Abstract:
Satellite imagery has been used for resource exploration and management on earth’s surface such as wood density, land management and geological exploration. One of well-known satellite data, Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) satellite images, are used to observe gold deposits by collecting reflectance data of surface materials in the spectral ranges: visible, near-infrared, shortwave-infrared and thermal-infrared. The objective of this study is to use ASTER satellite images obtained before the official operation of Chatree gold mine to detect OH-bearing altered surface minerals considered high-potential gold mineralization areas. The image transformations: band ratio indices and principal component analysis were used on ASTER satellite images covering Chatree gold deposit. Subsequently, the ASTER data was compared to petrographic study and x-ray diffraction analysis of rock samples from representative locations. The results show ASTER satellite images can be used to detect high-potential gold mineralization when analyzed for OH-bearing altered minerals: illite, sericite, chlorite, and kaolinite and montmorillonite. According to the results, this research can be a case study for detecting high-potential gold mineralization areas for the low-sulfidation epithermal deposit in tropical regions.
