TRACE METALS IN STREAM SEDIMENT OF KOSOVA BASED ON STATISTICAL ANALYSIS OF LEAD, ZINC, COPPER, NICKEL, CHROMIUM AND COBALT

The studies presented in this paper dealing with trace metals in stream sediments and are intended to selecting promising areas in which to prospect for metalliferous ore bodies. Geochemical exploration for ore deposits and metalliferous regions is based on the concept that the products of weathering and erosion of rocks are mainly distributed in local soils, plants and stream sediments. Results of stream sediment geochemical analysis were taken by the Independent Commission for Mines and Minerals (ICMM) and comprise entire territory of Kosovo. Within the surveyed area a total of 3240 samples of stream sediment were collected and analyzed. In this paper are taken in consideration results for the trace metals lead, zinc, copper, nickel, chromium and cobalt. The concept of a geochemical anomaly as a concentration level above some arbitrarily chosen background or "threshold" value for a particular element cannot be applied rigorously to regional variations over a large area encompassing different geologic regions with widely different rock types. Consequently, we adopted the procedure of determining the frequency distribution for each trace metal and of defining anomalies in terms of the statistics. The geochemical results were explored using a range of common statistical techniques including descriptive summary statistics, statistical distribution and correlation analysis for selected trace metals. Statistical analysis and interpretation the geochemical results from stream sediment sampling for trace metals lead (Pb), zinc (Zn), copper (Cu), chromium (Cr), nickel (Ni) and Cobalt (Co) indicates that there are potential areas for increased exploration on these metals. It is recommended to continue the presented investigations by verification activities including mapping, litho-geochemistry, trenching, drilling.