Field Trip: Southern Namibia
On a recent visit to southern Namibia, our SVP of Discovery, Patrick Redmond, co-lead a field trip to some of the most interesting mine sites on the African continent.
The field trip departed from Windhoek on September 21 and the 16 participants traveled by road to southern Namibia with descriptions of the regional geology and metallogeny along the way.
The second day was spent at the Haib porphyry Cu-(Mo) deposit. Haib is one of the largest (+900 Mt at 0.3% Cu) and best-preserved Paleoproterozoic porphyry Cu deposits and one of the only known porphyry deposits in Africa. Despite its age (ca. 1886-1881 Ma) the deposit has only been subjected to minimal deformation and relatively low-grade metamorphism. The visit included a review of drill core and outcropping veins and mineralization.
The following day, the group drove to the Rosh Pinah zinc mine where they were given an overview presentation followed by a drill core review. Rosh Pinah is stratabound deposit, hosted by arkoses and quartzites in the lower sections of the Neoproterozoic to early Palaeozoic Gariep Complex comprising mixed sediments and volcanics deposited in a continental rift setting. From 1969 to 2017, a total of 27.0 Mt of ore was mined from the various ore lenses at Rosh Pinah. In 2020, the estimated remaining resource was 18 Mt at 7.5% Zn and 1.9% Pb.
The following day the group visited the Skorpion non-sulfide zinc deposit which is also hosted by the Neoproterozoic to early Palaeozoic Gariep Complex. The main body of supergene zinc ore at Skorpion is dominated by hemimorphite and sauconite and contains lesser smithsonite. The deposit had an estimated pre-mining resource of 25Mt at 11% Zn.
The trip finished up with a full day in Fish River Canyon – the largest canyon in Africa and the one of the largest worldwide after the Grand Canyon. The canyon incises the South African Plateau revealing sub-horizontal strata of the Late Neoproterozoic, lower Nama group, unconformably overlying tilted and metamorphosed granites and gneisses of the Paleoproterozoic Namaqualand group.
An incredible trip that was a highlight of the journey to Namibia and the SEG Conference in Windhoek. Where should we go next?
