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The Asosa region of western Ethiopia: a golden exploration opportunity

Article in Geology Today · January 2018

DOI: 10.1111/gto.12217

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Feature
The Asosa region of western Ethiopia: a
golden exploration opportunity
Gold mining has a legendary history in Ethiopia, with Ethiopian mines
providing gold to the ancient Egyptian empire and possibly even King
Solomon’s Mines and the Queen of Sheba. Today, gold occurs in the Pan-
African age schist belt and Tertiary basaltic lavas of the Asosa region of
Benishangul-Gumuz, western Ethiopia. There is widespread artisanal gold
production in the Asosa region, with moderate activity by small numbers of
local workers producing relatively large amounts of gold. There is a strong
relationship between predominantly shear zone-hosted gold deposits and
the Kuluck shear zone, suggesting a structural control on gold accumulation.
Gold is also commonly associated with secondary sulphide mineralization and
magnetite alteration in Asosa rocks. The source of the gold is thought to be
the sub-volcanic intrusions generated during the subduction of the oceanic
crust at the trench island-arc system, akin to what we see today in epithermal
and porphyry type gold systems. Historical workings and anomalous gold
concentrations in rock, soil and stream sediments point to a potentially
significant untapped gold resource in the Asosa region of western Ethiopia.
The Asosa region in the state of Benishangul-Gumuz,
western Ethiopia, straddles the border between the
Ethiopian highlands and South Sudan, and is home to
potentially highly profitable gold deposits. The region
lies on a major suture zone in the Southern Arabian-
Nubian Shield—a Neoproterozoic (Pan-African) Shield
(ANS) area, already known to host world class gold
deposits. The district of Nejo, about 100 km south
east of Asosa, is reputed to be the home of the ‘oldest
gold mine in the world’ and origin of the legend of
King Solomon’s Mines. The ANS has been mined
for over 6000 years and provided a principal source
of gold to the Egyptian empire. It is also speculated
that Ethiopian gold mines may even have supplied
the Queen of Sheba with her riches in Biblical times.
More recently, gold has been panned from alluvial
deposits along the rivers and streams of the region.
In the western Ethiopian basement complex region,
artisanal and alluvial gold mining started in the late
nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Precious
base metal and industrial mineral surveys have been
conducted in western Ethiopia by many geologists
© John Wiley & Sons Ltd, The Geologists’ Association & The Geological Society of London, Geology Today, Vol. 34, No. 1, January–February 2018
FEATURE
and exploration companies since the beginning of the Liam A. Bullock1 &
twentieth century.
Owen Morgan2
Asosa is close to the richly-endowed Wellega 1
University of Aberdeen,
gold-bearing district of Ethiopia that hosts the 1.5
Dept. of Geology &
million ounce Tulu Kapi gold discovery of Nyota
Petroleum Geology, Meston
Minerals, associated with major north-trending
Building, King’s College,
prospective sinistral fault zones. The Kuluck River,
Aberdeen, AB24 3UE, UK
the Koncha River and their associated alluvial plains
liam.bullock@abdn.ac.uk
had previously seen semi-mechanized placer gold 2
Tactical Environmental
mining during the Italian occupation of 1935–1940.
Response Ltd, Ilkley,
However, despite exploration activity undertaken
Yorkshire, LS29 9BZ, UK
by GP Resource Mining plc between 2011 and
2014, the region remains relatively untouched
and underdeveloped in terms of systematic mineral
prospecting. The local inhabitants are mostly
dependent on agriculture, including arable and
livestock farming, as well as honey production and
bamboo harvesting. Only minor artisanal placer gold
mining and panning are evident. In the Afa Valley
and its tributary that crosses the northern part of the
Asosa area, local inhabitants still mine gold using
artisanal methods. Prior to 2011, sufficient records
31
 FEATURE

