Stream sediment geochemistry remains a versatile tool in exploration especially in regionswhere knowledge of the primary mineralization is lacking and the exploration activities are still at reconnaissance stage. In this study, we investigate the concentrations of gold and associated elements in stream sediment samples from the Vaimba-Lidi drainage system in northern Cameroon; a relatively remote area where alluvial gold is worked locally, and exploration activities are at early stage. The main river and its principal first and second order tributaries were sampled, panned for gold grain recovery and the 100 μm size fraction analyzed for Au by fire assay with Ni finish. A suite of other elements were analyzed for by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). Gold grades estimated by the panning and weighing technique rarely exceed 1 g/t while the Au concentrations from chemical analysis range from 3.0 to 354.0 ppm. The spatial distribution of gold and all the other elements are presented as point symbol maps and the data analyzed using multivariate statistics. From the principal component analysis (PCA), the As-Mo-W-Ag as well as the Au-Zn factors point to the presence of primary hydrothermal gold-sulphide mineralization in the area and this can be further investigated. These results highlight the importance of multielement analysis and multivariate statistical interpretation of sediment geochemical data in inferring the nature of the underlying primary mineralization in any region.No represents the number of samples with concentrations above their detection limit used to calculated the statistics, Min, Max, Std. D represents the Minimum, Maximum concentration value and standard diversion, respecively, / represents no value. t
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.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.