Geophysical prospecting for iron ore deposit around Tajimi village, Lokoja, North–Central Nigeria

• Main Authors: Bayowa Oyelowo, Ogungbesan Gbenga, Majolagbe Razak, Oyeleke Simeon
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Sciendo 2016-09-01
• Series: Materials and Geoenvironment
• Subjects: iron ore; tajimi village; ground magnetic; electrical resistivity; magnetic anomaly
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1515/rmzmag-2016-0014

Ground magnetic and electrical resistivity survey were undertaken to investigate the occurrence and geometry of iron ore deposit around Tajimi village, Lokoja, North-Central Nigeria. The generated residual map of the ground-magnetic data acquired at 250 stations along 15 traverses revealed numerous prominent anomalies, mostly trending in the N-S direction. The radial power spectrum revealed the depth to magnetic sources between 6 m to 20 m. The interpreted VES data characterized the area into three subsurface layers: top soil, presumably iron ore layer and weathered/fresh basement. The result of vertical electrical sounding curves showed a sudden drop in resistivity (42-241 Ωm) over high magnetic response. The geo-electric section revealed that the study area is generally characterized with thin overburden (0.5-1.7 m) and the thickness of the second layer (presumed to be the iron ore layer) ranged between 6.2-25.1 m. The study concluded that areas of high magnetic intensity showed a sudden drop in resistivity value for the VES points, which give an indication of the presence of an electrically conductive structure presumed to be iron ore deposits.