Characterization of Gold Mineralization in
Northern Pakistan Using Imaging Spectroscopy
Shuhab D. Khan, Ünal Okyay, Laeiq Ahmad, and Mohammad T. Shah
Abstract
This study applied an integrated imaging spectroscopy and
geochemical approach to evaluate gold mineralization in
northern Pakistan. The study analyzed several rock samples
for gold concentrations. These analyses found gold concentra-
tions of up to 96 ppm in sulfide-mineralization zones in the
Astore area. Several rock samples were scanned using visible-
near and shortwave infrared hyperspectral sensors. Compari-
son of different datasets provided a method for evaluating
spatial distribution of minerals in the samples. Dominant
minerals in the alteration zone included galena, chalcopyrite,
pyrite, and azurite. The high-resolution imaging spectroscopy
data were evaluated using the Spectral Angle Mapper (SAM)
and Support Vector Machine (SVM) classifiers. Although SVM
yielded fewer unclassified pixels, SAM gave superior classifica-
tion results and distribution estimates, particularly for sulfide
minerals, which exhibit lower overall reflectance profiles. The
surface mineral distribution estimates obtained from SAM are
in a very good agreement with electron microscope data.
Introduction
The geology of northern Pakistan is a superb example of
continental collision tectonics; this area experienced two
major collisions. The first was between an arc system, the
Kohistan-Ladakh with the Indian plate, and the second was
a collision of India-Kohistan with Asia at 50 Ma (Khan et al.,
2009). The arc system was ultimately trapped between the In-
dian and the Karakoram blocks. Understanding the sequence
of tectonic events that resulted in this remarkable episode of
crustal growth is not only very interesting scientifically, but it
has significant potential to contribute to locating deposits of
economically valuable minerals.
Detailed geological work has been carried out in the
northern part of Pakistan (Jan and Howie, 1981; Coward et
al., 1982; Butler and Prior, 1988; Khan et al., 2009) where
various tectonic domains were identified, including continen-
tal margins, mélanges, island arcs, and back-arc basins, and
potentially holds deposits of economically valuable minerals
(Figure 1). Worldwide, the occurrence of economically signifi-
cant gold deposits has been reported in these types of tectonic
environments (Groves et al., 1998), in which gold deposits
occur as magmatic, hydrothermal, epithermal, porphyric,
Carlin-type, and placer-type deposits. The occurrence of
placer gold is reported in the upper reaches of the Chitral and
Gilgit areas, and along the Indus River in northern Pakistan
(Figure 1) (Austrominerals, 1978).
However, little work has been done on mineral exploration
in northern Pakistan. Tahirkheli (1974) worked on alluvial gold
Shuhab D. Khan and Ünal Okyay are with the Department
of Earth & Atmospheric Sciences, University of Houston,
Houston Texas 77204 (sdkhan@uh.edu).
Laeiq Ahmad is with the Department of Geology, University
of Swabi, Anbar, Khybar Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan.
Mohammad T. Shah is with FATA University, Akhurwal,
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan.
PHOTOGRAMMETRIC ENGINEERING & REMOTE SENSING J u l y 2018 1
