Singularity theories and methods for characterizing mineralization processes and mapping geo-anomalies for mineral deposit prediction

In this paper, we show that geo-anomalies can be delineated for mineral deposit prediction according to singularity theories developed to characterize nonlinear mineralization processes. Associ- ating singularity and geo-anomalies makes it possible to quantitatively study geo-anomalies with modern nonlinear theories and methods. This paper introduces a newly developed singularity analysis of nonlinear mineralization processes and nonlinear methods for characterizing and mapping geo-anomalies for mineral deposit prediction. Mineral deposits, as the products of singular mineralization processes caused by geo-anomalies, can be characterized by means of fractal or multifractal models. It has been shown that singularity can characterize the degree of geo-abnormality, and this has been demonstrated to be useful for mapping anomalies of undiscovered mineral deposits. The study of mineralization and mineral deposits from a nonlinear process point of view is a new but promising research direction. This study emphasizes the relationships between geo-anomalies and singularity, including singular processes resulting in singularity and geo-anomalies, the characterization of singularity and geo-anomalies and the identification of geo-anomalies for mineral deposit prediction. The concepts and methods are demon- strated using a case study of Sn mineral deposit prediction in the Gejiu mineral district in Yunnan, China.

Application of BEMD in Extraction of Magnetic Anomaly Components Associated with Sn-W Polymetallic Mineralization in SE Yunnan,SW China

The tin(Sn)-tungsten(W)polymetallic ore concentrated district in SE Yunnan is distributed at the junction region of the Yangtze Block,the Cathaysian Block and the Indosinian Block,where there are several giant deposits of tin,tungsten,copper,silver,lead,zinc and indium closely associated with a large scale Late Cretaceous magmatism.Bi-dimensional empirical mode decomposition(BEMD)is used to extract aeromagnetic anomalous components at the survey scale of 1:200000 from the original aeromagnetic data of SE Yunnan.Four intrinsic mode functions(IMFs)and a residues component are obtained,which may reflect the geological structures and geological bodies at different spatial scales from high frequency to low frequency.The results are shown as follows:(1)Two different types of Precambrian basement in the study area were recognized:one is the Yangtze Block basement characterized by a strong positive magnetic anomaly,the other is the Cathaysian Block basement with a weak negative magnetic anomaly.The former consists of high grade metamorphic rocks including metamorphosed basic igneous rocks,while the latter consists of low grade metamorphosed sedimentary rocks.(2)The aeromagnetic anomalies associated with Sn-W polymetallic mineralization and related to granites in the study area illustrate a pattern of a skarnized alteration-mineralization zone with a positive ring magnetic anomaly enclosing a granitic intrusion with negative magnetic anomaly;(3)The ring positive magnetic anomaly zones enclosing the negative magnetic anomaly are defined as the SnW polymetallic ore-searching targets in the study area.

Digital Geosciences and Quantitative Mineral Exploration

The idea of mineral exploration,which is called"exploration philosophy"in the Western countries,is the thoughts,the methodology,technology,goals and organization that guide mineral exploration.The three basic elements of mineral exploration are"what to find","where to find"and"how to find".The concept of mineral exploration is gradually changing with the development of these three elements that provide a powerful driving force to change mineral exploration concepts,methods and technology.Innovation of mineral exploration concepts is the result of continuing exploration and development keeping pace with the times.The combination of"mathematical geology"and"information technology"can be called"digital geology".Digital geology is the data analysis component of geological science.Geological data science is a science that uses the general methodology of data to study geology based on the characteristics of geological data and the needs of geological field work.Digital mineral exploration is the application of digital geology in mineral exploration to reduce ore-finding uncertainty.