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Fractal pattern integration for mineral potential estimation

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Abstract

Concepts of fractal/multifractal dimensions and fractal measure were used to derive the prior and posterior probabilities that a small unit cell on a geological map contains one or more mineral deposits. This has led to a new version of the weights of evidence technique which is proposed for integrating spatial datasets that exhibit nonfractal and fractal patterns to predict mineral potential. The method is demonstrated with a case study of gold mineral potential estimation in the Iskut River area, northwestern British Columbia. Several geological, geophysical, and geochemical patterns (Paleozoic-Mesozoic sedimentary and volcanic clastic rocks; buffer zones around the contacts between sedimentary rocks and Mesozoic intrusive rocks; a linear magnetic anomaly; and geochemical anomalies for Au and associated elements in stream sediments) were integrated with the gold mineral occurrences which have fractal and multifractal properties with a box-counting dimension of 1.335±0.077 and cluster dimension of 1.219±0.037.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Earth and Atmospheric Science, York University, M3J 1P3, North York, Ontario, Canada

    Qiuming Cheng

  2. Geological Survey of Canada, K1A 0E8, Ottawa, Canada

    F. P. Agterberg & G. F. Bonham-Carter

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  1. Qiuming Cheng
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  2. F. P. Agterberg
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  3. G. F. Bonham-Carter
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Cheng, Q., Agterberg, F.P. & Bonham-Carter, G.F. Fractal pattern integration for mineral potential estimation. Nat Resour Res 5, 117–130 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02257585

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