TITLE:
Structural Control of Ore Mineralization in the Southeastern Margin of Western Nigeria Basement
AUTHORS:
Mohammed Olatoye Adepoju
KEYWORDS:
Western Nigerian Basement, Igarra Schist Belt, Mineral Prospecting, Mineralization, Structures
JOURNAL NAME:
International Journal of Geosciences,
Vol.13 No.7,
July
28,
2022
ABSTRACT: Structural
analyses are often ignored in mineral prospecting endeavor of any geological
terrain despite the importance of geological structures in the formation of ore
deposits. This paper correlates the results of mineral prospecting campaign to
those of the structural analysis in the southeastern margin of the western
Nigeria basement. The mineral prospecting was executed by essentially
geochemical-exploration methods, while the structural analysis was achieved by
lineament analysis using Landsat-8 imagery. The mineral prospecting campaign
eventually led to the discovery of gold bearing marble deposit in the Dagbala
area; silver and copper bearing silicified sheared rock in the Dagbala,
Ojirami, Erurhu and Atte areas; lead and zinc bearing metaconglomerate around
Egbigele; uranium and thorium bearing pegmatite in the Dagbala area. The Landsat-8 lineament analysis showed the presence of a
shear zone in the central, folds in the SW, and fractures in the NE
parts of the study area. The relation between the two is such that the gold and
silver-copper mineralization is associated with the shear zone, the lead-zinc
mineralization to the folds, and the uranium-thorium mineralization to the
fractures. Indeed, geological structures guide mineralization and their
analysis can be employed for mineral prospecting.