Research article Geochemistry: Exploration, Environment, Analysis

Published online September 26, 2016 doi:10.1144/geochem2016-424 | Vol. 16 | 2016 | pp. 253–264

Application of classical statistics and multifractals to delineate Au

mineralization-related geochemical anomalies from stream
sediment data: a case study in Xinghai-Zeku, Qinghai, China
Xin Chen1, Youye Zheng1,2,3*, Rongke Xu2, Huimin Wang1, Xiaojia Jiang1, Hongze Yan4,
Pengjie Cai2 & Xianzheng Guo2
1
Faculty of Earth Resources, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan, 430074, China
2
Institute of Geological Survey, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan, 430074, China
3
State Key Laboratory of Geological Processes and Mineral Resources, China University of Geosciences, Beijing,
100083, China
4
College of Earth Sciences and Mineral Resources, China University of Geosciences, Beijing 100083, China
* Correspondence: zhyouye@163.com

Abstract: The Xinghai-Zeku area of western China is one of the most important Au polymetallic metallogenic belts in Qinghai
Province, China. To guide the mineral exploration in this area, log and isometric log-ratio (ilr) transformations of stream
sediment data are evaluated using principal component analysis (PCA) combined with geological data to study the relationship
among different elements. In addition, Mean + 2 standard deviations (Mean + 2STD), Median + 2 median absolute deviations
(Median + 2MAD), and concentration-area (C-A) models are applied to identify pathfinder threshold values and geochemical
patterns are decomposed using a spectrum-area (S-A) model. The results show that: (1) PCA for the ilr-transformed data can
accurately describe three different geochemical assemblages, Au-As-Sb, that represent Au-As-Sb mineralization in fracture
zones; (2) anomalies of Au + As + Sb are more suitable for targeting Au-As deposits than those of the single element Au; (3) the
C-A model is useful for indentifying geochemical anomalies associated with mineralization because results obtained by the C–
A fractal model and the geological characteristics are well correlated; (4) background and anomaly maps for Au + As + Sb from
the S-A model in conjunction with the Mean + 2STD successfully identify weaker anomalies by reducing anomalous areas; and
(5) using Au + As + Sb anomalies identified by C-A in conjunction with the S-A model and Mean + 2STD method are effective
in exploration for Au deposits in the area.
Keywords: PCA; classical statistics; C-A model; spectrum-area (S-A) model; geochemical exploration
Received 18 April 2016; revised 18 August 2016; accepted 19 August 2016

Stream sediment surveys play an important role in mineral resource
exploration in China, resulting in the discovery of different types of
deposits (e.g. Xie et al. 1997, 2008). Stream sediment data to identify
ore-forming anomalies and to further screen and test these anomalies
have been used for over 60 years in exploration geochemistry. One of
the most fundamental tasks in analyzing geochemical data is
determining thresholds to separate anomalies from background
values and then delineating mineralized areas spatially (Nazarpour
et al. 2013, 2014; Yousefi et al. 2013; Sun et al. 2016). Decomposing
single and mixed geochemical compositions is also a challenge in
geochemical exploration and environmental assessment (Cheng et al.
1994; Reimann et al. 2005; Zuo 2011a, b, 2014).
The Xinghai-Zeku, Qinghai Province, area of western China
(Fig. 1) is located in a high altitude region (3000 – 5000 m). In this
study, classical statistical methods and various frequency-based and
frequency-space-based methods are applied to stream sediment
geochemical data from the area. The aims of this study are: (1) to
determine the combination of potential pathfinder elements for Au
mineralization by comparing results from PCA (Principle
Component Analysis) and RPCA (Robust PCA); (2) to evaluate
the best approach for characterizing anomalies associated with
mineralization; and (3) to guide anomaly verification and mineral
exploration through resultant Au-As-Sb anomaly maps. The
approach is useful for mineral exploration in the Xinghai-Zeku
area, but also more generally in the evaluation of an area with only
small-scale regional geochemical data.
Statistical Methods Used to Evaluate Geochemical Data
Classical statistical methods in geochemistry deal with the
frequency distribution of elements, and include Mean + 2 standard
deviations (Mean + 2STD) (Hawkes & Webb 1962), Median + 2
median absolute deviations (Median + 2MAD) (Reimann et al.
2005), Tukey’s box diagrams (Tukey 1977), and percentage of
cumulative frequencies. Reimann et al. (2005) compared various
statistical methods for the determination of element concentration
threshold values and showed that the boxplot, Median + 2MAD,
and empirical cumulative distribution functions are better suited for
estimating anomaly threshold values than is the Mean + 2STD. The
main limitation of classical approaches is that they do not consider
spatial information, geometry (e.g. shape or form), extent, and
magnitude of the anomalies in the areas (Cheng et al. 1994; Rafiee
2005). As a consequence, they could fail to recognize anomalies in
regions with high-value backgrounds or miss weak anomalies in
regions with known mineral deposits (Bai et al. 2010; Hassanpour
& Afzal 2013; Nazarpour et al. 2013).
Spatio-statistical distribution of geochemical anomalies include
geostatistical techniques, fractal methods, and multifractals
(Nazarpour et al. 2014). Fractal theory is a non-linear mathematical
method established by Mandelbrot (1983) and is widely used in
many scientific fields, including the geosciences (Zhang et al. 2013;
Liu et al. 2014; Zhao et al. 2014; Zheng et al. 2014; Ke et al. 2015).
Fractal and multifractal models include number–size (N–S)

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254 X. Chen et al.

