HYDROTHERMAL ALTERATION MINERAL MAPPING AND LINEAMENT ANALYSIS USING MULTISPECTRAL SATELLITE IMAGES IN VEIN TYPE GOLD MINERALIZATION IN ŞAPHANE (ÇORUM)

Abstract

Remote sensing techniques provide very useful data for mapping lithological features and minerals, and also revealing structural features. In particular, mapping the distributions of hydrothermal alteration minerals, which is one of the first exploration stages of metallic ore deposits, with less cost and in a short time reveals very important results. In the study area, Eocene volcanic rocks and alterations caused by hydrothermal fluids activities are intensely observed. These intense alterations are associated with gold-bearing hydrothermal veins in approximately NE-SW direction. This area, which has a high gold potential, has a steep topography and is difficult to access. Field studies in the region are carried out with difficulty and many areas can be overlooked during the studies. The mapping of distribution of hydrothermal alteration minerals was carried out by applying the spectral classification method with image enhancement techniques such as vegetation masking (NDVI), and band ratio in ASTER data in this study. In addition, automatic lineament analysis was applied to the 15 m resolution image obtained from the Landsat-8 OLI data for the detection of vein-type mineralizations. The results obtained have an overall accuracy of 84.8 and a kappa coefficient of 0.836, showing high accuracy with field data.It is suggested that the maps obtained in the study will provide useful and advanced data for new gold and/or other precious metallic mineralizations in the region.