Barium Ore

Mining in Nigeria dates back to before 1900. Nigeria has in abundance many mineral deposits; one of such minerals is Barium, Barium is a chemical element with symbol Ba and atomic number 56. It is the fifth element in group 2. Barium is a soft, silvery alkaline earth metal. Because of its high chemical reactivity, barium is never found in nature as a free element. Its hydroxide, known in pre-modern history as baryta, does not occur as a mineral, but can be prepared by heating barium carbonate.

The most common naturally occurring minerals of barium are barite (barium sulfate, BaSO₄) and witherite (barium carbonate, BaCO₃), both insoluble in water. Barium has few industrial applications. Historically, it was used as a getter for vacuum tubes and in oxide form as the emissive coating on indirectly heated cathodes. It is a component of YBCO (high-temperature superconductors) and electroceramics, and is added to steel and cast iron to reduce the size of carbon grains within the microstructure. Barium compounds are added to fireworks to impart a green color. Barium sulfate is used as an insoluble additive to oil well drilling fluid, as well as in a purer form, as X-ray radiocontrast agents for imaging the human gastrointestinal tract. The soluble barium ion and soluble compounds are poisonous, and have been used as rodenticides.

OCCURANCE AND PRODUCTION

The abundance of barium is 0.0425% in the Earth’s crust and 13 µg/L in sea water. The primary commercial source of barium is barite (also called barytes or heavy spar), a barium sulfate mineral. With deposits in many parts of the world. The mined ore is washed, crushed, classified, and separated from quartz. If the quartz penetrates too deeply into the ore, or the iron, zinc, or lead content is abnormally high, then froth flotation is used. The product is a 98% pure barite (by mass); the purity should be no less than 95%, with a minimal content of iron and silicon dioxide. It is then reduced by carbon to barium sulfide

 

APPILICATION

Metal and alloys

Barium, as a metal or when alloyed with aluminum, is used to remove unwanted gases (gettering) from vacuum tubes, such as TV picture tubes. Barium is suitable for this purpose because of its low vapor pressure and reactivity towards oxygen, nitrogen, carbon dioxide, and water; it can even partly remove noble gases by dissolving them in the crystal lattice. This application is gradually disappearing due to the rising popularity of the tubeless LCD and plasma sets.

Other uses of elemental barium are minor and include an additive to silumin (aluminum–silicon alloys) that refines their structure, as well as

• bearing alloys;
• lead–tin solderingalloys – to increase the creep resistance;
• alloy with nickel for spark plugs;
• additive to steel and cast iron as an inoculant;
• Alloys with calcium, manganese, silicon, and aluminum as high-grade steel deoxidizers.

 

Barium sulfate and barite

Barium sulfate (the mineral barite, BaSO4) is important to the petroleum industry as a drilling fluid in oil and gas wells. The precipitate of the compound (called “blanc fixe”, from the French for “permanent white”) is used in paints and varnishes; as filler in ringing ink, plastics, and rubbers; as a paper coating pigment; and in nanoparticles, to improve physical properties of some polymers, such as epoxies.

Barium sulfate has a low toxicity and relatively high density of ca. 4.5 g·cm−3 (and thus opacity to X-rays). For this reason it is used as a radiocontrast agent in X-ray imaging of the digestive system (“barium meals” and “barium enemas“).Lithopone, a pigment that contains barium sulfate and zinc sulfide, is a permanent white with good covering power that does not darken when exposed to sulfides.

 

MARKET

Barium has extensive market in the Nigeria oil industry as it is used mainly as drilling fluid. It is combined with water and some other minerals to create drilling mud. This “mud” gets pumped into the drilling holes, and because of its weight, it helps to prevent the oil from exploding out into the environment.

 

REQUIREMENT AND CONDITIONS FOR MINING IN NIGERIA

There are two options available to a company or an individual to enter into the mining industry in Nigeria.

1. Through the acquisition of an existing mining Lease from the original owner. Approval must be obtained from the Ministry of Solid Minerals Development for such a purchase.
2. Fresh mining lease

 

Procedure for Mineral Title Licences/Leases and Permits: 

1.  Duly completed application form
2. Coordinates of the area of application
3. Certificate of incorporation
4. Attestation
5. Letter of consent from landowner(s)/occupier(s)
6. Types of minerals
7. Work programme/pre-feasibility report
8. Evidence of payment
9. Technical capability
10. Financial capability

In order to encourage investment in the solid minerals industry in Nigeria, Government is offering the following incentives

1. 3-5 years Tax Holiday
2. Deferred royalty payments
3. Possible capitalization of expenditure on exploration and surveys
4. Extension of infrastructure such as roads and electricity to mining sites, and provision of 100% foreign ownership of mining concerns.

The mining industry in Nigeria is regulated by the Nigerian Minerals and Mining Act of 2007, National Minerals and Metals Policy 2008 and Nigerian Minerals and Mining Regulations 2011.

 

CONCLUSION

Business Advisory Network ‘BAN’ will work with you and assist you to process mining lease from the federal government. We will help you source for a site with rich mineral content. Mining is a technical field although the financial reward is enormous; therefore to succeed you need experts to guide you to avoid fatal mistakes that will erode your capital.

Other things BAN can do for you include but are not limited to helping you to determine the grade of Barium ore at the site, source market for your mined minerals, both locally and internationally. BAN will also help you arrange security at your mining sites.