Fig. 1. (a) Location of the East Kunlun Orogenic Belt, the study area, and the Himalayan Orogenic Belt in West China (modified after Xia et al. 2014). (b)
Location of the study area and surrounding area showing major structures (modified after Wang et al. 2015). (c) The regional geological map and
distribution of deposits in the Xinghai-Zeku area.

(Mandelbrot 1983; Agterberg 1995; Daya 2015), concentration–
area (C–A) (Cheng et al. 1994), concentration–distance (C–D)
(Li et al. 2003), concentration–volume (C–V) (Afzal et al. 2011),
spectrum–area (S–A) (Cheng 1999; Zuo et al. 2012, 2013a, b,
2015; Wang & Zuo 2015), and local singularity (Cheng 2007; Sun
et al. 2016). Considering the self-similar and self-affine nature of
most geochemical data, the multifractal method is widely used in the
determination of geochemical anomalies (Cheng et al. 1994; Cheng
2008; Zuo et al. 2015). In particular, S–A fractal modeling is an
effective method of decomposing mixed geochemical patterns in
complex geological settings (Zuo 2011a, 2014; Zuo et al. 2012).
PCA and factor analysis (FA) are very effective methods for
identifying geochemical assemblage compositions (Reimann et al.
2002; Zuo 2011a). Factor Analysis (FA) requires that univariate
data and multivariate data are normally distributed. Similarly, FA is
required to comply with many assumptions about the mathematical
models used, such as the factor covariance matrix is the matrix and
there is no correlation among factors. Therefore, before using this
method, it is necessary to evaluate its applicability using for
example a Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) test.
In contrast, PCA is simply a linear transformation of the data and
does not require any assumptions. Several varieties of PCA, in
addition to the classic PCA include a fuzzy masking PCA (FMPCA)
(Cheng et al. 2011) and robust PCA (RPCA) (Lancet 2009; Zuo
2014). Many researchers have considered that PCA should be
carried out with an appropriate transformation. Furthermore, a
robust approach is preferable if the dataset contains outliers. In this
study, PCA and RPCA are used to determine the association of ore-
forming elements and results that coincide better with geological
features. The results are expressed as proportions or percentages of
various elements. Thus, these data are not the absolute values, but
provide relative information for the element. Therefore, they are
called compositional data (Aitchison 1986; Filzmoser et al. 2009,
2010; Zuo et al. 2013a; Zuo 2014). Compositional data are closed
and should be opened prior to using any of the aforementioned
methods (Lark 2008; Lancet 2009; Grunsky 2010).
Data transformations can enhance the correlation between
variables to avoid spurious correlations and can better coincide
with the geological features. Zuo et al. (2013a) evaluated the
Zhongteng Cu deposit in Fujian Province (China) as an example,
 Delineate Au geochemical anomalies 255

Fig. 2. Geological sketch of the Walegen gold deposit; numerals indicate a mineralized area (modified after Chen et al. 2015).

and concluded that geochemical data is typical compositional data
that should be opened prior to univariate and multivariate data
analysis to avoid spurious correlation between variables. The log
ratio transformation is a kind of data transformation that can weaken
the closure of compositional data and includes three kinds of
transformation methods: the additive log-ratio transformation (alr)
(Aitchison 1986), centered log-ratio transformation (clr) (Aitchison
1986), and isometric log-ratio transformation (ilr) (Egozcue et al.
2003). Carranza (2011) compared the three log-ratio transformation
methods with a direct logarithmic transformation of stream
sediment data. His results indicate that log-ratio transformations
enhance recognition of anomalies for geochemical assemblages.
Based on the RPCA for ilr-transformed geochemical data from the
Fanshan district, China, Zuo (2014) concluded that the geochemical
characteristics of Fanshan district show two different geochemical
assemblage compositions. The first one possibly represents
hydrothermal-type Zn–Pb polymetallic mineralization, character-
ized by anomalous Pb, Zn, Sn,W, Mo, Bi, Hg, and Ag. The second
may represent epithermal-type Cu–Au mineralization, linked to As,
Au, Cu, Sb and Mn. Sun et al. (2016) showed that the PCA of
clr-transformed data can accurately establish three different
geochemical assemblage compositions representing three different
types of mineralization (i.e. Au, Pb–Zn–Ag, and Sb) in the North
Himalaya. Thus, using appropriate transformations to identify

Fig. 3. Cross section of the No. 93

prospect of the Walegen gold deposit.
256 X. Chen et al.

