TITLE:
Regional Geochemical Stream Sediment Survey for Gold Exploration in the Upper Lom Basin, Eastern Cameroon
AUTHORS:
Benjamin Odey Omang, Che Vivian Bih, Albert Nih Fon, Victor Embui, Cheo Emmanuel Suh
KEYWORDS:
Cameroon, Gold, Stream Sediments, PCA, ArcGIS
JOURNAL NAME:
International Journal of Geosciences,
Vol.5 No.9,
August
27,
2014
ABSTRACT:
Stream
sediments are widely employed in reconnaissance exploration for gold especially
in areas where outcrops are scarce and the overburden thick such as in the
eastern Cameroon goldfields. In this study, 337 stream sediment samples were
collected from the Lom river drainage basin. The study aims at identifying the
main geological processes affecting the geochemical data from the sediments by
considering the multi-elements relationships and spatial features of single
elements. The samples were collected in duplicate. One set was panned, gold
grains picked and weighed while the second set was wet sieved and the ≤100
microns size fraction retained. This fraction was eventually analyzed for gold
by fire assay and a suite of elements by inductively coupled plasma mass
spectrometry (ICP-MS). Single element maps were constructed using ArcGIS and
the relationship between elements measured using Pearson correlation and
principal component analysis (PCA). Gold concentrations in the samples are erratic,
most below the detection limit and attain a high of 450 ppm. Five factors are
derived from the PCA including single element factors for As and Au reflecting
bedrock-hosted mineralization. The Cu-Zn-Y-Nb-Pb factor suggests sulphide
mineralization perhaps related to felsic intrusions while the Sr-Ba-La-Ce-Zr
factor is linked to lithologic control. These results demonstrate the
usefulness of multi-element analysis and data interpretation using GIS tools in
the exploration efforts for gold worldwide.