Singularity theories and methods for characterizing mineralization processes and mapping geo-anomalies for mineral deposit prediction

Abstract

In this paper, we show that geo-anomalies can be delineated for mineral deposit prediction according to singularity theories developed to characterize nonlinear mineralization processes. Associating singularity and geo-anomalies makes it possible to quantitatively study geo-anomalies with modern nonlinear theories and methods. This paper introduces a newly developed singularity analysis of nonlinear mineralization processes and nonlinear methods for characterizing and mapping geo-anomalies for mineral deposit prediction. Mineral deposits, as the products of singular mineralization processes caused by geo-anomalies, can be characterized by means of fractal or multifractal models. It has been shown that singularity can characterize the degree of geo-abnormality, and this has been demonstrated to be useful for mapping anomalies of undiscovered mineral deposits. The study of mineralization and mineral deposits from a nonlinear process point of view is a new but promising research direction. This study emphasizes the relationships between geo-anomalies and singularity, including singular processes resulting in singularity and geo-anomalies, the characterization of singularity and geo-anomalies and the identification of geo-anomalies for mineral deposit prediction. The concepts and methods are demonstrated using a case study of Sn mineral deposit prediction in the Gejiu mineral district in Yunnan, China.