Fig. 4. Location of stream sediment samples and their gold concentrations, and gold deposits and occurrences the Xinghai-Zeku district.

geochemical assemblage compositions is necessary prior to any (Fig. 1c). Carboniferous and Permian strata are composed of clastic
multivariate analysis of compositional data. rocks, limestone, conglomerate, and basic, intermediate and acidic
volcanic rocks. Triassic strata are represented by the Longwuhe and
Gulangdi Formations with a wide range of exposure in the district
Regional Geology consisting, respectively, of sand and slate interbedded with
limestone and volcanic rocks and sandstone and slate interbedded
The study area is located in the early Indosinian Tongde-Zeku
with limestone. The Au mineralization is mainly hosted in the
polymetallic metallogenic and orogenic belt, which belongs to the
Triassic strata.
Variscan-Indosinian orogenic system of the north Tethys of Tibet
Igneous rocks in the Xinghai-Zeku area are Paleoproterozoic to
and is an extension of the eastern Qinling metallogenic belt in
Mesozoic, and most formed mainly during the mainly Triassic
Qinghai Province (Fig. 1a). This area is the intersection of the
Indosinian orogen and are controlled by regional faults. Extensive
Qilian, Kunlun, and Qinling Mountains and is a key part of the
Indosinian intrusives (migmatites) invade the strata along the
convergence of the structural transition zone. The region lies in
Tongde-Zeku orogenic belt (Zhan et al. 2007). Mesozoic rocks are
the western Ela Mountains magmatic belt, and it is bounded by the
characterized by the development of Mesozoic pyroclastic inter-
east Kunlun Orogenic belt and the Wenquan fault to the west, to
mediate-acid volcanic rocks and granitoids, considered to be typical
the north by the Qilian Orogenic belt, and to the south by the
of assemblages from active continental margins. The middle-late
A’nyêmaqên Mountains adjacent to the Bayan Har Mountains
Indosinian intrusive rocks are associated with two phases of Au
(Wang et al. 2015) (Fig. 1b). The Tongde-Zeku orogenic belt has a
deposits. The first consists of diorite, quartz diorite, and
long record of tectonic evolution, beginning in the Archean.
granodiorite, with the post collisional ages of 244 – 220 Ma (Qin
Complex and lengthy geological evolution has resulted in several
2010). The second phase is composed chiefly of hypabyssal rock
periods of mineralization associated with porphyries, porphyry-
and volcanic rock from post collisional lithospheric extension at
skarns and volcanic hydrothermal alteration in the study area, and
220 – 200 Ma (Li et al. 2014; Xia et al. 2014).
the resulting parallel secondary faults that are the main ore-control-
ling structures in the research area. The most prominent faults in the
study area are densely distributed NW-striking faults that are the Au Mineralization in the Xinghai-Zeku District
principal ore-controlling structures for the Au-As-Sb deposits, with
the less prominent EW- and NE-striking faults in the SW of the The Xinghai-Zeku district is an important Au metallogenic belt in
Tongde-Zeku area. the Qinghai Province of western China. The Au and Au-As deposits
The cover sequence in the region consists of Carboniferous, and occurrences are mainly located in the middle and lower Triassic
Permian, and Triassic geological units and Quaternary sediments Langwuhe and Gulangdi formations and are mainly controlled by
faults. The elements that typify these deposits (e.g. Walegen,
Muyanggou, Shizang, and Duoqueqiao) are Au-As-Sb (Fig. 1c) (Li
Table 1. The analytical method and detection limit for each element & Guo 2012; Chen et al. 2015; Lu et al. 2015).
The Walegen Au deposit in the west of Qinling, was discovered in
Element Detection limit (ppm) Analytical method
2014 and is typical of the Au mineralization in the district. It is a
Ag 0.02 ES large-scale Au deposit with proven and probable Au reserves of 38.51
Au 0.0003 GF-AAS t (Chen et al. 2015). Exposed strata in the district are mainly in the
As 1 HG-AFS Longwuhe Formation and Quaternary sediments, which are exposed
Cu 1 XRF in the valleys (Fig. 2). The exposed rocks in mineralized zones are
Cr 15 XRF mainly feldspar–quartz sandstone, quartz diorite, and plagioclase
Pb 2 ICP-MS granite porphyry with zircon U-Pb ages of 228.2 ± 1.9 Ma (Li et al.
Sb 0.1 HG-AFS
2014). There are seven Au mineralized alteration zones hosting thirty-
Zn 10 XRF
six gold ore bodies in the mining area. The strike of the Au ore bodies
Cd 0.05 ICP-MS
is nearly EW, NS, and NW. The gold-bearing veins located in I, II, IV,
Co 1 FU-XRF or XRF
and VII mineralized zones (Fig. 2) are strictly controlled by fracture
Ni 2 FU-XRF or XRF
zones where most Au ore bodies are hosted. The E–W-trending
 Delineate Au geochemical anomalies 257

Table 2. Statistical parameters for element concentrations in stream sediment geochemical data from Xinghai-Zeku. Units for Au and Ag are ppb and the units
for the other elements are ppm