prospects in the Chitral and Gilgit areas and along the Indus
River in this region. Investigations of placer-mineral deposits
along the Indus, Gilgit, Hunza, and Chitral Rivers were conduct-
ed by workers from the Geological Survey of Pakistan (Ahmad
and Chaudhry, 1976). In addition, Pakistan Mineral Develop-
ment Corporation (PMDC, 2001) conducted some investigations
of placer gold. Furthermore, gold-exploration and mineral-anal-
ysis projects were conducted during the geochemical surveys
of stream sediments in the Chitral, Gilgit, and Skardu regions
of northern Pakistan from 1992 to 1997 (PMDC, 2001). These
surveys collected and analyzed 4,096 geochemical stream sedi-
ment samples covering an 80,000 km2 area of northern Pakistan.
This work identified 168 gold anomalies (PMDC, 2001) and four
target areas. Halfpenny and Mazzucchelli (1999) also carried
out a reconnaissance survey while conducting the regional,
multi-element drainage geochemistry in this region. Recently,
high concentrations of gold in stream sediments from major
streams in northern Pakistan was reported (Ali et al., 2015).
The present study focused on previously identified gold
anomalies and carried out detailed fieldwork, imaging spec-
troscopy, and geochemical work to identify which rocks con-
tained gold deposits. Except for a very few sites, most of the
target zones showed no, or very low, concentrations of gold.
This paper summarizes our work for the northern areas and
provides details on one such site near Astore Valley, which is
located near the Indus suture zone (Figure 1).
The goal of this work is to use laboratory-based hyperspec-
tral imaging techniques for mapping textures and mineral
associations of mineralized rock samples to assess potential of
ground-based remote sensing for imaging vertical cliff faces of
the high Himalayas in areas where traditional satellite or air-
borne data cannot be used because of steep slopes and clouds.
Materials and Methods
Field Work
Between 2011 and 2014, ten field trips were conducted in ma-
jor valleys of northern Pakistan to identify mineralized zones,
to map and assess mineral potential, and to collect rock
samples for detailed petrographic and geochemical analyses
(Figure 2). Sites for detailed field work were selected based on
high gold concentrations that were reported by previous stud-
ies (PMDC, 2001). These earlier investigations were based on
geochemical analyses that were conducted on samples mainly
collected from stream sediments.
Laboratory-Based Imaging Spectroscopy
The laboratory-based imaging spectroscopy data were acquired
using visible near-infrared (VNIR) and shortwave infrared (SWIR)
Photogrammetric Engineering & Remote Sensing
Vol. 84, No.7, July 2018, pp. 1–xxx.
0099-1112/18/1–xxx
© 2018 American Society for Photogrammetry
and Remote Sensing
doi: 10.14358/PERS.84.7.xxx
Figure 1. (A) Map showing concentrations of gold in rocks and pan-concentrate of stream sediments. Source of data for gold
PMDC (2001), location of major sutures and tectonic blocks are modified from (Searle and Khan, 1996). Background image is
Shuttle Radar Topography (SRTM) digital elevation model (DEM) data. (B) Regional geological map compiled from (Danishwar
et al., 2001; Rolland, 2002; Jagoutz, 2014) and observations from Landsat-8 data.

