Focus on gold and uranium mineralization coupled with geophysics and geometallurgy to assist with advance orebody knowledge.
The importance of the Witwatersrand Basin to the economy of South Africa cannot be over-emphasized. Since the discovery of the first mineable Witwatersrand-type gold reefs in 1886 in Johannesburg, the ore deposits and their rocks have been extensively studied. However, many unanswered questions about these enigmatic rocks remain. The DSI-NRF CIMERA thus continues to support research into aspects of the greater Witwatersrand-Pongola Basin that will add to the body of knowledge about the deposits. This in turn will provide insights as to how to detect such ore deposits deep underground during exploration, how to determine the close-range ore body configuration to facilitate improved mining, and how to better recover the gold from the rock.
Current Research:
- The magma source(s) and Ni-PGE potential of the Ventersdorp Large Igneous Province
Ass. Prof. Phil Janney - Investigation of drill core (NMDD 024) from the Nangodi Greenstone Belt of NW Ghana
Ass. Prof. Axel Hofmann - Age and setting of the ultramafic-mafic volcanism of the Murchison greenstone belt, South Africa: implications for the tectonic evolution of the Kaapvaal Craton and Archaean antimony mineralization
Ass. Prof. Axel Hofmann - Witwatersrand Basin organic carbon and associated gold mineralisation
Ass. Prof. Axel Hofmann - Genetic constrains on gold and antimony mineralisation along the Antimony Line, Murchison greenstone belt, South Africa
Ass. Prof. Napoleon Hammond - Mineralogical Characterisation and 3D Modelling of the Pyrophyllite Deposit: A Case Study of Idwala Pyrophyllite Mine in the Ottosdal area
Dr Benedict Pharoe
