Abstract Magnetic data transformations are applied to the high-resolution magnetic data from the Masara gold district in the southern Philippines to enhance features related to a porphyry copper prospect and epithermal gold deposit. Using several filtering methods and structural mapping techniques, we were able to highlight the signal coming from a shallow chlorite-sericite alteration zone. Although the epithermal veins are mainly composed of nonmagnetic minerals, calculation of the tilt derivative of the magnetic grid revealed linear features that are coincident with the surface projection of the gold-bearing veins. Furthermore, dip directions of the magnetic sources were determined using Euler deconvolution, and they were found to coincide with the dip directions of the veins as determined by structural measurements at different underground levels. Aside from showing the utility of the magnetic methods in epithermal gold deposit exploration, this study also demonstrates that challenges of processing and interpreting magnetic anomalies in areas near the equator can be overcome. This research outlines a processing workflow that can be adopted for further investigation of other mineralized areas.