Page 7 - Geochemical Anomaly and Mineral Prospectivity Mapping in GIS

VIII Preface

selection for mapping…”, the chapters in Part II demonstrate GIS-aided and GIS-based
methods for analysis of robust thresholds in mapping of geochemical anomalies. Built
upon the notion that locations of mineral deposits of the type sought are intrinsic samples
of mineralised landscapes, which are results of interactions of geological processes, the
chapters in Part III explain GIS-aided and GIS-based techniques for spatial data analysis
and geo-information synthesis for conceptual modeling and predictive modeling of
mineral prospectivity. The essence of this book is, therefore, the prudent (thus, not black
box) utilisation of GIS in mapping of geochemical anomalies and prospective areas
through the application of understanding of relevant earth systems or processes that led
to the formation (and/or alteration) of these geo-objects.
Each chapter in this volume is meant to be self-contained. The chapters in Parts II
and III are, however, coherently linked by a common case study. The concepts and
methods described here are demonstrated with real exploration data sets. Although the
geochemical data used here represent Earth materials most commonly sampled in
reconnaissance exploration surveys (i.e., stream sediments) and the geological data sets
used here represent ‘data-poor’ situations of mapping exploration targets for epithermal
Au deposits, the concepts and methods described here apply equally to geochemical data
from different sampling media and to ‘data-rich’ situations of mapping exploration
targets for various types of mineral deposits. In addition, whilst there is neither reference
to nor endorsement of any GIS software throughout this volume, the concepts and
methods described in every chapter are generic such that they are readily implemented
with or in any GIS software. This volume is thus intended to be an instructional textbook
and general reference manual for exploration geochemists and/or exploration geologists,
who are enthusiastic and already possess skills in applying GIS or who are interested in
applying GIS. It is also hoped that geoscience academics and graduate students not only
in the knowledge fields of geo-resource exploration but also in the knowledge fields of
geo-hazard mapping and/or geo-environmental characterisation would find the concepts
and methods described in this volume useful in their work.
I thank the International Institute for Geo-Information Science and Earth Observation
(ITC) for resources and a pleasant environment for working (both teaching and doing
research in geological predictive modeling) that allowed me to write this book. I thank
also my graduate (PhD/MSc) students, from 2002 to the present, with whom I have
developed some of the ideas presented in this volume. Most of all, I thank Professor
Martin Hale, for coaching me during the years I was a graduate (MSc to PhD) student of
mineral exploration at ITC and TU Delft, for continuing to work with me thereafter, for
inviting me to write a volume for the series of Handbook of Exploration and
Environmental Geochemistry and for editing this volume. The errors in this volume
remain mine.

E.J.M. CARRANZA
Enschede, The Netherlands
May 2008