The geology and mineralisation at the Golden Pride gold deposit, Nzega Greenstone Belt, Tanzania

The Golden Pride gold deposit (similar to 3 Moz) is located in the central part of the Nzega Greenstone Belt at the southern margin of the Lake Victoria Goldfields in Tanzania. It represents an inferred Late Archaean, orogenic gold deposit and is hosted in intensely deformed meta-sedimentary rocks in the hanging wall of the approximately E-W striking Golden Pride Shear Zone. The hanging-wall sequence also includes felsic (quartz porphyritic) to mafic (lamprophyric) intrusions, as well as banded iron formations. Hydrothermal alteration phases associated with mineralisation are dominated by sericite and chlorite. Two main ore types can be distinguished, chlorite and silica ore, both occupying dilational sites and structural intersections in the hanging wall of the main shear zone. Sulphide minerals in both ore types include pyrrhotite, arsenopyrite, pyrite and accessory sphalerite, galena, sulphosalts and Ni-Co-Bi sulphides. Gold and tellurides are late in the paragenetic sequence and associated with a secondary phase of pyrrhotite deposition. Sulphur isotope compositions range from -6 to 7 per mil and are interpreted to reflect contributions from two distinct sources to the mineralising fluids in the Golden Pride gold deposit. A redox change, potentially induced by the intrusion of mafic melts, together with structural elements in the hanging wall of the Golden Pride Shear Zone, are interpreted to be the main controls on gold mineralisation in this deposit.