2645-2630 Ma old
Fold hinges- Amphibolite facies quartz-
unmineralized ACSA-alteration Undated granitoids,
along the KZ Trend muscovite ± pyrite schist ca. 2630-2645 Ma old ? Calc-alkaline granitoids
Unmineralized faults along West Nile contact
Volcano-sedimentary rocks older than ca. 2638 Ma old
Bedding Zone of pyritic
form lines mineralization Variably foliated basalt, dacitic Psammitic, pelitic, amphibolitic,
Mineralized shears Conductive, volcaniclastic rocks, siltstones, and calc-silicate, greenschist
without ACSA carbonaceous ? rocks ?
carbonaceous argillites, and BIFs and amphibolite facies schists

Fig. 2. Summary geologic map of the Moto (Kibali greenstone) belt, showing major geologic domains, crosscutting granitoid plutons, and the general structural architec-
ture. Gold deposits of the Kibali district are located on the 60-km-long mineralized KZ trend, a zone of complex faulting and folding, which cuts across the central part
of the Moto belt. The KZ trend also coincides with changes in the age and metamorphic character of the rocks on either side. Additional gold prospects are located in
the eastern and western parts of the Moto belt. The northeastern margin of the belt is remote and poorly exposed, and its extent remains unclear. Geochronologic data
are from Turnbull et al. (2017) and this paper.
187
188 ALLIBONE ET AL.
Barrick Gold Corporation acquired exploration rights
over the Kilo and Moto belts in 1996 in a joint venture with
OKIMO. Barrick identified an extensive zone of elevated
regolith gold values in the vicinity of the KCD deposit and,
in 1998, entered a joint venture with Anglo American Cor-
poration to explore the district. The Barrick-Anglo American
joint venture drilled the KCD and Pakaka deposits in the
Kibali district, and their results indicated a 2+-Moz resource
for the area. The joint venture also commissioned an aero-
magnetic survey over much of the Moto belt that was under-
taken by World Geoscience Ltd. at a 200-m line spacing. This
survey continues to aid exploration activity in the Moto belt
20 years after its completion. Barrick and Anglo American
withdrew from the area in late 1998 following the outbreak
of the second Congo war, formally returning the concession
to OKIMO in 2000. In late 1998, Ugandan troops operating
in support of the rebel group Rassemblement Congolais pour
la Democratie occupied the Kibali district, taking control of
mines in the area.
Ugandan troops withdrew in 2002, allowing Moto Gold-
mines to undertake further exploration in the Kibali district
between 2004 and 2009. This work confirmed the large
potential of the district, and Moto Goldmines completed a
prefeasibility study in 2006, a feasibility study in 2007, and
an optimized feasibility study in March 2009. Randgold
Resources Ltd. and AngloGold Ashanti Ltd. subsequently
acquired Moto Goldmines in October 2009. Randgold
Resources Ltd. and AngloGold Ashanti Ltd. each currently
own 45% of Kibali Goldmines, whereas the remaining 10% is
held by OKIMO. Exploration of the Kibali district, other parts
of the KZ trend, and the wider Moto belt has been ongoing
since the acquisition of Moto Goldmines by the joint venture.
Mining commenced at the KCD deposit in 2012, with the first
gold pour in the 3rd quarter of 2013.
Regional Geologic Setting
Archean rocks, which form the northeastern part of the Congo
craton, extend eastward from the northern part of the DRC
across the Cenozoic East African rift into Uganda, southern
Kenya, and northern Tanzania (e.g., Link et al., 2010), where
they host major gold deposits at Geita, Bulyanhulu, and North
Mara (Fig. 1). Many of the Archean rocks, and some of the
gold deposits, in the Ugandan (Nyachenko and Hagemann,
2014; Westerhoff et al., 2014) and Tanzanian (e.g., Manya et
al., 2006; Chamberlain, 2007; Kabete et al., 2012a, b, 2013;
Sanislav et al., 2014, 2015, 2017) parts of the craton have been
described in detail, whereas only brief descriptions of Archean
rocks and gold deposits in the Congolese part of the craton are
currently available (e.g., Woodtli, 1961; Cahen and Snelling,
1966; Lavreau, 1973, 1984; Cahen et al., 1984). Published
radiometric dates for rocks from the northeastern DRC are
restricted to eight Rb-Sr ages, many with 100 to 200 m.y. or
more of uncertainty (Cahen et al., 1984; Poidevin, 1985) and
two U-Pb zircon ages (Mantarri et al., 2013; deWit and Liol,
2015) from the composite Archean-Neoproterozoic West Nile
Gneiss northeast of the Moto belt and Kibali (Figs. 1, 2).
Archean rocks crop out across approximately 250,000 km2
of the northeastern DRC (Fig. 1). Plutonic rocks underlie
80 to 90% of this area, whereas volcanosedimentary rocks,
mostly metamorphosed under greenschist facies conditions,
form isolated belts and blocks that underlie the remaining 10
to 20% (BRGM, 1976). Regional reconnaissance mapping,
lithogeochemistry, and geochronology undertaken by Rand-
gold as far west as 27.3° W define three chemically distinct
suites of Neoarchean granitoids across the northeastern part
of the DRC: (1) Ca- and Na-rich tonalites, trondhjemites, and
granodiorites with high Sr/Y ratios; (2) less sodic, more potas-
sic granodiorites and granites with low Sr/Y ratios; and (3) Fe-,
Zr-, Y-, and Nb-rich quartz monzodiorites, tonalites, granodi-
orites, and granites with both low and high Sr/Y ratios (Turn-
bull et al., 2017). The first two of these granitoid suites are
similar to the high and low Ca granitoids from many Neoar-
chean terranes (e.g., Champion and Sheraton, 1997), whereas
the third suite shares some characteristics in common with
both the high field strength element (HFSE)-rich and mafic
granitoids of the eastern Yilgarn craton, and so-called sanukit-
oids from several other Neoarchean terranes (e.g., Czarnota
et al., 2010). Gabbros and diorites also occur widely among
the Neoarchean plutonic rocks of the northeastern DRC, with
particularly Fe-rich tholeiitic gabbro-diorites having chemis-
tries similar to the aforementioned Fe- and HFSE-enriched
granitoids. Reconnaissance SHRIMP U-Pb zircon dating
indicates that a switch from high and low Ca plutonism to Fe-
and HFSE-rich plutonism occurred at ca. 2600 Ma through-
out the northeastern DRC (Turnbull et al., 2017).
The area north of the Moto belt is underlain by the West
Nile Gneiss, a composite granitoid unit that extends north-
ward into South Sudan. North of the Moto belt, the West
Nile Gneiss includes Neoarchean granodiorite orthogneiss
emplaced at 2622 ±7 Ma (Turnbull et al., 2017) and a Meso-
proterozoic syenogranite pluton that is >8 km2 in area which
was emplaced at ca. 985 ± 3 Ma (Bird, 2016; Allibone and
Vargas, 2017b). The Neoarchean granodiorite was partially
melted under upper amphibolite facies conditions at ca.
625 Ma (Turnbull et al., 2017), implying that Neoprotero-
zoic Rb-Sr ages obtained from the West Nile Gneiss reflect
this metamorphic event, rather than magmatism within the
unit (Poidevin, 1983; de Witt and Linol, 2015). A 100- to
200-m-wide major shear zone marks the contact between
the West Nile Gneiss and Moto belt north of the Kibali dis-
trict (Fig. 2). Granitoid protomylonite entrained within this
shear zone crystallized at 2631 ± 7 Ma and was affected by
radiogenic Pb loss at ca. 520 to 500 Ma (Allibone and Vargas,
2017b), indicating that the shear zone may have been active at
any time between the Neoarchean and early Paleozoic.
Geology of the Moto Belt
The Moto greenstone belt includes a wide variety of variably
deformed and metamorphosed basalts, dacitic volcanic and
volcaniclastic rocks, siliciclastic sedimentary rocks, banded
