Abstract

GIS-based mineral potential modelling
Mineral deposits are economically significant concentrations of metal(s) brought about by much larger earth process systems, collectively termed mineral systems, that operate on a variety of scales to focus mass and energy flux. Mineral-deposit targeting involves progressive narrowing down of search space for exploration using a variety of exploration datasets that include geological, geophysical, geochemical and remote sensing data. Exploration targeting is particularly difficult at the camp-scale where the opportunity cost is high. In this presentation, I will talk about using GIS tools for (a) deriving spatial proxies that capture and enhance the responses of mineralization processes in exploration datasets and (b) integrating spatial proxies using spatial mathematical models (particularly machine-learning based models) that can delineate areas with high mineral potential. Such models are extremely useful in narrowing down search space for ground exploration.