2 Jul y 2 018 PHOTOGRAMMETRIC ENGINEERING & REMOTE SENSING

 Figure 2. Concentrations of gold, plotted as proportional circles using all samples collected for this study, locations for
detailed study are also shown. Note the highest gold concentrations are near the Astore Valley. Background image: Landsat
GeoCover ETM+ 2000.
hyperspectral cameras from Spectral Imaging, Inc. (Specim,
Finland) on a custom-made scanning stage. The VNIR sensor
collects data over the wavelengths from 400 to 1000 nm, with
up to 0.8 nm spectral sampling interval whereas, the SWIR
sensor collects data over the wavelengths from 900 to 2500
nm, with 6.2 nm sampling interval. Considering the field-of-
view (FOV) of the fore lenses, the number of spatial sensor
elements, and sensor-to-sample distance (~0.35 m) the cameras
provide up to 0.16 and 0.26 mm of spatial resolution in VNIR
and SWIR, respectively. The samples were illuminated by four
50W quartz-halogen light bulbs focused on the samples being
scanned providing full spectrum artificial illumination. Col-
lected data were corrected for dark current and converted to
reflectance using the empirical line (ELC) method (Smith and
Milton, 1999). Subsequently, the lower-resolution SWIR data
were co-registered and resampled to higher resolution VNIR data
using pre-constructed gridlines and defined points, so as to
obtain a full spectrum over wavelengths from 400 to 2500 nm.
Imaging spectroscopy data analysis was performed in the
ENVI software (Exelis Visual Information Solutions, USA)
using readily available image processing tools. The minimum
noise fraction (MNF) transformation (Green et al., 1988) was
first applied to the reflectance data to segregate random noise
from the data and enhance inherent spectral variance which
allows description of the spectral data in fewer number of
components. In addition, an RGB color composite using co-
herent MNF bands (not shown here) was created for an initial
interpretation (Harris et al., 2005). Spatially coherent MNF
components were then used to construct scatterplots in the
n-Dimensional visualizer to locate spectrally different clusters
of pixels in the image. Although this approach has been
used to identify the most spectrally pure pixels (e.g., Pixel
Purity Index), the pixels identified herein are not necessarily
spectrally pure but rather spectrally distinct. Subsequently,
region-of-interests (ROIs) were defined to represent these
PHOTOGRAMMETRIC ENGINEERING & REMOTE SENSING J u l y 2018 3
spectrally distinct clusters of pixels in the image. An inverse
MNF transformation was applied using the coherent MNF
bands only so to obtain less noisy data in the original spectral
domain. The resulting data with reduced noise were evaluat-
ed using the Spectral Angle Mapper (SAM) (Kruse et al., 1993)
and Support Vector Machine (Vapnik, 2000) algorithms.
The SAM classification was performed using mineral
spectra, obtained from reflectance spectroscopy (Figure 3) and
mineral spectra extracted from the imaging spectroscopy from
ROIs. The angular threshold for the SAM classification varied
among classes and determined examining the rule images of
each class. For this, the angular threshold was first kept at 0.1
radians for all classes during the first iteration of the classifi-
cation. Once the rule images are obtained, the distribution of
values was used as a guide to determine individual classifica-
tion thresholds for classes. Although the angular classifica-
tion thresholds were determined based on the distribution
of the values and has somewhat less potential to introduce
human bias than conventionally used trial-and-error method,
it is rather arbitrary. In order to minimize human bias, some
studies used statistical approach for determining the angular
threshold (Schwarz and Staenz, 2001; Hecker et al., 2008;
Shahriari et al., 2014); however, a widely-accepted approach
has yet to be suggested.
The SVM classification was performed using mineral
spectra extracted from the imaging spectroscopy from ROIs
only. The Gaussian radial basis function (RBF) was used as the
kernel type of the SVM algorithm. The implementation of SVM
in ENVI requires (i) gamma in kernel function which controls
the transformation of the input data to a higher dimension
and typically inverse of the number of input bands, and (ii)
classification probability threshold to classify a pixel so that if
all rule probabilities of a pixel are less than this threshold, the
pixel will remain unclassified. For this work, the probability
threshold for classification was selected to be 0.5 (50 percent).
 Figure 3. (A) Characteristic reflectance spectra of pure sulfide-bearing minerals (end-members) observed in the mineralized
zones during field campaigns. The reflectance spectra were obtained from United States Geological Survey (USGS) Spectral
Library (Clarke et al., 2009) and Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) Spectral Library (Baldridge et al., 2009). (B) Representative
reflectance spectra of the minerals expected in the collected samples measured using ASD spectroradiometer. The spectra
were collected from rather homogeneous areas on the samples.

