Gis-based Geostatistical Analysis Of The Kenticha Tantalum Deposit And Impact Of The Mining On The Environment Adola Southern Ethiopia

The developing mineral industry of Ethiopia brings a considerable and irreplaceable inputrnfro the country’s economy. Mining at present is concentrated in the southern part of therncountry within a relatively small area, where gold and tantalite ores are being mined byrnopen pit methods and processed. The main target of the mineral development are (i)rnAdola gold field with its primary gold (Lega Dembi and Shakiso) and numerous richrnplacer gold and (ii) the Kenticha province of rare metal bearing pegmatite. The presentrnstudy is concerned with the latter.rnThe Kenticha area in southern Ethiopia is located in the Neoproterozoic metamorphosedrnvolcano-sedimentary succession of greenschist to amphibolite facies metamorphism. Inrnthe studied area, the rock sequences consist of serpentinite, talc, talc-chlorite-tremoliternschist, and granite-pegmatite units.rnIn order to make prognosis on the possible presence of undiscovered ore-shoots inrnunexplored and under-explored parts of the Kenticha tantalite deposit, Adola Belt, GISbasedrngeomathematical techniques where tested. Analytical sample data generated fromrnthirty bore holes formed the basis for computing the studies.rnThe studies consisted of processing the Kenticha mine sample data- width, Ta-Nb-grade,rnand accumulation from borehole data’s to discern patterns and asses the environmentalrnimpact associated with the mining activity in the region.rnThe techniques adopted were frequency distribution, trend analysis, auto-graderncorrelation, variogram analysis and spatial variation and land use and land cover analysis.rnThe frequency studies show positively skewed distributions for grade and accumulation.rnTrend analysis indicates certain clear patters of value distribution. Variogram show highrn‘nugget’ (random) component, anisotropy and nested structure for grade at the Kenticharntantalite deposit.rnFrom an integration of the results of the above different kinds of studies, certain parts ofrnthe mine were identified for selective mining of the deposit and to further investigationsrnand exploration in other rare-metal-bearing pegmatite-granite districts of the rare-metalrnfield.rnThe importance of appreciation of geological factors in interpreting the geomathematicalrnmodels is stressed. The impact of the mineral industry on the environment at Kenticha area is considerable.rnTherefore, the most effective least expensive and quickest means must be identified andrnurgently implemented to preserve the environment or at least to minimize the undesirablerndamage to it within the region.

Get Full Work

Report copyright infringement or plagiarism