Geologic Map of the Weka Dur Gold Deposit, Badakhshan Province, Afghanistan, Modified from the 1967 Original Map Compilation of M.P. Guguev and Others

Abstract

This geologic map of the Weka Dur gold deposit located in Badakhshan Province, Afghanistan, is a redrafted and modified version of the Geological map of the Weka Dur area, scale 1:10,000 and Geological map of the Weka Dur deposit, scale 1:2,000 from Guguev and others (1967) (Soviet report no. R1584). That unpublished Soviet report contains the original maps and cross sections, which were prepared in cooperation with the Ministry of Mines and Industries of the Republic of Afghanistan in 1967 under contract no. 1378 (Technoexport, USSR). This USGS publication not only reproduces the geology of the original Soviet maps and cross sections, but also illustrates a mapped adit with reported gold concentrations from sampling within the adit, and shows the location of Soviet trenches along the Weka Dur gold deposit.

The Weka Dur gold deposit lies in a cluster of other gold deposits in Badakhshan Province (Ragh district), such as the Kadar, Nesheb Dur, and Rishaw gold occurrences. These gold occurrences lie within a zone of late Hercynian folding and are most likely related to fluids that originated from orogenic processes. The Weka Dur deposit is the largest recorded gold occurrence in Afghanistan and is hosted in Proterozoic mica schist and amphibolite that is intruded by diabase dikes and other intrusive rocks. The tabular orebody is 350 meters (m) long and 2 m wide and can be traced downdip for 110 m. Mineralization consists of ochreous, brecciated schists containing high gold concentrations along gently and steeply dipping fissures. The brecciated rocks grade to 46.7 grams per ton (g/t) silver and contain arsenopyrite, galena, chalcopyrite, and scheelite. Trenches and adits were constructed, mapped, and sampled during the 1960s. Calculated resources are 958.3 kilograms of gold, averaging 4.1 g/t gold.

First posted December 16, 2014