Abstract

Industrial minerals in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan are vital to both economical and industrial development and this is true as far as the estimation of the reserves is carried out appropriately. The aim of this study was to geostatistically investigate the clay spatial behavior and geological reserve in Qa' Al-Azraq area in north east Jordan through known seventy four random drilled boreholes. Quantification of spatial arrangement or dependence was investigated through defining the best variogram model using optimal unbiased geostatistical tools of ArcGIS-Geostatistical Analyst, and MINEX. Clay thickness kriged map indicates a central concentration distribution of clay. Variations in kriged map tones comply with the major local fault systems allocated at the center of the study area forming pond structure bounded by the four faults. Two east-west cross sections were implemented using MINEX software. They provide visual maps for clay thickness distribution along the impurities of diatomite and interburden layers of silt, sand and gypsum. Clay reserves estimated using Inverse Distance Method (IDM) and Ordinary Kriging Method (OKM) were 6.1 and 5.94 Billion Cubic Meter respectively. The results of this study indicate that the area is a promising future target for economic investment in the local raw materials.

Key words: Ore reserve, ordinary kriging, arcmap, MINEX.