The Democratic Republic of Congo is one of the vast countries of the African continent, with a surface area of 2345 million km2. It has a rich soil and subsoil that can be used as a primary development sector. The geology of the DRC is known only in a regional context, i.e., not in great detail, and requires a great deal of investigation on smaller scales. With this in mind, we aim to provide more detailed data on the geology of the Lukula region. The aim is to find occurrences of mineralization in the various formations encountered and evaluate its river (Rivière Lukula) in order to propose a model for the circulation of fluids carrying these mineralizations and finally to plan a prospective study. Our study area is the Lukula territory, which is rich in mineral concentrations, which is why we focused on in situ and laboratory petrography, laboratory metallogeny and metallography, and the evaluation of its large river, where mining activities take place (artisanal mining). Artisanal gold mining has been going on for decades now, and during our fieldwork we got our fingers on the gold and some diamond showings in our study area.
This work consists of a sedimentological and paleoenvironment study of the carbonate rocks of the Mbuji-Mayi Supergroup dated to the Neoproterozoic of the Bena Kabongo quarries. Macroscopically, two lithofacies have been determined, namely: limestone and dolomite. Field observations show us that the base of the sequence is dominated by dark fine-grained limestones. The summit part is represented by fine-grained gray limestones that alternate with brownish dolomite. Based on seven thin sections, a microscopic observation was carried out and allowed us to detect three microfacies, namely: intrasparites, intramicrites and intraclastics, all representing a standard sequence of the sedimentary series. This sequence shows the evolution of the deposit going from a subtidal zone to an intertidal zone. Analysis of the microfacies of the sequence shows that the strata were accumulated on an internal ramp in the shallower and more oxidizing conditions with stromatolitic flora.