Département des Sciences de la Terre et des Ressources Minières (STéRMi), Laboratoire du Génie Civil, des Géosciences et Sciences Géographiques, Institut National Polytechnique Félix Houphouët-Boigny, BP 1093 Yamoussoukro, Côte d’Ivoire
The Yaouré gold district is located in the central-western part of Ivory Coast. The lithostratigraphy of this district is characterized from bottom to top as follows: (a) a series of metamorphic rocks, consisting of biotite gneiss and granodiorite gneiss; (b) a series of metasedimentary rocks, composed of medium to fine-grained sandstones and graphitic schists with elongated linear quartz-feldspar crystals and a north-south oriented schistosity.; (c) a series of volcanic rocks, consisting of pillow basalt flows associated with late-stage intrusive rocks (granodiorite, diorite, gabbro, tonalite, microgranodiorite, microdiorite, microgabbro), marking the end of magmatism; (d) a series of volcanoclastic rocks, composed of polygenic conglomerates. The petrographic study of the geological formations in the Yaouré gold district has allowed us to identify three main groups of rocks: (i) magmatic rocks (plutonic, subvolcanic, and volcanic); (ii) metamorphic rocks; (iii) volcano-sedimentary rocks (volcanoclastic and metasedimentary). Most of the lithologies in our study area are affected by greenschist metamorphism, characterized by minerals such as chlorite, sericite, epidote, as well as hydrothermal activity with carbonate fillings (calcite), quartz, potassium feldspar, sulfides, and varying amounts of gold.