Engineering and Technology Journal e-ISSN: 2456-3358

Volume 09 Issue 08 August-2024, Page No.- 4871-4877

DOI: 10.47191/etj/v9i08.36, I.F. – 8.227
© 2024, ETJ

Delineation of Nickel Laterite Deposits Based on Geoelectric Method in

Area “X”, Southeast Sulawesi, Indonesia
Nazilatunni’mah1, Y Yatini2, Muhammad Arief Wicaksono3
1,2
Geophysical Engineering, Universitas Pembangunan Nasional “Veteran” Yogyakarta, SWK No. 104 North Ring Road Street,
Condongcatur, 55283
3
PT. Aneka Tambang Tbk., Letjen. T.B. Simatupang Street No. 1, Tanjung Barat, Jakarta, 12530
ABSTRACT: Sustainable nickel exploration is urgently needed as the demand for nickel in Indonesia increases. Area “X” Southeast
Sulawesi, Indonesia, is one of the nickel producer areas in Indonesia. A geophysical exploration method that can effectively and
efficiently increase the discovery of laterite nickel potential is the Electrical Resistivity Tomography (ERT) or the resistivity
geoelectric method. ERT measurements in the study area were carried out to see the potential of nickel laterite deposits that can be
mined. ERT measurements were carried out as many as 6 lines, and there was drill data as many as 5 drill points in the study area.
Data processing of resistivity values using Res2DInv software, then made resistivity cross-section, lithology cross-section,
resistivity cross-section vs. drill data, correlation of paths, depth slicing map, and 3D modeling for each layer of nickel laterite. The
results showed that the study area contained limonite, saprolite, saprock, and bedrock layers. The resistivity value in the limonite
layer is (61 – 150) Ohm.m, the saprolite layer is (1 – 60) Ohm.m, the saprock layer is (61 – 150) Ohm.m, and the bedrock layer has
a resistivity value of more than 150 Ohm.m. The distribution of nickel laterite deposits consisting of limonite, saprolite, and saprock
in the study area is thicker to the east. Nickel laterite deposits in the eastern zone have a thickness of about 60 meters, while in the
western zone, it has a thickness of about 10 meters. This is due to the indication of a southwest-northeast oriented fault, so the
western zone has a higher morphology than the eastern zone.
KEYWORDS: nickel laterite deposits, resistivity, modeling, dipole-dipole configuration, exploration

