Gold mineralisation in the Essakane goldfield in Burkina Faso, West African craton

•The OGB is a gold camp that formed during the Eburnean Orogeny.•Gold mineralisation at Essakane goldfield are of shear hosted orogenic gold style.•Gold mineralisation in sheeted and stockwork veins hosted in metamorphosed Birimian Supergroup•The Essakane goldfield represents different styles of gold mineralisation.

The West African craton is known for its structurally hosted Au deposits in Ghana, Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Mali and Niger. The Essakane goldfield in northeast Burkina Faso has produced 1 606,000 oz of gold since 2010 from the Essakane Main Zone. The Essakane goldfield is made up of several exploration and artisanal sites that include; Essakane Main Zone, Gossey, Falagountou, Sokadie, Tin Zoubratan, Essakane North and South, Korizéna, Bom Kodjélé, Tin Taradat, Tassiri, Gaigou, and Takabangou. Gold mineralisation in sheeted and stockworks quartz–carbonate and tourmaline veins occurs with pyrite, arsenopyrite, and traces of pyrrhotite, galena and hematite. It is hosted in sheared, folded and contact metamorphosed volcanic, volcanoclastic and sedimentary Birimian Supergroup sequences. The maximum age of gold mineralisation in the Essakane goldfield is syn-deformational and formed during the Eburnean Orogeny (D2) at 2130–1980 Ma.

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