In addition, a penalty parameter is used to control the trade- Results

off between allowing training errors and forcing rigid margins
so that with increasing penalty parameter the cost of misclas-
Field Observation
Field investigations confirmed our earlier inferences from
sification increases forcing the algorithm to create the model
remote sensing data for the presence of mineralized zones in
more accurately (ENVI User Guide, 2017).
areas close to suture zones, mostly at the contact interfaces of
Reflectance spectroscopy measurements of the samples
dioritic and volcanic rocks. In these zones, our field investiga-
were performed in the laboratory using an ASD FieldSpec
tions revealed the presence of yellowish-brown staining of the
Pro spectroradiometer with bare fiber-optic cable and a pistol
limonite due to the oxidation of sulfide bearing phases, espe-
grip fixed on a tripod at a close, fixed height from the sample
cially pyrite and chalcopyrite, were prominent. In some places,
surface, and a full-spectrum, quartz-halogen lightbulb. The
the development of copper-bearing minerals, such as malachite
spectroradiometer collects data over the wavelengths from
and azurite, could be seen. These sulfide-bearing zones were
350 to 2500 nm, with approximately 1.4 nm sampling interval
from less than one meter to tens of meters thick (Figure 4).
for 350 to 1050 nm range and 2 nm sampling interval for 1000
to 2500 nm. Considering the height of the probe the 25° of FOV Petrography and Geochemistry
of the instrument can be translated to approximately 2 mm of Both unpolished and polished thin sections were prepared
spatial resolution. Further details of the spectroscopy analysis for samples collected near Astore for the petrographic and
are available in Ahmad et al. (2016). ore microscopic studies. Ore microscopy showed two types
of mineralized samples: copper-mineralized samples and
Mineralogical and Geochemical Analysis
lead-mineralized samples. Both types of mineralization were
The study involved mineralogical and bulk-rock geochemi-
associated with quartz veins. The copper-mineralized samples
cal analysis of samples from gossan and associated alteration
were mainly composed of chalcopyrite and copper-bearing
zones. From each alteration zone, 10 to 15 kg of samples were
limonite. The chalcopyrite grains showed fractures that were
collected comprising both bulk and chip rock, and associated,
partially oxidized with copper-bearing limonite, chalcopyrite,
unaltered host rock. The mineralogical studies conducted
and partially oxidized galena. Galena was mostly present as
included petrography and ore microscopy. The sample was
accumulated grains in association with very fine-grained chal-
first crushed into small grain size and then pulverized. A
copyrite. Furthermore, galena was mostly associated with the
representative portion of a sample was then collected through
quartz grains, while at some places very fine-grained chalco-
a splitter for gold analysis. The concentration of gold was
pyrite was also noticed (Figure 5).
determined using the graphite furnace atomic absorption
All the samples were analyzed for gold. In contrast to the
spectrometer. For the Astore area, 23 bulk rock samples were
previous studies that identified four target sites with high
collected from sulfide-bearing rock-alteration zones and
gold content, this study found relatively low or negligible
mineralized-quartz veins were analyzed. The procedure of
gold concentrations at those sites (Figure 2). However, the
(Hubert and Chao, 1985) was used for extraction of gold in
present study found new mineralization zones near Astore
methyl isobutyl ketone. Beside gold, silver (Ag), copper (Cu)
that had high contents of gold and other related trace ele-
lead (Pb), Zinc (Zn), Nickel (Ni), Chromium (Cr), Cobalt (Co)
ments (Figure 2). This may be because previous studies did
and cadmium concentrations were also measured. Samples
not consider the nugget effect while collecting the samples,
for oxygen isotope were analyzed by the laser fluorination
especially from the mineralized areas and, therefore, took
method. Samples were reacted with BrF5 and all the oxygen
smaller samples (<1 kg) while in the present study, to mini-
was converted to O2 for isotope ratio. NBS-28 quartz standard
mize the nugget effect, larger bulk samples (>10kg) were
was used for calibration.
collected for the chemical analysis. These zones are 5 to

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 Figure 4. Photographs taken from the sulfide-bearing, altered/sheared zones in the Astore area: (A) Generalized quartz veins
showing copper mineralization, and (B) quartz veins with galena. These two types of zones show high concentrations of gold.

Figure 5. (A) Reflected light microphotograph showing two sets of cleavages in chalcopyrite (ccp) displaying brass-yellow color,
surrounded by a network of copper-bearing limonite veins. Quartz is also visible as dark brown (5×), and (B) Reflected light
microphotograph showing typical light-pink galena. Partially altered galena (gn) and chalcopyrite (ccp) are also visible (5×).

