HIGH ER INSTITUTE OF MINES AND GEOLOGY OF BOKÉ

GEOLOGICAL SERVICES

LEVEL: LICENCE 3

TECHNICAL ENGLISH – GEOLOGY OF GUINEA

Djibril M’mamy CAMARA , Hydro-Géotechnicien

tél: 620 87 91 86/622 51 51 91 e-mail: djbmca01@gmail.com

 GUINEA'S KIMBERLITE FIELDS

Kimberlite is a massive, gray rock with a greenish shade.

Pipes, kimberlite dykes and kimberlite veins can be distinguished.
In Guinea the first kimberlites were detected in 1952 by SOGUINEX (in Bonodou/Macenta). The surface of these pipes
occupies a few thousand km2.
Usually kimberlites do not surface because they are covered by alluvium and deluvium.
Kimberlites are ultrabasic magmatic rocks that have not been sufficiently extended in West Africa until today, only a
kimberlite petrographic province is recognized in West Africa.
This province contains three major kimberlite distribution regions:
 1st Siera Léone (region of séfadou or district of Kono) this field covers 300.000km2;
 2nd Mali (Kéniéba region);
 3rd Guinea.
In addition to these three regions, diamond-bearing placers have been found in some countries such as:
 Côte d’Ivoire (Séguéla region);
 Liberia
Among all these kimberlite fields, Guinea has the particularity of being quite large and is enclosed by a few isolated
fields such as: Banakoro, Ourokoro, Férouba, Bonodou, Makona and Fénariah fields.
The entire Guinean field is oriented north-east (40 to 45°), that is, in the same direction as the Liberian field.
In Guinea, the Kimberlite lies in the pleated and metamorphized Precambrian basement. The surrounding rocks are
represented by granites, plagiogranites, granito-gneisses, grano-diorites and dolerites. The kimberlite is linked to the
deep faults in the earth’s crust, which are certainly fault lines that separate the Gondwana continent (according to Soviet
geologists who carried out the work in Guinea). The diamond-bearing region of Guinea borders the Simandou series
(AR2Sd).

Diamond-bearing laterite crust:

The release of laterites from kimberlite pipes and dykes reduces the price and makes operation easier. For example, the
products of laterite alteration of the upper part of the pipe “Droujba” are represented by clay evolution derived from
kimberlites, they were exploited by the Guinean company EGED in 1963-1965.
It should also be noted that the concentration of silicate nickel in the laterite weathering crust of ultrabasic rocks may be
detected.
The weathering crust requires further study in the mineralization of uranium and other materials.
Often laterite weathering products are used by the local population as a source of sand and clay for village construction.
But Guinea's greatest asset is undoubtedly the bauxiteferous and ferriferous lateritic crust, examined in detail above.
Based on knowledge of the laterite crust structure and composition that is controlled by their position in the terrain and
the composition of the parent rocks, the type of weathering products can be predicted for all lithological varieties of
existing rocks developed in Guinea.
 DEFINITION OF SCIENTIFICALLY INFORMED WORDS AND PHRASES:

1- Platform: Structural assembly formed of base and cover;

2- Placer: The feeding area where the minerals have accumulated;
3- Anticlinal: Core pleat formed of older materials;
4- Synclinal: Core pleat formed of newer materials;
5- Craton: Large, stable portion of the continental crust; era
6- Shield: Platform without sedimentary cover (old base without cover);
7- Facies: A set of petrographic, paleontological and paleogeographic features of a deposit or rock;
8- Stratigraphy: Science studying the chronological layout and relationships of layers;
9- Continent: The surface of the earth's crust and its border is shallow;
10- Diagenesis: Complex processes of sediment transformation into sedimentary rocks;
11- Era: Subdivision of geological time;
12- Earth: Third planet in the solar system;
13- Bauxite: Sedimentary rock that produces alumina;
14- Dolomite: Sedimentary carbonate rock consisting essentially of dolomite (95 to 100%);
15- Chalk: A limestone variety consisting of skeletal remains of planktonic organisms (60 to 70%);
16- Marnes: Sedimentary rocks transitioning between limestone and dolomite to clay rocks;
17- Migmatitis: A variety of gneisses resulting from the fusion of metasomatic gneisses and granites;
18- Tectonic window: An opening created in a loading sheet revealing the underlying formations;
19- Geosynclinal: An area that tends to subside, subside, and is highly characteristic for oil and gas;
20- Earth’s crust or bark: This is the surface area of the Earth’s globe with a power of 30km under the continents and
10km under the oceans;
21- Tidal wave: Earthquake with its epicentre at the bottom of the sea;
22- Klinger: This is the product of baking the cement components after they sheet the oven and before grinding;
23- Metallogenic Province: Mineralization area or field;
24- Metallogenic period: Period or time of mineralization;
25- Orogenic cycle: A period of time during which a mountain has formed.
 The main structural fundamentals of the earth’s crust are:
 Geosynclinal;
Pleated areas;
Platforms;
Ocean tiles;
Marginal or inter-mountain depressions.
The first minerals found on earth were Diamond and Zicron in Australia.
The first animal fossils encountered on earth were stromatolites.
 Elements of a tectonic structure:
 First order: Continents and oceans;
 Second order: Mobile areas or geosynclinal stable areas (platform);
 Third order: Intra-mountainous depressions of the antechiae and synechiae.