HUBUNGAN MORFOLOGI TERHADAP KETEBALAN NIKEL LATERIT BLOK X PT. PAKUBUMI INTI MINERAL (PIM) DI KABUPATEN MOROWALI UTARA, PROVINSI SULAWESI TENGAH.

Abstrak

The research area is in block X PT. Paku Bumi Inti Mineral, North Morowali Regency, Central

Sulawesi Province which is part of the Sulawesi ophiolite route with complex geological conditions and still active tectonics. The research location in the East Arm of Sulawesi still has quite large potential for laterite nickel deposits. Laterite nickel deposits in an area are not

homogeneous, but their presence is controlled by several factors. In general, the distribution of nickel depends on the direction of water flow which is greatly influenced by the shape of the slope (topography). Local topographic conditions will greatly influence the circulation of water and other reagents. Accumulations of laterite nickel deposits are generally found in sloping to sloping areas, this shows that the thickness of weathering follows the shape of the

topography. In steep areas, in general the amount of water that slides (run off) is greater than the water that seeps in, this can cause less intensive weathering. This causes the layer thickness to be relatively thin. Through topographic control, the thickness of nickel laterite will be different in each condition. When processing data from 9 drilling points, each drilling point has a strong wavy topographic slope - hills with a slope of >15.9° and hilly topography -

strongly cut with a slope of >31.8°, which can be seen from the incision map. attached slope.

In the results of the drilling data, it was found that there was an appearance of differences in

laterite thickness due to differences in morphology and slope slope, for example at drill points DH-BBI-309, DH-BBI-310, DH-BBI-312 which were relatively steep points with relatively thin laterite thickness. ranges from 7-9 meters, while drill points DH-BBI-120, DH-BBI-121, DH-BBI-124, DH-BBI-130, DH-BBI-131, DH-BBI-133 have a laterite thickness of 18-26 meters with slopes that are not too steep.

Keywords— Nickel Laterite, Laterite Profile.