Mineralogy and Geochemistry of some Phosphate Deposits for Possible Rare Earth Elements Mineralization Potentials within Sokoto Basin, Northwestern Nigeria

S O Mustapha; A S Olatunji; F F Ajayi; R A Isibor

doi:10.17485/IJST/v15i46.1603

Article

Mineralogy and Geochemistry of some Phosphate Deposits for Possible Rare Earth Elements Mineralization Potentials within Sokoto Basin, Northwestern Nigeria

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Indian Journal of Science and Technology

DOI: 10.17485/IJST/v15i46.1603

Year: 2022, Volume: 15, Issue: 46, Pages: 2570-2578

Original Article

Mineralogy and Geochemistry of some Phosphate Deposits for Possible Rare Earth Elements Mineralization Potentials within Sokoto Basin, Northwestern Nigeria

S O Mustapha^1,2*, A S Olatunji^1,3, F F Ajayi^1,3, R A Isibor^1,4

¹Geosciences Programme, Pan African University Life and Earth Sciences Institute (PAULESI), University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Oyo, Nigeria
²Department of Geology and Mineral Sciences, Kwara State University, Malete, Kwara, Nigeria
³Department of Geology, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Oyo, Nigeria
⁴Department of Geology, Ajayi Crowther University, Oyo, Nigeria

*Corresponding Author
Email: [email protected]

Received Date:03 August 2022, Accepted Date:26 September 2022, Published Date:14 December 2022

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Abstract

Objective: Phosphate rocks found in some parts of Sokoto Sedimentary basins in Nigeria were studied to understand their mineralogy and geochemistry specifically to determine their abundance in Rare Earth Elements hosting minerals notably Apatite, Monazite and Xenotime as there is an increasing demand for these elements globally in the production of green technology. Methods: Field observations were carried out in places with reported phosphate occurrences and seven (7) representative phosphate samples were collected, crushed, pulverized, and analyzed using X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) analysis for their mineralogical composition while samples with significant fluorapatite concentrations were further analyzed with Lithium Borate fusion Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICPMS) for their elemental composition. Findings: The phosphates typically occur as nodules intercalated with Shale occurring at depth of about 0.25 – 7m with a mineralogical composition including Fluoroapatite, Calcite, Smectite, Quartz, Kaolinite, Goethite, and Palygorskite. A high concentration of Fluorapatite was observed at Miyal’yako (79.28%) and Dillingo (36.60%) while interpretation of the relationship between P2O5 with other major oxides and trace elements revealed that the phosphates were primary type and typically formed in an oxidizing environment with fluctuating pH in the presence of calcite or gypsum. Novelty: The study pinpoints that, of the seven locations, only two showed high concentrations of fluoroapatites enough to suggest that they are areas of interest for further investigation in the search for REEs mineralization in Nigeria.

Keywords: Rare Earth Elements; Phosphate; Mineralisation; Fluorapatite; Sokoto

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Copyright

© 2022 Mustapha et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Published By Indian Society for Education and Environment (iSee)