Geophysical Prospecting for Mineral Potential Zones in Zamfara and Environs, Northern Nigeria Basement Complex

The importance of mineral exploration to Nigeria’s present economy cannot be overemphasised, especially in the northern states where crude oil explorations have not come to light. To aid in this quest, an investigation of subsurface structures was conducted in this study to identify and delineate potential mineralization zones in the Zamfara area of North-western Nigeria. To achieve this, aeromagnetic data were analysed and interpreted. The total magnetic field intensity (TMI) data were first reduced to the magnetic equator. Regional-residual separation was then carried out to obtain the residual field intensity map of the area, after which several qualitative enhancement techniques – first vertical derivative and analytical signal – were used to further analyse the data in the Oasis Montaj environment. The results revealed that the area's total magnetic field intensity falls within the range of -78 to +108 nT after a background field of 33,000 nT was removed. The regional magnetic field intensity trends in the NE-SW direction. Both the first vertical derivative and analytical signal indicated a cluster of anomalies in the south-eastern part of the study area, interpreted as faults, folds, contacts, and shear zones, which are indicative of mineralized zones. Source parameter imaging analysis of the data revealed that the anomalies of interest were primarily located at depths of less than 200 m.