Publikationsrepositorium - Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf

Africa hosts just over 80 percent of the currently known land-based resources of manganese (Mn). The bulk of the African Mn resource is of sedimentary origin and hosted by strata of Paleoproterozoic age, although epigenetic processes, including hydrothermal enrichment and/or deep chemical weathering, have significantly enriched some of the deposits. Host strata and geological context have been used to categorize the deposits into four types, namely BIF-associated, black shale-associated, sandstone-associated (oolitic) and karst-associated. Mn deposits occur geographically clustered and related to a number of prominent sedimentary successions of Late Archean to Late Paleoprozerozoic age. The greatest concentration and genetic diversity occurs undoubtedly on the Kaapvaal Craton of Southern Africa. The Transvaal Supergroup (TVL SG) hosts the ~ 2,2 Ga BIF-associated deposits of the Kalahari Manganese Field – with an estimated 4,2 Gt of contained Mn by far the largest of all land-based Mn deposits globally. However, the TVL SG also hosts the ~ 2,4 Ga BIF-associated Rooinekke deposit and the 2,0-2.2 Ga Postmasburg Manganese Field, the latter comprising the worlds oldest karst-associated Mn deposits. The record of sedimentary Mn deposits of Paleoproterozoic age on the Kaapvaal Craton is complemented by the Tolwe deposit of the ~1,9 Ga Soutpansberg Group, the oldest known example of sandstone-associated oolitic Mn ores.
Other important Paleoproterozoic manganese deposits in Africa are all limited to sedimentary strata of ~ 2,1-2,2 Ga age. These successions may comprise cratonic cover sequences, such as the Francevillian Supergroup on the northwestern part of the Congo Craton, or are associated with the formation of Paleoproterozoic juvenile crust, such as the Birimian Supergroup of West Africa or the Lukoshi Complex in the DRC. Manganiferous carbonate beds closely associated with greywackes and pyritic black shales are geographically and stratigraphically widespread in these successions. In most cases, Late Mesozoic and Cenozoic lateritic weathering markedly enrich the manganiferous strata to form high-grade manganese oxide ores.
All major African Mn deposits occur in strata that immediately postdate the great oxidation event (GOE). Furthermore, they are associated with – or immediately postdate the deposition of banded iron formations. Together with an abundance of geochemical evidence this close temporal affiliation may be used to invoke that the unique concentration of Mn in the sedimentary environment is a consequence of the establishment of oxic conditions in the shallow marine as well as the terrestrial environment.