A review paper synergistic approach to evaluate the mineral resources : A new perspective

Abstract

India has a variety of geological – tectonic domains on its landmass of 3.2 million km, which evolved through the entire course of geological past and developed varied mineral potential. India has an important heritage of mining dating back to prehistoric times, which continues to this day. The process of finding a concentration of minerals is called mineral exploration. Mineral exploration can be complex and has numerous stages; Mineral exploration and geological mapping through conventional geological techniques are tedious, expensive and time-consuming. Mapping and targeting an economic deposit through traditional techniques involves extensive fieldwork, structural mapping, study of landforms, petrography, mineralogy and geochemical analyses. With the advent of multispectral sensors (e.g. ASTER, Landsat) having bands in the Shortwave Infrared (SWIR) and Thermal Infra-Red (TIR) regions, lithological discrimination and mineral potential mapping were possible from space/airborne platforms. Synergistic approach is the approach in which multiple approaches’ used to detect or evaluate mineral resources.