Quality and durability of some marble deposits in the southern schist belt (Nigeria) as construction stones

Abstract

The quality and durability of some marble deposits from Nigeria as construction stones were evaluated. Results indicate that the whitish-pinkish-greyish marbles were pure to relatively pure (generally ≥85 wt% calcite) and possess geotechnical properties that appeared to be controlled largely by mineralogy and texture. While the coarse-grained variety indicated good performance as a result of favourable geotechnical properties such as relatively high values of bulk density, specific gravity, strength, and low water absorption, the fine- and medium-grained varieties would likely perform marginally due to comparatively poor geotechnical properties they possess. Caution is, however, required particularly for outdoor purposes, as weak constituents (chlorite and graphite) were present in some samples and appreciable material loss was recorded in all during laboratory experimentation. This could denote, generally, that the quality of marble stones may be progressively lowered by repeated changes of temperature and other climatic conditions, as is the case in a tropical region like Nigeria.