Geological setting of gold deposits in

the Mutare Greenstone Belt, Zimbabwe

K. G. Chenjerai
Geological Survey Department, Harare, Zimbabwe

ABSTRACT

The Mutare Greenstone Belt is defined the gold mineralisation seems to have
here as stretching from the Odzi River been affected by a complex interplay
in the west right to the Mozambique between structure and lithology.
border in the east.

The Mutare Greenstone Belt is an east- INTRODUCTION

west trending synclinorium of
ultramafic, mafic and banded-iron For the purpose of this study, the
formations corresponding to the Mutare Greenstone Belt is defined as
Bulawayan Group. Overlying this stretching from Odzi River in the west
succession and occupying the core of to the Mozambique border in the east
this structure are metasediments of the (Fig 1).
Mbeza System (Shamvaian). Both the
northern and southern margins are
intruded by granites. The northern limb
of the synclinirium is intruded by
quartz-dolorites and felsites.

The axis of the regional folding trends EJ--

t • • , I I , r--

r;:;)-
east-west along the centre of the IZ'!- - -

----
syncline. Fractures and shear zones 0 -
~- -
parallel to the regional fold axis host
0'·- -
more than 90% of the known gold
occurrences. The gold deposits occur as
quartz veins filing fractures or as
impregnations in shear zones. A few
gold deposits are hosted in shear zones
that are oblique to the regional
deformation and cut across different Fig. 1. General geology of the Mutare greenstone belt.
lithologies.

All the Archean rock types within this

greenstone belt are known to host gold
mineralisation. More than 50% of the
known gold occurrences are in the
ultramafic and mafic metavolcanics.
About 25% are hosted in felsic
intrusives. The metasediments host
about 15% and the banded-iron formations
account for about 8%.
On a regional scale, there appears to be
no direct lithological control on the
gold distribution, however, a strong
structural control is apparent. On the
small scale of the in~ividual deposit,
The historical production records have
been taken ffom Geol2gical Survey
Bulletins 32 and 45. Some of the
mines stopped producing prior or shortly
after the publication of the two
Bulletins. However, a few mines have
persistently produced and these will be
dealt with briefly later on in the
discussion.

337
Institution of Mining and Metallurgy, African Mining ’91
© Institution of Mining and Metallurgy 1991
 338
The objectives of this paper are to look
at the geological setting of gold
deposits in the Mutare Greenstone Belt
and to study the possible controls of
the gold mineralisation, an area under
current research by the author.
GENERAL GEOLOGY
The Mutare Greenstone Belt is an east-
west striking synclinorium of ultramafic
and mafic lavas with i£tercalations of
banded iron-formations. This
succession corr}sponds to the C2, 7Ga
Upper Bulawayan. The core of this
structure is occupied by predominantly
metasediments of the Mbeza System ~hich
corresponds to the Shamvaian Group .
Both the north and south margins of the
synclinorium are embayed by intrusive
granites and in the northern limb the
greenstones are intruded by the
Penhalonga quartz-diorite.
1. Bulawayan Group
Underlying the Mbeza metasediments are
the ultramafic, mafic and iron-formation
rocks which have been down folded into a
synclin~l structure approximately 2 000
m thick. The ultramafic lavas show a
wide range of lithological variations
from a very foliated talcose schist to a
massive fairly jointed rock, devoid of
foliation. The spinifex textures and
columnar structures strongly indicate
that She ultramafic rocks are komatitic
lavas .
The mafic volcanics generally lack
foliation and vary from lapilli to
pillow lavas, mainly of tholeiitic
composition.
The banded iron formations occur as dis-
continuous units within and at the
contact of the ultramafic and mafic
lavas. Bedding is poorly developed and
intercalations of qu~rtzite and
argillite are common. The baded
ironstones are ferruginous quartzites
composed of alternating bands of 6 whitish
cherty quartz and black iron ore
magnetite. The banding, where
developed, ranges from a mm to a cm
scale and disseminated sulphides,
notably pyrite, are common.
2. Shamvaian Group
Uncomformably overlying the
predominantly volcanic rocks of the
Upper Bulawayan and filling the core of
the synclinorium is a succession of
metasediments most of which were derived
by erosion of the older greenstones 1
At the base is a well developed basal
conglomerate composed of angular to
subrounded pebbles of actinolite schist,
banded iron-formation, metabasalt,
serpentinite and quartz within a
greywacke matrix. Overlying the basal
conglomerate are varying thicknesses of
grit~ arkose, greywacke, phyllites and
slates.
3. Felsite
The felsite appears to be limited to
the volcanics of the Bulawayan Group.
The felsite north of Penhalonga Valley
occurs as a more or less continuous
lenses. Invariably associated with the
felsite are quartz porphyries which
appear to grade into and out of the
very fine grained, commonly
cryptocnystalline quartzo-feldspathic
felsites. Rounded to sub-angular
quartz phenocrysts are prominent in the
very fine grained felsic matrix of the
quartz porphyries. At the Redwing and
Old West mines. the felsite has a sill-
like geometry.
4. Penhalonga Quartz-Diorite
The Penhalonga quartz-diorite is a two
phase diorite with an older fine
grained dark greenish-grey massive rcck
and a younger massive'1medium to coarse
grained dark grey rock. The
Penhalonga quartz-diorite is similar to
the diorite outcropping in the area
around the Old Mutare Mission.
5. Granite
North of the Penhalonga Valley, the
granites range from massive to foliated
with the foliation increasing towards
the contact with the greenstone belt.
South of the greenstone belt, the
granite(s) have an irregular contact
with the greenstones and range from
massive to gneissic.
STRUCTURE
The Mutare GreInstone is a tightly
folded synform with the Mbeza
metasediments occupying the central
portion of the belt. The synclinal
form of the greenstone belt is notably
asymmetrical, with the southern limb
dipping nearly vertical to a major
synclinal axis which plunges to the
east ~t an almost imperceptible
angle. The northen limb dips
southwards at a shallow angle to a