Element Ag As Au Cu Sb Pb Zn
Number of samples 6357 6357 6357 6357 6357 6357 6357
Mean 0.07 16.31 1.34 18.72 1.24 20.51 58.21
Median 0.06 11.80 1.00 18.00 0.89 19.29 57.00
Std Dev 0.06 23.82 1.63 7.52 1.48 8.52 14.48
Minimum 0.00 2.50 0.10 1.00 0.05 6.00 14.00
Maximum 1.71 1023.00 54.00 173.00 42.00 254.00 347.00
25th %ile 0.05 9.00 0.69 14.19 0.66 16.00 50.00
50th %ile 0.06 11.80 1.00 18.00 0.89 19.29 57.00
75th %ile 0.08 15.60 1.50 22.00 1.29 23.70 65.00
98th %ile 0.16 69.00 4.59 34.76 4.80 35.88 88.00
Skewness 12.45 17.78 12.89 4.94 10.35 7.72 3.26
Kurtosis 226.77 581.00 295.63 70.12 187.17 136.18 38.45

structures have dips >70°N (Fig. 2). Altered-type Au ore bodies occur
typically as quasi-lamellar or lenticular veins, with a length of
80 – 760 m, an average thickness of 0.43 – 9.86 m, and a grade of Au
ranging from 0.43 to 23.20 ppm (Fig. 3). The ores can be divided into
sandy slate cataclasite-type, fine-vein disseminated quartz porphyry,
and stibnite vein-type ore. Indicator elements in the deposit include
As and Sb (Zeng et al. 2009).
Sampling and Analysis
Stream sediment data was collected from this area of 29 000 km2. Six
thousand three hundred fifty-seven stream sediment samples were
collected at a density of approximately one sample per 4.56 km2
covering a longitude of 34.72 – 35.66°N and latitude of 99.00 –
101.90°E. The location and relative Au concentrations of the stream
sediment samples are shown in Figure 4. The data are from China’s
National Geochemical Mapping Project (Regional Geochemistry-
National Reconnaissance) initiated in 1979 and covering more than
6 million km2 of China’s territory (Xie et al. 1997, 2008).
Concentrations of 39 elements in the stream sediments were
determined with inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry
(ICP-MS), X-ray fluorescence spectrometry (XRF), and emission
spectrography (ES). Sample preparation, sample analysis and quality
control are based on the Chinese Geochemical Survey Specifications
DZ/T 0011-91 and ZD0130.6-94 (Xie et al. 1997). Eleven elements
related to mineralization are used in this study, and the analytical
methods and detection limits are shown in Table 1. The concentra-
tions of As and Sb were determined by hydride generation-atomic
fluorescence spectrometry (HG-AFS). The concentration of Au was
determined by graphite furnace-atomic absorption spectrometry
(GF-AAS) (Xie et al. 1997, 2008; Wang et al. 2011).
The raw data do not obey a normal distribution regarding
skewness and kurtosis Xinghai-Zeku (Table 2), and the data for the
log-transformation do not obey the lognormal distribution from a
lognormal Q-Q plot (Fig. 5). Some elemental concentrations
are below the limit of detection (Table 2), and their use can have
quite a dramatic effect on the subsequent statistical analysis
(Palarea-Albaladejo et al. 2014). To avoid their influence on PCA,
these extreme values below the limit of detection were not used.
Methods
PCA and RPCA
PCA is one of the most popular techniques for multivariate analysis,
constructing a few important new variables by linear transformation
and explaining to a great extent the original multielement variability.
The PCA converts the data from high dimensional space to low
dimensional space based on a covariance or correlation matrix, and a
small number of principal components reflect the degree of variation
of the variables (Fry 1987). The RPCA uses a minimum covariance
determinant (MCD) to replace the covariance and reduce the effects
of the data closure problem (Egozcue et al. 2003; Wang & Zuo 2015).
Both PCA and RPCA concentrate more of the total variance in the
data into the first few components. The first two PCs are normally
used, and the other N-2 PCs ignored (N is the number of original
variables; the components with small eigenvalues are ignored). In this
study, the log and ilr transformation are used to open the regional
geochemical data, and PCA and RPCA are used to analyse the
regional geochemical data. The calculation process is based on the R
Project for Statistical Computing software (Ihaka & Gentleman
1996), StatDA package (Garrett 2013), and the robust statistical
analysis of compositional data (robcomposition) package (Templ
et al. 2012). The results of the PCA and RPCA are presented in a
biplot (Gabriel 1971), which is a planar graph, where both loadings
(representing the information of the variables) and scores (represent-
ing the information of the observations) are displayed. The biplot is
usually constructed on the basis of the first two PCs forming a rank-
two approximation of the multivariate data.
Mean+2STD
The Mean + 2STD method is mainly based on classical statistical
methods and requires that the geochemical data is normally distributed
(Hawkes & Webb 1962). However, the geochemical data in the study

Fig. 5. Q–Q plots of (a) Au, (b) As, and

(c) Sb for the regional stream sediment
samples from the Xinghai-Zeku district.
258 X. Chen et al.

