Course Overview

This two-day course will focus on the geology of and exploration for orogenic gold deposits, the most widespread type of gold deposit globally. Leading experts will provide descriptions of the most important Precambrian and Phanerozoic examples of orogenic gold ores formed in the world's young accretionary orogens and old cratonic greenstone belts.

Topics to be covered include tectonic and structural controls, geological characteristics, geochemical and geophysical signatures, geochronological relationships, and exploration strategies. A large component of the program will be the detailed evaluation of gold metallogenesis and recent exploration successes throughout Africa.

Richard Goldfarb will focus on the general geology, alteration, mineralogy, geochemistry, and genesis of this family of deposits. He will discuss their distribution in the Phanerozoic and features of these younger deposits that relate to a better understanding of the Precambrian gold provinces. Overlapping features with the intrusion-related and Carlin-type deposits will be evaluated to better understand the formation and different exploration criteria for each of these.

Bob Foster will provide detailed descriptions of the Archean, Paleoproterozoic, and Neoproterozoic gold provinces and their ores across the entirety of the African continent. Lynnette Greyling will provide important insights to gold deposits in the West African craton in Côte d'Ivoire and the Kedougou-Kéniéba Inlier, and Caitlin Jones will describe complexities of the gold-endowed Barberton greenstone belt Kaapvaal craton. Leading Tanzanian geoscientist, Professor Joas Kabete, will overview key occurrences in the Tanzanian Craton and their tectonic setting. The growing recognition of the importance of Neoproterozoic/Pan-African terranes will also be addressed, focusing on the world's largest accretionary arc complex in North Africa and on the recent exploration successes in Namibia that have led to the country becoming a significant gold producer.

Event Details

• Date: April 11–12, 2026 (8:00 a.m – 5:30 p.m EAT)
• Location: Confucius Institute, University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
• Format: Two-day in-person short course with lectures, Q&A, lunches, coffee breaks, and an end-of-day Braai (BBQ)
• Audience: Geoscientists from industry and academia, and students of economic geology

Course Registration

Participation limited to 80 attendees. Early registration deadline: March 27, 2026. Regular deadline: April 7, 2026.