Identification of key altered/weathered minerals near to the base metal mineral in Jahazpur, India using AVIRIS-NG data

Abstract

Hydrothermally altered minerals are invariably associated with base metal mineralization. The narrow spectral resolution of Airborne Visible/Infrared Imaging spectrometer -Next Generation (AVIRIS-NG) facilitates the identification and mapping of altered minerals. Spectral angle mapper (SAM) of supervised classification technique was applied on AVIRIS-NG reflectance data for identifying and mapping altered minerals such as talc, kaolinite, soapstone, kaosmec, and montmorillonite. The identified minerals were verified during the ground-truthing survey and, lab generated spectral reflectance curve confirms the presence of minerals. During the field survey, the surface signature of base metal mineralisation was found in the form of malachite stains in the carbonaceous phyllite lithologic unit. Conventional geological technique such as transmitted light petrography and X-ray diffraction analysis confirms the occurrence of base metal mineralization in the area. Therefore, this study justified the delineation of hydrothermally altered zones using AVIRIS-NG hyperspectral data and their validation through lab-generated spectra, petrography, and X-ray diffraction analysis.