Quality Assessment of Monazite Deposit Obtained from Bahuli Community Mubi North Local Government Area, Adamawa State Nigeria

Abstract

The study determines the concentration of monazite deposits in Bahuli Community Mubi North LGA, Adamawa State with the specific objectives to determine the textural parameter of the soil sample, the monazite concentration from the sample and to determine the heavy metals from monazite mineral in the study area. Five raw sand samples (BH1 – BH5) were collected at depth of 20-50cm from the five sampling stations at an interval of 0.5 -1km in a polythene sample bag and were labeled accordingly in the same way for analysis. All samples were subjected to detailed mineralogical analysis for textural analysis and recovery of monazite mineral. A representative composite sample of 100g was taken for analysis after mixing. Mineralogical analysis to determine the content (%) was carried out as per the procedure developed by the Atomic Minerals Directorate (AMD). The analysis of the study shows that all locations indicated a fine size except Dawa location, which indicated coarse size. Also, almost all the locations indicated well sorted except Munugu which shows Moderately well sorted and Dawa River poorly sorted. The study revealed that Nduku location has the highest concentration of monazite at 19%, making it a potentially valuable site for rare earth element extraction and Dawa River has no detectable monazite concentration, with a value of 0.0%. The study concluded that heterogeneous mixture of grain sizes, possibly due to high-energy conditions or variable depositional environments and monazite concentration varies significantly among the locations. Therefore, given its high monazite concentration, detailed geological surveys and feasibility studies should be conducted to evaluate the potential for monazite mining. Environmental impact assessment is crucial to understand the potential effects of mining activities in the study area.

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