Utility of High-Altitude Infrared Spectral Data in Mineral Exploration: Application to Northern Patagonia Mountains, Arizona

Berger, Byron R.; King, Trude V.V.; Morath, Laurie C.; Phillips, Jeffrey D.

doi:10.2113/gsecongeo.98.5.1003

Cited by 19 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 24 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…The potassic, phyllic, argillic, and propylitic alteration zones of porphyry copper deposits contain alteration minerals with distinct spectral absorption features (Thompson et al, 1999) that provided they crop out on the surface, can be detected and mapped using multispectral and hyperspectral remote sensing imagery (e.g. Spatz, 1996;Tangestani and Moore, 2002;Berger et al, 2003;Mars and Rowan, 2006;Riley et al, 2009;Pour and Hashim, 2012;among others). Berger et al (2003) used AVIRIS hyperspectral data to map mineral alteration associated with two concealed porphyry copper deposits (Red Mountain and Sunnyside deposits) in the northern Patagonia Mountains of Arizona.…”

Section: Porphyry Copper and Molybdenum Depositsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The use of hyperspectral remote sensing for mineral exploration: a review

Bedini

2017

Jour. Hypers. Rem. Sensg.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The hyperspectral remote sensing technology has been available to the research community for more than three decades. Since in its first steps the hyperspectral technology was also promoted as a tool for mineral exploration. Numerous mineral exploration applications of hyperspectral remote sensing have been reported. This paper provides an up-to-date and focused review of the applications of the hyperspectral remote sensing to mineral exploration. The ore deposits are grouped based on major processes of formation (magmatic, hydrothermal, sedimentary, supergene). The review shows that the hyperspectral remote sensing technology has found application to the study and exploration of a number of ore deposits including kimberlites (host-rocks of diamonds), carbonatites (host-rock of rare earth elements deposits), porphyry deposits, epithermal gold and silver deposits, skarn deposits, volcanic-hosted massive sulfide (VHMS) deposits, orogenic gold deposits, Carlin-type gold deposits, SEDEX Pb-Zn-Ag deposits. On the other hand, the possibilities of the hyperspectral technology remain still underexplored for the study and exploration of chromite deposits, Ni-sulfide deposits in mafic and ultramafic rocks, rare-metal pegmatites, greisen and related deposits, Mississippi Valley-type (MVT) Pb-Zn deposits, Kupferschiefer deposits and uranium deposits in sedimentary basins, iron ores in banded-iron formations, laterites and bauxites. A special attention has been paid in this review to the applications in mineral exploration of the emerging airborne hyperspectral thermal infrared technology. In addition, the possibilities and limitations of spaceborne hyperspectral imagery of moderate spatial resolution for detailed characterization and detection of mineralized systems are discussed for each major deposit type. The spatial resolution of the hyperspectral data is noted to be a key factor on the success of a hyperspectral exploration project. By providing a full up-to-date picture of the applications and contribution of the hyperspectral imagery to the exploration and characterization of ore deposits this review paper should be useful to the interested geological remote sensing researcher and practitioner, and to the mineral exploration manager as well.

show abstract

Section: Porphyry Copper and Molybdenum Depositsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The use of hyperspectral remote sensing for mineral exploration: a review

Bedini

2017

Jour. Hypers. Rem. Sensg.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…In basaltic hydrothermal alteration systems, alunite is often a minor phase (Swayze et al 2002;Guinness et al 2007;Hynek et al 2013;Marcucci et al 2013). However, large-scale alteration to alunite and kaolinite assemblages mappable by VSWIR imaging spectroscopy is also occasionally observed, driven in part by the duration of magmatic activity at a particular locale (e.g., Berger et al 2003;Swayze et al 2014) Furthermore, the crystallinity of protolith materials can strongly influence weathering products. Weathering experiments by Tosca et al (2004) showed formation of Alsulfates from basaltic glass but not crystalline basalt of identical chemical composition.…”

Section: Environment Of Alunite Formation In Cross Cratermentioning

confidence: 99%

Discovery of alunite in Cross crater, Terra Sirenum, Mars: Evidence for acidic, sulfurous waters

Ehlmann¹,

Swayze

Milliken

et al. 2016

American Mineralogist

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Cross crater is a 65 km impact crater, located in the Noachian highlands of the Terra Sirenum region of Mars (30°S, 158°W), which hosts aluminum phyllosilicate deposits first detected by the Observatoire pour la Minéralogie, L'Eau, les Glaces et l'Activitié (OMEGA) imaging spectrometer on Mars Express. Using high-resolution data from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, we examine Cross crater's basin-filling sedimentary deposits. Visible/shortwave infrared (VSWIR) spectra from the Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars (CRISM) show absorptions diagnostic of alunite. Combining spectral data with high-resolution images, we map a large (10 km × 5 km) alunite-bearing deposit in southwest Cross crater, widespread kaolin-bearing sediments with variable amounts of alunite that are layered in <10 m scale beds, and silica-and/or montmorillonitebearing deposits that occupy topographically lower, heavily fractured units. The secondary minerals are found at elevations ranging from 700 to 1550 m, forming a discontinuous ring along the crater wall beneath darker capping materials. The mineralogy inside Cross crater is different from that of the surrounding terrains and other martian basins, where Fe/Mg-phyllosilicates and Ca/Mg-sulfates are commonly found. Alunite in Cross crater indicates acidic, sulfurous waters at the time of its formation. Waters in Cross crater were likely supplied by regionally upwelling groundwaters as well as through an inlet valley from a small adjacent depression to the east, perhaps occasionally forming a lake or series of shallow playa lakes in the closed basin. Like nearby Columbus crater, Cross crater exhibits evidence for acid sulfate alteration, but the alteration in Cross is more extensive/complete. The large but localized occurrence of alunite suggests a localized, high-volume source of acidic waters or vapors, possibly supplied by sulfurous (H 2 S-and/or SO 2-bearing) waters in contact with a magmatic source, upwelling steam or fluids through fracture zones. The unique, highly aluminous nature of the Cross crater deposits relative to other martian acid sulfate deposits indicates acid waters, high water throughput during alteration, atypically glassy and/or felsic materials, or a combination of these conditions.

