APPLICATION OF GIS IN MINERAL EXPLORATION: Integration of multi-thematic data

M N MISHRA Superintending Geologist, CGMT GSI TI

GIS as a tool for decision making

Assembly of data in the form of a mineral potential map to decide priorities for future exploration Evaluation of slope stability conditions to decide the best route for the construction of a new road Investigation of spatial association between As in surface water and local geology Etc. etc

 Integration of spatial data from different sources to interpret the spatial phenomenon not apparent when individual spatial data is studied in isolation

Visualization of composite display

Creation of a new map from two or more maps

Overlays
Background information on geology

Mineral occurrence map of the region

Metallogenic maps : forms of deposit, associated
elements on geologic map

Historical maps, published / unpublished reports Existing mines & prospects their economic status Overlaying mineral occurrence map on geologic map to know the control of mineralization

Overlays
Synoptic studies by RS/ AP
Recognition of hydrothermal alteration zones Landsat TM 4/7, 6/4, 7/4 BGR, SPOT, Hyperspectral Radar data in vegetated areas

Regional geophysical studies

Airborne magnetics, radiometrics Airborne regional gravity surveys Regional seismic data

Refining geologic interpretation Understanding deeper crustal levels Regional geochemical surveys

Exploration by Geophysical methods

Concealed ore deposit / concealed geologic bodies Interpretation of geophysical anomalies Magnetics Electromagnetics Gravity Radiometrics : -ray, -ray Resistivity Spontaneous polarization (SP) Induced polarization (IP)

Magnetotellurics Seismic Mise--la-masse Points / Lines converted to polygons through Buffering / Thiessen Polygons etc

Exploration by Geochemical methods

Chemistry of the environment surrounding a deposit to locate it in areas having poor outcrops Defining a geochemical anomaly which distinguishes the deposit from the background using the chemical characteristics of the deposit Geochemical exploration program: Planning Sampling Chemical analysis Interpretation Follow up

Exploration by Geochemical methods

Soil, bed rock, stream sediment, heavy minerals, channel, trench sampling Regional reconnaissance geochemical sampling Systematic geochemical sampling in target area Knowledge of elements associated with a particular deposit ex. VMS base metal deposits contain As & Au Cr deposits have significant amounts of Ni, Fe, and Mg Primary dispersion: area of enrichment of some metals Relative mobility of elements : secondary dispersion : Pb vs Zn Geostatistics

- NavigaSIG application : GIS Largest Deposits of the World

- Developed by Laboratoire franco-russe de mtallognie - comprehensive database: 33 commodities, 1244 largest deposits - a tool designed to provide summaries in metallogenic thinking and to produce thematic decision-aid documents for rapidly assessing a regions potential - Complex queries possible

- 2D and 3D crustal modeling from seismic data

- 3D modeling of geological structures using geological, gravimetric, magnetic, and seismic data - mineral concentrations in a 4D space incorporation of a 4th, temporal dimension, representing the geodynamic and metallogenic evolution of the crustal volume considered - data processing and data mining to characterize the different GIS objects, correlation search and quantification, and also classification techniques like neural networks which, coupled with a multi-criteria approach, make predictive tasks possible

Mineral Prospectivity Mapping

Collection, analysis, and integration of geological, geochemical and geophysical data to investigate the spatial distribution of anomalies

Anomalies may be indicator for mineralization Integration of geo-exploration data traditionally done with light tables but at present can be done more efficiently in GIS

Spatial Modeling in Mineral Prospectivity Mapping

Spatial Modeling is the process of manipulating and analyzing spatial/geographic data to generate useful information for solving complex problems

Prescriptive & predictive models

Prescriptive models
involve the application of a set of criteria that are set out as good engineering practice, and may result from a blend of scientific, economic and social factors Example: models used for the site selection process

Predictive models
Example: mineral potential mapping the ultimate purpose of determining mineral potential is to discover new deposits.

Spatial Modeling in Mineral Prospectivity Mapping

GIS Model: Output map = f (2 or more maps) The function f May be based on theoretical understanding of physical and chemical principals May be empirical, based on observations of data May be semi-empirical, e.g. slope processes and landslides

Spatial Modeling in Mineral Prospectivity Mapping

Since the physical and chemical principles governing the formation of mineral deposits is far too complex mineral prospectivity mapping is based on empirical models Data-driven models calculated from training data Knowledge-driven models estimated by experts (fuzzy logic)

 Knowledge-driven models Binary evidence map with Boolean operations

Binary evidence maps with Index overlay Index overlay with multi-class maps Fuzzy logic

Data-driven models
Statistics, regression, weights of evidence, Bayesian
probability

 GIS modeling for evaluating mineral potential

calculating mineral favorability from geoscientific maps by weighting and combining multiple sources of evidence weights based on the analysis of the importance of evidence relative to known mineral deposits or by using the subjective judgment of mineral deposits geologists

