Sutability of Khurmala Formation’s Rocks in Galka Smaq Vicinity, Kurdistan Region of Iraq for Industrial Uses

Abstract

The Khurmala Formation is exposed in restricted areas in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, usually between the Kolosh and Gercus formations. One of those exposed areas is the Haibat Sultan Mountain which extends from Koya town and eastwards to Sulaymaniyah city with NW-SE trend, where it passes to the Sinjar Formation. The rocks of the latter are used as the raw materials in five cement plants in Sulaymaniyah Governorate. The rocks of the Khurmala Formation were sampled near Kalka Smaq village along the road which crosses Haibat Sultan Mountain to perform an industrial assessment of the rocks. The sampled section is 65 m thick; 13 samples were collected as channel samples with regular intervals of 5 m. In the field, the samples were lithologically described and checked with HCl acid. The samples were powdered, and subjected to XRF to detect the main oxides in the samples. The obtained results of CaO, MgO, Fe2O3, Al2O3, Na2O, K2O, SiO2, SO3, Cl, and L.O.I. as weight percentages were checked with Iraqi standards to find for what industrial uses can be suitable. Accordingly, the samples were found to be suitable for the cement industry and for the paper industry, but after slight treatment.