Application of electrical resistivity tomography technique for delineation of gold mineralization in Bugai town, Birnin Gwari, Kaduna, North Western Nigeria

The aim of the present research is to provide an update of gold deposits models scattered in Bugai Village Birnin – Gwari Local Government Area of Kaduna State, through identifying basic geologic structures which act as host to mineralization, delineate zones of gold distributions and to map the spread and extend of the gold mineralization. Electrical resistivity method using the dipole-dipole array was applied and ten (10) parallel 2D profile data were collected manually each of length one hundred meters (100 m,) separated by ten meters (10 m) and with minimum electrode spacing of three meters (3 m). The 2-D data were processed into 3-D data using RES2DINV computer inversion software for effective and accurate interpretation of the location for the gold deposit. Results from both 2D and 3D resistivity models show a variation in shape due to heterogeneous nature of mineralization within the study area at different depths. The mineralization within zones of elevated resistivity comprises of silification and quartz veining which is structurally controlled and follow a N-W and NE-SW orientations. The high resistivity anomalies at depth greater than five meters, (5 m) with well-defined patterns observed in the 3D resistivity model are related to the mineralization of gold bearing quartz veins. Geochemical analysis of rock samples collected at depth of five meters (5m) which shows 124.79 and 1.77 concentration in ppm for gold and silver corroborated the result of the geo-electrical data. This research shows that electrical resistivity techniques can be applied to map the large scale stratigraphy and structure in which a gold deposit might be located.