ABSTRACT
The stratiform-stratabound Cu and Cu-Co deposits of the Katanga Supergroup occur in three different tectonostratigraphic settings. A continuous succession of the Lower Roan Group strata unconformably overlying the pre-Katangan basement hosts the major orebodies of the Zambian Copperbelt. However, the deposits in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and some deposits in Zambia, occur in allochthonous megablocks containing Roan-correlative strata and embedded in megabreccias. Contrary to past opinion of purely tectonic origin, recent results show that the ‘megabreccias’ are synorogenic conglomerates. They were deposited in two foreland basins formed in response to two orogenies. Proximal conglomerates of the Guba Group in Zambia record the early foreland basin. The Fungurume Group in the DRC documents sedimentation in the late foreland basin. The foreland successions have features applicable in exploration for Roan-correlative megablocks. The elements of the new exploration model are defined by stratigraphic position, boundaries, lithology/derivation of clasts, and vertical and lateral trends of sedimentary features.