iron formation (BIF), and chert (Fig. 2). The KCD deposit,
and the associated mineralized KZ trend, are located in the
central part of the belt, with the KZ trend marking an import-
ant boundary between older and younger parts of the belt
with different provenances.
Geology of the Moto belt east of the KZ trend
The eastern part of the Moto belt, between the KZ trend and
Belengo (Fig. 2), comprises variably deformed basalt, dac-
itic volcaniclastic rocks, graywacke, siltstone, BIF, and minor
 OROGENIC Au DEPOSITS, KIBALI DISTRICT, NE DRC
carbonaceous argillite and chert. Although a penetrative folia-
tion is present in many of these rocks, even the most strongly
deformed still retain some primary volcanic or sedimentary
textures. East of Belengo, the belt comprises schistose rocks
in which all primary textures have been destroyed during
metamorphism and synchronous deformation. The bound-
ary between these two domains extends over a broad zone
hundreds of meters or more across, in which schistose and
less strongly deformed rocks that retain primary features are
interlayered with each other. No single fault or shear zone
defines this boundary, nor is it marked by a simple gradual
increase in strain from one side to the other.
Because the area between the KZ trend and Belengo (Fig.
2) is flat and deeply weathered, descriptions of the rocks are
largely based on drill holes immediately east of the KZ trend
and trenches in the vicinity of Belengo. East of Pakaka (Fig.
3), pillow basalts are interbedded with polymict dacitic vol-
caniclastic rocks that contain phenocrysts of plagioclase, bio-
tite and/or hornblende, but not quartz. East of Kalimva and
Mengu, finely laminated sandstones are interbedded with
subordinate BIF and minor carbonaceous argillite on 5- to
20-m scales. East of Aerodrome (Fig. 3), thick homogeneous
sandstones, which include numerous chloritic lithic grains
derived from a basaltic protolith, dominate the rock package
and are interbedded with subordinate basalt and BIF. A more
extensive BIF and interbedded chert unit more than 200 m
thick continues for 10 to 15 km east-southeast from Kan-
ga-Sud along the southern margin of this east-central domain
(Figs. 2, 3). Low- to mid- greenschist facies mineral assem-
blages, which include sericite, chlorite, actinolite-tremolite,
carbonate, epidote, titanite, pyrrhotite, and rutile, have partly
to largely replaced all primary minerals in rocks between the
KZ trend and Belengo.
Schistose rocks east of Belengo (Fig. 2) have been metamor-
phosed under upper-greenschist to low- to mid-amphibolite
facies conditions. Schist comprising quartz, albite, musco-
vite, chlorite, local biotite, and minor clinozoisite is the most
common lithology. The easternmost 5 km of the Moto belt
includes garnet-bearing amphibolite facies psammo-pelitic
schists, rare unfoliated epidote-hornblende-carbonate-mag-
netite-bearing calc-silicate rocks, metabasic amphibolites, and
relatively coarse-grained recrystallized BIF.
Tonalite plutons emplaced between ca. 2645 and 2630 Ma
cut the eastern part of the Moto belt and underlie the area to
the south (Fig. 2, Table S2, RG00094, RG00118, RG00127,
RG00254). Tonalite in the vicinity of the KZ trend at Kalimva,
emplaced at 2635 ± 9 Ma based upon an LA-ICP-MS U-Pb zir-
con date (Bird, 2016), is locally strongly deformed and altered,
indicating that displacement and hydrothermal activity in this
northern part of the KZ trend postdates emplacement of this
pluton (Fig. 4). In contrast, tonalite plutons in the eastern part
of the Moto belt, east of the KZ trend, are massive, unde-
formed, but locally affected by sericite (±carbonate) alter-
ation. Some layers of schistose quartzofeldspathic rock near
the eastern edge of the Moto belt retain remains of relatively
coarse plagioclase in which Carlsbad twins are preserved, sim-
ilar to plagioclase in many granitoid plutonic rocks, implying
that these schists were originally tonalite sills emplaced prior
to deformation and metamorphism. Uranium-Pb zircon dat-
ing of one such sill (RG00122, Table S2) indicates that it was
189
emplaced at 2638 ± 8 Ma (Fig. 2), providing evidence that
metamorphism and associated deformation along the eastern
margin of the Moto belt occurred after this time.
A lack of detrital zircons >5 µm across in examined samples
of volcanosedimentary rocks and schists from east of the KZ
trend has thwarted attempts to constrain the maximum depo-
sitional age of these rocks. This lack of coarser grained detrital
zircons implies that there were few if any granitoids in the ter-
rane(s) from which these rocks were derived. Their minimum
depositional age is, however, constrained to be >2639 ± 6 Ma,
the age of the oldest crosscutting tonalite pluton analyzed at
this stage (Figs. 2, 4).
Geology of the Moto belt west of the KZ trend
Much of the central and western Moto belt, west of the KZ
trend, is underlain by an extensive package of pebble con-
glomerates, gritstones, sandstones, siltstones, and interlayered
BIF horizons (Fig. 2). Carbonaceous argillite, graywacke, and
chert units together comprise <5% of this western package.
Most conglomerates are polymict and contain pebbles of
vein quartz, recrystallized white chert, sandstone, siltstone,
felsic volcanic rocks that include probable ignimbrite and
crystal-rich tuff, mafic volcanic rocks, and BIF in varying pro-
portions, although vein quartz and recrystallized chert are
generally the most common clasts. Graded bedding within
coarse lithic-rich sandstones, gritstones, and conglomerate
units provide critical information on stratigraphic young-
ing directions that constrain the position and shape of folds
(Figs. 3, 5). Some beds grade from fine pebble conglomerate
to siltstone with magnetite laminae at their stratigraphic top,
indicating that periods of chemical sedimentation under qui-
escent conditions were punctuated by influxes of siliciclastic
sediment. Some crystal-rich layers may be crystal tuffs, imply-
ing that episodes of siliceous volcanism periodically punctu-
ated deposition of the sedimentary rocks.
Numerous small detrital zircons (approx 20–50 µm in
diameter) are present in the conglomerates, gritstones, and
sandstones west of the KZ trend, unlike sedimentary rocks
and schists in the eastern Moto belt (Randgold Resources
Ltd., Arise Geoscience, unpub. data). The four samples of
dated sandstone contain a single major population of detri-
tal zircons with ages of 2643 ± 9 Ma (RG00027), 2639 ± 8
Ma (RG00069), 2628 ± 10 Ma (RG00028), and 2624 ± 5 Ma
(RG00024) (Figs. 2, 5, Tables S1, S2). There are rare zircons
as old as 2685 ± 5 Ma in sample RG00069 from Kalimva,
but no older Neoarchean nor Mesoarchean detrital zircons
were detected in any of the four sandstones that were ana-
lyzed. Hypabyssal plagioclase ± hornblende, biotite porphy-
ritic tonalite porphyry dikes, sills, and plugs that cut these
rocks were emplaced at 2630 ± 4 Ma (RG00188) south of
KCD, 2626 ± 12 Ma (RG00030) within KCD, and 2632 ± 6
Ma (RG00180) at Pakaka, indicating that the adjacent sedi-
mentary rocks were deposited in a short period between ca.
2630 and 2625 Ma (Fig. 4), within the range of the uncertain-
ties in the zircon ages. The ages of the detrital zircons in the
siliciclastic rocks are indistinguishable from the emplacement
ages of larger tonalite plutons in the eastern part of the Moto
belt and the area to the south, implying that the sedimentary
rocks west of the KZ trend were partly derived from plutonic
rocks immediately to the east and south. The KZ trend may
190 ALLIBONE ET AL.

