NICKEL LATERITE RESOURCES MODELING USING GEOLOGICAL DOMAIN ALGORITHM

Abstract

Laterization is one of the geological process of nickel ore formation. The mineral deposits
genesis is important for the development of geological models. The development of geological domain in the
laterite nickel ore deposits is determined through several aspects such as deposit boundary formation,
geochemical data, and statistical test result. The objectives of this study are (a) characterization of laterite nickel
through a weathering process study on horizontal and vertical stratigraphic conditions, (b) evaluation of the
geochemical aspects, (c) development of geological modeling. The methodology consists of a literature study
on the laterization process; identification of data based on geochemical analysis; statistical analysis based on
histograms, scatter plots, ternary charts; and determination of the geological domain for nickel laterite. This
research algorithm is used to create 3 (three) geological domains of nickel laterite, namely limonite zone,
saprolite zone and bedrock zone. The result of this study shown that geological domain is adjacent with
mineralization boundary. Henceforth, nickel grade estimation could be done through the characteristics of
laterite nickel ore deposits.