Integrated Interpretation of Geophysical and Soil Geochemical Anomalies in Gold Exploration: Case of Kouremale, Southern Mali-West Africa ()
Affiliation(s)
1Faculty of Earth Resource, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan, China.
2Department of Geology, ENI-ABT, Bamako, Mali.
3Department of Hydrology and Water Resources, School of Environmental Studies, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan, China.
ABSTRACT
Detecting the anomalies’ sources location in the vast territory such as Kouremale
area is a grand challenge for geophysicists because there is a need to assess
gold deposit. Therefore, this paper aims to recommend a methodological approach
on applied magnetic survey and soil geochemistry to identify the location
of anomalies’ sources. To that aim the study is divided into phases. In the
first phase, the maps for integrated interpretation have been produced by Geosoft
Oasis and ArcGIS 10.2.1. The corrected and processed magnetic data with
eliminated diurnal variation have been used. Phase two consist of integrate
geochemical soil map. The results of phase one identified four magnetic anomalies
zones (MAZ) with their coordinates. Thus, the obtained radiometric map,
showed that there is a high intensity of K and Th compared to U, which indicates
a significant weathering process and there are many saprolithes in study
area. The findings of phase two revealed that there is a high concentration of
gold content (1500 ppm) with an average concentration of 92 ppm. The integrated
interpretation map coming from the combined different maps, referring
to the geological information verified on the field, led to conclude that, the target
B is the best gold anomaly. The delimitation of the space of the target B from
the geophysical and geochemical information confirmed the existence of limited,
restricted and potential anomaly.
Share and Cite:
Tounkara, F. , Chen, J. and Keita, S. (2017) Integrated Interpretation of Geophysical and Soil Geochemical Anomalies in Gold Exploration: Case of Kouremale, Southern Mali-West Africa.
International Journal of Geosciences,
8, 1133-1145. doi:
10.4236/ijg.2017.89065.