788000E

790000E
786000E
Marakeke Ndala North
350000N

v
v Megi

North
v Pamao
v v 18v
Pakaka

v
348000N
Ndala

v7
1
Aerodrome Down-plunge
BIF unit caps KCD continuation
hydrothermal Agbarabo of fold zone
system, some that hosts
“leakage” of KCD below

40
v
fluid and gold unaltered,
Rhino
v

along base of barren cover

the BIF
Kombokolo

v
346000N
Possible transfer
fault above
Kanga Sud

v27v
thrust fault

v
3000 45
lodes
v

v
Klippe
20
Gorumbwa v v
v
Down-plunge continuation
30

A C of Memekazi below
unaltered, barren
Fold zone v cover ?
v
v

that hosts
v
v
v v
KCD
v

D
v v v v v
20

v KCD 30 B
344000N

2630±4 Ma
BIF caps
Memekazi-
Renzi
system ?
Sessenge
Renzi
Memekazi
(alteration unkown)

342000N Scale 1 km

Volcanic and sedimentary rocks 2625-2630 Ma old Volcanic and sedimentary rocks > ca. 2640 Ma old
Undifferentiated siltstone, sandstone, gritstone, and Undifferentiated basalt, dacitic volcaniclastics,
pebble conglomerate siltstones, and carbonaceous argillites
Banded iron formation Altered/meta-basaltic rocks, locally with pillow textures
Chert Graywackes, locally carbonaceous Dacitic volcaniclastic rocks and volcanic sandstones
Carbonaceous argillites Sandstones and siltstones, with basalt lithic fragments
Carbonaceous argillites
Sessenge Tonalite - 2630±4 Ma old
Banded iron formation

Variably altered igneous rocks

Zones of anomalous Zones of ACSA-
regolith gold values A & B alteration
Form lines parallel to foliation and fold axial planes
formed at the same time as ACSA-A alteration Stratigraphic
v younging direction
Locally mineralized carbonate-chlorite-altered shear zone that separates older and younger stratigraphic domains

Fig. 3. Summary geologic map of the central part of the KZ trend including the area around the large KCD deposit. Deposits
and prospects at Marakeke, Megi, Pamao, Pakaka, Aerodrome, and Kanga-Sud are localized along a major altered shear zone
that juxtaposes older rocks to the east over younger rocks to the west. The large KCD deposit includes ore shoots that crop out
at Sessenge. Smaller satellite deposits occur at Kombokolo, Rhino, and Agbarabo, and prospects at Memekazi and Renzi. All
are localized along several folded BIF horizons within the younger package of siliciclastic rocks deposited between ca. 2630
and 2625 Ma. Ore shoots at KCD are located within a zone of particularly tight folds that plunge gently toward the northeast
for at least 3 km, below the Kanga Sud and Aerodrome prospects.
 OROGENIC Au DEPOSITS, KIBALI DISTRICT, NE DRC 191

Fig. 4. Summary of the timing of major geologic events within the Moto belt, based on SHRIMP U-Pb zircon geochronology
available in early 2018. High Sr/Y tonalite plutonism in the eastern part of the belt, subsequent basin opening, volcanism, and
low Sr/Y diorite-granodiorite plutonism in the western part of the belt, basin inversion, and mineralization all occurred within
a ca. 20- to 40-m.y. time period between ca. 2640 and 2600 Ma. Uncertainties in the ages of crosscutting suites of intrusive
rocks, and populations of detrital zircons in sedimentary rocks commonly overlap, and so field relationships as well as geochro-
nology have been used to further constrain the duration of events such as basin opening in the western part of the Moto belt.

therefore have initiated as a district-scale extensional fault sys-
tem on the eastern margin of a basin that opened within the
Moto belt between ca. 2630 and 2625 Ma.
An extensive dacitic volcaniclastic unit occurs in the west-
ern part of the Moto belt (Fig. 2). It is not known if these
dacitic rocks are proximal pyroclastic deposits or volcaniclas-
tic rocks reworked in an epiclastic setting far removed from
their original volcanic source. Their stratigraphic relationship
to the adjacent sedimentary rocks also remains unclear. West-
ernmost parts of the Moto belt are underlain by poorly known
basaltic rocks that include additional BIF horizons. At Giro,
dacitic volcaniclastic rocks, basalt, and andesite are interbed-
ded with each other implying a gradational stratigraphic con-
tact between these units, although their relative ages remain
unclear. The dacitic volcaniclastic rocks at Giro contain rare
zircons that record a single age grouping at 2646 ± 5 Ma
(RG00053, Table S2). It is not known if these rare zircons
constrain the age of dacitic volcanism in the western part of
the Moto belt, or the age of older plutonic rocks that contrib-
uted small amounts of material to the volcaniclastic rocks at a
later time. Plutons, dikes, and sills of gabbro-diorite, diorite,
tonalite, and granodiorite that cut the volcanic and sedimen-
tary rocks in the western Moto belt were emplaced between
2628 ± 6 and 2620 ± 4 Ma (RG00017, RG00044, RG00056,
RG00060, RG00463; Fig. 2, Table S2), indicating that volca-
nic and sedimentary rocks in this part of the belt were depos-
ited between 2646 ± 5 and 2628 ± 6 Ma (Fig. 4).
Although bedding west of the KZ trend dips gently toward
the north-northeast throughout much of the northern part
of the belt, steeper near-vertical dips and marked changes in
strike occur widely in the central and southern parts of the
belt west of the KZ trend, implying the presence of 1- to
10-km scale, curved, reverse faults and/or folds in this area
(Fig. 2). The mineralized Andiu-Manganzi fault system in
the southwestern part of the belt is one possible example of
such a reverse fault. Complex local deformation within rocks
deposited between ca. 2630 and 2625 Ma in the vicinity of
the KZ trend is discussed below in the context of the ore
controls at the KCD deposit and various satellite deposits.
Tonalite porphyry dikes and sills emplaced between ca. 2629
and 2620 Ma (RG00030, RG00180, RG00188; Figs. 2, 5),
and smaller diorite and tonalite bodies in the western part of
the belt emplaced before 2622 ± 7 Ma (RG00017, RG00044,
RG00056, RG00060, RG00463; Fig. 2), were deformed
during this contractional deformation, indicating that this
deformation occurred after ca. 2630 Ma (Fig. 4).
Chlorite, locally transitional to biotite zone metamorphic
mineral assemblages, defines rock fabrics that formed during
contractional deformation west of the KZ trend. In western-
most parts of the belt, such as in the Giro area, biotite zone
assemblages commonly have no associated rock fabrics, imply-
ing that upper greenschist facies metamorphism in this part of
the belt was a passive thermal overprint not clearly related
to any deformation. Late acicular actinolite commonly over-
grows greenschist facies foliation(s) in rocks closer to the KZ
trend, indicating that a late thermal metamorphic overprint
also affected much of the area west of the KZ trend, but after
cessation of earlier penetrative deformation (Allibone, 2017).
 192
ALLIBONE ET AL.

