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Polymetallic vein-type ores are important sources of precious metal and a principal type of orebody for various base-metals. In this research, Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) remote sensing data were used for mapping hydrothermal alteration zones associated with epithermal polymetallic vein-type mineralization in the Toroud–Chahshirin Magmatic Belt (TCMB), North of Iran. The TCMB is the largest known goldfield and base metals province in the central-north of Iran. Propylitic, phyllic, argillic, and advanced argillic alteration and silicification zones are typically associated with Au-Cu, Ag, and/or Pb-Zn mineralization in the TCMB. Specialized image processing techniques, namely Selective Principal Component Analysis (SPCA), Band Ratio Matrix Transformation (BRMT), Spectral Angle Mapper (SAM) and Mixture Tuned Matched Filtering (MTMF) were implemented and compared to map hydrothermal alteration minerals at the pixel and sub-pixel levels. Subtle differences between altered and non-altered rocks and hydrothermal alteration mineral assemblages were detected and mapped in the study area. The SPCA and BRMT spectral transformation algorithms discriminated the propylitic, phyllic, argillic and advanced argillic alteration and silicification zones as well as lithological units. The SAM and MTMF spectral mapping algorithms detected spectrally dominated mineral groups such as muscovite/montmorillonite/illite, hematite/jarosite, and chlorite/epidote/calcite mineral assemblages, systematically. Comprehensive fieldwork and laboratory analysis, including X-ray diffraction (XRD), petrographic study, and spectroscopy were conducted in the study area for verifying the remote sensing outputs. Results indicate several high potential zones of epithermal polymetallic vein-type mineralization in the northeastern and southwestern parts of the study area, which can be considered for future systematic exploration programs. The approach used in this research has great implications for the exploration of epithermal polymetallic vein-type mineralization in other base metals provinces in Iran and semi-arid regions around the world.

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Comparing spaceborne satellite images of Landsat‐8 Operational Land Imager (OLI) and Landsat‐7 Enhanced Thematic Mapper plus (ETM+) was undertaken to investigate the relative accuracy of mapping hydrothermal alteration minerals. The study investigated the northern part of Rabor, which contains copper mineralization occurrences, and is located in the Kerman Cenozoic magmatic assemblage (KCMA), Iran. Image processing methods of band ratio, principal component analysis (PCA), and spectral angle mapper (SAM) were used to map the distribution of hydrothermally altered rocks associated with the porphyry copper mineralization. The band ratio combination of both sensors for mapping altered areas showed similar outcomes. PCA exposed variations in the spatial distribution of hydroxyl‐bearing minerals. The representation of hydrothermal areas using OLI data was more satisfactory than when using ETM+ data. SAM analysis found similar results for mapping hydroxyl‐bearing zones. Verification of the results came through ground investigation and laboratory studies. Rock samples (n = 56) were collected to validate results using thin sections, X‐ray diffraction (XRD) and spectral analyses. Field observations and laboratory analysis revealed that phyllic and propylitic alterations dominate the alteration zones in the study area. Argillic and iron oxides/hydroxides alterations were observed to a lesser degree. The results indicate that alteration maps prepared by OLI data using PCA for visual interpretation are more suitable than those of ETM+ due to a higher radiometric resolution and lower interference between vegetation and altered areas. As the spectral bandwidth of ETM+ band 7 covers absorption feature of propylitic alteration, better mapping of propylitic alterations is achieved using ETM+ data.

The southeastern part of the central Iranian Cenozoic magmatic belt contains many areas with copper mineralization. In an analysis of this region, we used the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) and Enhanced Thematic Mapper plus (ETM + ) images to map the distribution of hydrothermally altered rocks, based on their mineral assemblages. The spectral measurements, based on the field samples and satellite-image-derived spectra, show dominantly Al-OH (sericite and clays) and Fe-O absorption features in the visible-near infrared to shortwave infrared regions of the spectrum. Silica-bearing rocks, as well as silicic alteration, show an intense Si-O vibrational feature in the thermal infrared wavelength region. We analyzed ASTER/ETM + images, performed a directed principal component analysis, and used spectral angle mapper to map areas of hydrothermal alteration and iron oxide/hydroxide minerals. The individual principal component images compiled by directed principal component analysis reveal the distribution of individual alteration minerals such as sericite, kaolinite, chlorite, epidote, and quartz. The best results, in terms of mapping the distribution of alteration, were obtained using the spectral angle mapper method. The altered areas were then sampled and the samples subjected to X-ray diffraction analysis, spectral analysis, and thin sections were observed under a microscope. Field observations reveal that more than 98% of the known copper mineralization occurs within the interpreted alteration areas. The present results indicate the great potential of ASTER and ETM + data for mapping the distribution of alteration and exploring for copper mineralization in areas with a similar climate and geological setting to those of the present study.

The accuracy of classification of the Spectral Angle Mapping (SAM) is warranted by choosing the appropriate threshold angles, which are normally defined by the user. Trial-and-error and statistical methods are commonly applied to determine threshold angles. In this paper, we discuss a real value-area (RV-A) technique based on the established concentration-area (C-A) fractal model to determine less biased threshold angles for SAM classification of multispectral images. Short wave infrared (SWIR) bands of the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) images were used over and around the Sar Cheshmeh porphyry Cu deposit and Seridune porphyry Cu prospect. Reference spectra from the known hydrothermal alteration zones in each study area were chosen for producing respective rule images. Segmentation of each rule image resulted in a RV-A curve. Hydrothermal alteration mapping based on threshold values of each RV-A curve showed that the first break in each curve is practical for selection of optimum threshold angles. The hydrothermal alteration maps of the study areas were evaluated by field and laboratory studies including X-ray diffraction analysis, spectral analysis, and thin section study of rock samples. The accuracy of the SAM classification was evaluated by using an error matrix. Overall accuracies of 80.62% and 75.45% were acquired in the Sar Cheshmeh and Seridune areas, respectively. We also used different threshold angles obtained by some statistical techniques to evaluate the efficiency of the proposed RV-A technique. Threshold angles provided by statistical techniques could not enhance the hydrothermal alteration zones around the known deposits, as good as threshold angles obtained by the RV-A technique. Since no arbitrary parameter is defined by the user in the application of the RV-A technique, its application prevents introduction of human bias to the selection of optimum threshold angle for SAM classification.