Table 3. Results of PC analysis of log-transformed, ilr-transformed, and ilr-rubost geochemical data from Xinghai-Zeku

Log-transformed data ilr-transformed data ilr- transformed robust data

Component loading PC1 PC2 PC3 PC4 PC1 PC2 PC3 PC4 PC1 PC2 PC3 PC4
Ag −0.20 0.43 −0.11 −0.46 0.14 0.36 −0.25 −0.27 −0.18 0.43 −0.28 0.38
As −0.31 0.30 0.35 0.15 0.47 −0.03 0.24 −0.22 −0.34 −0.24 0.06 0.03
Au −0.21 0.14 0.50 −0.40 0.47 −0.22 −0.68 0.30 −0.60 0.40 0.05 −0.51
Cu −0.39 −0.11 −0.10 0.18 −0.06 −0.08 0.16 0.38 0.03 −0.31 −0.06 −0.22
Pb −0.31 0.25 −0.40 0.28 −0.11 0.36 0.20 0.45 0.16 −0.22 −0.36 −0.15
Sb −0.27 0.16 0.51 0.45 0.37 −0.28 0.56 −0.12 −0.33 −0.51 0.31 0.43
Zn −0.38 −0.04 −0.27 0.13 −0.27 0.10 0.04 0.16 0.30 0.00 0.04 −0.08
Cd −0.26 0.33 −0.27 −0.35 -0.06 0.61 −0.05 −0.28 0.11 0.12 −0.53 0.37
Ni −0.33 −0.36 −0.13 0.05 −0.29 −0.21 0.00 0.26 0.29 −0.17 −0.12 −0.42
Co −0.34 −0.37 0.05 −0.11 −0.33 −0.29 −0.08 −0.19 0.27 0.17 0.47 0.03
Cr −0.24 −0.49 0.14 −0.37 −0.33 −0.32 −0.15 −0.47 0.29 0.34 0.41 0.14
Eigenvalues 2.20 1.30 1.08 0.86 1.58 1.58 1.11 1.06 1.57 1.53 1.18 1.00
% of variance 44.18 15.47 10.68 6.71 25.08 25.08 12.36 11.33 23.80 22.49 13.50 9.65