I. INTRODUCTION laterite nickel deposit model in the study area consists of a

International trade is a very important for a country limonite zone, saprolite zone, saprock, and bedrock. Flatter
because it supports economic prosperity. International trade topography produced thicker nickel laterite deposits than
brings many benefits, especially for developing countries like steeper topography (Santoso and Subagio 2018). A study
Indonesia. Indonesia is a country that is blessed with using the ERT method with the Wenner configuration was
abundant natural resources. Indonesia's abundant natural also conducted in North Kolaka, Southeast Sulawesi. The
resources can be an opportunity to market them globally. thickness of nickel laterite deposits is influenced by
Indonesia ranks first as the world's largest nickel-producing morphology, which is one factor that plays a role in the
country and managed to book nickel production of up to 1.6 weathering and leaching process (Santoso, Wijatmoko, and
million metric tons in 2022 and contributed around 48.48 Supriyana 2017). In relatively gentle slope conditions, the
percent of the world's nickel (USGS 2023). Nickel resources nickel content in the limonite zone is 1.99% and 2.13% in the
can be found in two forms, namely primary nickel and saprolite zone. Otherwise, the nickel content in steep areas is
secondary nickel. Indonesia only finds nickel in the form of lower, which is 1.01% in limonite and 1.46% in saprolite
secondary nickel commonly called laterite nickel (Isjudarto (Hasria et al. 2024). North Konawe has steep slopes, high
2013). levels of rock weathering, cracked and loose rocks, including
A geophysical exploration method that can effectively fault lines, road-cut slopes, and routine vehicle vibration
and efficiently improve the discovery of nickel laterite (Umar et al. 2019).
reserves is the Electrical Resistivity Tomography (ERT) The purpose of this study is to define the lithology of
method or often known as the resistivity geoelectric method. the nickel laterite deposits layer based on the resistivity value,
The ERT method is one of the methods used to determine the determine the distribution of resistivity values, and to make
characteristics or resistivity value of the nickel laterite profile. an model to see the distribution of nickel laterite deposits
The research was conducted in area “X,” Southeast Sulawesi, layer. The 2D ERT data processing in this study using
with a dipole-dipole configuration. Res2Dinv software to make a resistivity section. Res2Dinv
A study using the ERT method with dipole-dipole software processing results will be correlated with supporting
configuration was conducted in Southeast Sulawesi. The data in the form of drill data. The distribution of nickel laterite
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 “Delineation of Nickel Laterite Deposits Based on Geoelectric Method in Area “X”, Southeast Sulawesi, Indonesia”
deposits in the research area is known by the outputs such as
resistivity cross section correlation, depth slicing map, and
3D modeling.
A. Geology of the Study Area
The location of the study is in the Ophiolite Complex of
the Southeast Arm of Sulawesi, which is part of the East
Sulawesi Ophiolite Range. Figure 1 is a geological map of the
Southeast Arm of Sulawesi.
Based on the Regional Geological Map of Lasusua-
Kendari Sheet, Sulawesi, the lithology in the study area is
alluvial surface deposits and ultramafic igneous rock groups
that contain dunite, harzburgite, lherzolite, peridotite,
pyroxenite, and serpentinite. The regional stratigraphy of the
Southeast Arm of Sulawesi is shown in Figure 2.

Figure 2. Regional stratigraphy of the Southeast Arm of

Sulawesi (Surono 2013), the study area is shown by a
black square.

B. Nickel Laterite
Nickel laterite is a product of ultramafic rocks' chemical
and physical weathering and enrichment. Weathering is the
physical and chemical changes of rocks or minerals near or
on the earth's surface. Physical and chemical changes in
ultramafic rocks accompanied by the laterization process
produce an economic laterite deposit (Ahmad 2006). The
laterite nickel profile is shown in Figure 3.

Figure 1. The geological map of the Southeast Arm of

Sulawesi (Surono 2013), the study area is shown by a
black square.

The Southeast Sulawesi region structures were formed

during the collision and post-collision phases. The collision
between continental pieces and ophiolites resulted in various
geological structures, such as thrust faults, imbrication
structures, and folds (Surono 2013). Rising faults generally
form the boundary between the ophiolite and the continental
slice of Southeast Sulawesi. Rising faults form imbrication Figure 3. Profile of nickel laterite deposit (Elias 2002)
zones that are visible along the east and west coasts of the
Southeast Sulawesi Arm. Some of the ultramafic rocks commonly found are
dunite, harzbugite and [Link] lateritization process
lasts for millions of years begins when ultramafic rocks are
exposed on the earth's surface until they produce nickel
residues (Surono 2013).

II. RESEARCH METHODS

Area “X”, Southeast Sulawesi, is an area that is under
exploration, so there are already no active mines. The study
used 2D ERT secondary data with a dipole-dipole
configuration. ERT measurements were carried out on six
lines with five drill points as shown in Figure 4.
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 “Delineation of Nickel Laterite Deposits Based on Geoelectric Method in Area “X”, Southeast Sulawesi, Indonesia”
geometry factors (K). The dipole-dipole configurations, a
geometry factor is used (2):
𝐾 = 𝜋𝑛(𝑛 + 1)(𝑛 + 2)𝑎 (2)

