The excursion will pass through Transvaal Sequence floor rocks into the Bushveld Complex granites around Vergenoeg Fluorite Mine. Passing the town of Chuniespoort and the Mohlopitse Fold Belt, we enter the northeastern limb of the Bushveld Complex looking at Lower and Lower Critical Zone rocks in the Olifants River Trough and along the ’Cameron Section’. The famous Pt-orebody of the ‘Merensky Reef’ will be inspected at the Maandagshoek type locality close to Burgersfort. Furthermore, exposures of the middle and upper group chromitite layers will be visited at Tweefontein Mine and the national geological monument of the Dwars River gorge, south of Steelpoort, as well as discordant ultramafic pipes. The Main Magnetite Layer and related Fe-V-Ti mineralizations of Upper Zone of the Bushveld Complex will be attended in Sekukhuneland.

It is planned to visit the Two Rivers Platinum Mine nearby, looking at underground exposure of the UG-2 chromitite workings; the excursion continues via the Mpumalanga Drakensberg Range, looking at Black Reef conglomerate in the eastern escarpment at ‘Gods Window’ and the stromatolitic ‘Mega domes’ of the Malmani Subgroup dolomites near Sudwala Caves. Passing by marginal sills in the foot wall of the eastern Bushveld Complex, a visit to the open-pit Nkomati Nickel-Copper-Platinum (-Cr-Co) Mine is planned, which constitutes a satellite intrusion of the Bushveld. Drive back to Johannesburg via Middleburg and Emalahleni.

Field Trip Leader: Christoph Gauert                                                               
Start: Johannesburg (The meeting point and time of the post-conference trip 4 Eastern Bushveld and Nkomati will be on Monday 5 September, 7:00 a.m., at the Information desk of the domestic flight arrivals in terminal A of ORT Int. Airport in Johannesburg-Kempton Park.)            
End: Johannesburg 
Departs: 07:00AM
Dates: 5 days, Monday 5th to Friday 9th September 2016                       
Price: R 16 000 per person sharing with single supplement of R 1 500 per person

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