COMPOSITIONAL FEATURES AND ECONOMIC POTENTIALS OF BARYTES OCCURRENCES AROUND ALIFORKPA - GABU - OSINA AND ENVIRONS, LOWER BENUE TROUGH OF THE

Summary

This work discusses the compositional features and economic potentials of the barites from Alifokpa-Gabu-Osina and environs in the Lower Benue Trough of Nigeria, with a focus to unravelling the economic potentials of the deposit. Results of the geochemical analysis show that BaSiO4, SiO2, and TiO2 are the major chemical species of the baryte. The Ba and SO4 content vary between 53.62 – 56.10 wt.% and 27.57 – 39.35% respectively across the sampled areas. The results of geotechnical tests show the porosity ranges between 0.1 – 0.5 percent. Uniaxial strength varies between 11 and 43 N/mn2, and Water Absorption Capacity ranges between 2 and 12 %. Other parameters include specific gravity (2.8 – 4.3 g/cm2, and Moisture content (0.2 – 0.4). These values compared very well with American Petroleum Institute (API), American Society for testing and Material (ASTM) and Niger Delta Petroleum Resources (NDPR) specifications, which in turn groups the baryte ores in the study area as good ores for oil and industrial purposes. The FeO content (0.1 – 0.5%) of the barytes also suggests baryte mineralization of hydrothermal fluid of low temperature. The BaO and API trend maps increases north-westerly to the central parts of the study area, which should be considered as target for further studies. This study has provided data driven empirical information for a better understanding of the physical and chemical compositions and industrial potentials of the baryte deposits in Alifokpa-Gabu-Osina and Environs, and will thus contribute to its increased availability worldwide.

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