Mapping clay minerals in an open-pit mine using hyperspectral and LiDAR data

Abstract

The ability to map clay minerals on vertical geological surfaces is important from perspectives of stratigraphic mapping and safety. Clay minerals were mapped from hyperspectral imagery using Automated Feature Extraction and their areal coverage estimated on a complex geological surface (a mine pit) by automatically registering hyperspectral to LiDAR data. The area of the mine pit covered by each identified mineral was under- or over-estimated by as much as a factor of 2 when derived from the hyperspectral imagery alone compared to imagery co-registered to LiDAR data. Hyperspectral imagery enabled the identification of clay layers on a mine face as a means of separating geological units of similar visual or spectral characteristics.