Mineral Evolution Database
Created and maintained by the Mineral Evolution Project in partnership with RRUFF and mindat.
Mineral locality data provided by mindat.org

Important Update News

The RRUFF Project has been migrated to RRUFF.net. Please update your bookmarks immediately, if you have not done so.

The data on this website is already three years out of date, and the entire website will be taken offline before the end of the year.

We are grateful to NASA for the funding of this effort.




The Mineral Evolution database is currently under development.

The goal of this page is to present localities at which the mineral is found, and estimates of the oldest possible geologic age of the minerals at these localities.


Locality Name:
Tarkwa, Western Region, Ghana

Oldest recorded age at locality: 2200
Youngest recorded age at locality: 2200

mindat Locality ID: 277235
mindat URL: http://www.mindat.org/loc-277235.html

Tectonic Settings:

Total number of sublocalities beneath "Tarkwa, Western Region, Ghana": 1
Total number of bottom-level sublocalities: 1

Number of Child Localities: 1
Child Localities:
Nsuta Mine (Insuta Mine; Nsuta-Gaywin Manganese Concession; Nsuta-Wassaw)

Latitude: 5°16'58"N
Longitude: 1°58'"W
Decimal Degree (lat, lon): 5.2827777777778,-1.9666666666667
AThis mineral is Anthropogenic.
GThis mineral is directly dated.
BThis mineral is reported as having this age.
YThis mineral is using an age reported as an element mineralization period.
OThis mineral is using an age calculated from all data at the locality.
RThe age displayed for this mineral originates from a different, non-child locality.
PThe age displayed for this mineral is the range of ages for this mineral at all of this locality's children.
This mineral's age has not yet been recorded.

This Mineral list contains entries from this locality, including sub-localities. Minerals in bold are reported by mindat.org as occurring directly at this locality, and do not occur at any children (sublocalities) of this locality.

Elements at this locality, including sub-localities: Al As Ba C Ca Co Cu Fe H K Li Mg Mn Mo Na Ni O S Si Sr Ti Zn 

Elements from minerals reported directly at this locality: 

Structural Groups for minerals in this locality: 
AmphiboleArsenopyriteBruciteCalciteChalcopyriteClayCorundumDiasporeDigeniteFeldspar
GarnetMicaMilleriteMolybdeniteNickelineNonePentlanditePyriteQuartzRamsdellite
RocksaltRutileSphaleriteSpinel

38 IMA Minerals at location:
Alabandite  (*)Albite  (*)Arsenopyrite  (*)Bornite  (*)Brucite  (*)
Calcite  (*)Chalcocite  (*)Chalcopyrite  (*)Cummingtonite  (*)Digenite  (*)
Dolomite  (*)Galaxite  (*)Goethite  (*)Ilmenite  (*)Jacobsite  (*)
Kutnohorite  (*)Linnaeite  (*)Lithiophorite  (*)Manganite  (*)Manganosite  (*)
Millerite  (*)Molybdenite  (*)Muscovite  (*)Nickeline  (*)Nsutite  (*)
Gersdorffite-Pa3  (*)Pentlandite  (*)Pyrite  (*)Pyrochroite  (*)Pyrolusite  (*)
Pyrrhotite  (*)Quartz  (*)Ramsdellite  (*)Rhodochrosite  (*)Rutile  (*)
Spessartine  (*)Sphalerite  (*)Todorokite  (*)
Mineral nameStructural GroupsIMA FormulaMax Age (Ma)Min Age (Ma)# of Sublocalities containing mineralLOCALITY IDs, not mindat ids# of localities containing mineral
Alabandite  (*)RocksaltMnS22002200163908312
Albite  (*)FeldsparNa(AlSi3O8)220022001639088803
Arsenopyrite  (*)ArsenopyriteFeAsS220022001639089052
Bornite  (*)NoneCu5FeS4220022001639085516
Brucite  (*)BruciteMg(OH)222002200163908462
Calcite  (*)CalciteCa(CO3)2200220016390827770
Chalcocite  (*)NoneCu2S220022001639085707
Chalcopyrite  (*)ChalcopyriteCuFeS22200220016390827198
Cummingtonite  (*)Amphibole   Mg2Mg5Si8O22(OH)222002200163908327
Digenite  (*)DigeniteCu1.8S220022001639081027
Dolomite  (*)NoneCaMg(CO3)2220022001639089895
Galaxite  (*)SpinelMn2+Al2O42200220016390843
Goethite  (*)DiasporeFeO(OH)220022001639087437
Ilmenite  (*)CorundumFe2+Ti4+O3220022001639085433
Jacobsite  (*)SpinelMn2+Fe3+2O422002200163908172
Kutnohorite  (*)NoneCaMn2+(CO3)222002200163908234
Linnaeite  (*)SpinelCo2+Co3+2S422002200163908249
Lithiophorite  (*)None(Al,Li)(Mn4+,Mn3+)O2(OH)222002200163908210
Manganite  (*)RutileMn3+O(OH)22002200163908770
Manganosite  (*)RocksaltMnO2200220016390873
Millerite  (*)MilleriteNiS220022001639081066
Molybdenite  (*)MolybdeniteMoS2220022001639085800
Muscovite  (*)Mica ClayKAl2(Si3Al)O10(OH)22200220016390817380
Nickeline  (*)NickelineNiAs22002200163908633
Nsutite  (*)RamsdelliteMn2+xMn4+1-xO2-2x(OH)2x22002200163908121
Gersdorffite-Pa3  (*)PyriteNiAsS22002200163908767
Pentlandite  (*)Pentlandite(Ni,Fe)9S8220022001639081512
Pyrite  (*)PyriteFeS22200220016390839462
Pyrochroite  (*)BruciteMn2+(OH)22200220016390856
Pyrolusite  (*)RutileMnO2220022001639083106
Pyrrhotite  (*)NickelineFe7S8220022001639089056
Quartz  (*)QuartzSiO22200220016390861156
Ramsdellite  (*)RamsdelliteMnO22200220016390888
Rhodochrosite  (*)CalciteMn(CO3)220022001639081711
Rutile  (*)RutileTiO2220022001639085614
Spessartine  (*)GarnetMn2+3Al2(SiO4)3220022001639081214
Sphalerite  (*)SphaleriteZnS2200220016390821482
Todorokite  (*)None(Na,Ca,K,Ba,Sr)1-x(Mn,Mg,Al)6O12·3-4H2O22002200163908433


1 Ages assigned to this locality:

Excel IDMax Age (Ma)Min Age (Ma)Age as listed in referenceDating MethodAge InterpretPrioritized?Sample SourceSample NumRun NumAge from other LocalityDated MineralMinerals explicitely stated as having this ageAge applies to these ElementsMinDat Locality IDDated Locality (Max Age)Location as listed in referenceReferenceReference DOIReference IDAge Notes
Scott-SG154_159-000122002200~2200 age of deposition     Mn17129Nsuta Mine (Insuta Mine; Nsuta-Gaywin Manganese Concession; Nsuta-Wassaw), Tarkwa, Western Region, GhanaNsuta DepositNyame et al. (2003)10.1016/S0037-0738(02)00128-8SG154_159Age only mentioned in abstract

SampleSource LocalityReference URL

All locality data graciously provided by mindat.org

All age data...

Other copyright data...