Contribution of the geochemistry of the gossan to the prospection of volcanogenic sulphide deposits of Central Jebilets, Morocco

The central Jebilets are occupied by the Saghlef series attributed to the upper Visean, are materialized by a predominance of the gossans, some of which directly cover massive sulphide predominantly pyrrhotite. These gossan with oxides and hydroxides of iron can be distinguished from East to West in three main plurikilometric axes sub-parallel to the meridian direction. The present study is concerned with the interpretation of geochemical data covering all Central Jebilets gossans. The analyzed elements such as Ag, As, Bi, Sn, Mo and Te, in addition to the base metals researched, made it possible to classify these gossans into three classes: 1) very promising class contains the Draa sfar and Koudiat Aicha deposits, 2) moderately promising class includes the Kettra deposit and Ben Slimane and Lachach indices, 3) and the least promising class contains the rest of the sites. These chemical elements can be used as a basic prospecting guide for gossan in Central Jebilets province and extrapolate these results to all Hercynian lands.