Sovremennye problemy distantsionnogo zondirovaniya Zemli iz kosmosa, 2014, Vol. 11, No. 3, pp. 140-156
Regularities of rock alteration assemblages of ore-magmatic systems containing quartz-vein manifestations of gold (by satellite spectrometry)
I. Gornyy
1 , G. Kritsuk
1 , Sh. Latypov
1 , A. Tronin
1
1 SRCES RAS, St.Petersburg, Russia
Possibilities of rock alteration mapping of quartz-vein gold deposits were investigated. The arid, well exposed region of Western Africa was chosen as the test site. Our researches are based on the concept of ore-magmatic systems (OMS) containing quarts-vein gold deposits. The genetic model of porphyry OMS, as well as the possibility to map prospecting signs of such OMS by the modern measuring remote sensing methods were analyzed. We noticed that regular zones of hydrothermal rock alterations are one of the most important prospecting sign of porphyry OMS. That is why the main goal of this paper is to investigate the possibility to map the regular zones of hydrothermally altered rocks of porphyry OMS by satellite spectrometry. The Terra (ASTER) satellite data were used. Visual tectonic interpretation of porphyry OMS signs from different RGB color composites was done. Possibilities of two algorithms of mineral spectra recognition (Spectral feature fitting and Constrained energy minimization) were investigated. The fuzzy unsupervised classification of quantitative distance of spectra similarities was applied to map complexes of minerals. As a result, normal and inverted regular hydrothermally altered zones were mapped in porphyry OMS containing quarts-vein gold deposits. Two hypothesis were suggested to explain the mechanism of this regularity formation: - influence of positive and negative forms of land surface relief on the eroded material transportation; - level of OMS erosion (volcanic or plutonic). It was concluded that the level of OMS system erosion derives the normal or inverted type of zones. Additional prospecting indicators of OMS containing gold deposits of quartz-vein formation, as well as copper deposits, were formulated.
Keywords: gold, deposit, ore-magmatic system, altered rocks, zones, satellite, spectrometry, recognition, regularities, indicators.
Full textReferences:
- Ignat'ev A.B., Osnovnye cherty i tipy rudno-magmaticheskikh sistem oblasti vulkanizma Dal'nego Vostoka (Major features and types of ore-magmatic systems of Far East volcanic region), In: Magmatogenno-rudnye sistemy (Ore-magmatic systems), Vladivostok: DVNTs SSSR, 1979, pp. 22-29.
- Gornyi V.I., Tronin A.A., Obzor dostizhenii poslednego desyatiletiya v oblasti primeneniya sputnikovykh metodov distantsionnogo zondirovaniya pri geologicheskikh i geofizicheskikh issledovaniyakh (Last decade achievements of satellite flown remote sensing methods on geological and geophysical investigations. Review), Sovremennye problemy distantsionnogo zondirovaniya Zemli iz kosmosa, 2012, Vol. 9, No. 5, pp. 116-132.
- Pavlova I.G., Geologo-geneticheskie modeli molibdenovykh porfirovykh mestorozhdenii (Genetic geological models of molybdenum porphyry deposits), In: Geneticheskie modeli endogennykh rudnykh formatsii (Genetic models of endogenic mineral formations), Vol. 1, Novosibirsk: Nauka, 1983, pp. 127-135.
- Pavlova I.G., Medno-porfirovye mestorozhdeniya (zakonomernosti razmeshcheniya i kriterii prognozirovaniya) (Copper-porphyry deposits (regularities of location and forecasting criterion), Leningrad: Nauka, 1978, 275 p.
- Sotnikov V.I. i dr., Geneticheskaya model' medno-molibdenovoi formatsii (Genetic model copper porphyry formation), In: Geneticheskie modeli endogennykh rudnykh formatsii (Genetic model of endogenic mineral formations), Vol. 1, Novosibirsk: Nauka, 1983, pp. 112-127.
- Osnovnye tipy rudnykh formatsii. Terminologicheskii spravochnik (Main types of mineral formations. Terminology directory), Ed.: Yu.A.Kosygin, E.A.Kulisha, Moscow: Nauka, 1984, 316 p.
- Tronin A.A., Gornyi V.I., Kritsuk S.G., Latypov I.Sh., Spektral'nye metody distantsionnogo zondirovaniya v geologii. Obzor (Remote spectrometry in geology. Review), Sovremennye problemy distantsionnogo zondirovaniya Zemli iz kosmosa, 2011, Vol. 8, No. 4, pp. 23-38.
