Mine de Bou Skour, district de Bou Skour, Djebel Saghro (Jbel Saghro), province de Ouarzazate, région du Souss-Massa-Draâ, Maroc
Copper mine, located west of Djebel Saghro (Saghro range) and about 80 km south-east of Ouarzazate.
The locality is part of the hydrothermal deposits in the Anti-Atlas domain, which contains the highest number of copper deposits in Morocco. It is hosted by granites and green rocks (supposedly metamophosed andesites) cut by rhyolite dykes from Precambrian III. These formations disappear in the south under rhyolites flows from Precambrian III.
The main tectonic accident in the area is a NNW fault, followed by the mineralized vein over 10 km. The vein, of probable hercynian age, can be divided into two parts: the North vein, shot in granite, and the "Patte d'Oie" area in the south, shot in green rocks and accompanied by two satellites, veins I and II, of SE direction, respectively 300 and 600 m long (hence the name of "Patte d'Oie", one of the translations of "crossroad" in French). The operated zone was centered on the south end of the fault, and the main operating sectors ("quartiers") are the following, from North to south: Chaigne, Germaine, Anne-Marie, Chapeau de fer, Patte d'Oie and Kiki (see map of the mining district).
The North vein, 7 km long, was 3 m thick on average, and up to 10 m. Its best known part is "Quartier Anne Marie", where the gangue contains chiefly quartz, chlorite and little dolomite. The ore mainly consists in chalcopyrite as large and diffuse patches, accompanied or not by quartz, in chlorite-bearing fractures. Bornite sometimes formed at the same time as chalcopyrite, and sometimes later. Chalcocite is not abundant, as well as "fahlore". Sphalerite and galena are posterior to the copper mineralization. Pyrite is less abundant, and arsenopyrite, even rarer, is observed in microscopic grains.
At the "Quartier Patte d'Oie", the aspect of the vein is different: it contains chlorite and huge round masses of dolomites and calcite, veined with quartz and chlorite. Mineralization, more diffuse, is in impregnation in the green wall rocks or in quartz veinlets crossing the dolomite masses. Chalcopyrite seems to be the main ore here, too: it is found with rather abundant bornite, chalcocite, galena and "fahlore". In some chlorite-bearing joints, molybenite coatings were found, which seems to indicate the high temperature nature of this vein, and is also certainly in relation with the presence of wulfenite. The two NW-SE satellite veins have similar features.
The deposit was discovered in 1942 (or re-discovered as old slag witness ancient operation, likely from locals, in "Quartier Anne Marie" and "Quartier Patte d'Oie"), and exploration was undertaken until 1955, when ONA got the charge of operation and ore processing. The extraction installations were centered on sectors "Anne Marie" and "Patte d'Oie". A mill was constructed for processing of a daily 200-250 tons of mill-run rock at a grade of 2.5% Cu, which represented in the early 1970's more than half of the whole Moroccan production of copper concentrates. In 1978, when operation stopped, the mine had been the second source of copper for the country, totaling 4194 tons of concentrate. The mining permit expired on March 16., 1983.
More recently exploration resumed, owing to high copper prices, and some operation started, but everything went to a standstill after the falling of copper prices.
The most remarkable minerals from the Bou Skour area are:
- Agardite, for which Bou Skour is the type locality: tufts of green needles up to 4 mm, bluish green felted fibers, etc.
- Azurite: floaters of flat crystals up to to 6 cm, cm-size crystals on matrix
- Bornite: well formed crystals up to 7-8 mm
- Wulfenite : green platy crystals and blue micro bipyramidal crystals up to 2 mm
References
- Dietrich, J. E. and Favreau, G. (2005). Bou Skour (Maroc): au pays des wulfénites bleues, Le Cahier des Micromonteurs,(89), 106-114.
- Dietrich, J. E. (1970) Sur quelques minéraux de la zone d'oxydation du gisement de cuivre de Bou skour (Anti-Atlas marocain), PhD report Toulouse
- Dietrich, J. E., Orliac, M. and Permingeat, F. (1969) L’agardite, une nouvelle espèce minérale, et le problème du chlorotile, Bulletin de la Société Française de Minéralogie et de Cristallographie, (92), 420-434
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