Author(s)

Anuba Basil Ofulume¹, Sabinus Ikechukwu Ibeneme^1,2*, Donatus Maduka Orazulike¹, Ibrahim Vela Haruna³, Sani Aishatu⁴, Diugo Okechukwu Ikoro¹, Stephen Ikpendu Nwankwo⁵, Nnaemeka Oluchukwu Ezetoha¹, Joseph Azi Bulus⁶

¹Department of Geology, Federal University of Technology, Owerri, Nigeria.
²GEM Executive Education, Grenoble Ecole De Management, Rue Pierre Semard Grenoble, France.
³Department of Geology, Federal University of Technology, Yola, Nigeria.
⁴Department of Geology, University of Maiduguri, Maiduguri, Nigeria.
⁵Department of Architecture, Federal University of Technology, Owerri, Nigeria.
⁶Department of Geology, University of Jos, Jos, Nigeria.

The Cretaceous shallow marine Gboko limestone, Yandev, Nigeria is a component of the sedimentary fill of the 800 km NE-SW trending Benue Trough, Nigeria. The limestone is made up of thin bedded to massive limestone beds interspersed with laminated grey shale having foraminifera as the dominant fossil. The limestone has both mud supported and grain supported texture, and micrites constitute about 75% of the limestone. Bulk chemical composition analysis of the limestone reveals average CaCO₃ of 92.41% and a range of 77.50% - 99.00%. Mineralogical impurities include quartz, dolomite, pyrrhotite, fluorapatite etc. Trace elements concentration analysis was carried out using Energy Dispersive X-ray (EDXRF) spectrophotometry and showed the following trace elements: Mn (841.3 ppm), Sr (444.6 ppm), Fe (470 ppm), Zn (114.6 ppm) and Pb (116.4 ppm). Calcining the limestone in a laboratory muffle furnace at 1050°C for 90 minutes produced a compact, soft burnt porous and reactive lime that does not crumble into fines. The lime so produced neither meets the requirements of the Steel Making Shop (SMS) of the Ajaokuta Steel Plant nor could it be used in the growing sugar refining industry in Nigeria. It can however be used in the food and the food by-products industry, environmental, agricultural and petroleum industries etc. The raw stone remains a major source of raw materials for cement manufacture for the ever expanding building industry.

Benue Trough, Calcination, Fluxing, Geochemistry, Gboko, Limestone

Ofulume, A. , Ibeneme, S. , Orazulike, D. , Haruna, I. , Aishatu, S. , Ikoro, D. , Nwankwo, S. , Ezetoha, N. and Bulus, J. (2017) The Gboko Limestone, Yandev, Benue State, Nigeria: Geology, Geochemistry and Industrial Potentials. Geomaterials, 7, 51-63. doi: 10.4236/gm.2017.72005.