Petrography and Geochemistry of the Ore-bearing Gabbro Intrusion of the Jabal Hamir-Juban Locality, SE Yemen

Abstract

Juban region is located about 183 km southeast of Sana’a City. The Juban gabbroic layered intrusion is associated with Fe-Ti formation Banded iron ores are hosted in a gabbroic intrusion of Tertiary age, which is injected within Cretaceous Tawilah sandstone group. Petrographic examinations of gabbro rocks show that they are composed essentially of olivine, plagioclase feldspar and magnetite minerals. The olivine mineral is present in high percentages which lead to classify the gabbro as troctolite type. The olivine is presented by fayalite, foresterite minerals in different proportions. The feldspar is present as plagioclase minerals of bytownite and anorthite compositions. The results of chemical analysis of the major oxides present in the ore-bearing gabbro in the Jabal Hamir–Juban area show that, the iron oxide ranges from 21.05% - 49.01% with an average of 44.30%, the titanium oxide ranges from 1.86% - 7.71% with an average of 6.78%, and silica oxide has an average 23.76% . Geochemistry of the examined gabbroic rocks are economically promising deposits for some trace elements in addition to the iron and titanium ores.