10 meters wide and are associated with sulfide mineraliza-
tion in quartz veins in dioritic rocks. These veins are several
hundred meters long and are located close to Indus suture
zone (Figure 1). This region has experienced extensive late
stage\post collisional magmatic actively. In contrast previous
studies were focused on areas close to Shyok suture where
magmatic actively seized before or during collision (Khan et
al., 2009). The concentrations of gold, silver and base metals
are presented in the Table 1. Figure 6 presents the concentra-
tions of gold, which ranged from 0.02 to 95.79 ppm, with an
average concentration of 32 ppm. The ranges for other metals
are as following, silver 6-441 ppm, copper 36-177175 ppm,
lead 0.1-150.9 ppm, zinc 0.4-132.3 ppm, nickel 0.1-17 ppm,
chromium 0.1-43.2 ppm, cobalt 38-380 ppm, and cadmium
6-441 ppm.
Laboratory-Based Imaging Spectroscopy
Samples collected from mineralized zones were imaged using
laboratory-based hyperspectral cameras (Figure 7). The main
purpose of imaging was to identify various minerals and esti-
mate their surface distribution so as to understand the process
of mineralization and to assess the possibilities of remote
sensing for mapping mineralized zones.
Figure 7 shows the classification results of each sample.
Surface distribution statistics of the recognized minerals are
calculated and summarized in Table 2. Chalcopyrite is the
most abundant mineral, based on distribution on the surface
for samples AR-1F, AR-18, and AR-17. Oxidized chalcopy-
rite indicating possible interaction with fluid is the second
most abundant mineral based on surface distribution for
those samples. Samples AR-10 and AR-12 have quartz as the
most abundant mineral whereas galena is the second most
abundant mineral based on surface distribution. For sample
AR-13, the vast majority of the sample is galena, non-oxidized
and oxidized combined. Considerable amount of oxidation
is present in this sample as oxidized galena and iron oxide,
which may indicate possible interaction with fluids.
Discussion
Laboratory-Based Hyperspectral Imaging
For decades, remote sensing tools have been used for mineral
exploration, either for mapping fractures and lithology associ-
ated with ore deposits, or for mapping hydrothermally altered
rocks. Mapping geological units and fractures is a well-estab-
lished practice and can be done using multiple sensors at a
range of scales. Although there are several successful examples
of using Landsat and ASTER data to map minerals in hydro-
thermally altered rocks, identifying individual minerals using
multispectral data is not applicable. ASTER data were used to
map hydrothermally altered rocks from copper/gold deposits in
RekoDeq, Pakistan (Rowan et al., 2006). However, multispectral
data still lack the spectral and spatial resolution necessary for

PHOTOGRAMMETRIC ENGINEERING & REMOTE SENSING J u l y 2018 5

Table 1. Gold, silver and base metals concentration in ppm and oxygen isotope data for samples collected for this study near
Astore.
S. No. Rock  Cu Pb Zn Ni Cr Co Cd Ag Au δ δ18O (VSMOW, ‰)
AR-1 28563 68 63.6 15.8 0.1 380 2.1 101 55.27 9.9
AR-1A 2735 5 9 0.6 14.6 66 71.2 441 1.13 -
Chalcopyrite rich quartz vein
AR-1B 2650 0.4 25.6 1.4 5.8 167 2.4 58 0.02 13
AR-1C 11950 29.7 26.9 17 1.9 357 3 56 1.42 10.4
AR-1D 39738 150.9 85.3 0.1 1.95 260 13.5 86 0.57 10.5
AR-1E 46 48.6 41.1 16 43.15 53 0.3 6 0.52 -
AR-1F 160950 0.2 132.3 5.3 0.3 57 33.6 175 24.13 -
AR-3 26938 0.2 21.5 7.3 11.45 84 0.6 115 14.57 -
AR-4 37875 0.2 17.5 0.9 12.2 73 8.4 87 15.04 -
AR-5 2300 0.6 65.9 10.8 9.5 46 8 95 86.09 -
AR-6 529 0.9 5.6 15.2 2.95 86 9.1 73 18.8 8.9
AR-17 177175 0.1 130.3 5.3 4.3 38 29.7 142 7.59 10.4
AR-18 130275 0.1 53.6 6.9 8.75 40 21.3 171 47.74 10.9
AR-7 850 1.4 2.8 1.1 0.2 91 9.6 108 25.34 10.4
AR-8 976 1.2 4.3 0.1 0.4 103 12.4 97 75.99 11.7
Galena rich quartz vein