Fig. 5. Cross section through the central part of KCD, extending as far west as Gorumbwa. The mineralized 5000 and 9000 series lodes at KCD are localized along and
within a tightly folded BIF horizon and adjacent siliciclastic rocks partly replaced by siderite, ± quartz, ± magnetite, ± pyrite (ACSA-B) alteration. Barren carbonate,
quartz, sericite (ACSA-A) alteration overprints siliciclastic rocks up to approximately 1.2 km to the west at the Gorumbwa satellite deposit. A wedge-shaped block of iso-
clinally folded cherty BIF and carbonaceous siliciclastic rocks is juxtaposed against the more strongly altered rocks across a folded carbonaceous shear zone. This wedge
of cherty BIF and carbonaceous siliciclastic rocks hosts many of the 3000 series lodes northeast of this cross section. Siliciclastic rocks in both shear bounded slices of
rock were deposited between ca. 2630 and 2625 Ma, an age bracketed by those of the youngest (and only) detrital zircon population in the sedimentary rocks, and that
of crosscutting porphyry dikes and plugs.
 OROGENIC Au DEPOSITS, KIBALI DISTRICT, NE DRC
Metamorphism and deformation along the
northern margin of the Moto belt
Pale quartz-muscovite schists that commonly contain trace
amounts of disseminated rutile, magnetite, pyrite, and tour-
maline, but no other minerals, are developed in a 2-km-wide
zone along the northern margin of the central Moto belt (Fig.
2). As these schists are approached from the south, their met-
amorphic grade increases from chlorite through the biotite
zone, possibly into the lower amphibolite facies, and the strike
of the dominant foliation rotates from a southeast direction,
parallel to the structural grain of rocks east of the KZ trend, to
east-northeast parallel with the belt margin. The pale schists
terminate against the shear zone that marks the contact with
the West Nile Gneiss.
The distribution of this narrow band of schist suggests that
it marks a prograde metamorphic halo along the southern side
of the shear zone that juxtaposes the Moto belt and West Nile
Gneiss. The relatively high metamorphic and textural grade
of the schists implies the West Nile Gneiss was significantly
hotter than the Moto belt when the two units were initially
juxtaposed along the intervening shear zone, with the schist
forming within the hottest part of a thermal aureole along
the contact with the West Nile Gneiss. Evidence of partial
melting under upper amphibolite facies conditions within the
West Nile Gneiss at ca. 625 Ma (Turnbull et al., 2017), a met-
amorphic grade not attained anywhere within the Moto belt,
suggests that higher grade metamorphism along the northern
margin of the Moto belt may have occurred during the late
Neoproterozoic-early Paleozoic Pan African event rather than
during the Neoarchean. Later meter-scale folds and an associ-
ated crenulation cleavage that dips gently to the south-south-
west occur throughout much of the Moto belt and may also
have formed at this time rather than during the Neoarchean.
Alteration and Mineralization along the KZ trend
A variety of hydrothermal mineral assemblages, which are
zoned in both space and time, overprint rocks along the KZ
trend (Fig. 6). Peripheral alteration assemblages typically
contain various combinations of chlorite, sericite, carbonate,
epidote, actinolite, titanite and/or rutile, and locally pyrrho-
tite. Differences in the peripheral mineral assemblages com-
monly reflect changes in the protolith rock composition. It is
not clear to what extent these peripheral mineral assemblages
are products of alteration along the KZ trend or metamor-
phism across the wider Moto belt.
Pale-colored ankerite, and/or siderite, quartz, and sericite
(Fig. 7A-C) is the most widespread alteration assemblage
along the KZ trend (Fig. 6). When first logged, this alter-
ation was referred to as ACSA-A, reflecting the inferred pres-
ence of albite (A) as well as carbonate (C) and quartz (S) in
the assemblage (A). However, subsequent petrography has
shown that albite is commonly absent from the ACSA-A alter-
ation, particularly at the KCD deposit, but the acronym is
retained here to maintain consistency with previous reports.
Both ankerite and siderite are present locally in the ACSA-A
assemblage, with siderite most common in rocks that either
had a BIF protolith, or were within a few meters of a BIF
horizon. Disseminated hydrothermal magnetite, as well as
relict finer grained, banded magnetite, may form part of the
193
ACSA-A assemblage where it overprints BIF. The distribution
of disseminated magnetite within strongly ACSA-A altered
rocks can be used to map the extent of BIF horizons, even
where no finely banded protolith magnetite remains. Sericite
within the ACSA-A assemblage is largely confined to millime-
ter-thick folia rather than disseminated through the altered
rocks (Fig. 7A-C). The ACSA-A alteration commonly contains
trace amounts of very fine grained rutile, microscopic grains
of tourmaline largely within the sericite folia, and unminer-
alized pyrite. Minor ilmenite is widespread in ACSA altered
rocks at Kalimva.
The ACSA-A mineral assemblages are overprinted by sev-
eral different alteration assemblages in the cores of deposits
and prospects along the KZ trend. The most widespread core
mineral assemblage comprises texturally destructive siderite
and pyrite with minor quartz and is referred to with the acro-
nym ACSA-B (Fig. 6). Vein and disseminated pyrite associ-
ated with the ACSA-B assemblage are the principal hosts of
gold along the KZ trend (Fig. 7D). Gold generally occurs as
inclusions in both disseminated and vein pyrite, and along the
margins of pyrite grains (Lawrence, 2011; Bird, 2016). The
ACSA-B assemblage generally includes rare trace amounts
of arsenopyrite, tennantite, and scheelite, although at Pakaka
arsenopyrite is approximately 20% of the sulfide present
(Fig. 6; Bird, 2016). Late mineralized arsenopyrite veins cut
ACSA-B-related pyrite veins in the Sessenge area immedi-
ately southwest of the KCD deposit (Fig. 3). Pyrrhotite locally
accompanies mineralized pyrite in some of the 3000 series
lodes. Relict BIF and disseminated hydrothermal magnetite
are common within ACSA-B altered rocks, reflecting the
close spatial association between this alteration assemblage
and BIF (Fig. 7D). Disseminated magnetite within ACSA-B
altered rock can be used to map the extent of BIF horizons in
the protolith. The sericite foliation associated with ACSA-A
alteration is destroyed along ACSA-B alteration fronts, indi-
cating that ACSA-B occurred after ACSA-A alteration (Fig.
7C). Early pyrite porphyroblasts, probably formed during
ACSA-A alteration, are partially recrystallized and rimmed
by later mineralized pyrite that formed during ACSA-B alter-
ation. Growth of mineralized pyrite, either disseminated in
zones of ACSA-B alteration, or within veins associated with
ACSA-B alteration, postdates development of all rock fabrics
at KCD except for a late, possibly Paleozoic, crenulation cleav-
age and associated centimeter- to meter-scale folds.
Many of the principal mineralized lodes at KCD coincide
with zones of ACSA-B alteration and their associated pyrite
veinlets (Fig. 8). Among the small 3000 series lodes in the
upper part of KCD, ACSA-B alteration is largely confined to
chert and BIF protoliths. Those parts of the mineralized lodes
that extend beyond zones of strong ACSA-B alteration are
typically associated with fine millimeter-wide stringer veinlets
of pyrite, some of which directly overprint the ACSA-A alter-
ation assemblage, and others that form the matrix to zones
of crackle brecciation with chert and weakly altered BIF
protoliths.
Strong texture, destructive carbonate and chlorite alteration
is developed in the core of satellite deposits and prospects at
Kalimva, Pakaka, and Aerodrome (Figs. 2, 3), either accom-
panied by or instead of ACSA-B alteration (Fig. 6). Gold in
these deposits and prospects is either associated with pyrite
194 ALLIBONE ET AL.

