A geostatistical approach to analyzing gold distribution controlled by large-scale fault systems – An example from Côte d’Ivoire

Abstract Geostatistical approaches can help to understand the general characteristics of an area, to suggest feasible geological models, and to quantify overall patterns in the occurrence of economic mineralisation. We use such an approach to demonstrate the relationships between large-scale faults of various ages and kinematics, lithologies, and gold mineralisation to facilitate understanding of crustal-scale structural controls of gold deposits. Our example comes from Cote d’Ivoire, which is known to have undergone at least three major phases of deformation, two of which produced transpressional faults resulting from ESE-WNW and, later, NE/ENE-SW/WSW, compression. Using aeromagnetic and surface geological data, we interpret these faults and suggest a multiphase Riedel model for the region, taking fault reactivation into consideration. With the help of this simplified model, the spatial relationships between the faults, lithology, and 909 known gold occurrences, including 554 artisanal mining sites, are analysed within a GIS. Using geostatistical methods, gold mineralisation was found to probably be a two-stage process, with the later D2 stage potentially being the peak mineralization event. Gold occurrences are most abundant within c. 3 km of both newly formed and reactivated NE-SW faults, most importantly P1 and Y2 faults, in areas of low-intermediate fault density, and close to lithological contacts within the greenstone sequences.