TY - JOUR

T1 - Assessment of the spaceborne EnMAP hyperspectral data for alteration mineral mapping

T2 - A case study of the Reko Diq porphyry Cu–Au deposit, Pakistan

AU - Asadzadeh, Saeid

AU - Zhou, Xiaodong

AU - Chabrillat, Sabine

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2024 The Authors

PY - 2024/12/1

Y1 - 2024/12/1

N2 - For over four decades, spaceborne multispectral data have played a crucial role in supporting mineral exploration and geologic mapping. The spaceborne multispectral datasets, however, have a restricted number of bands with coarse spectral resolution and, thus are very limited in mineral mapping. The advent of high-quality spaceborne imaging spectroscopic data like the Environmental Mapping and Analysis Program (EnMAP), has bridged this gap initiating a new era in global hyperspectral mineral mapping. The EnMAP satellite, operational since November 2022, covers the spectral range of 420 and 2450 nm in 224 bands, offering a spatial resolution of 30 m and a mean spectral sampling distance of 8.1 and 12.5 nm in the visible-near infrared and shortwave infrared regions, respectively. In this paper, we demonstrate the enhanced mapping capabilities of EnMAP using datasets acquired over the Reko Diq mining district, a cluster of Miocene porphyries located in Pakistan's Chagai Belt hosting an undeveloped world-class porphyry Cu-Au ± Mo deposit. The EnMAP's Level 2A data product was processed using the polynomial fitting technique to characterize the diagnostic absorption features of the alteration minerals in the Reko Diq porphyry system. This involved retrieving the minimum wavelength, depth, width, and asymmetry parameters for key absorption features and employing them interactively for mineral characterization. A diverse array of minerals were successfully mapped over the study area and validated by ground spectroscopy. This includes abundance/composition maps for white micas, chlorite, epidote, calcite, kaolinite, gypsum, jarosite, and ferric and ferrous iron minerals. The minimum wavelength of white mica was found to vary between 2195 and 2210 nm, with the shorter wavelengths (Al-rich) white mica occurring proximal to the known mineralized zones. The potassic alteration cores and the outer propylitic zones were identified by the ferrous iron and chlorite-epidote-calcite mineral maps, respectively. This study demonstrated the superiority of EnMAP hyperspectral data in delineating the alteration mineralogy and zonation pattern of porphyry copper systems. This capability can potentially contribute to the exploration of new deposits in exposed terrains worldwide.

AB - For over four decades, spaceborne multispectral data have played a crucial role in supporting mineral exploration and geologic mapping. The spaceborne multispectral datasets, however, have a restricted number of bands with coarse spectral resolution and, thus are very limited in mineral mapping. The advent of high-quality spaceborne imaging spectroscopic data like the Environmental Mapping and Analysis Program (EnMAP), has bridged this gap initiating a new era in global hyperspectral mineral mapping. The EnMAP satellite, operational since November 2022, covers the spectral range of 420 and 2450 nm in 224 bands, offering a spatial resolution of 30 m and a mean spectral sampling distance of 8.1 and 12.5 nm in the visible-near infrared and shortwave infrared regions, respectively. In this paper, we demonstrate the enhanced mapping capabilities of EnMAP using datasets acquired over the Reko Diq mining district, a cluster of Miocene porphyries located in Pakistan's Chagai Belt hosting an undeveloped world-class porphyry Cu-Au ± Mo deposit. The EnMAP's Level 2A data product was processed using the polynomial fitting technique to characterize the diagnostic absorption features of the alteration minerals in the Reko Diq porphyry system. This involved retrieving the minimum wavelength, depth, width, and asymmetry parameters for key absorption features and employing them interactively for mineral characterization. A diverse array of minerals were successfully mapped over the study area and validated by ground spectroscopy. This includes abundance/composition maps for white micas, chlorite, epidote, calcite, kaolinite, gypsum, jarosite, and ferric and ferrous iron minerals. The minimum wavelength of white mica was found to vary between 2195 and 2210 nm, with the shorter wavelengths (Al-rich) white mica occurring proximal to the known mineralized zones. The potassic alteration cores and the outer propylitic zones were identified by the ferrous iron and chlorite-epidote-calcite mineral maps, respectively. This study demonstrated the superiority of EnMAP hyperspectral data in delineating the alteration mineralogy and zonation pattern of porphyry copper systems. This capability can potentially contribute to the exploration of new deposits in exposed terrains worldwide.

KW - Chagai province

KW - EnMAP satellite

KW - Imaging spectroscopy

KW - Mineral chemistry

KW - Polynomial fitting

KW - Porphyry exploration

KW - Vector minerals

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85202344144&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1016/j.rse.2024.114389

DO - 10.1016/j.rse.2024.114389

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85202344144

VL - 314

JO - Remote sensing of environment

JF - Remote sensing of environment

SN - 0034-4257

M1 - 114389

ER -