Abstract
This work presents a reconnaissance study to delineate potential mineral zones in the schist belt areas of Kano State. These parts of the state have received little or no attention for a long time and activities of artisanal miners suggest that the area is of economic mineral value. Airborne magnetic data acquired from Nigerian Geological Survey Agency (NGSA) were first reduced to the equator before subjecting them to first and second vertical derivatives. The short wavelength anomalies recorded in the study area, ranging from -99.182 to 88.338 nT indicate that the area is characterized by crystalline basement complex rocks. The results of the vertical derivatives show that lineaments (depicting faults, fractures and contacts) which represent veins of possible mineralization exist in the study area. The trend of these lineaments is in the NE-SW and E-W directions with the NE-SW trend dominating. Location with high mineral favorability is bounded within longitudes 7°51’ E to 8° 12’ E and latitudes 11° 46‘ N to 12° 30’ N in the NE – SW directions. The trend cuts through Gwarzo, Shanono, Bagwai, Tsanyawa, Bichi and Kunchi. Key words: Airborne magnetic data, Lineament, Mineralization, Schist Belt and Vertical derivatives.
Highlights
The importance of solid minerals to every country in the areas of revenue generation, industrialization, employment creation etc. cannot be overemphasized
It is evident in the Total Magnetic Intensity (TMI)-RTE map that the area is marked by both high and low magnetic signatures, which could be attributed to factors such as variation in depth, difference in lithology, difference in magnetic susceptibility etc
A reconnaissance study to delineate potential mineral zones in the Schist belt areas of Kano state has been carried out using airborne magnetic data acquired from Nigerian Geological Survey Agency
Summary
The importance of solid minerals to every country in the areas of revenue generation, industrialization, employment creation etc. cannot be overemphasized. The solid mineral resources in Kano State include gold, chromite/nickel, silver, cassiterite (tin ore), and columbite (Obaje, 2009). Few geophysical studies in relation to mineral prospecting have been carried out in Kano State and information about the distribution of the minerals can be said to be inadequate. A detailed follow up gravity survey was carried out by Ojo et al (1993), and Muhammad (1998) confirmed some of their results in his own aeromagnetic study. A much more recent geoelectric study was carried out by Bagare (2018) at Alajawa artisanal mining site in Shanono area (western Kano). It is very difficult to carry out a regional survey using electrical method, the need for other geophysical methods, such as magnetic method, where a regional study can be done using available aeromagnetic data
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