AR-9 589 0.8 3.3 2.1 29.5 80 16.6 93 16.11 12.3

AR-10 690 1.5 0.9 0.3 4.3 75 12.2 90 69.11 -
AR-11 403 0.8 1 0.9 4.95 82 4 78 71.64 12
AR-12 776 1.6 3.3 1.2 0.1 114 34.4 134 94.02 -
AR-13 218 2.2 0.4 2 2.2 69 14.8 75 95.79 11.3
AR-14 991 0.1 21.1 4.2 1.1 61 8.3 8 1.02 11
AR-15 2451 65.2 13.1 2.2 4.9 66 0.1 7 0.41 -
AR-16 17665 80.6 38.6 2.8 11 45 31.4 35 <0.05 -

Figure 6. Gold concentrations in mineralized samples from the Astore area.

detailed mineralogical mapping. In contrast, hyperspectral data
have been used with great success in mineral mapping. Unfor-
tunately, the availability of hyperspectral data from either space-
borne or airborne platforms are limited and at the time of this
study, hyperspectral data were not available for the study area.
The field observations showed that due to the rugged
topography in Astore area, the alteration zones obscured by
vegetation in the plan view are visible on near vertical rock
faces. Such alteration zones in vertical geometry could not be
mapped even with the presence of traditional hyperspectral
data and require other means of data collection platforms.
In the last decade there has been an increasing interest in
hyperspectral data collected using ground-based platforms for
lithological and mineralogical mapping in near vertical rock
faces (Snyder et al., 2016; Sunand Khan, 2016; Krupnik et al.,
2016; Okyay et al., 2016; Okyay and Khan 2016; Sun et al.,
2017). The samples collected from the mineralized zones were
imaged in the laboratory with the goals of seeing how detailed

6 Jul y 2 018 PHOTOGRAMMETRIC ENGINEERING & REMOTE SENSING

 Figure 7. Hyperspectral images of mineralized samples: (A)Approximate true-color (R: 640.27 nm; G: 549.46 nm; B: 469.87
nm) images. Classification results of SAM (B) using laboratory spectra and (C) using extracted image spectra .(D) Results of
SVM The image spectra for SAM and the training set for SVM were extracted from the same ROIs for each mineral.

Table 2. Distribution of minerals estimated from SAM classified images.

SAM(ASD) SAM(IMG) SVM(IMG) SAM(ASD) SAM(IMG) SVM(IMG)
% % % % % %
Chalcopyrite 76.95 48.78 42.00 Chalcopyrite 58.58 55.46 57.49
Oxidized Chalcopyrite 13.83 32.74 47.83 Oxidized Chalcopyrite 28.16 30.06 33.58
AR-1F

AR-18

Azurite 3.27 3.61 4.29 Azurite 1.31 1.95 1.88

Iron Oxide/Hydroxide - 2.45 0.57
Unclassified 5.95 12.42 5.31 Unclassified 11.95 12.53 7.05
TOTAL 100.00 100.00 100.00 TOTAL 100.00 100.00 100.00
Quartz 77.51 62.40 53.12 Oxidized Galena 31.48 23.68 9.01
FeOx Stained Quartz 11.19 4.70 9.86 Iron oxide 29.38 38.08 48.14
Chalcopyrite 0.43 0.21 0.27 Galena 23.47 26.98 35.60
AR-10

AR-13

Galena 4.24 8.76 24.58 Azurite 0.52 0.60 0.26

Unclassified 6.63 23.93 12.17 illite - 0.42 0.71
TOTAL 100.00 100.00 100.00 Unclassified 15.15 10.24 6.28
        TOTAL 100.00 100.00 100.00
Quartz 69.76 66.20 69.87 Chalcopyrite 72.51 49.83 48.27
Chalcopyrite 0.88 0.32 0.47 Oxidized Chalcopyrite 9.09 37.50 47.53
AR-12

AR-17

Galena 13.30 11.65 24.12 Azurite 0.80 0.77 0.83

FeOx Stained Quartz - 1.45 2.54
Unclassified 16.06 20.38 3.00 Unclassified 17.59 11.90 3.37
TOTAL 100.00 100.00 100.00 TOTAL 100.00 100.00 100.00

PHOTOGRAMMETRIC ENGINEERING & REMOTE SENSING J u l y 2018 7

 Figure 8. Quantitative Evaluation of Minerals by SCANning electron microscopy (QEMSCAN) images for samples: (A) AR-1F,
and (B) AR-13, confirming hyperspectral imaging results.

