Exploration of gold mineralization in a tropical region using Earth Observing-1 (EO1) and JERS-1 SAR data: a case study
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ORIGINAL PAPER
Exploration of gold mineralization in a tropical region using Earth Observing-1 (EO1) and JERS-1 SAR data: a case study from Bau gold field, Sarawak, Malaysia Amin Beiranvand Pour & Mazlan Hashim & Maged Marghany
Received: 20 September 2012 / Accepted: 3 May 2013 # Saudi Society for Geosciences 2013
Abstract Bau gold mining district, located near Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia, is a Carlin style gold deposits. Geological analyses coupled with remote sensing data were used to detect hydrothermal alteration rocks and structure elements associated with this type of gold mineralization. Image processing techniques, including principal components analysis, linear spectral unmixing, and Laplacian algorithms, were employed to carry out spectrolithological–structural mapping of mineralized zones, using Advanced Land Imager, Hyperion, and JERS-1 synthetic aperture radar scenes covering the study area and surrounding terrain. Hydrothermally alteration mineral zones were detected along the SSW to NNE structural trend of the Tai Parit fault that corresponds to the areas of occurrence of the gold mineralization in the Bau limestone. The results show that potentially interesting areas are observable by the methods used, despite limited bedrock exposure in this region and the constraints imposed by the tropical environment. Keywords Gold mineralization . Gold exploration . Tropical regions . EO1 data . JERS-1 SAR data . Bau gold field A. B. Pour : M. Hashim (*) : M. Marghany Institute of Geospatial Science & Technology (INSTeG), Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 81310 UTM Skudai, Johor Bahru, Malaysia e-mail: [email protected] A. B. Pour e-mail: [email protected] M. Marghany e-mail: [email protected]
Introduction Remote sensing images are used for mineral exploration by association mapping as indicated by geology and the faults and fractures that localize ore deposits (Spatz 1997) and indentifying hydrothermally altered rocks by their spectral signatures (Sabins 1999; Pour and Hashim 2012a). Multispectral and hyperspectral remote sensing sensors were used for geological applications, ranging from a few spectral bands to more than 100 contiguous bands, covering the visible to the shortwave infrared regions of the electromagnetic spectrum (Abrams et al. 1983; Rowan and Wetlaufer 1981; Spatz and Wilson 1995; Cocks et al. 1998; Kruse et al. 1999). Landsat Multi-Spectral Scanner, Landsat Thematic Mapper, and Syste`m Pour l’Observation de la Terre with four to seven spectral bands have been used for regional scales of geological mapping (Goetz et al. 1983; Sultan et al. 1987; Kavak 2005; Kargi 2007). HyMap and the Airborne Visible/IR Image Spectrometer hyperspectral sensors with 126 to 224 contiguous bands were used to provide information about hydrothermal alteration minerals on the Earth’s surface (Clark et al. 1991; Perry 2004; Hellman and Ramsey 2004; Bedini et al. 2009; Bedini 2011). Recognizing hydrothermally altered rocks through remote sensing instruments have been widely and successfully used for the
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