Detection of geochemical anomalies related to mineralization using the Random Forest model optimized by the Competitive Mechanism and Beetle Antennae Search

Abstract

This study aimed to detect the geochemical anomalies related to Fe-mineralization in the Hunjiang area in Jilin Province, China. For this purpose, a Random Forest model was optimized from two aspects of parameters' search and seeking the optimal solution by integrating the “Beetle Antennae Search” and “Competitive Mechanism”. The optimized Random Forest model was compared with the original Random Forest model in the detection of geochemical anomalies related to Fe-mineralization. The results showed that the optimized Random Forest model avoids some limitations of the original Random Forest model, with significant advantages in the detection of mineralization-related anomaly information from exploration geochemical data. It allowed automatic optimization of parameters by integrating two heuristic searching processes. Simultaneously, it focussed more on the quest for the best global optimal solution. Through the case study, it is found that the optimized Random Forest algorithm significantly improved the overall performance for the detection of geochemical anomalies related to Fe-mineralization. The geochemical anomalies detected by the optimized Random Forest model showed close spatial correlation with known iron polymetallic deposits. Therefore, using the optimized Random Forest model to detect geochemical anomalies related to mineralization is of great importance. It also provides a better supporting foundation for geochemical exploration and mineral resource exploration in the Hunjiang area.