Table 3. Distribution of minerals estimated from QEMSCAN and imaging spectroscopy analyses.
  AR-1F AR-13
  Qemscan SAM(LAB) SAM(IMG) SVM(IMG) Qemscan SAM(LAB) SAM(IMG) SVM(IMG)
% % % % % % % %
Chalcopyrite 50.78 76.95 48.78 42.00 0.48 - - -
Oxidized Chalcopyrite - 13.83 32.74 47.83 - - - -
Oxidized Chalcopyrite + Fe Oxide 35.40 - - - - - - -
Iron Oxide/Hydroxide - - - - 29.57 29.38 38.08 48.14
Malachite/Azurite 2.85 3.27 2.45 4.29 0.95 0.52 0.60 0.26
Galena - - - - 23.97 23.47 26.98 35.60
Oxidized Galena - - - - - 31.48 23.68 9.01
Oxidized Galena + Fe Oxide - - - - 28.91 - - -
Unclassified - 5.95 12.42 5.31 - 15.15 10.24 6.28

ore minerals are mapped and seeing if close-range hyper-
spectral sensors are useful in mapping gold mineralization.
Imaging spectroscopy of these mineralized samples identified
all major minerals and the relationships among the minerals.
These samples were mostly composed of chalcopyrite, quartz,
galena, oxidized galena, and iron oxide, with some secondary
azurite. Samples rich in chalcopyrite showed fractures with
iron oxide and some quartz veins cutting the chalcopyrite,
and azurite was visible at the contact points, as can be seen in
samples AR-1F, AR-18, and AR-17 (Figure 7). Samples rich in
galena showed galena surrounded by a zone of oxidation and
quartz, and some chalcopyrite associated with oxidized ga-
lena, as seen in samples AR-12 and AR-13 (Figure 7). Sample
AR-10 shows the relationship of quartz and galena, fractures in
the quartz, and galena containing iron oxide and chalcopyrite.
To confirm the results of the hyperspectral imaging, se-
lected samples were analyzed to determine their composition
using automated scanning electron microscopy (QEMSCAN) at
the Colorado School of Mines. Chemical maps for copper and
lead-mineralized samples were generated (Figure 8). Figure
8 confirms that the main lead mineral is galena, which is
rimmed by quartz and covellite. In addition, partially oxi-
dized galena and anglesite surround and replace the galena.
Other minerals are also present, including pyrite, iron oxide/
hydroxide, chalcopyrite, and chrysocolla scattered throughout
the ore samples or concentrated in small veins. In the copper-
mineralized samples (Figure 8B), the dominant mineral, chal-
copyrite, can be seen transforming along the fractures into
copper-bearing limonite due to oxidation, pyrite, iron-oxide/
hydroxide, chlorite, and mica. Distribution of minerals were
estimated from QEMSCAN and hyperspectral imaging products
and provided in Table 3 as surface percentage.
On average, the SVM classifier resulted in fewer unclassi-
fied pixels. However, SAM classifier using image spectra of the
minerals (SAM (IMG)) showed a better agreement with electron
microscope results. This is particularly true for Cu-Pb sulfide
minerals (i.e., chalcopyrite, galena) which, in general, exhibit
lower reflectance profiles. That being said, some of the classes
are not directly comparable between Qemscan and imaging
spectroscopy analyses. For instance, Qemscan results do not
separate Oxidized Chalcopyrite and Iron Oxide, and Oxidized
Galena and Iron Oxide whereas, Oxidized Chalcopyrite, and