Periphery Core
Late
ca. 2530-2600 Ma

Gold
KCD
?
Early 2626 ± 12, 2630 ± 4
(Minimal Chlorite at Ikamva)
Kombokolo, Late Gold
Rhino, Agbarabo,
Ikamva Early
Late Complex core mineral
Strong primary lithologic control on assemblages
Aerodrome peripheral mineral assemblages

Gold
Early undated
Late Trace ACSA-B, extensive carbonate-chlorite alteration,
approx. 20% sulfide is arsenopyrite
Strong primary lithologic control on
Pakaka peripheral mineral assemblages

Gold in quartz, pyrite,

2632 ± 6 arsenopyrite veinlets
Early
Late 70%+ ACSA-B-altered rocks
Carbonate-chloritic shear lack sulfide and gold
in deposit footwall cuts ACSA-A
Single altered
Mengu stratigraphic unit in deposit footwall Gold

Early
Late ACSA-B is absent at Kalimva, gold
Similar to ACSA-A alteration but associated with pyritic stringers
with ilmenite and pyrrhotite Gold
Kalimva
Weak ACSA-A alteration juxtaposed
against deposit footwall along late fault
Early 2635 ± 9

Dikes Core mineral assemblages

Hypabyssal microdiorite dikes
Dacite porphyry dikes
Peripheral mineral assemblages
Carb, ser, qz, ± minor chl, ± trace epi, act,
rut, pyrr; generally a siliciclastic protolith
act, epi; basaltic protolith
Strong chl, carb, ± ser, qz, ± trace rut, epi,
pyrr, tit, act; mafic sandstone protolith
Mag, chl, amp, epi, stilpnomelane, bio,
BIF-like protolith?
Chloritoid, carb, ser, chl
Strong chl, carb flooding, ± ser, py,
pyrr (carb, qz and py ± Au veinlets)
“ACSA-B”, chl, sid, ± ank, qz, mag,
py (py, Au veinlets)
“ACSA-B”, sid, ± ank, qz, mag, py,
trace ten, sch (py, gold veinlets)
Intermediate mineral assemblages
Carbonaceous shears, ser,± pyrr,
chl, carb
“ACSA-A”, ank and/or sid, qz, ser, ±
mag, (carb, qz veinlets)

Abbreviated mineral names; act = actinolite, amp = amphibole, ank = ankerite, bio = biotite, carb =
carbonate, chl = chlorite, epi = epidote, mag = magnetite, py = pyrite, pyrr = pyrrhotite, qz = quartz,
rut = rutile, sch = scheelite, ser = sericite, sid = siderite, ten = tennantite

Fig. 6. Summary of the mineralogy, paragenesis, and zoning of hydrothermal alteration assemblages within the various gold
deposits and prospects along the northern half of the KZ trend where detailed petrographic information is available. Car-
bonate, chlorite, sericite, quartz, and pyrite are the most common hydrothermal minerals throughout the KZ trend, although
their relative proportions and compositions vary markedly between different deposits and prospects. Gold is invariably late
and associated with pyrite, whereas pyrrhotite and arsenopyrite are largely restricted to the 3000 lodes at KCD and the
Pakaka deposit, respectively.
 OROGENIC Au DEPOSITS, KIBALI DISTRICT, NE DRC 195

A Bedding B Sericite
foliation

Sericite
foliation

Dismembered quartz-
3 cm carbonate veins 3 cm

Sericite
foliation
ACSA-B
alteration
3 cm front

Relict BIF

3 cm

Fig. 7. Examples of altered and mineralized rocks from the KCD deposit. A. Carbonate, quartz, sericite (ACSA-A)
altered sandstone and siltstone in which sericite is largely confined to spaced folia that cut relict bedding at an oblique
angle (KCDU082, 71.3 m). B. Strong carbonate, quartz, sericite (ACSA-A) alteration which has largely destroyed all the
primary textures within the protolith. Early-formed carbonate-quartz veinlets have been dismembered along the sericite folia
(DDD203, 352.5 m). C. Siderite-pyrite (ACSA-B) alteration front overprinting ACSA-A alteration and destroying the sericite
folia associated with this earlier assemblage (DTG040, 621 m). D. Typical ore from the KCD deposit, comprising numerous
irregular-shaped mineralized pyrite veinlets surrounded by siderite, ± quartz, ± magnetite (ACSA-B) alteration. Relicts of the
BIF protolith remain within the altered and mineralized rocks (DTG040, 627 m).

disseminated within the carbonate-chlorite alteration and/or
millimeter-wide stringer veinlets of pyrite ± quartz that cut this
alteration assemblage and adjacent ACSA-A altered rocks. At
Pakaka, the very fine stringer veinlets also contain arsenopy-
rite. Where ACSA-B alteration occurs in the satellite deposits
at Kombokolo, Rhino, and Agbarabo (Fig. 3), it commonly con-
tains chlorite or is cut by late chlorite-pyrite fractures.
Numerous bands of particularly pale, barren, ACSA-A
altered rock occur within BIF and ACSA-B altered rocks in
the core of the KCD deposit (Fig. 8A). Most are so strongly
altered that no primary minerals remain, but some examples
retain the partially altered remains of an earlier chlorite-rich
assemblage that replaced mafic phenocrysts. This implies
these bands had a mafic primary composition and may orig-
inally have been basalt or lamprophyre sills within the host
rocks at KCD. These rocks are the only evidence of mafic
magmatism in the vicinity of KCD prior to mineralization.
At KCD, strong texturally destructive chlorite, magnetite,
pyrite, pyrrhotite, and local chalcopyrite alteration is focussed
along the margins of chlorite-carbonate altered hypabys-
sal microdiorite dikes (originally logged as dolerite) that cut
the lodes and coincident folds (Fig. 8). This alteration locally
coincides with high gold grades (>5–10 g/t) where the dikes
cut the earlier ACSA-B lodes, implying that hydrothermal
activity during emplacement of the dikes locally remobilized
and upgraded gold mineralization in adjacent ACSA-B lodes.
Little is known about the mineralogy or paragenesis of alter-
ation and mineralization along the southern part of the KZ
trend, southwest of the KCD deposit (Fig. 2). Limited explo-
ration suggests the mineralization becomes more refractory
and richer in arsenopyrite toward and south of Aindi Watsa. A
broad area of poorly known but apparently altered mafic igne-
ous rocks are located along the eastern side of the KZ trend
south of Aindi Watsa. Limited petrographic data indicate that
epidote and chlorite are the principal hydrothermal miner-
als within these altered igneous rocks. The mafic protoliths of
these altered rocks may be either basalts that form part of the
Moto belt and/or fine-grained plutonic igneous rocks related
196 ALLIBONE ET AL.

