| Autor: |
Bomeni, Isaac Yannick, Kenmoe, Michel Rodrigue, Nzeugang, Aubin Nzeukou, Pirard, Eric, Wouatong, Armand Sylvain Ludovic, Fagel, Nathalie |
| Předmět: |
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| Zdroj: |
Arabian Journal of Geosciences; Dec2022, Vol. 15 Issue 24, p1-14, 14p |
| Abstrakt: |
Estimation of mineral resources potential is an important issue for most developing countries to produce construction material for the increasingly urban and suburban population. The aim of this study is to qualify and quantify potential raw clay resources in West Cameroon. The alluvial clays from the Monoun plain have been sampled by auger corer with a spatial resolution grid ranging from 200 to 2000 m using a geostatistical approach. The raw clays have been characterised by their grain size, mineralogy and plasticity index. The results have been treated using a univariate statistical approach. The thickness of the alluvial deposit ranges from 1 to 6 m of various colour clays on the granitic substrate. Kaolinite is the main mineral (41 ± 10%) associated with abundant quartz (32 ± 10%) and Fe and Al oxides (goethite: 9 ± 7%, gibbsite: 7 ± 8%). The accessory phases are orthoclase (5 ± 4%) and anatase (4 ± 3%). The raw clays are made by an abundant clay size (< 2 µm) fraction (48%) associated with silt fraction (26%) and characterised by an average plastic index of 25%. The application of the Gaussian variogram model gives a general orientation of the clayey deposit on a 45°N and 135°N direction with a sill ranging from 1 to 4.5 km in the Monoun plain area. Those mineralisation give an estimated resource of 875.106 tons (i.e. 491.106 m3) of alluvial clays covering 11,372 ha in the Monoun plain. This potential ore deposit of alluvial clays is constituted by a proven resource of 89.106 tons at Ngwenfon and possible resource ranging from 25.106 tons at Nkoutoupi to 336.106 tons at Bangourain. The resource estimate can be sufficient to start the industrial exploitation of ceramics products. But a complementary geophysical investigation and/or mechanical drillings will be useful to complement the modelization of the ore deposit requested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
| Databáze: |
Complementary Index |
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