Abstract
The aim of this study is to evaluate the Late Miocene clay for manufacturing cement and bricks as an alternative to the recent clays from the agricultural land that are used typically for agricultural purposes. The claystone beds of the Injana Formation (middle of Iraq) was studied over 18 exposed sections, and sampled by using the trench sampling method. The industrial bed was determined as upper and lower beds. The upper industrial bed has different thicknesses varies from 1.0 m to 4.5 m, with an average of about 3.16 m and area of 576x106 m2. The lower claystone bed ranges from 2.0 m to 4.0 m with an average of about 2.7 m, and area 453614x103 m2. The clay reserve is characterized by a total area 1,029,614x103 m2, total volume 3,044,917,800 m3, bulk density 1.68 gm/cm3, and the average of compressive strength 154 (Kg/cm²). The total volume of overburden and inner burden is 1364676 x103 m3 with stripping ratio of the overburden 0.3. The estimation of the reserve of the claystone beds is 5,663,547,108 tons using the GIS method and 5,694,522,037 tons by triangles methods and classified as a C1 class based on the Russian system.
Highlights
The reserve estimate reveals the economic effectiveness of investigation and provides with data necessary to assess the quality of the work of exploration geologists (Kreiter, 1968)
The current study focuses on the Russian system because of its ease of application and accurate system (Al-Auweidy, 2013 and Ali et al 2014)
The quantitative evaluation of the study area includes two major parts as follows: 1. Quantitative Evaluation of The Industrial Bed (Claystone) The calculation of industrial bed reserve based on data collected from eighteen sections (Fig. 4)
Summary
The reserve estimate reveals the economic effectiveness of investigation and provides with data necessary to assess the quality of the work of exploration geologists (Kreiter, 1968). The geological exploration of natural resources is very expensive; it opens new challenges and opportunities. The geological investigation follows a series of multidisciplinary activities: reconnaissance, exploration, prospecting, and economic mining. In Iraq, topsoil is used as a raw material in the manufacture of bricks and cement, these soils are suitable for cultivation and its depletion in these industries causes environmental degradation and reduction of green areas (Awadh and Abdullah, 2011).
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