show abstract

“…Large areas of disseminated pyrite and high-level, advanced argillic hydrothermal mineral assemblages in the northern part of the range are centered on the porphyry Cu-Mo systems at Red Mountain and Sunnyside, and along the Three R shear zone (Corn, 1975;Graybeal, 1996;Berger et al, 2003). In the southern part of the range relatively deep and early potassic alteration assemblages (e.g., Four Metals, Santo Nino, and Line Boy mines; Fig.…”

Section: Geology and Metal Deposits Of The Patagonia Mountainsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Alunite is widespread in the northern Patagonia Mountains (Kistner, 1984;Cook, 1994;Berger et al, 2003). It occurs in both hypogene and supergene forms in pervasively altered granitic, volcanic, and sedimentary rocks on Red Mountain, in a 6.5-km-long zone from Three R Canyon to Thunder Mountain (Three R shear zone), and in vein and breccia deposits at the Three R, Sunnyside, and Volcano mines (Fig.…”

Section: Interpretation Of Radioisotopic Ages Of Igneous Minerals In mentioning

confidence: 99%

Succession of Laramide Magmatic and Magmatic-Hydrothermal Events in the Patagonia Mountains, Santa Cruz County, Arizona

Vikre

Graybeal²,

Fleck

et al. 2014

Economic Geology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This investigation of the space-time progression of magmatism and hydrothermal activity in the Patagonia Mountains of southern Arizona is based on field and paragenetic relationships, and on U-Pb and 40 Ar/ 39 Ar geochronology of igneous and hydrothermal minerals. The Patagonia Mountains consist of Precambrian, Paleozoic, and Mesozoic sedimentary, granitic, and volcanic rocks, Laramide volcanic rocks, and a core of Laramide intrusions that comprise the Patagonia Mountains batholith. Laramide igneous rocks and adjacent Paleozoic and Mesozoic rocks contain significant porphyry Cu-Mo deposits, Mo-Cu breccia pipes, Ag replacement deposits, and numerous other Cu-Pb-Zn-Ag replacement and vein deposits. Ages of igneous and hydrothermal minerals from 20 U-Pb and 52 40 Ar/ 39 Ar determinations define four magmatic and magmatic-hydrothermal events that formed the batholith and altered parts of it and adjacent rocks; cumulatively the events span at least 16 m.y., from ~74 to 58 Ma. The oldest event of this succession includes the 74 Ma Washington Camp stock and spatially associated Cu-Pb-Zn-Ag replacement deposits in Paleozoic carbonate rocks of the Washington Camp-Duquesne district. Eruption of 73 to 68 Ma volcanic rocks in the northern part of the range was the next youngest event, which coincides temporally with replacement and vein deposits in Paleozoic carbonate rocks at the Flux mine (~71 Ma). An event at 65 to 62 Ma is marked by emplacement of small-volume quartz monzonite, granodiorite, and diorite intrusions, formation of the Ventura breccia deposit in Jurassic granite at 65 to 64 Ma, and formation of other Pb-Zn-Ag-Cu replacement and vein deposits (~62 Ma; Blue Nose and Morning Glory). The Red Mountain porphyry Cu-Mo system is hosted by ~62 Ma granodiorite and Laramide volcanic rocks (73-68 Ma) at the northern end of the batholith. It includes a deep, chalcopyrite-bornite resource (~60 Ma) that is associated with potassic and sericitic alteration and a near-surface chalcocite-enargite resource (60 Ma) that is associated with advanced, supergene-enriched argillic alteration.The youngest event includes the Sunnyside porphyry Cu-Mo system and a Cu-Mo breccia deposit at Red Hill (Four Metals mine), both of which formed in large-volume quartz monzonite, granodiorite, quartz monzonite porphyry, and quartz feldspar porphyry (~61-59 Ma). Similar to the Red Mountain system, the Sunnyside system consists of a deep chalcopyrite resource that occurs in ~60 to 59 Ma quartz feldspar porphyry, and a near-surface, slightly younger (~59-58 Ma) enargite-chalcocite-tennantite resource that occurs in quartz feldspar porphyry, quartz monzonite porphyry, and Mesozoic rocks. The Red Hill Cu-Mo breccia deposit is hosted by large-volume quartz monzonite, granodiorite, and quartz monzonite porphyry (~61-59 Ma). Discrepancies between field and paragenetic relationships and some analytic ages at Sunnyside and Red Hill preclude precise dating of mineralization stages, and may reflect disturbance of isotope systems by multiple, co-spatial to j...

show abstract

Utility of High-Altitude Infrared Spectral Data in Mineral Exploration: Application to Northern Patagonia Mountains, Arizona

Cited by 19 publications

References 24 publications

The use of hyperspectral remote sensing for mineral exploration: a review

The use of hyperspectral remote sensing for mineral exploration: a review

Discovery of alunite in Cross crater, Terra Sirenum, Mars: Evidence for acidic, sulfurous waters

Succession of Laramide Magmatic and Magmatic-Hydrothermal Events in the Patagonia Mountains, Santa Cruz County, Arizona

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About