A: Cross section Altered hypabyssal diorite dike

306° Early folded carbonaceous 126° Mineralized lodes, disseminated and

shear zone veinlet pyrite in ACSA-B altered rocks,
BIF, and chert
Disseminated magnetite ± relict BIF
3000 ACSA-B alteration
lodes
700 ACSA-A alteration
Conglomerate, sandstone
Chert
Banded iron formation (BIF)
Carbonaceous phyllite
500
5000
lodes B: Level Map 400 RL
Fig. 8B
D 345000N
Scale 200 m B A F
300
C
F
Early reverse 9000 E
fault, overprinted lodes
by ACSA alteration
344800N

Quartz pebble Fi
100 Altered g. 5000
conglomerate below
mafic sills? 8A
the 9000 lodes lodes D
D
C
? 344600N
B ?
Late carbonaceous 2
shear
N
Fold axial plane 3 B
Younging direction ? ? 344400N

9000 A
Drill holes used
to compile lodes
cross section Scale 200 m
Cross sections
used to compile
786900E

787100E

787300E

787500E
786900E

level map 344200N

C Bedding N Sericite N Pyrite N

foliation veins

Fold Average plane

axis 061/28 NW
047/17

n = 647 n = 1137

Fig. 8. A. Cross section through the central part of the KCD deposit, illustrating the structural setting of the 3000, 5000,
and 9000 series lodes. B. Level plan showing the structural setting of the 5000 and 9000 series lodes beneath the KCD open
pit. C. Equal area stereographic projections of structural data from oriented drill core through the 5000 and 9000 lodes that
summarize relationships between the orientations of bedding, the sericite cleavage associated with ACSA-A alteration, and
the mineralized pyrite veinlets associated with ACSA-B alteration; the latter stereonet displays contoured foliation poles for
reference.
 OROGENIC Au DEPOSITS, KIBALI DISTRICT, NE DRC
to the nearby ultramafic, diorite, and tonalite plutons south-
east of the Moto belt.
Structural Setting of Gold Deposits in the
Kibali District
Internal structure of the KCD deposit
The KCD deposit comprises several NE-plunging mineral-
ized lodes with irregular, curviplanar, and rod-shaped profiles
in cross section and plan (Figs. 7, 8A-B). The lodes coincide
with several tight to isoclinal folds that deform the altered sed-
imentary rocks hosting the deposit. These folds are defined by
BIF, chert, and carbonaceous argillite marker units, changes
in stratigraphic younging direction as indicated by graded
bedding in siliciclastic units, and changes in the orientation
of bedding as measured in oriented drill core (Fig. 8C). Indi-
vidual folds have amplitudes of several tens to hundreds of
meters, curved but generally gently N- to NW-dipping axial
planes, and gently NE-plunging axes. The aforementioned
sericite foliation, associated with ACSA-A alteration, is par-
allel to the axial planes of these folds, implying that hydro-
thermal activity associated with development of the sericite
foliation and ACSA-A alteration was synchronous with folding
(Fig. 8C). The various mineralized lodes plunge parallel to
the axes of the folds throughout the KCD deposit, and drill-
ing indicates that some folds and coincident lodes extend for
more than 3 km downplunge (Fig. 8). Largely unfolded rocks
to the west of KCD are affected by widespread ACSA-A alter-
ation, with the small Gorumbwa satellite deposit located in a
relatively minor open flexure in the structural grain of the host
rocks, rather than in a larger and tighter fold like those that
host the mineralized lodes at KCD (Fig. 5).
Two lithologically distinct packages of rocks host the KCD
deposit. Most of the 3000 series lodes in the upper part of
the deposit are located within variably altered cherts, cherty
BIFs, carbonaceous graywackes, and carbonaceous argillites,
which together form the 150-m-high ridge between KCD
and Gorumbwa (Fig. 5). The eastern and uppermost of the
3000 lodes, as well as the 5000 and 9000 series lodes deeper
in the deposit, are located in a package of pebble conglom-
erates, gritstones, sandstones, BIFs, and minor carbonaceous
rocks that lack cherts. A folded carbonaceous shear zone up to
40 m wide, locally overprinted by both ACSA-A and ACSA-B
Fig. 9. View of the northern end of KCD open pit facing toward the north-northeast. A 20- to 40-m-thick folded carbona-
ceous shear zone juxtaposes the package of chert, BIF, and carbonaceous rocks, which host many of the smaller 3000 lodes
against layered siliciclastic rocks and BIF to the east and below that host the larger, uppermost, of the 3000 lodes and the
5000 and 9000 lodes.
197
alteration, separates these two different lithologic packages
(Figs. 5, 8A, 9). Tracing this early shear zone is difficult in
places where it has been overprinted by ACSA-A and ACSA-B
alteration, but its position is clear in the northern end of the
of KCD open pit (Fig. 9) and can commonly be inferred from
the discordant orientation of stratigraphic units on either side
in the drill sections (Fig. 8A). Some segments of this shear
zone were reactivated during late brittle-ductile deformation
after mineralization and now include bands of massive catacl-
asite that entrain fragments of altered rock.
Relatively small, irregular, and rod-shaped mineralized
lodes in the upper northwestern part of the KCD deposit,
including most of the 3000 lodes, are developed in the hinges
of tightly folded chert horizons, along the margins of the
same chert horizons, and around the ends of thin dismem-
bered chert boudins enclosed within foliated carbonaceous
argillite (Fig. 8A). The more extensive 5000 and 9000 series
lodes deeper in the KCD deposit are developed within zones
of ACSA-B altered rock, commonly coincident with a tightly
folded BIF horizon (Figs. 5, 8A, B). These lodes and their
associated BIF are surrounded by siliciclastic rocks that gen-
erally lack carbonaceous material. Curviplanar sheets of min-
eralized ACSA-B altered rock and adjacent partially altered
and mineralized BIF extend around the hinges of the folds,
and locally along the limbs of the folds. Only rarely does the
mineralized ACSA-B alteration extend along the axial surfaces
of the folds, although the gold-bearing pyrite veins within the
ACSA-B alteration are commonly parallel to the earlier axial
planar sericite foliation of the folds (Fig. 8C). The resulting
lodes have complex shapes but an overall northeast plunge
parallel to the fold axes (Fig. 10).
Altered hypabyssal microdiorite dikes and sills cut the
folded sedimentary rocks and mineralized lodes (Fig. 8B),
indicating they were emplaced after folding and lode devel-
opment. Attempts to date the dikes have been thwarted by
the fine grain size, generally <5 µm, of zircons in the intru-
sions. Elsewhere across the northeastern DRC, plutonic rocks
with similar chemistries were emplaced between ca. 2600 and
2530 Ma (Turnbull et al., 2017), suggesting that folding and
mineralization at KCD occurred before this time.
Small satellite deposits at Kombokolo, Rhino, and Agbarabo
are also localized along the base of the extensive BIF horizon
that caps the KCD deposit (Fig. 3). These satellite deposits
Major carbonaceous Folded stack cut by the
schist shear zone carbonaceous shear
Fold hinge
Major uppermost
chert horizon 3000
lode
Parasitic isoclinal folds on upper
limb of major recumbent fold shown
in Fig. 5
198
KCD open pit
3000 lode
5000 lode
9000 lode
Plunge direction
Scale 500 meters
Fig. 10. Three-dimensional model of the 3000, 5000, and 9000 series lodes at KCD, showing their complex shapes and overall
northeast plunge, parallel to the axes of the folds illustrated in Figures 5 and 8.
are located in smaller and more open folds that also plunge
toward the northeast, and which most likely formed during
the same event as the larger folds that coincide with the min-
eralized lodes at KCD.
Structural setting of the Pakaka deposit and
adjacent prospects
The Pakaka deposit is one of the larger satellite deposits dis-
covered along the KZ trend, with the current resource and past
production totaling 1.2 Moz of gold. Pakaka and the nearby
deposits and prospects at Pamao, Kanga-Sud, and Aero-
drome are located along a regionally extensive, gently NNE-
to E-dipping shear zone. The volcano-sedimentary rocks in
the hanging wall were erupted and deposited before ca. 2640
Ma, whereas the siliciclastic sedimentary rocks and BIF in the