Geomorphology and accessibility

The morphology of the Asosa region is dominated by
flatlands, dissected valleys, highly rugged terrains, and
mountainous ridges (Figs 2, 3). The northern parts
of the area are flatlands (Fig. 2), with streams that
emanate from high ridges, while the southern part
is characterized by dissected valleys (Fig. 3). Some of
the major drainage patterns are of rectangular type,
implying structural controls, e.g. the Kuluck River
and associated tributaries. Smaller streams, such as
Kushmando and Koncha, show dendritic drainage
patterns. The region is densely vegetated by bamboo
and incense trees, with remnants of tropical rainforests
along the river valleys. Some of the region is also
covered by densely growing savanna grasses. The
savanna grass starts to grow during the rainy season
and can attain a height of 2.5 m. Most of the plains
are thick brown to black cotton soil cover, supporting
did not exist to validate the actual gold potential and Fig. 1. General geology of
wide farm-plots. The most inaccessible, uncultivated
resources recovered. Exploration activities conducted the region of known gold
and rugged parts of the region are along the Kuluck
since then provide the only true quantitative data occurrence south of Asosa in
the Benishangul-Gumuz state of
River and its tributaries. However, the Asosa area
available for the Asosa region, including extensive
Ethiopia. is now generally accessible by a recently developed
geological mapping and geochemical data for
asphalt road from Addis Ababa. The gold-bearing
whole rock, soil and stream sediment samples. The
region can also be accessed by an all-weather road
data and observations summarised here point to a
and dry weather dirt road via the Abramo Village
potentially profitable gold resource, with structural
(though it is difficult to reach the countryside by car
and paragenetic controls on gold mineralization in
in the rainy season). The southern, south eastern
the Asosa region.
and south western parts of the region can be reached
via the Asosa–Bambesi Road and the Kushmando–
Geology of the Asosa region Shanta Goba Road. The route is made up of an
asphalt road to Bambesi and an all-weather gravel
The major suture zone in the Southern Arabian–Nubian
road from Bambesi to Begi junction. The remaining
Shield has an oceanic affinity, containing sutures
access to the area is possible by 4×4 vehicles on a
of meta-sediments of deep-sea marine sedimentary
dry weather road.
origins (trench sediments), volcanic rocks of calc-
alkaline (island-arc) origin and fragments of mafic to
ultramafic rocks (ophiolites) of oceanic crustal origin. Gold occurrence in the Asosa region
Fig. 2. Road from Asosa Airport
The sutures of former oceanic areas that have accreted
through flatlands and leading to Panning activity by local inhabitants is not only focused
to form the Arabian–Nubian Shield consist of linear
the gold-hosting Asosa region in on gold deposits within the streams (transported and
schist belts, containing phyllitic to greenschist facies
the Ethiopian Highlands near the secondary), but also taken directly from in situ rocks
meta-sediments and meta-volcanics. The sutures in villages of Yeba and Magale. crossed by the streams. Pan concentrates taken from
the accreted shield areas are the loci for major shear
zones that commonly host gold deposits. The regional
structural set-up of the western Ethiopian shield is
shown by three phases of deformation-associated
foliations, folding and lineations. The Asosa region
is represented by the Kuluck shear zone (Fig. 1). The
area is also characterised by syn- and post-kinematic
Neoproterozoic granitoid intrusions, Tertiary basalts
and a lateritic cover (extensive over basaltic lavas).
Important gold mineralization zones are hosted within
quartz veins, schist units (amphibolite schist, quartz
graphitic schist and quartzo-feldspathic sericite schist)
and granitic gneiss (Fig. 1). The ANS mineralization
is dominated by orogenic gold, tantalum, niobium,
tungsten, rare earth elements, uranium and tin.

32 © John Wiley & Sons Ltd, The Geologists’ Association & The Geological Society of London, Geology Today, Vol. 34, No. 1, January–February 2018

