Structural Control of Ore Mineralization in the Southeastern Margin of Western Nigeria Basement

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.