Abstract
The eastern Lut block of Iran has a high potential for porphyry copper mineralization due to the subduction tectonic regime. It is located in an inaccessible region and has harsh arid conditions for traditional mineral exploration campaigns. The objective of this study is to use Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) remote sensing data for porphyry copper exploration in Simorgh Area, eastern Lut block of Iran. Hydrothermal alteration zones such as argillic, phyllic and propylitic zones associated with porphyry copper systems in the study were identified using false color composition (FCC), band ratio (BR), principal component analysis (PCA) and minimal noise fraction (MNF). The thematic alteration layers extracted from FCC, BR, PCA and MNF were integrated using hybrid Fuzzy-AHP model to generate a porphyry copper potential map for the study area. Four high potential zones were identified in the central, western, eastern and northeastern of the study area. Fieldwork was used to validate the approach used in this study. This investigation exhibits that the use of hybrid Fuzzy-AHP model for the identification of hydrothermal alteration zones associated with porphyry copper systems that is typically applicable to ASTER data and can be used for porphyry copper potential mapping in many analogous metallogenic provinces.
Highlights
Remote sensing is a suitable tool to explore mineralization potential points [1] in the early stages of mineral exploration [2,3]
Integrating the results of image processing techniques can be used to increase the accuracy of the outputs and generate accurate potential map for reconnaissance stage of mineral exploration [3,8,9]
Fuzzy maps show2 mineral anomalies based on the probability of mineralization. This means that in a region, the probability of mineralization is drawn from zero to one hundred percent. This is an advantage in mineral exploration, because the fuzzy anomalous areas are marked advantage in mineral exploration, because the fuzzy anomalous areas are marked with a with a degree of probability
Summary
Remote sensing is a suitable tool to explore mineralization potential points [1] in the early stages of mineral exploration [2,3]. Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) is a way to help make decisions and emphasizes the importance of a decision maker as well as the value of comparing alternative options in the decision process [10] This method is one of the popular methods in determining potential areas by combining information layers in mineral exploration [11,12]. This means that in a region, the probability of mineralization is drawn from zero to one hundred percent This is an Mining 2022, 2 map after applied to fuzzy layers. Fuzzy maps show mineral anomalies based on the probability of mineralization Due to the presence of porphyry copper ores, alterations and mineral mineral indices, these layers can be used to make high-precision decisions [9]
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