area do not follow a normal distribution (Fig. 5). Those extreme values
(over Mean + 3STD or below Mean-3STD) are removed from the raw
data through multiple iterations until the remaining data follow an
approximate normal distribution. The Mean + 2STD of the final
processed data are used as threshold values (Sun et al. 2016).
Median+2MAD
The method of Median + MAD, directly analogous to Mean +
2STD, is the easily understood robust approach and is also widely
used to estimate the threshold (Reimann et al. 2005; Zheng et al.
2014). It is widely used in environmental geochemical surveys
(Mrvić et al. 2010); however, application of this method has not
been as popular in geochemistry exploration (Escalante et al. 2010).
C–A model
The C–A model, originally developed by Cheng (1999; Cheng et al.
1994), represents the first important step in the fractal/multifractal
modeling of geochemical data (Zuo et al. 2012) and has been ‘a
fundamental technique for modeling of geochemical anomalies’
(Carranza 2008). The C–A fractal model gives:
A(c  ci ) / ci D
(1)
where A(c ≥ ci) represents the area with concentrations greater than
or equal to the contour value c, and D denotes the fractal dimension
for the C–A fractal model. A(c ≥ ci) and ci follow power-law
relationships (Sun et al. 2016).
The C–A model can be used for raw geochemical data, contour
maps, or raster maps of elements. A pair dataset consisting of
concentration c and the area with the concentration value greater than
or equal to c was plotted in a Log–Log graph. Next, N + 1 straight
lines with N cut-off values were fitted using least squares (LS). The
cut-off values can separate a geochemical map into high, moderate,
and low anomalous areas (Carranza 2008; Zuo et al. 2013b).
S–A model
Cheng (1999) extended the idea of the C–A model into the
frequency domain and developed the S–A model to characterize the
spectral energy–area relationship. It is given as:
2d=b
A( S) / S (2)
where S denotes the spectral energy as a function of the wave
number vector, A(≥S) denotes the area in units of the wave number
with a threshold above S, β is an anisotropic scaling exponent, and d
is a parameter representing the degree of overall concentration and
denotes proportionality.
The S–A model can be applied in three ways (Zuo et al. 2012,
2013a, b):
(1) Generation of a raster map through interpolation of the raw
geochemical data using the multifractal inverse distance
weighted (MIDW) method. A common drawback of moving
average interpolation techniques, such as IDW, is the non-
consideration of the local properties of the data. In contrast,
the MIDW (Cheng 1999, 2000) incorporates a local
singularity into the basic model of the moving average
interpolation, considering spatial correlations like Kriging.
Compared with traditional interpolation method, MIDW has
two significant advantages: (1) improving the accuracy of
interpolation results; and (2) retaining local structure of the
interpolation surface. The MIDW is proven to be an effective
method in both exploration geochemistry and the
environmental geochemistry (Cheng 1999, 2000; Zuo
2011a).
(2) Conversion of the raster map into a frequency domain using
Fourier transformation. A pair dataset consisting of the power
spectrum (S) and the area with the power spectrum greater or
equal to S is obtained and then plotted in a log–log graph. The
N (N ≥ 2) straight lines can be fitted using the LS method. The
N filters are defined with N-1 cut-off values from N ranges of
the power spectrum (S) energy that possess distinct scaling
properties of the S–A relationship. The small cut-off value
generally defines the anomaly filter, and the large cut-off
value defines the background filter.
(3) Application of the inverse Fourier transformed functions to
convert the frequency components back to the spatial
domain. In this way, a map of the background and map) of
the anomalies can be obtained (Zuo et al. 2012, 2013a;
Afzal et al. 2013). This anomaly and background of the S-A
method can be achieved using the GeoDas software system
(Cheng 1999, 2000).
Results and Discussion
Associations of ore-forming elements
Three PCs are obtained from the PCA (for the log-transformed and
ilr-transformed) and RPCA (for the ilr-transformed) stream sediment
geochemical data (Table 3). The PC1 obtained through classic PCA
for the log-transformed stream sediment geochemical data accounts
 Delineate Au geochemical anomalies
for 41.18% of the total variances and shows negative loadings for all
the elements as a consequence of the effects of data closure. The PC2
accounts for 15.47%, showing positive loadings of As, Sb, Au, Pb,
Cd, and Ag and negative loadings of Zn, Cu, Ni, Co, and Cr. The
contribution rate of Zn and Cu is close to 0. The relationship between
PC1 and PC2 is obtained from classical PCA biplot (Fig. 6a).
The PC1 and PC2 obtained through classic PCA from the ilr-
transformed stream sediment geochemical data account for 28.08
and 25.08% of the total variances (Table 3). The PC1-PC2 biplot
(Fig. 6b) shows three groups of element assemblages. The positive
loadings of PC1 are Au, As, and Sb with a small included angle,
suggesting the highest correlation among the three elements. The
negative loadings of PC1 including Cu, Ni, Co, and Cr, and PC2 is
composed of the positive loadings of Pb, Zn, Ag, and Cd.
The PC1 and PC2 obtained from the RPCA for the ilr-
transformed stream sediment geochemical data account for 23.80
and 22.49% of the total variances (Table 3). The PC1-PC2 biplot
shows two groups of element associations (Fig. 6c). The first group
from the positive loadings of PC1 is Cu, Pb, Ni, Zn, Co, Cr, and Cd,
and the second assemblage consists of the negative loadings of PC1
as Ag, Au, As, and Sb.
There are many altered-type Au and Au-As deposits in the East
Kunlun and North Qilian area adjacent to Xinghai-Zeku (i.e.
Dachang, Wulonggou, and Tanjianshan) (Zhang et al. 2009; Rui
et al. 2013; Ding & Yan 2015). Some scholars have found a strong
correlation between Au, As, and Sb in these deposit types, indicating
that the regional geochemical anomalies are similar for both altered
