Geophysical Investigation Of Mbeu Iron Ore Deposit In Meru County Using Gravity Method

ABSTRACT

Gravity survey was used to detect metallic bearing rocks and dense bodies of rocks within host formations in Mbeu area of Tigania. From the study, there is a clear indication of the presence of iron ore in the region. The ground based gravimeter was used to precisely measure variation in the gravity fields at different points. A total of 86 gravity stations were surveyed. The data obtained was corrected for drift, latitude, Free Air and Bouguer corrections from where the Free Air Anomaly and Bouguer Anomaly were computed. The contour map was drawn to represent this information and the profiles were created. Four profiles were chosen which were oriented in the directions NE-SW, NW-SE, nearly E-W and N-S for the purpose of fitting model to the observed data. Spherical model was employed to estimate the sought parameters of the anomaly. These include: depth from the surface to the centre, Z, radius, R, depth to surface T and the mass of the body, M. The depth from the surface was found to range from 0-140 m and mass ranging from 8.6 9 10 to 3.2 11 10 kg.