III. RESULT AND ANALYSIS

The results of Res2Dinv software processing produce
inversion values on each line from 0.99 to 6696.6 Ohm.m.
The resistivity value in the inversion results is analyzed for
its distribution, so it results in the division of the resistivity
value range shown in the classification table as table 1.
Low resistivity values are indicated as saprolite layers,
medium resistivity values are indicated as limonite layers
Figure 4. Design survey map of the study area.
when near the surface or saprock (saprolite rock) layers when
between saprolite and bedrock, and high resistivity values are
The tools and equipment used in ERT data acquisition
indicated as bedrock layers.
in the research area include machetes, electrode connectors,
main units, cables that connect electrodes and main units,
Table 1. Classification of resistivity values of nickel
batteries, HT, electrodes, GPS, and cables that connect main
laterite deposits in the study area
units and batteries.
No Category Resistivity Interpretation
The raw data acquired from the resistivity method is
(Ohm.m)
directly from the tool in .bin format, so they must be
1 Low 1 – 60 Saprolite
converted into .dat format using Prosys II software and then
2 Medium 61 - 150 Limonite or
transferred to Notepad. The data processing needs several
Saprolite Rock
software such as Res2Dinv, Oasis Montaj, Rockwork,
3 High >150 Bedrock
Leapfrog, Surfer, and Coreldraw.
The resistivity method is based on the assumption that
The profile of nickel laterite deposits in the study area is
the earth has isotropic homogeneous properties. The
divided into four layers, which are limonite layer, saprolite
measured resistivity is the true resistivity, and it doesn't
depend on the electrode spacing. However, in reality, the layer, saprock layer and bedrock layer. Fe abundance in the
earth is composed of layers with different resistivities, so limonite zone decreases gradually from the limonite zone to
the bedrock. Fe and Al elements with immobile elemental
these layers influence the measured potential. The measured
mobility make these minerals have a higher resistance to
resistivity value is the resistivity value for one layer only. The
weathering, so their presence is concentrated in the upper part
measured resistivity is the apparent resistivity (ρa) (Reynolds
2011). The apparent resistivity is formulated: of laterite deposits (Ramadhani, Cahyadi, and Handayani
∆𝑉 2023). Limonite is generally located near the surface and
𝜌𝑎 = 𝐾 (1)
𝐼 contains ultramafic rock building materials and resistive
Where a is apparent resistivity (m), K is geometry silica of gravel-boulder size. The characteristics of the
factor, V is potential difference (V), and I is current strength limonite layer when the current is applied are highly resistive,
(A). The inversion process is carried out to convert the hard and dense, high in iron and low in water, soft and porous,
apparent resistivity value into the actual resistivity value. and similar to homogeneous soil (Salsabila 2021). The
The dipole-dipole configuration geoelectric method limonite layer has much vegetation, making the ground
uses two current electrodes and two voltage electrodes surface have many air cavities, resulting in a higher resistivity
injected into the underground. The distance between the value than the layer above it.
current electrode and the voltage electrode is nx while the Saprolite has a high porosity due to the weathering
distance or space between each electrode is the same, namely process, allowing water to fill in and impact the resulting
a (distance C1C2 = distance P1P2 = x), as shown in Figure 5. resistivity value. The saprolite layer chemically contains a lot
of magnesium (Mg) and nickel (Ni) elements and reduced
iron (Fe) elements, which are found in the limonite layer zone
(Fitrian 2021). The characteristics of the saprolite layer when
the current is electrified are moderately conductive, have low
porosity, a hard texture like clay, and high water content, so
Figure 5. Current and potential electrodes in dipole- the resistivity value produced is lower than other layers
dipole configuration (Telford, Geldart, and Sheriff 1990) (Nabila, Anda, and Haraty 2020).
The saprolite layer contains a layer of saprolite rock
Different arrangements of current electrodes and (saprock).The saprock layer is above the [Link]
voltage electrodes may also lead to the use of different saprock layer is a transition area between the saprolite layer
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 “Delineation of Nickel Laterite Deposits Based on Geoelectric Method in Area “X”, Southeast Sulawesi, Indonesia”
and the bedrock zone, so it will mostly have the properties of interpretation of nickel laterite deposits is supported by drill
the saprolite layer and the bedrock zone [Link] data available in the study area. Figure 6 is one of the drill
characteristics of saprolite boulders are resistive boulders but data available in the study area.
with conductive weathered skin, low water content (Nabila, The inline borehole on line L7, N-1 has a top soil layer
Anda, and Haraty 2020). located at (0 - 0.5) meters, a saprolite layer of (0.5 – 14)
The high resistivity value is interpreted as edrock of the meters, and a bedrock layer which is peridotite rock is found
peridotite rock [Link] layer is composed of major minerals at (14 – 17) meters. Bedrock suspected by drillers in the field
such as olivine and pyroxene, with relatively low Ni content needs further chemical analysis because drillers stop drilling
(Okto et al. 2023). This bedrock has not been weathered and when they reach hard rock with a thickness of more than 3
the density and hardness of the material is very high. meters. The field interpretation of suspected bedrock is in fact
saprolite rock found at the saprolite bottom.
A. Resistivity Section
Figure 5 is the result of the resistivity section and
lithology section on the L7 lines that is west to east. The
length of the L7 lines is 940 meters. The L7 resistivity section
has passed iteration 5 times and the RMS error value is
16.5%.
The limonite layer on L7 has a thickness of about 5
meters at (0 – 200) meters and (350 – 480) meters, the
saprolite layer has a thickness of up to 50 meters, and the
saprock layer has a thickness of up to 20 meters. The fault is
indicated at 320 meters from the starting point of the traverse.
The fault is depicted with a dashed black line. The faults
cause the nickel laterite deposits, which are composed of
limonite, saprolite and saprock in the western zone to be
thinner than the eastern zone. The steep and rugged
Figure 6. Lithologic section from the drill core, e.g.
morphology of the study area can cause differences in the
drill point N-1
thickness and distribution of nickel laterite deposits. The

