Contrôle karstique de minéralisations nickélifères de Nouvelle-Calédonie

Fracturing associated with the nickeliferous mineralisations of New Caledonia has been successively considered as pre-dating and then post-dating the metallogenic processes. On the basis of a study of the dynamics of karst contemporaneous with lateritisation, a new emplacement model is proposed for the mineralisation: a network of hydraulic fractures of the crack-seal type governs the emplacement of mineralisation, associated with a network of normal faults that controls the sinking and evacuation of the karst products. To cite this article: A. Genna et al., C. R. Geoscience 337 (2005).