and unaltered deposit types (Feng et al. 2004; Zhao et al. 2007;
Zhang et al. 2009). The geochemical assemblage associated with
these Au deposits (e.g. Walegen, Muyanggou, Shizang, and
Duoqueqiao) is Au-As-Sb in the study area. Combined with the
regional geology and deposit research that indicate Au mineralization
is associated with As and Sb, the ilr-transformed stream sediment
geochemical data can be decomposed effectively by PCA in this area
into three groups of elements (Fig. 6b): (1) Au-As-Sb, representing
altered-type Au mineralization in the study area (e.g. Walegen,
Muyanggou, Jiawu, and Shizang); (2) Pb-Zn-(Ag)-(Cd), representing
hydrothermal-type Pb-Zn polymetallic mineralization; and (3) Cu-
Ni-Co-Cr, relating the distribution of ultramafics and mafic units.
Determining threshold values
To identify anomalies related to Au mineralization, Au and Au + As
+ Sb are chosen for calculating threshold values (Table 4). The
Table 4. Anomaly threshold values calculated using different methods for stream-sediment data from Xinghai-Zeku. The unit for Au is ppb and Au + As + Sb are
dimensionless
Mean + 2STD
Raw data Log-transformed data Raw data
Au 2.19 3.38 1.78
Au + As + Sb 4.04 5.75 3.59
259
Fig. 6. Biplots of principal components of
the stream sediment samples using (a)
log-transformed data, (b) ilr-transformed
data, and (c) robust principal components
obtained by ilr-transformed data.
element association scores are calculated by first rescaling the
element concentrations divided by their mean value. Anomaly
threshold values are obtained by Mean + 2STD and Median +
2MAD for the original data, log-transformed data, and from the C-A
fractal model (Table 4). The C-A model can fit the data of the study
area to three straight lines using the LS method, and the two cut-off
values separate the geochemical map into the high, moderate, and
low anomalous areas (Fig. 7).
The Xinghai-Zeku area contains five Au deposits, 16 Au
mineralization occurrences, and one Au-As deposit, and there is
additional potential to find large-scale deposits. The corresponding
element raster contour maps are generated by MIDW (Fig. 8). The
low anomaly threshold value determined by the C-A model is 1.13,
and the delineated anomalous areas contain five Au deposits, one
Au-As deposit, and 15 Au ore occurrences (Tables 4 and 5). The
anomaly threshold value determined by Mean + 2STD delineates
anomalous areas that encompass five Au deposits and six gold
mines. The Au thresholds determined by Median + 2MAD and
Mean + 2STD for log-transformed data are 2.10 and 3.38,
respectively, and they are able to determine four Au deposits in
the study area. However, the high anomaly threshold determined by
the C-A model is 5.75, producing the smallest anomaly area of only
1.35% of the total area, but encompass three Au deposits and one
mineral occurrence in the study area (Tables 4 and 5).
All of these methods produce Au + As + Sb anomalies that show
better spatial association with Au(As) deposits than do the single Au
element anomalies in Xinghai-Zeku (Fig. 8). The Median + 2MAD
for log-transformed data fails to predict one Au and one Au-As
deposit. The highest threshold value (14.15) is generated by the C-A
fractal model and produces the smallest anomalous area of only
0.96% of the total area, but includes four Au deposits and two Au
mineral occurrences. The anomaly thresholds determined by Mean
+ 2STD for raw data and Median + 2MAD for log-transformed data
are 4.04 and 3.59, respectively, with and five Au deposits and one
Au-As deposit identified (Tables 4 and 5). Consequently, these
results show that Au + As + Sb anomalies estimated by the C–A
fractal model are suitable for targeting Au-As-Sb deposits in the
Xinghai-Zeku area.
Anomaly evaluation
The anomalous areas based on Mean + 2STD or Median + 2MAD for
the raw data or log-transformed data show good correspondence with
some deposits, but they have poor spatial correlation with known Au
Median + 2MAD C-A fractal model
Log-transformed data Low anomaly High anomaly
2.10 1.13 5.75
4.10 2.64 14.15
260 X. Chen et al.
ore occurrences and geological features (e.g. faults and strata) in the
study area. The main limitation of the classical approaches is that they
only consider the mathematical characteristics of the elements,
ignoring spatial information, geometry (e.g. shape or form), extent,
and magnitude of the anomalous areas (Cheng et al. 1994). The
Mean + 2STD and Median + 2MAD methods using for log-trans-
formed data is not able to find the Duoqueqiao Au deposit and
surrounding mineralization because they have limitations in
determining threshold values and altered-type Au deposits and
mineralization are controlled by fracture zones that sometimes have
no sampling point in the vicinity of the mineralization. The best
strategy to determine the mineralization should involve one sample
per 1 km2 for stream sediment or soil geochemical data, which is
lacking in most regional geochemical surveys.
Fig. 8. Spatial distribution raster contour maps of anomalies of (a) Au and (b) Au + As + Sb. Also shown are faults and location of Au deposits and
showings.
Fig. 7. Ln–ln plots showing the
relationship between area and (a) Au and
(b) Au + As + Sb generated by the C–A
fractal model.
Low threshold anomalies from the C–A fractal model compare
favourably with fractured areas of the Longwuhe and Gulangdi
formations that host the deposits. Background anomalies cor-
respond to Quaternary loose sediments and Triassic strata
where faults and magmatic rocks are poorly developed.
Consequently, Au + As + Sb anomalies obtained by C-A are
suitable for targeting Au–As deposits in the study area (Tables 4
and 5). The high potential areas in Figure 9 from the C-A model
contain four known deposits, the moderate potential areas contain
all the known deposits and most ore occurrences, and the low
potential areas (background) contain two known ore occurrences.
However, some mineralization in the Xinghai-Zeku area was not
identified due to the low sampling density (about one sample per
4.56 km2). The resultant Au-As-Sb anomaly map generated by the
 Delineate Au geochemical anomalies 261

