Aeromagnetic and digital elevation model constraints on the structural framework of southern margin of the Middle Niger Basin, Nigeria

High resolution aeromagnetic anomaly and topographic data using enhancement filtering techniques have resulted in better understanding of the nature of structures at the margins of the Middle Niger Basin. Due to the lack of structural data, the gold deposits within the margins of the Middle Niger Basin were variably excavated, leading to land degradation. The newly-produced structural map highly constrained the mineralization, which makes the study area and its periphery safe for gold exploration. Structural map has been produced from the integration of derivative maps to assess the pattern of surface and subsurface structural features within the studied area. The structural map unravels structural features with major and minor structural trends, in addition to a prominent crustal partitioning, characterized by the Ifewara shear zone. These structural features correlate very well with known gold mineralized locations and also predict new zones for structurally controlled gold and associated mineralization. The structural patterns are directly related with tectonic episodes in the basement. In fact, the Ifewara shear zone appears more pronounced on the total gradient and 3-D Euler deconvolution maps, which reveal various lineaments within the shear zone. The topographic maps (digital elevation model) clearly shows the surface morphology of the region under study while the resulting shaded-relief map reveal the continuity of the deduced magnetic lineaments that coincide with the valleys of River Niger which exploits zones of weakness from the lineaments. The results suggest high sensitivity of fluvial network to deduced lineaments with possible significant implication for alluvial gold mineralization.