- Abrams M.J., Brown D., Silver Bell., Arizona, porphyry copper test site: The Joint NASA-Geosat test case study, Section 4, Tulsa, OK: American Association of Petroleum Geologists, 1985, 73 p.
- ASTER Users Handbook, Version 1, Ed: Michael Abrams, Simon Hook, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, 4800 Oak Grove Dr., Pasadena, CA 91109, 135 p.
- Bennett S.A., Atkinson W.W., Kruse F.A., Use of thematic mapper imagery to identify mineralization in the Santa Teresa District, Sonora, Mexico, Int. Geol. Rev., 1993, 35, pp. 1009– 1029.
- Choe E., van der Meer F., van Ruitenbeek F., van der Werff H., de Smeth B., Kim K.W., Mapping of heavy metal pollution in stream sediments using combined geochemistry, field spectroscopy, and hyperspectral remote sensing: A case study of the Rodalquilar mining area, SE Spain, Remote Sensing of Environment, 2008, Vol. 112, pp. 3222-3233.
- Clark R.N., King T.V.V., Kleijwa M., Swayze G.A. & Vergo N., High spectral Resolution Reflectance Spectroscopy of Minerals, J. Geophys. Res., 1990, 95, pp. 12653-12680.
- Crowley J.K., Brickey D.W. & Rowan L.C., Airborne imaging spectrometer data of the Ruby mountains, Montana: mineral discrimination using relative absorption band-depth images, Remote Sens. Environ, 1989, No 29, 989, pp. 121-134.
- Farrand W.H. & Harsanyi J.C., Mapping the distribution of mine tailings in the Coeur d'Alene River valley, Idaho, through the use of Constrained Energy Minimization Technique, Remote Sens. Environ., 1997, Vol. 59, No. 1, pp. 64-76.
- Lawrence C. Rowan, Colin J. Simpson, John C. Mars, Hyperspectral analysis of the ultramafic complex and adjacent lithologies at Mordor, NT, Australia, Remote Sens. Environ., 2004, Vol. 91, (3), pp. 419-431.
- Moghtaderi A., Moore F., Mohammadzadeh A., The application of advanced space-borne thermal emission and reflection (ASTER) radiometer data in the detection of alteration in the Chadormalu paleocrater, Bafq region, Central Iran, Journal of Asian Earth Sciences, 2007, Volume 30, Issue 2, pp. 238-252.
- Rajesh H.M., Mapping Proterozoic unconformity-related uranium deposits in the Rockhole area, Northern Territory, Australia using landsat ETM+, Ore Geology Reviews, 2008,Vol. 33, Issues 3-4, pp 382-396.
- Resource Estimation Technical Report, Ronguen Au Project, Burkina Faso, SRK Consulting, Project Reference Number: 3CG009.001, Goldrush Resources Ltd, May 15, 2008, p. 91, available at: http://goldrushresources.ca/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/ronguen_resource_est. pdf.
- Sabins F.F., Remote sensing for mineral exploration, In: Ore Geology Reviews, 1999, 14, pp. 157–183.
- Sabins F.F., Remote Sensing — Principles and Interpretation, 3rd ed., W.H. Freeman, New York, NY, 1997, 494 p.
- Spatz D.M., Wilson R.T., Exploration remote sensing for porphyry copper deposits, western America Cordillera, Proceedings Tenth Thematic Conference on Geologic Remote Sensing, Environmental Research Institute of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, 1994, pp. 1227–1240.
- Tommaso I.D., Nora Rubinstein N., Hydrothermal alteration mapping using ASTER data in the Infiernillo porphyry deposit, Argentina, Ore Geology Reviews, 2007, Vol. 32, Issues 1-2, pp. 275-290.
- Watson K., Kruse F.A., Hummer-Miller S, Thermal infrared exploration in the Carlin trend, northern Nevada, Geophysics, 1990, Vol., 55, pp. 70–79.
- Zhang X., Pazner M., Duke N., Lithologic and mineral information extraction for gold exploration using ASTER data in the south Chocolate Mountains (California), ISPRS Journal of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing, 2007, Vol. 62, Issue 4, pp. 271-282.