New evidence of cassiterite-bearing Precambrian basement rocks of the Jos Plateau, Nigeria — the Gurum case study

Abstract

The major sources of cassiterite in Nigeria are the alluvial and eluvial deposits from the biotite granites within the Jurassic alkaline ring complex (the Younger Granites) of the Jos Plateau. Less than 5% of the total production has been recovered from pegmatites within the largely Precambrian basement complex consisting of migmatites, gneisses, the Pan-African (Older) Granites and pegmatites, but with the rapidly depleting reserves of the former source new reserves have to be found.

This study presents the first report on an important new source of cassiterite in basement-complex gneisses, migmatites, pegmatites and aplites in the Gurum area near Jos. The cassiterite, which has been economically concentrated by the leaching and weathering of these rocks, is generally finer grained and darker than the alluvial cassiterite derived from the Jurassic biotite granites. This new find has important petrogenetic and economic implications, suggesting that the basement complex could be a suitable parent rock for the Younger Granites and a significant potential source of cassiterite in Nigeria.