Enhancing of iron containing minerals using satellite images and spectroscopy technique (Case study: North Saveh)

Extensive volcanic rocks with phyllic, argillic and propylitic alterations have outcrops in the north of Saveh. This area is considered as the an important region for Cu mineralization (e.g., porphyry and manto-types). Given that iron minerals could be formed during the supergene alteration in the upper parts of porphyry Cu systems, the Thematic Mapper (TM), the plus Enhanced Thematic Mapper (ETM+) and landsat8 images were utilized for the enhancement of these minerals in the study area. The TM3/TM1. TM4/TM1 band ratio (BR) on the TM image, 3/1 band ratio on the ETM+ image and 4/2 band ratio on the Landsat8 image were applied to identify iron mineral zones in the study area. The rock samples were collected in the study areas. The FieldSpec3 device and the Spectral Geologist (TSG) 7.1.0.073 techniques were used for detection of iron mineral types. Then the spectra obtained from the FieldSpec3 device were entered into the spectral analysis software (TSG). The FieldSpec3 and TSG identified hematite and goethite minerals in the rock samples. Because the sampling points are most consistent with the band ratio method in the TM image and the spectroscopy technique confirms the results of this method, in this study, enhancing of the iron containing minerals using band ratio method in the TM image was identified as a suitable method in the North Saveh.