The remote sensing was utilized for mineral exploration specifically to look for the presence of altered minerals. In addition, airborne magnetic data have been used for modelling of basement faults/structures. Furthermore, these data provide a synoptic view, which is helpful in the identification and delineation of various land forms, linear features and structural elements. Moreover, mapping geological lineaments is essential for regional exploration of hydrothermal deposits. The aim of this study is the determination of relationship between faults/structures and hydrothermal alteration zones based on geophysical and remote sensing data in the Esfordi area, central Iran. Basement faults were extracted by magnetic airborne data and alteration zones were detected using remote sensing data. Statistical and geostatistical parameters were determined in this area including correlation between areas of alteration zones and distances to faults, variograms and anisotropic ellipsoid. These reveal that there is a direct correlation between alteration zones and basement faults in the study area.
Recognition of structural conditions can be used for reconnaissance and prospecting of mineral deposits. The idea of the relationship between mineralization and geological structures goes back to before the 1950s (Pirajno, 2009). Studies done on structural analysis indicate the important role of geological structures in forming mineral deposits and alteration zones (Craw and
In this paper, a Concentration-Distance to Magnetic Faults (C-DMF) fractal model was applied to distinguish Fe, Cu and REEs mineralized zones based on their distance to basement faults derived via airborne geophysical data and field survey maps in the Tarom region at the western Alborz-Azerbaijan belt, NW Iran. The application of the C-DMF model was utilized for mineralization classification in the Tarom 1:100,000 sheet which reveals that the main Fe, Cu and REEs mineralization have an inverse correlation with their distances to magnetic faults (fault lineaments). The Cu ores within acidic rocks and the Fe/ REEs mineralization within intermediated rocks are located in the Northern and Southern parts of the Tarom region, respectively. Furthermore, the basement fault and intrusive rocks have overlapped and they have important roles for these metallic deposits/occurrences. Based on the C-DMF log-log plots, Fe, REEs and Cu high-grade mineralization values are larger than 48.31%, and 3.8%, with respective distances of 451 and 732 m to the nearest magnetic faults. The results obtained from the fractal modeling indicate a positive relationship between Fe, REEs mineralization and the basement faults. Consequently, Cu mineralization has a weak relationship to faults in comparison with Fe and REEs.
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