Brief Description of Geological-Tectonic Evolution and Metallogenesis at Kerkebet and Adjacent Areas in Eritrea

Located in the Augaro-Adobha metallogenic belt in the Nubian terrane, the Kerkebet exploration area shows superior metallogenic conditions in Eritrea. Recent years, major breakthroughs have been made in this exploration area, and the Mier medium-sized gold deposit has been found and evaluated. It is also found by field investigation that many target areas (e.g., Shukula, Locotat, Yasiney, Koken et al.) in this area show great gold polymetallic prospecting potential, and the mineralization is obviously controlled by geological-tectonic evolution. However, due to the limitation of previous basic geological survey and comprehensive researches, this region has not yet carried out systematic studies on geological-tectonic evolution, which seriously restricts the prospecting exploration and theoretical guidance. Based on this, after systematically sorting out the existing data of this region, this paper adopts the "multi-island-arc-basin system" tectonic theory to re-divide the previous Nakfa terrane into three new tectonic units (Barka magmatic arc, Kerkebet subduction accretionary complex, and Nakfa magmatic arc), among which the Kerkebet subduction accretionary complex was further divided into three second tectonic units, and reveals the relationship between tectonic evolution stages and different gold deposit types of the Kerkebet subduction accretion complex belt, combined with field investigations and researches. We also construct the tectonic-stratigraphic framework of this region, based on the fact that different tectonic units correspond to similar or different rock groups/segments. According to the fact that specific deposits have the characteristics of reflecting the temporal-spatial specificity of the tectonic environment, we also constructed the tectonic-mineralization model based on regional deposit types and distribution. These researches will not only provide the basis for deepening the theory of regional tectonics-metallogenesis, but also point out the directions for the next prospecting and exploration practice at Kerkebet.