Table 5. Anomalous areas determined by different methods and their spatial associations with known deposits and ore occurrences from Xinghai-Zeku

Methods Au Au + As + Sb
Mean + 2STD Raw data Ratio 11% 13.70%
Deposits Au (5) Au (5) AuAs (1)
Occurrences Au (6) Au (7)
Log-transformed data Ratio 4.57% 6.87%
Deposits Au (4) Au (4)
Occurrences Au (3) Au (4)
Median + 2MAD Raw data Ratio 19.05% 18.23%
Deposits Au (5) AuAs (1) Au (5) AuAs (1)
Occurrences Au (8) Au (8)
Log-transformed data Ratio 11.49% 13.34%
Deposits Au (4) Au (5) AuAs (1)
Occurrences Au (6) Au (6)
C-A fractal model Low anomaly Ratio 43.31% 38.04%
Deposits Au (5) AuAs (1) Au (5) AuAs (1)
Occurrences Au (15) Au (14)
High anomaly Ratio 1.35% 0.96%
Deposits Au (3) Au (4)
Occurrences Au (1) Au (2)

Ratio denoting the percentage of the total area delineated as anomalies.

Deposits and occurrences indicating the number of known deposits and occurrences present within the anomalous area.

C-A model not only highlights many of the known areas of Au-As-
Sb mineralization, but also identifies highly potential areas in areas
with small anomalies.
Decomposing the mixed pattern of Au+As+Sb
Although anomalies of Au + As + Sb determined by the C-A model
used in this study show spatial associations with most Au-As ores,
these are single anomalies in a large area and many anomalies may
have been missed. The spectrum–area (S-A) method is highly
effective for decomposing complex geochemical patterns and
determining weak anomalies (Cheng 2008; Cheng & Agterberg
2009; Zuo et al 2013a, b, 2015; Zuo 2014). To generate an Au + As
+ Sb element raster contour map using the S–A method, the data are
first converted into a frequency domain using the fast Fourier
transformation. A pair of data points consisting of the power
spectrum energy and phase can be obtained. The spectral energy (S)
and area with values greater than or equal to S are plotted on a log–
log graph (Zuo 2014). Two straight lines with cutoff values obtained
from the LS method (Fig. 10a) can be fitted using these pairs of data
components. The left-hand line gives y = −1.39x + 19.17, 0 ≤
LnS<8.38 and represents the anomaly. The right-hand line is for the
background and gives y = −2.07x + 24.87, 8.38 ≤ LnS<10.5. The
position of LogS = 8.38 is the dividing point, and the corresponding
background map (Fig. 10c) and the abnormal map (Fig. 10d) are
obtained by inverse Fourier transformation. The background map
(Fig. 10c) shows that the Au-As mineralization is associated with
the Longwuhe and Gulangdi formations and the primary faults,
where the majority of known Au deposits and occurrences are
located and are mainly distributed in the middle (e.g. Jiawu,
Muyanggou, and Shizang) and western areas (e.g. Walegen and
Duolao). However, it does not rule out the possibility that some
deposits are located in the low background area like Duoqueqiao.
Every cell of the raster map for the anomaly is counted by classical
statistical methods and the resulting histogram (Fig. 10b) indicate a
normal distribution. The C-A model cannot determine the threshold
values because there are many negative numbers. As a result, using
the anomaly threshold (1.06) determined by the Mean + 2STD, the

Fig. 9. Au-As-Sb anomaly map generated by the C-A model showing areas of high, medium and low (background) potential. Also shown are locations of
magmatic units, faults and Au deposits and showings.
262 X. Chen et al.

Fig. 10. (a) Ln–ln plot of spectrum energy (S) v. the number of cells greater than or equal to S. (b) Histogram obtained from the statistics of every cell of
the anomaly map not including extreme values. (c) The decomposed map background component. (d) The decomposed map anomaly component.

final anomaly map is obtained. Six Au-As deposits and six Au are enriched should be prospective, provided geological features are
mineral occurrences are distributed in the anomalous areas, which considered when checking anomalies.
are much smaller compared with the former anomaly map.
Anomalies are linked to altered-type Au-As deposits in the fracture
Conclusions
belts, such as Walegen, Muyanggou, and Shizang, located in the
vicinity of intrusions and nearby secondary faults. Hidden (1) PCA of log and ilr-transformed stream sediment
anomalies in the low background areas like Duoqueqiao and the geochemical data reduces the effect of data closure
central part of the study area without intrusions and faults are also problems. PCA for the ilr-transformed data can
highlighted. Altered-rock type Au mineralization in the neighbor- accurately determine geochemical assemblages
hood of faults and magmatites where the Au + As + Sb anomalies associated with mineralization when combined with
 Delineate Au geochemical anomalies
geological data and deposit characteristics in the study
area. The assemblage Au-As-Sb is mainly related to the
altered-type Au mineralization in the fracture belts.
(2) Anomalies of Au + As + Sb are more suitable for targeting
Au mineralization than anomalies of just Au in the Xinghai-
Zeku area. Results from the C–A fractal model correlates
well with geological characteristics and delineates better Au
+ As + Sb anomalies.
(3) The Au-As-Sb anomaly map generated by the C-A model
highlights known areas of Au-As-Sb mineralization and also
identifies new target areas.
(4) The S-A model provides a powerful tool for decomposing
mixed geochemical data and delineating geochemical
anomalies. Background maps highlight the mineralization
associated with the Longwuhe and Gulangdi formations and
primary faults. Though it has some disadvantages like
boundary effects, the final anomaly map (Fig. 10d) restricts
the anomalous areas and highlights weak anomalies. The S–
A model with Mean + 2STD should be used in conjunction
with geological data to identify the most prospective
geochemical anomalies.
Acknowledgements and Funding
We are deeply grateful to Prof. Renguang Zuo and three anonymous reviewers for
the constructive comments and suggestions. Research for this study was
supported by the Commonwealth Project from the Ministry of Land and
Resources (201511015), Changjiang Scholars and Innovative Research Team in
University (IRT14R56, IRT1083), and China Geological Survey
(1212011121204, 12120113032800). Lastly, we thank Geochemistry:
Exploration, Environment, Analysis Chief Editor, Kurt Kyser, for valuable
comments that assisted us in improving this paper.
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