Mass balance modelling of cobalt sources in the Tenke-Fungurume copper-cobalt district, Democratic Republic of the Congo

Abstract Sedimentary rock-hosted copper-cobalt deposits of the Central African Copperbelt (CACB) supply over 70% of global cobalt production. Cobalt source rocks proposed in the literature include Katangan red beds and mafic igneous rocks, and mafic-ultramafic rocks in the pre-Katangan basement. Given the limited exposure of potential source rocks in cobalt-rich CACB deposits, mass balance modelling is developed to evaluate cobalt sources in the Tenke-Fungurume copper-cobalt district (TFMD), Dem