EVALUATION OF THE EFFECT OF PHYSICAL AND MINERALOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF SOME ROCK TYPES ON THEIR MECHANICAL PROPERTIES (A CASE STUDY OF EKITI, ONDO AND KWARA STATE)

The research work studies the effect of physical and mineralogical characteristics of some rock types on theirmechanical properties. Samples of rock were collected from six locations, Egbejila and Odore (Kwara State),Ijare and Itaogbolu (Ondo State), Iyin and Awo road, (Ekiti State), in Nigeria. The physical properties (hardness,density and specific gravity), mineralogical properties (X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) and mechanical properties(Uniaxial Compressive Strength (UCS); Point Load Strength and Brittleness) were determined in the laboratoryusing the required international standard and the equipment used are Impact Testing Machine, CompressionTesting machine, Aggregate Impact Value (AIV) machine, Aggregate Crushing Value (ACV) machine, GlobalPositioning System (GPS), Cut-off Saw Machine, and Petrographic Microscope. From the results of theinvestigation, it was observed that the concentration of quartz and other minerals as indicated by the X-RayDiffraction (XRD) have influence on the highest on the mechanical properties of the rocks under study. Ijarewith the highest quartz content of 69.4% has the highest UCS of 174.4 MPa while Odore with the lowest quartzcontent of 33% has the lowest UCS of 120 MPa. Dominance of silica is range of 62.455% – 70.72%). Thephysical properties (hardness, density and specific gravity) were found to follow the same trend with themineralogical properties in influencing the mechanical behaviour of rock, most especially the UCS. Denser andharder rock samples were found to have higher UCS. Conclusively, the physical and mineralogical properties ofrock were found to correlate strongly with the mechanical properties.