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Lead-Zinc-Barytes mineralization in the Benue Trough, Nigeria: Their geology, occurrences and economic prospective

Fatoye F. B., Ibitomi M. A. and Omada J. I.

The Benue Trough of Nigeria is a sedimentary basin that extends from the Gulf of Guinea in the southwest to the Chad Basin in the northwest for about 800 km in length and 150 km in width. Lead-zinc-barytes occurs in almost the entire length of the Benue Trough. Lead-zinc-barytes mineralization in the Trough is believed to be hydrothermal in origin and is associated with brine springs. Fracturing and jointing are intense in the areas of mineralization. Leadzinc minerals in the form of their ores of galena and sphalerite respectively and barytes mineralization are often associated with copper, quartz, iron minerals (siderite, marcasite and pyrite), gold and silver as gangue occurring in the form of veins and veinlets associated with the host sedimentary rocks in the axial zone of the Benue Trough. The mineralization occurs in form of dissemination, stockwork and narrow beds with poorly developed wall-rock silicification (alteration). The host lithologies are highly varied ranging in the Lower Benue Trough from shale to siltstone, sandstone and occasionally igneous bodies; in the Middle Benue Trough from shale to sandstone, siltstone, conglomeratic ironstone, minor limestone beds and occasionally igneous bodies; and in the Upper Benue Trough from shale to sandstone, mudstone, limestone, clay and porphyritic granites.