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Oxidized Chalcopyrite were identified as separate classes
from Iron Oxide in the imaging spectroscopy analyses. In ad-
dition, imaging spectroscopy analyses focused only on major
minerals generalizing the surface distribution while Qemscan
analyzes minor minerals as well as major minerals. Therefore,
it can be said although SAM results had a better agreement
with Qemscan, SVM results can also be considered acceptable.
Despite better classification results of SAM indicated in
this study, there is an inherit limitation, which had implica-
tions for application of SAM: angular classification threshold
varies between classes. Thus, a single angular threshold
would not provide optimal classification results. Similarly,
SVM classifier requires a classification threshold (classifica-
tion probability threshold), in this case, standard for all the
classes. However, using a single threshold may not represent
the proper distribution of the classes thus, may have given
rise to relatively poor performance SVM indicated herein.
Higher concentrations of gold and electrum were found in
lead-minimized samples than in copper-mineralized samples.
In the lead-mineralized samples, gold was mainly associated
with galena, partially oxidized galena, and quartz. Minor
amounts of gold were found with chlorite, iron oxide/hydrox-
ide, and copper-bearing limonite (Figure 8). In the copper-
mineralized samples, the gold was associated with the copper-
bearing limonite and PbCuS products, while the electrum was
associated with chalcopyrite and malachite/azurite (Figure 7B).
Ore Fluid Source
To trace the source of the hydrothermal fluids responsible
for ore mineralization in the Astore area, 12 samples were
analyzed for oxygen isotopes using a mass spectrometer at the
Louisiana State University. The δ18O value of these samples
ranged from 8.9 to 13 percent, with an average value of 11.2
percent (Table 1). This suggests that the water involved in
generating hydrothermal ore fluids was either connate or mag-
matic water (Faure and Mensing, 2011). However, the rocks
were relatively fresh and showed no signs of metamorphism,
ruling out the possibility of connate water and strongly sup-
porting a magmatic source for the water involved in generat-
ing the hydrothermal ore fluids.
Genetic Model for Gold Mineralization
Results of this study suggest that gold mineralization in the
Astore area is associated with base metal sulfides, mainly
galena and chalcopyrite, and their oxidized and altered prod-
ucts. Gold is also associated with other metal sulfides, such as
pyrite and limonite, but to a lesser extent. The mineralization
may have happened in two stages. In the first stage, the mag-
matic hydrothermal fluids concentrated the copper and lead
base-metal sulfides. This is evident, as gold is associated with
both types of base metals. In the second stage, the lead- and
copper-mineralized zones may have partially oxidized and
fractured, resulting in formation of copper-bearing limonite
along the fractures (Figures 6 and 7). Similar types of gold
deposits are common in Central Asia (Zhu and Tan, 2011).
Conclusions
This research used hyperspectral cameras in a laboratory set-
ting to quantify the mineral composition of gold-mineralized
rock samples. This study suggests identification of certain
mineral association with close-range remote sensing could
potentially be used as a new tool for gold prospecting.
For the first time, this study reports gold concentrations
of up to 96 ppm in quartz veins in the Astore area of north-
ern Pakistan. The textures and mineral associations pro-
vided insights into the geological processes responsible for
gold mineralization in this region. This mineralization may
have occurred in two stages. In the first stage, the magmatic
PHOTOGRAMMETRIC ENGINEERING & REMOTE SENSING J u l y 2018 9
hydrothermal fluids concentrated the copper and lead along
with the gold, and in the second stage, the lead- and copper-
mineralized zones may have partially oxidized and fractured,
resulting in the formation of copper-bearing limonite along
the fractures, with some secondary gold. Detailed sampling in
sites that didn’t show high concentration of gold in this study
may show promising results.
Although SVM is known and expected to provide better re-
sults compared to conventional classification algorithms such
as SAM, the results of this study suggested otherwise particu-
larly for minerals with lower overall spectral profiles; there-
fore, further work is required for evaluation of SVM for classifi-
cation such minerals in close-range hyperspectral imagery.
Acknowledgments
The National Academy of Sciences and the Higher Education
Commission of Pakistan, through Pak-US Science and Tech-
nology Cooperation Program, funded this research. We would
like to thank the Pakistan Mineral Development Corporation
for geochemical data. Hyperspectral cameras were purchased
by National Science Foundation Award No. 1256202. We are
thankful to Dr. Katharina Pfaff, from the Colorado School of
Mines, for QEMSCAN analysis and to Dr. Tao Sun, from LSU\
NASA, for oxygen-isotope analysis. We also thank anony-
mous reviewers for providing very helpful reviews.
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