Mineralogy and Geochemistry of Black Shale Outcrops at Batu Gajah, Perak

Recently, black shales have attracted more attentions due to their role as unconventional
energy resources. Black shales are widely distributed in both West and East Malaysia.
This project focuses on one example of these black shales in Batu Gajah area, Perak.
The objective of the project is to characterize the occurrence, geology, mineralogy and
geochemistry of these black shales. This report shows the preliminary results of these
investigations. Literature reviews on local and international reports and papers
indicated increasing the interest in black shales and unconventional energy resources
worldwide. It also showed the lack of information about the black shales in Malaysia
and Batu Gajah area in particular. The stratigraphy and age of these shales are rather
controversy. As part of the work plan of this project, several outcrops of black shales
in the Batu Gajah area have been visited, described and sampled. The samples are
currently prepared for the next mineralogical and geochemical analyses by drying up
the samples and preparing the powders. Part of the samples are also treated to separate
the clay fractions by dissolving the carbonate minerals and organic matter. After the
samples preparations completed, the mineralogical analyses of both bulk samples and
clay fractions will be conducted using XRD. Samples powders will be also analysed for
their organic and inorganic geochemistry including TOC and XRF.