Compositional Characteristics and Industrial Assessment of the Asu River Group Shale in Mpu Area, Southeastern Nigeria

Compositional and physical characteristics of the shale from Mpu, south-eastern Nigeria, were assessed to evaluate their potential as industrial raw materials. The mineralogical determination by x-ray diffraction (XRD) of the shale, indicate kaolinite as the major clay mineral with diffused peaks of illite and smectite, with quartz as the non-clay mineral. Chemical analysis of the samples reveals the predominance of SiO2 (58.62- 59.80) and Al2O3 (21.23- 22.10) with a silica/alumina ratio of 2.51.The shale is also characterized by significant Fe2O3 (1.62 - 3.68), TiO2 (1.48 - 1.56), K2O (1.64 - 1.78) values, while CaO, MgO, Na2O, MnO and P2O5 have individual values < 1%. Samples from the study area are essentially made up of clay fractions (<65µm) above 70%, some of the physical parameters of the shale specimens include linear shrinkage (4.80-5.20), plastic limit (22.0-27.0), liquid limit (53.0- 58.0), plasticity index (28.0-34.0) and loss on ignition (9.50-9.80) values. Mineralogical and chemical compositions suggest that the shale deposit could be exploited for ceramics, paint, pottery and refractory industries.