Mineralogy and Characterization of New Bentonite from Tahoua Region of Central Niger

摘要

Niger imports a huge quantity of bentonite,which it uses in mining and oil exploration,but also in village hydraulics.The objective of this study is the search for a bentonite-type clay deposit on the Nigerian territory.The clay fraction of a material collected on a clay deposit of the Paleocene Garadaoua Formation in the Ullemmeden basin(central Niger)was the subject of a series of analyzes: DRX;ICP-AES;ICP-MS;ATD-ATG;IR;Adsorption/desorption of N2 at 77 K;cation exchange capacity,granulometry.DRX results corroborated by those of IR and ATD-ATG indicate that the clay minerals constituting the collected material are: montmorillonite,kaolinite and illite,with a strong predominance of montmorillonite.The mineralogical and chemical composition,the specific surface and the cation exchange capacity obtained indicate that the analyzed material is similar to that of Maghnia bentonite in Algeria.