REPUBLIC OF CAMEROON REPUBLIQUE DU CAMEROUN

PEACE-WORK-FATHERLAND PAIX-TRAVAIL-PATRIX
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UNIVERSITY OF BAMENDA UNIVERSITÉ DES BAMENDA
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FACULTY OF SCIENCE FACULTÉ DES SCIENCE
DEPARTMENT OFGEOLOGY MINING AND ENVIRONMENTAL
SCIENCE
COURSE TITLE: GEOLOGY OF MINERAL DEPOSITS,PROSPECTION AND EXPLORATION
COURSE CODE: GLYS6103 LEVEL: 500
A REVIEW OF MOLYBDENUM ISOTOPIC COMPOSITION OF MOLYBDENITE AND
ASSIGNMENT
THE FERTILITY POTENTIAL OF THE EKOMEDION U-Mo PROSPECT, SW
CAMEROON

BY
TEBIT THEODORE ATAH UBa22SP149
MUKORO RYAN-KARL UBa22SP233
JAIDZEKA BORIS FONYUY UBa22SP248
KOMETA MARY-ANN UBa22SP249

LECTURER
Dr. ATEH KEVIN IJUNGI

ACADEMIC YEAR 2022-2023

 OUTLINE
• Introduction
• Geological setting of the study area
• Methodology
• Petrogenesis and magmatic evolution of the
granitic melt
• Occurrence and Mineralization of Mo in
Ekomedion
• Conclusion
• Recommendation
 INTRODUCTION
 Molybdenite ore is a rare mineral
composed of molybdenum and sulfur,
with chemical composition of MoS2. It
occurs in igneous and metamorphic
rocks and at high temperature (1065^c
or above). Molybdenite grades are
generally 0.01-0.25%
 Mo are hosted in granitic-pegmatite-
quartz-vein system. Mo also occurs
within stockwork quartz veins and as Global molybdenum reserve base
disseminations in the intrusive and 2021: 16,000,000 mt (rounded)
sedimentary rocks near the contact Source: US Geological Surve
zones.
 Mo mineralization can be associated
with U like in the case within the
Ekomedion prospect in SW Cameroon
(Mosoh Bambi et al. 2012)
 Review of the geologic setting
of the area of interest
-Ekomedion is located in the Ngondo complex,
which is an assemblage of metaluminous to
paraluminous, high K, calc alkaline to alkaline
characteristics that fall within the Cameroon
domain of the neoproterozoic CAFB
-The Mo-U ore hosting granite is spatially related to
a variety of other granitic rock types( Alkali feldspar
granite, Biotite rich granite and porphyritic granite
and they all intruded an older gneissic-migmatite
basement rock
 Geologic setting Cont’d

Geologic map of Ngondo Complex and environs showing location of

study area (modified from Tagne-Kamga et al. (1999), Tagne-Kamga
(2003))
 Methodology(from Embui et al.
2022)

• Geological rock sampling in the study area

• Samples were analyzed for their Mo
isotopic composition using the double
spike technique and multiple collector-
induced coupled plasma- mass
spectrometry (MC-ICP-MS)
 Petrogenesis and magmatic evolution of
the granitic melt
 Based on the crustal origin of the parental magma with little or no
contribution from the mantle (from the Lu–Hf Embui et al. 2020),
we infer that the melt evolved from a starting composition close to
the average continental crust, which must have δ98Mo values
between that reported for Phanerozoic upper continental crust and
mantle (Greber et al. 2015)
 Fractional crystallization of the melt system produced a sequence
of rocks from biotite granite through biotite– muscovite granite to
pegmatite
 Mo isotope fractionation in magmatic–hydrothermal system would
enrich isotopically heavier Mo in residual melts.
 During fluid evolution, such as in larger vein systems, molybdenite
progressively becomes isotopically heavier because isotopically
light Mo partitions preferentially into molybdenite.
 Occurrence and Mineralization of Mo
in Ekomedion.
 U–Mo mineralization of the Ekomédion prospect is
concentrated in pegmatitic pods and in quartz veins/
veinlets.
 Molybdenite in the pegmatitic pods hosted by the two-mica
granite is either concentrated in ore zones that indicate an
impregnation front or it is disseminated within the quartz–
feldspar matrix in a dense network of fractures or veinlets.
Suggesting a transitional magmatic-hydrothermal stage
 Petrography of the ore samples from Ekomédion reveals
that molybdenite occurs as sheets intergrown with quartz,
K–feldspar and muscovite.
 Occurrence and Mineralization of Mo-U in
Ekomedion cont’d

Outcrop images of massive and dessiminated zones of Mo and U

mineralization (from Embui et al.2022)
 Conclusion and
Recommmendations
 The molybdenum isotope composition of molybdenite from the
Ekomédion prospect, Cameroon reveals that molybdenite formed
from magmatic–hydrothermal fluids that exsolved from felsic magma
that underwent fractional crystallization.
 Plagioclase fractionation is depicted by both zircon and whole-rock
REE patterns, characterized by negative Eu anomalies.
Recommendations
 According to Embui et al.2022, the potential source of Mo and U and
the processes leading to their accumulation within the Ekomédion
prospect are poorly understood. We therefore recommend further
investigations on Fluid inclusion studies and structural studies
(structural constraints) to better understand if the Mo-U source is
from a hydrothermal origin (action of hydrothermal fuilds) and
interpretation of structural evolution.