Kahatagaha-Kolongaha vein graphite crystallization: slickenside shearing and hydrothermal origin?

Vein graphite at Kahatagaha-Kolongaha formed through deep-seated hydrothermal fluid precipitation during the late Pan-African orogenic collapse (approx. 530 million years ago). Carbon-bearing mantle fluids (CO2 and CH4) migrated along brittle-ductile shear fractures cutting through granulite-facies country rock. As fluids decompressed and cooled at depths exceeding 15 kilometers, carbon precipitated as crystalline elemental graphite veins up to one meter thick. Subsequent strike-slip fault movements ground vein margins, producing brilliant, polished, mirror-like "slickenside" graphite surfaces with grooved lineations that shear with zero friction.