GEOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS AND RESOURCE POTENTIAL OF GRAPHITE DEPOSITS IN MADAGASCAR

The graphite minerals of Madagascar are mainly produced in the Archean-Paleoproterozoic sedimentary metamorphic strata. The whole island is divided into 3 graphite metallogenic belts, stretching from north to south, with the largest mineralized zone of 200 km long and 5000 m wide. The graphite orebodies appear in stratified, stratoid and banded shapes, spreading nearly in N-S with stable occurrence. The orebodies vary in size, with a maximum length of 6100 m, width of 327 m, and depth extension more than 1000 m. The grade of fixed carbon is 2.66%-9.02%. The graphite deposits in Madagascar are widely distributed, mostly super-large or medium-large scaled, with high grade and large grain size. Almost all of them are large crystalline graphites, which has vast resource potential. The resource amount of crystalline graphites is more than 200 Mt.