Abstract

This study examined the possibility to extract potential alteration zones and lithologic information based on ASTER band ratio techniques for mineralized area located in Övörkhangai province, Mongolia, and the effectiveness of remote sensing as a preliminary exploration tool for mineral exploration was tested. The results of ABRLO, PBRLO, and PrBRLO models indicated that the detection of argillic zone requires the verification of the samples to verify hydrothermal alteration minerals as clay minerals can formed by weathering process, whereas phyllic-propylitic zones were considerably related to the spatial distribution of the intrusive bodies, geological structures, and ore distribution. QI and MI results showed that QI is more useful for sedimentary rocks such as conglomerate and sandstone than meta-sedimentary like quartzite, and MI faced relatively uncertain in detection of felsic or mafic silicate rocks. QI and MI may require additional geologic information such as the characteristics of samples and geological survey data to improve extraction of lithologic information, and, if so, it is expected that remote sensing technique would contribute significantly as a preliminary geological survey method.

Keywords ASTER, band ratio, Mongolia, mineral resource exploration, remote sensing