Tectono-metamorphic evolution of the internal zone of the Pan-African Lufilian orogenic belt (Zambia): Implications for crustal reworking and syn-orogenic uranium mineralizations

The internal zone of the Pan-African Lufilian orogenic belt (Zambia) hosts a dozen uranium occurrences mostly located within kyanite micaschists in a shear zone marking the contact between metasedimentary rocks attributed to the Katanga Neoproterozoic sedimentary sequence and migmatites coring domes developed dominantly at the expense of the pre-Neoproterozoic basement. The P-T-t-d paths reconstructed for these rocks combining field observations, microstructural analysis, metamorphic petrology and thermobarometry and geochronology indicate that they have recorded burial and exhumation during the Pan-African orogeny. Both units of the Katanga metasedimentary sequence and pre-Katanga migmatitic basement have underwent minimum peak P-T conditions of ~ 9-11 kbar and ~ 640-660 °C, dated at ca. 530 Ma by garnet-whole rock Lu-Hf isochrons. This suggests that this entire continental segment has been buried up to a depth of 40-50 km with geothermal gradients of 15-20 °C.km− 1 during the Pan-African orogeny and the formation of the West Gondwana supercontinent. Syn-orogenic exhumation of the partially molten root of the Lufilian belt is attested by isothermal decompression under P-T conditions of ~ 6-8 kbar at ca. 530-500 Ma, witnessing an increase of the geothermal gradients to 25-30 °C·km− 1. Uranium mineralizations that consist of uraninite and brannerite took place at temperatures ranging from ~ 600 to 700 °C, and have been dated at ca. 540-530 Ma by U-Pb ages on uraninite. The main uranium deposition thus occurred at the transition from the syn-orogenic burial to the syn-orogenic exhumation stages and has been then partially transposed and locally remobilized during the post-orogenic exhumation accommodated by activation of low-angle extensional detachment.