Author(s)

Baco Traore^1,2, Gbele Ouattara^1*, Marc Ephrem Allialy³, Ousmane Wane⁴, Mohamed Moustapha Ndam Njikam⁵, Adama Youssouf Kone⁶, Souleymane Sangare²

¹Civil Engineering, Geosciences and Geographic Sciences Laboratory, Yamoussoukro, Côte d’Ivoire.
²Bamako, Mali.
³UFR-STRM, University of Cocody, Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire.
⁴Laboratory of Mineralogy and Petrology, Faculty of Sciences and Techniques, University of Sciences, Techniques and Technologies of Bamako, Bamako, Mali.
⁵School of Geology and Mining Engineering, University of Ngaoundere, Ngaoundere, Cameroon.
⁶Faculty of Sciences and Technics (FST), University of Sciences, Technics and Technologies of Bamako (USTTB), Bamako, Mali.

A kimberlite field, represented by fertile and sterile kimberlite pipes (chimneys) is located in the region of Kenieba (West Mali, Kédougou-Kenieba inlier, West African Craton). Thirty pipes and kimberlite dykes have been identified in the birimian formations, composed mainly of metasediments and granitoids, covered by sedimentary formations (sandstones and conglomerates) of Neoproterozoic age. All these formations are injected with dykes and doleritic sills of Jurassic age. The study of kimberlite pipes is still stammering in Mali, and thus no previous study has allowed to characterize the structures controlling their implementation. The reinterpretation of aeromagnetic data validated by field work indicates that the major structures of the Kenieba region are oriented NNE-SSW, NE-SW, E-W and NW-SE. These structures (faults and kimberlite pipes) are often associated with dolerite dykes, which would imply an injection of dolerite magma into the other formations. The location of the known kimberlite pipes makes it possible to say that the direction NW-SE is the most favorable for the exploration of kimberlites in the region of Kenieba.

Kimberlite Pipes, Doleritic Dykes, Fractures, Aeromagnetism, Kenieba, Mali

Traore, B. , Ouattara, G. , Allialy, M. , Wane, O. , Njikam, M. , Kone, A. and Sangare, S. (2023) Aeromagnetic Imagery as a Tool to Help Identify the Structures Controlling the Emplacement of the Kenieba Kimberlite Pipes (Western Mali, West African Craton). Open Journal of Geology, 13, 1177-1194. doi: 10.4236/ojg.2023.1311050.