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 “Delineation of Nickel Laterite Deposits Based on Geoelectric Method in Area “X”, Southeast Sulawesi, Indonesia”

B. Resistivity Section Corrlatioon the surface. This map is dominated by the saprolite layer
Correlation of all resistivity section paths used to facilitate which is shown in blue. The limonite layer in the research
interpretation and show the combined resistivity section of area has a thickness of (0 – 5) meters. The slicing map at a
the six paths. The correlation is shown in Figure 8. depth of (-3.8) meters shows the presence of a limonite layer
The stand out response from all sections is the presence of related to the thickness of nickel laterite because the depth
faults on the L7, L8, and L9 sections, so that the western zone slicing map shows that the western part of the study area has
in the study area has a thinner laterite layer than the eastern thicker bedrock than the western part of the study area.
zone. The response is an indication of geological structure in research area has thicker bedrock than the eastern -
the form of faults. The fault is characterized by a black dashed southeastern part of the research area.
line. The suspected fault is strengthened because the resistivity
The weathering process in ultramafic igneous rocks can be value response at a certain depth shows the same results.
in the form of physical weathering and chemical weathering. When viewed from its continuity, the fault has a southwest-
Physical weathering can be caused by geological structures in northeast direction, so it appears that the western part of the
the form of faults that occur in the study area. The presence research area has a thinner layer of nickel laterite deposits
offaults can cause cracks in the rock so that it can accelerate than the layer of nickel laterite deposits in the eastern area.
weathering. This is likely to occur in the eastern zone so that Nickel laterite deposits are thinner than those in the east.
the zone has a much thicker layer of nickel laterite deposits Traces that show layer boundaries strengthen the
than the western zone. interpretation of faults in the study area. The fault is visible
C. Depth Slicing up to a depth of -43.0 meters. The distribution pattern of
In figure 9, the slicing map of (-3.8) meters depth is the nickel laterite deposits thickens towards the east of the study
result of resistivity values that are as far as 3.8 meters below area.

Figure 9. Slicing map at depth (a) -3,8 m;

(b) -6,7 m; (c) 9,9 m; (d) 43 m.

