GEOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS AND PROSPECTING POTENTIAL OF KANUNKA COPPER-COBALT DEPOSIT IN LUALABA, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO

Lualaba Province in the Democratic Republic of Congo is part of African Craton, where the world-famous Katanga copper metallogenic arc belt is developed, and the Kanunka copper deposit is occurred in the belt. Based on systematic data collection and secondary analysis, with extensive field work, the paper discusses the orebody characters, ore types and wall rock alteration of Kanunka copper deposit, analyzes the control of stratum and structure on mineralization, and summarizes the metallogenic regularity of copper deposit combined with geophysical prospecting. The results show that the ore minerals in the deposit are mainly secondary oxidized minerals such as malachite, azurite and tenorite, with the idiomorphic-xenomorphic granular ore texture and porous, brecciated and disseminated ore structures. The lamellar dolomitic sandstone (RSF) and honeycomb siliceous dolomite (RSC) are important ore-bearing horizons, with obvious stratabound ore/mineralized bodies. Structures are closely related to mineralization in space. The Kansuki fault with secondary faults and folds jointly control ore-bearing horizons, providing place for mineral migration, precipitation and stacking. It is preliminarily considered that Kanunka copper deposit is of sedimentary-hydrothermal reformation Cu-Co type. Combined with the geophysical exploration results and prospecting indicators, there is a tendency of enrichment and expansion of ore/mineralized bodies with good prospecting potential under the mineralized anomaly by the NE-trending secondary structure.