in situ rocks show gold grains from fine to coarse, and
from 1 grain per pan to more than 10 grains per pan,
often accompanied by magnetite. Crushed channel
samples from trenches also show a number of gold
grains, especially from trenches in the graphitic schist
and quartz feldspar biotite schist units. A number of
sulphide minerals occur alongside the gold deposits,
including pyrite, chalcopyrite, arsenopyrite (Fig. 4),
as well as carbonate minerals (ankerite) and oxide
minerals (predominantly magnetite, but also ilmenite,
rutile and specularite).
Field observations and panning suggest that
gold content is higher within schists, pegmatite and
quartzite veins, and is generally abundant across the
region (Figs 5, 6). Analysis by atomic absorption
spectrophotometry of whole rock samples from the
Asosa region confirms the presence of gold anomalies
within these lithological units. The average gold
content across all 370 analysed samples is 0.36 ppm.
Results also highlight anomalous Cu, Fe, Ag, As,
Se and Mo content in whole rock samples. There
are 18 sample localities that potentially host high
gold concentrations within the solid rock (i.e. gold
content above 1 ppm). One anomalous gold value of
29 ppm has also been identified from a basaltic unit
© John Wiley & Sons Ltd, The Geologists’ Association & The Geological Society of London, Geology Today, Vol. 34, No. 1, January–February 2018
Fig. 3. View of the Asosa region
(looking south) across quartz
graphitic schist spur units.
Fig. 4. Microscopic gold
associated with sulphide (pyrite)
minerals.
Fig. 5. Gold panning in the
streams that flow into the Kuluck
River in the Asosa region.
FEATURE
in the north of the region. Granitic gneiss samples
also show anomalous gold (4–11 ppm), as do quartz
feldspar biotite schist samples (3–9 ppm) and a quartz
graphite schist sample (4 ppm). Analysed stream
sediment and soil samples also contain anomalous
gold concentrations (up to 88 ppm and 4 ppm
respectively).
The source of the gold is thought to be the sub-
volcanic intrusions generated during subduction of
oceanic crust at the trench, akin to mineralization
in island-arc systems that we see today in more
recent epithermal and porphyry type gold systems.
In the north of the region, there is evidence for
gold anomalies that correlate well with faults.
These faults represent ridges relating to shear zone
activity. Orogenic gold in veins concentrate in areas
of transpressional shearing, strike-slip faulting and
thrusting, as well as at margins and adjacent wall rocks
associated with plutons. This suggests a structural
control on the distribution of gold in this area. Gold-
bearing major faults of the ANS are interpreted to
be the result of NW-directed compression forming
N-trending sinistral transpressional faults and NE-
trending thrust faults. Asosa lies within one such
major north-trending sinistral deformation zone. The
gold occurrences typically developed between about
650 Ma and 615 Ma, with gold-bearing quartz-
carbonate veins commonly associated with late
to post tectonic calc-alkaline diorite, granodiorite
and granite intrusions emplaced at the end of the
Nabitah orogeny (680–650 Ma). There are also
anomalous zones at the edge of the basaltic plateau,
which may relate to fluid development, migration
and entrapment between different lithological units.
The widespread geochemical anomaly associated
with the mineralized schist units show that this is
an extensive gold-bearing hydrothermal mineralising
system, supported by anomalous Cu, Fe, Ag, As, Se
and Mo geochemistry. Due to the commonly observed
coupled occurrence, the mobility of gold may also be
controlled by the paragenesis of sulphides (e.g. pyrite;
Fig. 5) and other secondary minerals. The potential
33
 FEATURE
paragenetic sequence of gold mineralization is shown
in Fig. 7, exhibiting at least two possible stages of
formation, mobilization and re-precipitation.
Summary
Gold-bearing faults and widespread geochemical
anomalies in the Asosa region are associated with
an extensive hydrothermal mineralizing system,
suggesting that this is a potentially world-class gold
deposit region. The close proximity of the Asosa
region to the richly-endowed Wellega gold-bearing
district also lends to the interpretation that the region
has world-class gold deposit potential. The presence
of late tectonic granitoid intrusions are known to be
associated with the gold mineralization at Tulu Kapi,
and elsewhere within the ANS, and much of the area
is also covered by laterite, meaning that potentially
gold-prospective ground remains unpegged. Gold has
been identified in situ, hosted within schist, gneiss,
basalt and quartz and pegmatite vein units. Gold is
considered to be of primary Precambrian igneous
plutonic origin, with a structural control on gold
migration from igneous source, and accumulation
34 © John Wiley & Sons Ltd, The Geologists’ Association & The Geological Society of London, Geology Today, Vol. 34, No. 1, January–February 2018
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within schist belt units. The paragenesis of sulphides,
magnetite and other secondary minerals may also play
an important role in gold mobility and precipitation.
The recently improved accessibility of the Asosa area
and widespread gold occurrence of this relatively
untouched resource may present an ideal future gold
prospecting region.
Acknowledgements
We thank Micky Brown (Mappa Mundi Ltd), Kerry
Taylor (Sinistral International Pty Ltd), and the
former geological team of GP Resource Mining Plc
for their field and technical assistance. Dedicated
to the memory of Kerry Taylor, founder of Sinistral
International, Perth, Australia, sadly missed by all
Fig. 6. Recovered gold grains
who spent time with him at the Asosa site in 2012.
from panning of crushed rock
and stream sediments.
Suggestions for further reading
Allen, A. & Tadesse, G. 2003. Geological setting and
tectonic subdivision of the Neoproterozoic orogenic
belt of Tuludimtu, western Ethiopia. Journal of
African Earth Sciences, v.36, pp.329–343.
Braathen, A., Grenne, T., Selassie, M.G. & Worku, T.
2001. Juxtaposition of Neoproterozoic units along
the Baruda–Tulu Dimtu shear-belt in the East
African Orogen of western Ethiopia. Precambrian
Research, v.107, pp.215–234.
Bullock. L.A. & Morgan, O. 2015. A new occurrence
of (gold-bearing) graphite in the Assosa region,
Benishangul-Gumuz state, W Ethiopia. Journal of
Earth Science and Engineering, v.5, pp.417–435.
Johnson, P.R., Andresen, A., Collins, A.S., Fowler,
T.R., Fritz, H., Ghebreab, W., Kusky, T.M. &
Fig. 7. Possible paragenetic
Stern, R.J. 2011. Late Cryogenian–Ediacaran
sequence of gold formation
history of the Arabian–Nubian Shield: a review
(and later mobilization and re-
of depositional, plutonic, structural, and tectonic
precipitation) for predominantly
events in the closing stages of the northern East
vein-hosted Asosa gold deposits.
African Orogen. Journal of African Earth Sciences,
v.61, pp.167–232.
Tadesse, S. 1999. Geology and gold mineralization in
the Pan-African rocks of the Adola area, Southern
Ethiopia. Gondwana Research, v.2,3, pp.439–447.
Tadesse, S. 2004. Genesis of the shear zone-related
gold vein mineralization of the Lega Dembi gold
deposit, Adola Gold Field, Southern Ethiopia.
Gondwana Research, v.7, pp.481–488.
Tadesse, S., Milese, J-P. & Deschamps, Y. 2003.
Geology and mineral potential of Ethiopia: a note
on geology and mineral map of Ethiopia. Journal of
African Earth Sciences, v.36, pp.273–313.