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 “Delineation of Nickel Laterite Deposits Based on Geoelectric Method in Area “X”, Southeast Sulawesi, Indonesia”
D. 3D Modeling bedrock so that the structure and texture of the original rock
The geology of the study area dominated by ultramafic are still visible. The nickel content in the saprolite layer is
rocks, allows for more lateritic nickel deposits to be formed. greater than in the limonite layer, which is 1.5% - 4% (Elias
The limonite layer of the study area has a thickness of up to 5 2002), , while the iron content is lower than the limonite layer,
meters. The saprolite and saprock layers in the study area so the saprolite layer is also a target in laterite nickel mining.
have the thickest thickness among other layers. This layer has The deepest part of nickel laterite deposits is bedrock
the potential for nickel laterite mining because of the high which is composed of chunks or blocks of parent rock which
nickel content. generally does not contain economic minerals (the level is
The saprolite layer is a mixture of rock remnants, passive, close to or equal to the bedrock), namely nickel content of
formed from a transition zone from limonite to bedrock so 0.3% and iron content of 35% - 45% (Elias 2002). Therefore,
that the structure and texture of the original rock are still the depth of the bedrock needs to be known to determine the
visible. The saprolite layer is a mixture of rock remnants, limit of nickel laterite mining.
passive, formed from a transition zone from limonite to

Figure 10. (a) 3D model of laterite nickel deposits; (b) 3D model of limonite layer distribution; (c) 3D model of
saprolite layer distribution; (d) 3D model of saprock distribution; (e) 3D model of bedrock distribution.
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 “Delineation of Nickel Laterite Deposits Based on Geoelectric Method in Area “X”, Southeast Sulawesi, Indonesia”
CONCLUSIONS 7. Okto, Ali, Bahdad Bahdad, Syamsul Razak,
The results show that in the research area, there are layers Sahiddin Sahiddin, and Jonas Tugo. 2023.
of limonite, saprolite, saprock, and bedrock. The resistivity “Pengkayaan Unsur Logam Tanah Jarang Kobalt
value in the saprolite layer is (1 – 60) Ohm.m, the limonite (Co) Pada Profil Laterit Di Kecamatan Kolaka
layer and saprock layer are (61 – 150) Ohm.m, and the Utara.” Jurnal GEOSAPTA 9(2): 127.
bedrock layer has a resistivity value of more than 150 Ohm.m. doi:10.20527/jg.v9i2.14861.
The limonite layer in the study area has a thickness of (0 – 5) 8. Ramadhani, Ayumi Hana Putri, Andi Cahyadi, and
meters due to morphological factors in the study area. The Tatik Handayani. 2023. “Makalah Ilmiah
saprolite layer contains the highest Ni content, in the research Karakteristik Endapan Bijih Besi Laterit Pada Blok
area, it is scattered on all tracks with a thickness ranging from Barat Dan Blok Timur PT. Silo, Kabupaten
(5 – 50) meters. The layers of nickel laterite deposits Kotabaru, Kalimantan Selatan Berdasarkan Analisis
consisting of limonite, saprolite, and saprock in the study area Geokimia Dan Minerologi.” Buletin Sumber Daya
range from (10-60) meters. Geologi 18(3): 183–96.
The distribution pattern of nickel laterite deposits in the study doi:10.47599/bsdg.v18i3.425.
area spread in the eastern area has a relatively thicker 9. Reynolds, John M. 2011. An Introduction to Applied
thickness because it is indicated by a southwest - northeast and Environmental Geophysics. 2nd ed. New York:
oriented fault so that the western zone has a thinner layer of John Wiley and Sons.
nickel laterite deposits around 10 meters. [Link]/go/reynolds/introduction2e.
10. Salsabila, Firyal Hana. 2021. “Pemodelan 2D
ACKNOWLEDGMENT Endapan Nikel Laterit Di Daerah Pomalaa, Kolaka,
Thanks to PT Antam Tbk for allowing researchers to Sulawesi Tenggara Menggunakan Metoda
research using company data. Thanks also to Geophysical Geolistrik Resistivitas.” Universitas Islam Negeri
Engineering of Universitas Pembangunan Nasional Veteran Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta.
Yogyakarta for providing facilities for researchers to 11. Santoso, Budy, and Subagio. 2018. “Pemodelan
complete this research. Nikel Laterit Berdasarkan Data Resistivitas Di
Daerah Kabaena Kabupaten Bombana, Provinsi
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