Geochemical Fingerprint and Iron Ore Potential of the Siliceous Itabirite from Palaeoproterozoic Nyong Series, Zambi Area, Southwestern Cameroon

摘要

The study area forms part of an emerging iron ore province of southern Cameroon. Geochemistry analyses reveal that the siliceous itabirite has a very simple chemical composition, with Fe2O3 and SiO2 representing more than 96wt.% of the average composition; suggesting chemical precipitates of silica and iron. Low Al2O3 and TiO2 concentrations and a weak positive correlation between them point to a minor detrital component in the precipitated marine sediments. The Si/Al ratio (average 52.7) indicates the hydrothermal origin of the studied itabirite. The Al-Si discrimination diagram supports this interpretation through the plot of all data in the hydrothermal field. The studied samples have low iron content (about 39.32% Fe), high gangue content (40.97% SiO2 and 1.3 % Al2O3) and low concentration of the deleterious elements (0.16 % P and<0.01% S). The main gangue mineral is silica which can be efficiently removed from iron ores during preparation of raw materials for the blast furnace process. According to commercial standards for crude iron ores, it may be concluded that the Zambi iron ores are a low-grade magnetic ore that can be profitably exploited for the production of iron for steel production.