The Gadag Schist Belt

Forms the northern extension of the Chitradurga Schist Belt in Dharwar craton Comprises basic volcanic sequence at the base followed by sedimentary sequences A number of thrusts exist parallel to the regional strike of the schist belt The rocks are intruded by the younger Chitradurga Granite

The Gadag Schist Belt

Mineralization is mainly controlled by shear zones and also occurs along geological contacts Three parallel zones of mineralization present
In the mafic sequence in the west At the contact of the mafic rocks and the sedimentary rocks in the central part Within the sedimentary rocks in the east

Exploration data sets

Geological map (polygon) Lineament map (polyline) Faults (polyline) Electromagnetic (polygon) Aeromagnetic data (polyline) Heavy minerals (watershed data polygon) Stream sediment analysis (point) Mineral occurrences / deposits (point)

Exploration data sets

GEOLOGY
STRUCTURE

HEAVIES

STREAM SED.

ELCT.MAGNETIC MAGNETIC

GEOFAC

GEOCHEMFAC

GEOPHFAC

Intermediate Factor Maps

PROSPECTIVITY MAP

Creation of Evidence Maps

Classification of data and Generation of Evidence Maps

GEOLOGICAL EVIDENCE MAP: 18 units reclassified to 5 units: GEO to GEOF

CLASSIFICATION
Classification to aggregate Lithounits into fewer categories
Rock type Description 1 2 3 Gr, Gn, Amp, Pyx BIF, Phy, Conglo Rhy, Qz-Porphyry

Lithology

Geoc ode

RockType*

Description Igneous n metamorphic Igneous n metamorphic Igneous n metamorphic Igneous n metamorphic Igneous n metamorphic Lowgrade meta Lowgrade meta Lowgrade meta Lowgrade meta Acid Volcanic

Pink granite
Amphibolite Metapyroxinite Biotite gneiss Younger granite Chlorite phyllite Sericite phyllite Conglomerate BIF Metarhyolite Quartz porphyry Argillite Greywacke Pillow basalt Tuff Massive basalt Schistose basalt Amugdular basalt

201
202 203 212 213 210 225 226 280 209 218 206 235 214 223 250 251 252

1
1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 3 3 4 4 5 5 5 5 5

Acid Volcanic
Sedimentary Sedimentary Basalt Basalt Basalt Basalt Basalt

4
5

Argillite, Gwackes
Basalt, tuff, basic rocks

Structural Evidence Map

Buffering and merging of Lineament and Faults to get STRUBUF

Evidence map from Stream Sediments

SSAU Auclass 1= Au 10 to 50 Auclass 2= Au 50 to 100 Auclass 3= Au >100

SSAU SSCL

SSAS

Asclass 1= As 100 to 150 Asclass 2= As 150 to 200 Asclass 3= As >200

Evidence map from Heavy Minerals

HMIN ALLGOLD ALAuclass 1= AUA 1 to 25 ALAuclass 2= AUA 25 to 50 ALAuclass 3= AUA >50

ALLSULF Sulfclass=1

ALLSCH SCHclass 1= SCH 0 to 2 SCHclass 2= SCH 2 to 5 SCHclass 3= SCH>5

Evidence map from Geophysical data sets

ELECTROMAGNETIC DATA
EM

EMBUF 500 EMCLASS = 1

Evidence map from Geophysical data sets

AEROMAGNETIC DATA
MAGBUF

Magclass=1

INDEX OVERLAY METHOD Creation of Factor Maps

Index Overlay Method

In this method of modeling, the evidence layers are combined together to generate intermediate factor maps Each input map or layer of evidence is assigned a weight depending upon its significance Also, each class of every map is given a different score based on its relative importance The weights are finally normalized with the combined map weights

Computation of weightings of different data sets

Factor map from the Union of Geology and Structure U STRBUF = U_GEO geo _ score str _ score geo _ w 74
GEOF

Factor map from the Union of Geophysical data sets U MAGBUF = U_GEOPH em _ score mag _ score geoph _ w 22
EMBUF

Factor map from the Union of Stream Sediment data U SSAS = U_GEOCHEM Au _ score As _ score geochem _ w 87
SSAU

Factor map from the Union of Heavy Mineral data

U ALLSULF U ALLSCH = U_HMIN Goldscore Sulfscore Schscore HMIN _ w 85 2
ALLGOLD

The Favorability Map

The four factor maps may now be combined to produce the favorability map These factor maps may be assigned the following weights

Factor Map
U_Geo U_Geoph U_Geochem

Weight
7 2 6

U_HMIN

The Favorability Map

The Favorability Map is the Union of all the factor maps
FAV_MAP = U_Geo

Factor Map Weight

U_Geo U_Geoph U_Geochem U_HMIN 7 2 6 6

U_Geoph U U_Geochem U U_HMIN

FAV _ wt

(Geo _ w 7) (Geoph _ w 2) (Geochem _ w 6) ( HMIN _ w 6) 7266

Final Prospectivity Map

Validation

Known mineral occurrences