MINERALIUM
Mineral Deposit Letters
Mineral. Deposita 30, 75-77 (1995)
Mineralized hydrothermal solution cavities in the Co-As A'it Ahmane mine
(Bou Azzer, Morocco)
A. Ennaciri ~, L. Barbanson 2, and J.C. Touray ~
t U R A n ~ 1366 du CNRS et G D R "Mrtallogrnie et Matrriaux Min~raux" ESEM, rue Leonard de Vinci, F-45072 Orlrans, France
2 Drpartement des Sciences de la Terre, Universit6 d'Orleans, F-45067 Orlrans, France
Received: 26 January 1994/Accepted: 12 July 1994
Abstract. In the F53/kit Ahmane Cobalt-deposit (Bou Azzer, Anti-
Atlas, Morocco) a new type of "contact mineralization" is de-
scribed. It is carbonate hosted but displays similar depositional
sequence and fluid inclusion patterns to the well-known vein miner-
alization from the same mine. Field studies suggest that such a
"contact mineralization" formed early by infilling solution cavities
in formerly calcified serpentinite.
The Bou Azzer-E1 Graara area is located in the central part of the
Anti-Atlas (Morocco), 300 km to the east of Agadir (Fig. 1). From
a geological point of view (Leblanc 1975, 1981; Leblanc and Billaud
1982), the Bou Azzer-El Graara area has been described as an
Eburnean basement (gneiss, amphibolites and alkaline granites)
overthrusted during the major pan-African deformation by an
ophiolitic complex (serpentinized peridotites, gabbros, quartz diorite,
basic lavas, volcanic and sedimentary sequences). These formations
were unconformably overlain by a volcanic and sedimentary infra
Cambrian-Cambrian cover (Leblanc 1975).
From 1930 to 1982 the Bou Azzer-El Graara district has produced
about 50 000 tons of cobalt i.e. about 1000 t a year (Buisson and
Leblanc 1987). The present production is confidential. The main ore
minerals are Co-Fe-Ni arsenides with accessory sulfarsenides and
sulfides. The gangue minerals are essentially calcite, dolomite and
quartz.
The Bou Azzer Co deposits (Leblanc 1975) are located along the
border of serpentinitc massifs (Fig. 1); they are in contact with pluton-
ic, metamorphic or volcanic rocks. From geometrical considerations
(Leblanc and Billaud 1982), there are (1) "contact mineralizations",
located at the contact between serpentinite and other wall rocks and
(2) "vein mineralizations", extending less than 400 m away from the
border of the serpentinite massifs.
In this paper we describe a poorly known type of "contact miner-
alization", observed in the recently mined part of the F53 /kit
Ahmane mine. This mineralization exhibits a mineralogical composi-
tion similar to the other "contact mineralization" of the Bou Azzer
district with textural features suggestive of "hydrothermal sedimenta-
tion" which infilled solution cavities within calcified serpentinites.
The contact mineralization
The "contact mineralization" in the F53/kit Ahmane mine is hosted
by lenses of calcified serpentinite located at the contact between ser-
pentinite and quartz diorite or gabbro (Figs. 2 and 3) and displaying
a light/dark banded texture parallelling the serpentinite contact. The
DEPOSITA
9 Springer-Verlag 1995
dark bands are rich in serpentinite materials (abundant chlorite, gran-
ular magnetite, hematite and residual chromite) and calcite with
trapped hematite. Calcite is the dominant component of the light
bands with minor sulphide amounts and traces of arsenide. Such a
"calcitic lens" has been formerly described in the Ambed Co-deposit
by Leblanc (1975, 1981).
The main ore occurrence is a mineralized sediment infiUing disso-
lution cavities (Touray 1980) within the calcified serpentinite (Fig. 3).
The cavity exhibits irregular limits secant on the banding of the
calcified serpentinite and on the bedding plans of the mineralized
sediment (Fig. 3).
The sediment presents a laminated facies and a brecciated facies.
The former comprises a component of chemical "diagenetic" origin
and another of clastic origin. The clastic component appears as angu-
lar-shaped fragments (less than 2 mm in size) composed of chlorite
with a minor amount of granular magnetite. These fragments origi-
nate from the calcitic lenses, as demonstrated by identical petrograph-
ic features. In addition to the ore minerals described below, the
chemical component is made of: (1) idiomorphic quartz (0.1-0.5 mm
in length) with abundant chlorite inclusions and displaying isotropic
growth directions; (2) interstitial calcite. Lamination reflects the rela-
tive abundance of chlorite, magnetite and interstitial calcite which
infills an earlier porosity. The only difference between laminated and
brecciated facies lies in the biggest size (1-30 cm) of the clastic com-
ponents. At the bottom of the cavities an unconformity between
brecciated and laminated facies is locally visible (Fig. 3).
Mineralization occurs as disseminated minute spherical aggregates
(less than 2 mm in size) or larger concretions within the sediment
(1 cm in size) and as collomorphic crust (0.1-1 m in size) at the top
0 0 Serpentinite : nilAhmane
[ 2 1 : outcrops, 2 : concealed o ~ ] o k ,
Fig. 1. Geological sketch showing the locations of the Bou Azzer
Co deposits with respect to the serpentinites (after Leblanc 1975)
76

