Heavy Mineral Distribution in the Lokoja and Patti Formations, Southern Bida Basin, Nigeria: Implications for Provenance, Maturity and Transport History

Heavy mineral component of 13 samples from the Lokoja and Patti Formations, Bida Basin have been studied for their textural characteristics, compositional abundance, maturity and provenance determinations. The suite of heavy minerals encountered is classified as opaque and non-opaque constituents. The non-opaque components include zircon, tourmaline, rutile, garnet, staurolite, epidote, kyanite, titanite, lawsonite, cassiterite, sillimanite, hornblende, hypersthene and andalusite. The assemblage is generally dominated by zircon and tourmaline in the two formations. The constituent heavy minerals identified are dominated by ultra-stable and stable classes, whereas the ZTR indices indicate mineralogical immaturity coupled with textural immaturity of the constituent grains. This suggests the possible dominance of chemical weathering of the source rock. The suites of minerals recovered have been linked to both metamorphic and non-metamorphic crystalline rock origins.