Development of GIS technology and singularity-based nonlinear theories for prediction of mineral deposit

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Mineral resources are essential for sustainable development of most nations. The increasing demand for mineral resources is driving exploration and production into frontier regions such as areas covered by glacial sediments, colluvium and alluvium, water, desert and vegetation that conceal a resource from recognition. Prediction of mineral resources and mineral exploration in covered areas faces multiple problems imposed by the cover. To understand the primary mineralization, the secondary ore element dispersion in covers over mineral deposits and formation of anomalies in the surface media are fundamental questions for developing better and more powerful deep-penetrating methods and exploration technologies. However, there is still no coherent protocol for estimating the possibility and probability of undiscovered mineral resources beneath cover. ***The newly developed theories and methods of geocomplexity have provided powerful tools for charactering extreme geo-processes such as earthquakes, hurricanes and mineralization. Studies have demonstrated that these singular processes may result in anomalous amounts of energy release or mass accumulation that, generally, are confined to narrow intervals in time or space. High resolution maps and data created by modern geophysical, geochemical and remote sensing technologies have significantly increased the possibility for scientists to map the responses of singular events on the earth surface. The Canadian Government has invested and will continue to invest 200 million dollars to support the Geo-mapping for Energy and Minerals (GEM from 2008-2020) project to produce vast amount of data to support increased exploration of natural resources in the North. Recent development and applications of new scale-invariant filtering methods developed by the applicant based on nonlinear theory have shown good potential for processing big data for prediction of mineral deposits. ***The main objective of this proposal is to develop new nonlinear theory and GIS techniques for predicting location of undiscovered mineral deposits in regions covered by transported glacial sediments and regolith. The main task is to develop and apply: (1) New mathematical models for modelling formation of anomalies of element concentration in media over mineral deposits due to upward migration of multiplicative cascade mechanisms; (2) Novel information technologies based on self-similarity theory for mineralization-associated weak and complex anomalies extraction from geochemical, geophysical and remotely sensed data; and (3) New technologies based on multiplicative cascade processes and spatial decision modelling processes for integrating diverse geoinformation in support of predicting undiscovered mineral deposits in covered areas. The case studies will focus on copper-gold-silver deposits in the Abitibi district of northern Ontario, Canada.