footwall were deposited between ca. 2630 and 2625 Ma (Figs.
3, A1). A 150- to 200-m-thick zone of strong ACSA-A and
carbonate-chlorite alteration is focused along this shear zone.
Early-formed carbonate ± quartz veinlets in the deposit core
have been isoclinally folded and dismembered along chloritic
folia within the shear zone. Layers of carbonaceous schist up
to about 10 m in thickness define other strands of the shear
zone within the wider zone of altered rocks.
Gold-bearing quartz, pyrite, and arsenopyrite veinlets, typ-
ically no more than a few millimeters thick, tend to be con-
centrated in less strongly foliated slices of rock overprinted
by ACSA-A alteration between the more intensely deformed
strands of the shear zone. These veins and associated halos of
very fine grained disseminated arsenopyrite and pyrite form an
ore shoot in which gold grades >1 g/t extend across a zone 50 to
80 m in thickness (Fig. A1). The presence of significant arsen-
opyrite at Pakaka distinguishes it from other deposits and pros-
pects along the northern half of the KZ trend, including KCD,
which generally lack more than trace amounts of arsenopyrite.
The structural setting of the Pakaka deposit and nearby
prospects is markedly different from that of the mineralized
ALLIBONE ET AL.
Looking towards 280° 10°
lodes at KCD and its adjacent satellite deposits. Although the
main mineralized lode at Pakaka also plunges gently toward
the north-northeast, in this case the plunge is parallel to the
axis of the major bend in the strike of the shear zone that hosts
the deposit rather than a tight fold (Fig. 3). Few linear fea-
tures have been recorded that might indicate the slip direc-
tion or sense of shear on the shear zone at Pakaka. However,
the juxtaposition of older rocks over younger rocks across the
shear zone (Fig. 1A) implies reverse displacement at some
time after deposition of the siliciclastic rocks in its footwall
between ca. 2630 to 2625 Ma.
Structural setting of the Mengu deposit
The satellite deposit at Mengu Hill in the northern part of the
KZ trend (Fig. 2) contained 0.65 Moz of gold prior to mining.
The deposit comprises a single NNE-plunging, rod-shaped
lode within a zone of ACSA-B altered rock in the upper part
of a thick BIF unit (Fig. A2). Further barren ACSA-B altered
rock occurs widely within the surrounding BIF unit beyond
the mineralized lode, unlike ACSA-B altered rocks at the
KCD deposit that are invariably mineralized to some degree.
Narrow zones of intensely carbonate altered rock, locally con-
taining conspicuous prisms of chloritoid, overprint a layer of
siliciclastic rock sandwiched between layers of BIF adjacent
to the lode. Zones of strong chlorite-carbonate alteration are
developed along other BIF siliciclastic rock contacts above
and below the BIF unit.
The Mengu lode coincides with an asymmetric bend in the
upper surface of the host BIF unit (Fig. A2). The lode pinches
out downplunge as the amplitude and tightness of this bend
gradually decrease. The deposit doesn’t coincide with either
a major shear zone or a larger tight to isoclinal fold like those
that host the aforementioned deposits. Drilling in the footwall
of Mengu and geologic mapping across the district suggest it
is located 100 to 200 m above the shear zone that hosts the
Pakaka deposit.
 OROGENIC Au DEPOSITS, KIBALI DISTRICT, NE DRC
Discussion
Mineralization style and processes at the KCD deposit
The general geologic setting, alteration, and auriferous sul-
fide mineral assemblages of the Kibali gold deposits are
typical of orogenic gold deposits present in many belts of
Neoarchean supracrustal rocks globally (Goldfarb et al.,
2005). However, unlike many orogenic gold deposits, those
located along the KZ trend are notable for their general lack
of mineralized quartz veins. Instead gold is hosted in sul-
fide disseminated in altered country rocks and sulfide veins
(Fig. 7). The mineralized sulfide veins are narrow, have dif-
fuse irregularly margins, and lobate discontinuous forms at
millimeter to decimeter scales (Figs. 7C-D). This implies
that they formed as zones of sulfide replacement within the
altered rock, rather than discrete planar dilatant fracture
infillings. Nowhere within the KCD deposit, or in the out-
lying satellite deposits, is gold located along sheeted and/
or stockwork arrays of planar quartz ± sulfide veins similar
to those in many other orogenic gold deposits. However,
uncommon, vein-poor, disseminated orogenic gold depos-
its are present in some Paleoproterozoic and Phanerozoic
greenschist facies, psammo-pelitic terranes (e.g., Allibone et
al., 2002, 2017; Leader et al., 2010, 2012). The only excep-
tions to this generalization are the minor zones of fracture-
and crackle breccia-hosted sulfide veinlets in cherts within
the smaller 3000 lodes. Here the relatively brittle rheology
of the chert compared with the adjacent carbonaceous argil-
lite and graywacke promoted brittle fracturing within the
chert. The broadly similar orientation of many mineralized
veins and the earlier ACSA-A sericite foliation at the KCD
deposit (Figs. 7C, 8C) suggests the earlier foliation was the
key grain-scale pathway along which the mineralizing flu-
ids infiltrated the rock mass at the deposit. The lack of pla-
nar, fracture-hosted, mineralized quartz veins and zones of
intense cataclasis and/or shearing synchronous with miner-
alization at KCD implies that fluid flow was prolonged, slow,
and focused along mineral grain boundaries with relatively
low permeability. This contrasts with the rapid, episodic
fluid flow, driven by repeated cycles of fluid over pressur-
ing and brittle failure inferred to have been important in
the development of many other orogenic gold deposits (e.g.,
Cox, 2010). The textural characteristics of the mineralized
rocks at KCD imply the former process is capable of produc-
ing some of the largest gold deposits in the world.
Redox controls on alteration and mineralization
The mineralized 3000 series lodes within the upper, partly
carbonaceous, rock package at the KCDdeposit include
pyrrhotite as well as pyrite, whereas mineralized 5000 and
9000 series lodes in the underlying BIF and siliciclastic rock
package, where few carbonaceous rocks are present, invari-
ably lack pyrrhotite. Furthermore, ACSA alteration is both
less extensive and less intense where carbonaceous rocks are
more extensive. These relationships imply the presence of
carbonaceous material supressed the fO2 of hydrothermal flu-
ids in the upper part of KCD to values near the pyrrhotite-py-
rite-magnetite triple point, whereas in other parts of the
deposit, where carbonaceous rocks are largely absent, higher
fO2 prevailed, along the magnetite-pyrite phase boundary.
199
Many mineralized lodes at the KCD deposit are located
along the margins of carbonaceous units, either where they
are in contact with chert units, such as in the 3000 series lodes
in the upper part of the deposit, or where they were juxta-
posed against the major BIF unit by the carbonaceous shear
at intermediate depths in the vicinity of the uppermost 5000
series lodes (Figs. 8A, 9). The 5000 and 9000 lodes, deeper in
the deposit, are located largely within altered magnetite-bear-
ing BIF, locally continuing into the adjacent sandstone and
conglomerate. These spatial relationships suggest that pre-
cipitation of gold may have been driven by either oxida-
tive or reductive processes in different parts of the deposit,
depending on whether the protolith mineralogy of the host
rocks included carbonaceous material and/or BIF. Although
the aforementioned folds, sericite foliation, and fracturing
along the margins of brittle chert units provided pathways for
hydrothermal fluids, redox variations within the altered rock
package were most likely an equally important control on the
location and mineralogy of individual lodes, and the extent
and intensity of the surrounding ACSA alteration halos. The
lack of a large fracture system is reflected in these close cor-
relations between host-rock lithology, the distribution of pyr-
rhotite and pyrite, and the intensity of alteration, such that the