A
quartz m N elmira
r~ccols lm
l~lll~qlte im
cobaltlte r
azeenop~ite
skuttetnxllte m
bismuth ~mm
sul~Ides m
calcite m
talc mi

B
quartg I.,
n~ccoXs Ine .m
parazluIelSbetq~te' miNI
r~l~begq~te w
clinonftlorite
1611~ite m
cobaltite m
ar=enopyrite I
)kutter~llte m~
silver m
sultldes I .
calcite i
talc i

Fig. 4A, B. Mineralogical succession in the Co mineralizations of

the Ait Ahmane mine. A collomorphic crusts at the top and bottom
of cavities and disseminated spherical aggregates. B large concre-
tions within the sediment and veins
~serpentinite ~ laminated/brecciated
facies of
I~calc~fied serpentinite mineralized sediment
ite, galena and chalcopyrite). As observed in several talc deposits
II~microgabbro ]vein s (Hardy 1980), late talc may replace quartz and calcite. Sometimes,
talc is present as a rim at the border of quartz and calcite crystals;
'~quartz diorite / fault
sometimes, metallic minerals appear floating within a talc-rich matrix.
Fig. 2A, B. Map of the - 5 0 m level of the F53 Ait Ahmane mine.
A position of the veins and "contact ore body" (boxed area) with
The vein mineralization
respect to the serpentinite-quartz diorite contact (dotted line).
B geological map of a "contact ore body" (enlargement of the
The vein ore bodies (0.1-1.5 m thick) exhibit a banded texture with
boxed area). Scale in A: 10 m
idiomorphic quartz at the walls and arsenides, sulpharsenides, sulfides
and calcite at the center of the vein. They display the same mineral
succession as "contact mineralization" (Fig. 4).
The veins extend into the "contact mineralization" as quartz-cal-
cite veinlets cutting across the mineralized sediment or infilling along
) "-~d~ ~- ~--:'--~ '-~: = ..... :~: ..... ~= '/~'.k" . +1 the lamination planes (Fig. 2 and 3).
:l
Preliminary fluid inclusions data
~I ' D ~R I F, T 6 7 ~ :" - ~: ~ . - ~ t -'q'
, - : > -.~7~=2~ /4 + § + b ~'~
1
~'~ ~''~/ § +I + A preliminary study of fluid inclusions (Ennaciri in prep.) indicates
' ". + 9 " § "l the presence of strong brines as observed at Cobalt, Ontario (Mar-
, :"~4r"~F " I ~ ~=~j ~ I I I I~I - ~r ]+ + .I shall et al. 1993). Primary and secondary inclusions in quartz and
calcite from veins as well as in calcite from "contact mineralization",
,, ..... ,,,
"'o \,l j display a comparable range of homogenization temperatures (be-
tween 180 and 200 ~ and a similar high salinity ( > 30 wt% NaC1),
I] quart z d i o r i t e ~ calcite with significant Ca contents indicated by M E B - E D S analysis. These
~ rnicrogabbro ~ laminated/brecciated facies data suggest that the "contact mineralization" and "vein ore" were
of mineralized sediment formed from the same recurrent process. During an early stage, hy-
'~ c a l c i f i e d serpentinite r calcite and quartz veintets drothermal mineralization was deposited within cavities in the calci-
fied serpentinite, later a similar ore-forming brine was responsible for
~ collomorphic a r s e n i d e c r u s t / fault
the deposition of mineralized veins.

Fig. 3. Vertical section of a solution cavity infilled with mineralized

sediment (dashed lines indicate the banding direction of calcified
serpentinite)
and the bottom of the cavities (Fig. 3). Detailed investigations
(Ennaciri in preparation) allowed us to distinguish colloform crusts
and disseminated aggregates from intra-sedimentary large concre-
tions, the latter displaying an identical succession to the vein mineral-
ization. In all settings there has been successive formation (Fig. 4) of
diarsenides, sulph-arsenides, triarsenides and finally sulfides (sphaler-
Conclusion
In conclusion, the occurrence of a "cavity filling-hydrothermal" type
of "Cobalt ore" suggests that calcified zones at the border of serpen-
tinites are significant targets for cobalt prospection.
Acknowledgements. The authors are indebted to P. Billaud, Mining
Exploration Manager of the ONA Company, and to the geological
staff of Bou Azzer mine for providing help and suggestions. The
authors thank Prof. M. Leblanc for critically reading the
manuscript and for useful suggestions.

References
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Editorial handling: DR