Ila Orangun is located within the basement complex and specifically on the north of Okemesi and falls within latitude 7054l and 8000l N and longitudes 40 53l and 50 00l E respectively. In the study area six (6) lithological units were identified to be common around the study area which includes quartzites, granites, granite gneiss, porphyritic granites, amphibolite and pegmatites. This study focuses on statistical analyses of geochemical datasets obtained from the geochemical investigations of basement rocks in Ila Orangun area, Southwestern Nigeria with the aim of ascertaining the elemental association of their chemical components targeted at validating the mineralization potentials of basement rocks in the area. For the purpose of this study involving statistical analyses, the use of relevant statistical software packages such as IBM SPSS, Statistics 28 was employed so as to obtain useful and reliable information on the geochemical attributes of the rocks in the area. Statistical analysis was carried out with the aid of available geochemical data which were statistically processed using descriptive statistics, principal component analysis (PCA), analysis of variance (ANOVA), correlation coefficient and factor analysis. Results from statistical analysis showed that correlation matrix using Pearson method displayed positive and negative values. From factor analysis, five component groups were extracted from the analysis with each component group showing the various elemental associations. Component 1 show Ag-As-Ba-Cd-Co elemental association suggesting sulphide mineralization. Component 2 show Cr-Cu-Ni elemental association which are pathfinder elements while component 3 show Pb-Rb elemental association, Component 4 reveal Zn-Fe-V elemental association and Component 5 show U-Mn elemental association. However, Components 3, 4 and 5 suggest weathered and dispersed elements. Hence, it is recommended that subsequent researchers who may intend to work on the study area should consider the geochemical characteristics of pegmatites in the study area to unravel its mineralization potential.
Keywords: Factor analysis, Ila Orangun, elemental association, mineralization, statistical
