dc.description.abstract | Several hundred assay values of the bore holes drilled
within the ore body at Bukangama deposit of Kilembe Mines
Uganda were collected. The dips and the thickness of the ore
body at each bore hole, and whether the o;re body is hanging
wall ore body, middle ore body or the foot wall ore body, were
also noted.
The bore holes were then divided into dip groups,thickness
groups and the haning wall, foot wall and middle ore body
groups. Their copper contents were carefully noted. Analysis
of variance was done on these groups with the view to
establish the variance of their· copper content with increasing
dip, increasing thickness, and dividing,(by band or bands of,
wasteJ, the ore body into hanging wall ore body, middle ore
body and foot wall ore body. The study revealed that with
the increase of dips of ore body the copper content also
increased, the highest being at the crests. Similarly
thickness groups showed the increase of copper content with
the increase of thickness of the ore body. As regards ore
body when divided into the three groups, hanging wall, middle
and foot wall ore body the copper content was observed to be
highest in hanging wall ore body followed by middle and the
foot wall are body respectively.
Hence the study indicates an upward trend of migration
of copper within the are body. This shows that after the
are body was deposited in banded form which could have
resulted from earlier originally disseminated deposits, the
tectonic episodes that followed folded and cross folded the
are body within the host rocks and thereby subjected the
sulphides to stresses and high temperatures. The stress
imposed and the high temperature mobilized the sulphides to
less pressure regions such as domes and basins of the
structure. The mobilization of copper into the higher regions of the structure could have been in ionic state or as molten
or semimolten sulphide fihding its way up due to density
difference. | en |