Project “Kunene Complex and its Potential Subsurface Extensions”

The Kunene Project has been sponsored primarily by Anglo-American since 2021 and involves six Principal Investigators from UJ (Trishya Owen-Smith, Jérémie Lehmann), UP (Lorenzo Milani) and Wits (Grant Bybee, Ben Hayes, Stephanie Scheiber-Enslin), twelve MSc and PhD students as of Feb 2024 (Kaydi Govender, Casper Karadzandima, Thoriso Lekoetje,  Nthatisi Makhoba, Agex Manuel, Lorraine Mothobekhi, Goitseone Motshabi, Glenance Ngomane, Simphiwe Ntuli, Thabiso Sibanyoni, Daniel Timpson and Jimi Vila) and several Honours students from the three institutions. The project coordinators are Hielke Jelsma (Anglo-American) and Jérémie Lehmann (UJ-CIMERA).

Our work is dedicated to clarifying the remaining scientific issues related to the geological evolution of Proterozoic AMCG (anorthosite, mangerite, charnockite and granite), such as their restriction to the Proterozoic, mechanisms of emplacement, petrogenesis, tectonic setting and mineral endowment.

We do this by studying the approx. 1.38 Ga Kunene Complex of Angola and Namibia, which is the largest AMCG complex in the world. Our multidisciplinary approach includes field mapping, structural geology, quantitative microstructural analyses, metamorphic and magmatic petrology, isotope geochemistry, geochronology, remote sensing and potential field geophysics.

Our research partners are the Agostinho Neto University in Luanda (Angola), University of Geneva (Switzerland), University of British Columbia (Canada), University of Cape Town (South Africa) and the University of Cambridge (United Kingdom).

Publications of the Kunene Team:

• Milani, L., Oosthuizen, L., Owen-Smith, T.M., Bybee, G.M., Hayes, B., Lehmann, J. and Jelsma, H.A., 2024. Magnetite geochemistry as a proxy for metallogenic processes: A study on sulfide-mineralized mafic–ultramafic intrusions peripheral to the Kunene Complex in Angola and Namibia. Mineralium Deposita.
• Ferreira, E., Lehmann, J., Feliciano Rodrigues, J., Hayes, B., Merino-Martínez, E., Milani, L., Bybee, G.M., Owen‑Smith, T.M., Luis García-Lobón, J., C. G. Tassinari, C., Ueckermann, H., Sato, K., Bravo Silva, P., Correia, J., Labaredas, J., Duarte, L., Molekwa, M.A., Manuel, J. and da Mata Lourenço Victorino, A., 2024. Zircon U-Pb and Lu-Hf isotopes reveal the crustal evolution of the SW Angolan Shield (Congo Craton). Gondwana Research, 131: 317-342.
• Lehmann, J., Brower, A.M., Owen-Smith, T.M., Bybee, G.M. and Hayes, B., 2023. Landsat 8 and Alos DEM geological mapping reveals the architecture of the giant Mesoproterozoic Kunene Complex anorthosite suite (Angola/Namibia). Geoscience Frontiers: 101620.
• Milani, L., Lehmann, J., Bybee, G.M., Hayes, B., Owen-Smith, T., Oosthuizen, L., Delport, P.W.J., Ueckermann, H. 2022. Geochemical and geochronological constraints on the Mesoproterozoic Red Granite Suite, Kunene AMCG Complex of Angola and Namibia, Precambrian Research, 379, 106821.
• Hayes, B., Lehmann, J., Bybee, G.M., Owen-Smith, T.M. 2022. Crystal transfer from magma to wallrock during syntectonic granite emplacement, Journal of the Geological Society, 179(1).
• Lehmann, J., Bybee, G.M., Hayes, B., Owen-Smith, T.M., Belyanin, G. 2020. Emplacement of the giant Kunene AMCG Complex into a contractional ductile shear zone and implications for the Mesoproterozoic tectonic evolution of SW Angola, International Journal of Earth Sciences, 109, 1463-1485.
• Bybee, G.M., Hayes, B., Owen-Smith, T.M., Lehmann, J., Ashwal, L.D., Brower, A.M., Hill, C.M., Corfu, F., Manga, M. 2019. Proterozoic massif-type anorthosites as the archetypes of long-lived (≥ 100 Myr) magmatic systems—new evidence from the Kunene Anorthosite Complex (Angola). Precambrian Research, 332 (15), 105393.

The aims of the project are:

• (i) to assist Anglo-American in better identifying areas that are prospective for Ni-Cu-(Co-PGE);
• (ii) to train the next generation of Southern African geoscientists;
• (iii) to produce high-quality and impactful research; and
• (iv) to build strategic relationships with institutions in Angola, by capacity building, training of students and collaborative research.

For further information regarding the Kunene project, kindly contact Jérémie Lehmann (jeremiel@uj.ac.za)