redox state of the hydrothermal fluid was largely controlled by
the immediate host rocks, and the hydrothermal system was
rock buffered rather than fluid dominated.
Exploration significance of folds, BIFs, and the KZ trend
The close spatial association between folds, major BIFs, and
the major mineralized lodes at the KCD deposit and else-
where along the KZ trend (Figs. 5, 8, S1) suggests an explo-
ration strategy elsewhere in the Moto belt should focus on
targeting the most intensely folded parts of other BIF units.
However, experience to date, particularly in the Belengo area
in the eastern part of the Moto belt (Fig. 2), indicates that
folded BIF units with structures that appear to mimic those
at KCD can also be essentially barren. Something other than
just folds and BIF units is therefore required to form major
gold deposits in the Moto belt.
Strongly altered and mineralized BIFs and folds discov-
ered to date are distinguished from barren folds and BIFs
by their location along the KZ trend, a feature whose north-
ern half coincides with a major stratigraphic boundary in the
wider Moto belt. This stratigraphic boundary is inferred to
mark the current position of the margin of a ca. 2630- to
2625-Ma intraorogenic basin within the belt. Features along
this boundary now reflect the contractional deformation that
occurred during basin inversion after ca. 2630 Ma, but the
boundary may still represent deep crustal structures initially
established during extension and basin formation at ca. 2630
to 2625 Ma. Any such deep structures that formed during
this earlier extensional event, not the distribution of folds
and BIFs in the upper crust, may be the ultimate control
on the distribution of major gold deposits within the Moto
belt. Folds and shear zones within the KZ trend were able
to tap mineralized fluids from the deep crust via these older
structures, whereas folded BIF units like those to the east
at Belengo are not located along an older major transcrustal
boundary like the KZ trend and hence are largely unaltered
and unmineralized.
200 ALLIBONE ET AL.
Exploration of deposits hosted within tightly folded rocks:
Lessons from the KCD deposit
Establishing the shape and structural setting of the lodes at the
KCD deposit has been particularly challenging. Most holes
drilled during the initial exploration of the deposit plunge
steeply toward the south-southwest, essentially perpendicu-
lar to the overall plunge of the folds and lodes. Although the
overall trend and plunge of the deposit was recognized early in
the exploration program and folding was suspected, the folds
themselves and their position with respect to the lodes were
not recognized at this time. The SSW-plunging holes inter-
sected the gently dipping fold limbs and the axial plane-par-
allel sericite foliation at a relatively high angle, whereas the
more steeply dipping fold limbs and the overall continuity of
the BIF units within the deposit were not recognized con-
clusively until gently plunging holes were drilled from under-
ground early in the development of the mine. Models of the
lode geometries based solely on the steeply SSW-plunging
holes proved incorrect, but this only became apparent when
the gently plunging holes were drilled through the more
steeply dipping fold limbs at a high angle. The experience
at the KCD deposit highlights the value of drilling holes in
both steep and gently plunging orientations and different
directions when exploring a structurally complex deposit like
KCD, a practice that is becoming increasingly rare within the
exploration industry.
Conclusions
The Kibali district in the northeastern DRC hosts the large
KCD deposit and numerous smaller satellite deposits that
together contained a combined resource of at least 23 Moz
of gold prior to mining. Exploration is ongoing and the full
endowment of the Kibali district remains unclear.
Gold deposits and prospects in the Kibali district are located
along the so-called KZ trend, a complex series of folds, shear
zones, and altered lithostratigraphic units that extend for
more than 60 km across the central part of the Neoarchean
Moto belt (Fig. 2). Basalts, dacitic volcaniclastic rocks, and
sedimentary rocks east of the KZ trend were deposited before
2645 ± 5 Ma, the age of the oldest crosscutting tonalite pluton
(Fig. 4). Sedimentary rocks west of the KZ trend were depos-
ited between ca. 2630 and 2625 Ma, an age range bracketed
by the youngest population of detrital zircons in the sedimen-
tary rocks and the emplacement age of the oldest crosscutting
tonalite porphyry intrusion. Sedimentary rocks west of the KZ
trend include detrital material most likely derived from older
rocks to the east, implying that the KZ trend coincides with
the boundary of a preore, intraorogenic basin within the Moto
belt. Subsequent contractional deformation has substantially
modified the structure of the KZ trend such that the original
stratigraphic relationship of rocks on either side can now only
be resolved with geochronology.
The large KCD deposit is hosted by tightly folded con-
glomerate, gritstone, sandstone, BIF, chert, and minor car-
bonaceous argillite deposited between ca. 2630 and 2625 Ma
(Figs. 5, 8). Early-formed carbonaceous shears within this
rock package were also tightly folded prior to alteration and
mineralization. A preore carbonate-quartz-sericite alteration
event that contains trace amounts of pyrite accompanied
folding. The alteration is particularly intense within a 300-
to 500-m-thick package of BIFs, conglomerates, and sand-
stones that host KCD and the satellite deposits at Kombokolo,
Rhino, and Agbarabo (Fig. 3). Mineralized siderite (± quartz,
magnetite, and/or pyrite, pyrrhotite, arsenopyrite) alteration
and associated auriferous pyrite (± pyrrhotite, arsenopyrite)
veins are concentrated in irregular-shaped lodes that over-
print the earlier barren alteration assemblage and its associ-
ated foliation. The lodes are commonly developed within or
along the margins of folded BIF units and in cross section
typically have irregular curviplanar shapes that extend around
fold hinges and locally along fold limbs. Their complex shapes
reflect the geometry of the folds with some extending at least
3 km downplunge parallel to the fold axes (Fig. 10). Microdi-
orite dikes, most likely emplaced between ca. 2600 and 2530
Ma, cut the folds and mineralized lodes.
Satellite deposits and prospects at Pakaka, Pamao, and
Aerodrome are located within a 30- to 80-m-thick zone of
variably sheared and altered rock that marks a >20-km-scale
thrust fault within the KZ trend. Satellite deposits at Mengu,
Megi, and Marakeke are located along the margins of altered
BIF horizons immediately above this shear zone.
Gold deposits of the Kibali district formed during the Neo-
archean global gold event, which affected many other Neo-
archean terranes around the world. The spatial association
between a zone of intraorogenic extension and later gold min-
eralization during subsequent contractional deformation in
the Kibali district is similar to the regional structural setting
of major gold deposits in both the eastern Yilgarn craton and
Abitibi subprovince.
Acknowledgments
Numerous people have contributed information and ideas
that have improved the understanding of gold deposits in
the Kibali district and surrounding Moto belt, including
Diamante Kafuti, Ghislain Kazadi Kayoka, Felix Sawadogo,
Sergio Kongolo Kakoma, Benedict Kwelobene Lunze, Eric
Kasereka, Prince Cimanuka Mulumeoderhwa, Leon Ebondo,
Victor Lule, Jono Lawrence, David Lawrence, Mike Skead,
Rod Quick, and Reinet Harbidge. Several of the geochrono-
logical samples from the Giro district were supplied by Burey/
Amani Gold Ltd. Tom Ritchie and Marianne Negrini at the
University of Otago, New Zealand, undertook SEM analyses
of many samples, in particular searching for dateable zircon
in critical specimens. Fabrice Matheys and Eric Kasereka
collected samples for geochronology in the Moku district and
along the Moto belt margins. XRF analyses of rocks described
in Table S1 were undertaken by CRL Energy (Spectrachem)
in New Zealand.
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