Estudio petrográfico de la piedra caliza y potencial de carbonato de calcio en el sector Chiguaza en cantón Huamboya provincia de Morona Santiago.

Abstract

This study aimed to carry out the qualitative and quantitative characterization of limestone in the Chiguaza parish, Huamboya canton. The facilities of the laboratory of hydraulics, mineralogy, crystallography and petrography from Escuela Superior Politécnica del Chimborazo -Morona Santiago campus and the laboratory of the Quality Control Department of Unión Cementera Nacional S.A. Chimborazo (UCEM S.A) site were used for this analysis. Samples were collected randomly every twenty meters, within a range of four hundred meters. Four limestone samples were sent to the laboratory of the Engineering School in Geology, Mines, Petroleum and Environmental (FIGEMPA in Spanish) in order to elaborate thin films for qualitative analysis, using petrographic microscopy, and six samples were visually described using macroscopic cards. Five samples were chosen to complete the quantitative analysis under X-Ray fluorescence assay at UCEM S.A. facilities. Under the Kriging geostatistical interpolation process, the CaCO3 potential was analyzed and the results were compared with the Inverse Distance Weighted (IDW) interpolation tool. As a result, a minimum value of 87.27% and a maximum value of 98.75% were obtained. In conclusion, a large part of the study area is constituted by a high calcium carbonate potential. It is recommended to extend the study area to continue exploring and collecting information in order to establish a possible project for the extraction of the mineral.