Mapping the Panorama VMS-style alteration and host rock mineralogy, Pilbara Block, using airborne Hyperspectral VNIR-SWIR data

Summary

The purpose of this project was to use a West Australian case history to demonstrate the potential of the new hyperspectral mapping technology. The new generation of these remote sensing systems is becoming available for mineral exploration as a tool to identify and map detailed surface mineralogy.

This study aimed to generate a benchmark application evaluating and demonstrating the use of the Australian HyMap hyperspectral scanner in the Panorama VMS deposits in the Pilbara.

The results demonstrated that HyMap data offer explorers a truly operational system for rapid measurement of selected alteration mineralogy, allowing maps to be made in hours which formerly required years.

The HyMap products in this study included maps showing the distribution of numerous alteration minerals, which matched the published geology and alteration. It was shown that HyMap has high spectral resolution, signal to noise ratio, and geometric fidelity, and was well calibrated.

Keywords: hyperspectral, mineral exploration, alteration mineralogy, HyMap