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Regional to Prospect Scale Exploration for Porphyry-Skarn-Epithermal

mineralisation at Yerington, Nevada, using ASTER and Airborne Hyperspectral
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 Exploration and Mining Report No 1122

Regional to Prospect Scale Exploration for

Porphyry-Skarn-Epithermal mineralisation at
Yerington, Nevada, using ASTER and
Airborne Hyperspectral data

Thomas Cudahy1, Kazuya Okada2,

Amanda Cornelius1 and Rob Hewson1

1 CSIRO Exploration and Mining, ARRC, 26 Dick Perry Avenue, Kensington, WA, 6151, Australia
2 Sumitomo Metal Mining Company Limited, 5-11-3 Shimbashi Minato-ku, Tokyo, 105, Japan

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CSIRO Exploration and Mining Report 1122
 CONTENTS
Summary ..............................................................................................................................3

1.0 Introduction .................................................................................................................4

2.0 Objectives ...................................................................................................................4

3.0 ASTER ........................................................................................................................5

4.0 Library Mineralogical/Geological Signatures...............................................................6

5.0 ASTER SWIR Crosstalk Effect ...................................................................................9

6.0 Processing ................................................................................................................14

7.0 RESULTS .................................................................................................................15

7.1 Spectral Dimensionality .........................................................................................15

7.2 Spectral Signatures ...............................................................................................16

7.3 Geological Mapping ...............................................................................................18

8.0 Conclusions ..............................................................................................................24

9.0 Acknowledgements...................................................................................................25

10.0 References ............................................................................................................25

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CSIRO Exploration and Mining Report 1122
 Summary
The porphyry-skarn-epithermal alteration system exposed in the Yerington region, Nevada, was
used to compare and contrast the mineralogical information content available from satellite
multispectral ASTER data and airborne hyperspectral HyMap and SEBASS data for the visible,
near infrared (VNIR), shortwave infrared (SWIR) and thermal infrared (TIR) wavelength regions.
The objective being to assess the roles of these data types for regional to prospect scale mineral
exploration. The 14 VNIR-SWIR-TIR ASTER bands undersamples the full spectral-mineralogical
diversity of the test area, and can at best provide identification and mapping of mineral groups,
some important for defining alteration zonation, like advanced argillic, phyllic and exoskarn. In
contrast, the ~250 channels available from the combined HyMap and SEBASS systems identifies
and maps not only 20-30 different minerals, but also the chemistries of key alteration related
minerals like garnets (Fe-Al chemistry), plagioclase feldspar (Na-Ca chemistry) and white micas (Al
Tschermak substitution). This fact, combined with the contrast in spatial resolutions between the
satellite-borne verus the airborne systems means that ASTER is a cost effective, useful tool for
regional exploration and targeting of possible alteration systems whereas the airborne systems are
better suited to prospect-scale full characterisation of the alteration system, including the definition
of fluid pathways and vectors to mineralisation leading to drilling targets.

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CSIRO Exploration and Mining Report 1122
1.0 Introduction
The global availability of inexpensive, satellite-borne, multispectral ASTER (Advanced Spaceborne
Thermal Emission Reflectance Radiometer) data (Yamaguchi and others, 2001) has created new
opportunities for the mapping of geology, alteration and regolith around the world, which has been
taken up enthusiastically by the minerals industry. The types and accuracy of geological
information that can be extracted from ASTER and how this information compares/complements
higher spectral/spatial resolution data is important to appreciate in the planning of regional to
prospect scale exploration programs.

The ASTER sensor was developed by Japan and launched onboard the US TERRA satellite
platform (www.ersdac.or.jp, www.asterweb.jpl.nasa.gov). This system represents the next
generation beyond the capabilities of Landsat Thematic Mapper, especially for geological
applications, because it provides multispectral coverage at relatively high spatial resolution in the
geologically significant shortwave infrared (SWIR) and thermal infrared (TIR) wavelength regions. It
also provides NADIR and backward panchromatic bands for digital elevation generation at 15 m
resolution. This level of spectral and spatial resolution enables the mapping of broad mineral
groups (Hewson et al., 2001, 2002) and workers in the field are now finding that alteration zonation,
like advanced argillic versus argillic versus phyllic versus propylitic alteration in porphyry systems,
can be mapped effectively. However, the measurement and mapping of specific minerals species
and their mineral chemistries generally requires high spectral resolution systems like AVIRIS
(Green and others, 1992), HyMap (www.intspec.com), SEBASS (Hackwell and others, 1996) and
Hyperion (Cudahy and others 2001).

This study of ASTER and airborne hyperspectral VNIR-SWIR-TIR data focuses on the Yerington
region, where there exists detailed geological information from previous studies (Proffett and Dilles,
1984; Dilles and Einaudi, 1992; Dilles and others, 2000, Cudahy and others, 2000, 2001b). These
data are used to compare and contrast the information available from ASTER data, albeit from a
larger 60 by 60 km area, and to determine how well ASTER data can be used for defining areas of
porphyry-skarn-epithermal alteration at regional and prosect scales.

This study also examines instrument and processing issues, which can restrict the accuracy of the
derived geological products. In particular, the ASTER data is assessed for the impacts of SWIR
crosstalk (Iwasaki and others, 2001). A range of information extraction methods is also assessed
for accuracy.

2.0 Objectives
The main objective of this study is to evaluate the role of ASTER multispectral versus airborne
hyperspectral data for mapping porphyry-skarn-epithermal alteration and defining exploration
targets from regional to prospect scales. Specific objectives include:

1. Showing the types of VNIR-SWIR-TIR spectral signatures (including convolved to ASTER

bandpasses) typical for skarn-porphyry-epithermal alteration;

2. Covering the pre-processing steps required to accurately extract this information, including
the effects of ASTER SWIR crosstalk;

3. Determining the types of band combinations that could be used to extract the
mineralogical/geological information from ASTER data;

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CSIRO Exploration and Mining Report 1122
 4. Comparing the results of simple band combinations versus unmixing-type information
extraction procedures; and

5. Comparing the ASTER geological products versus the airborne hyperspectral HyMap and
SEBASS mineralogical products for mapping the skarn-porphyry-epithermal alteration.

3.0 ASTER
The satellite-borne ASTER multispectral VNIR-SWIR-TIR sensor on board the TERRA satellite was
successfully launched into a sun-synchronous orbit in December 1999 with a 10.30 AM equatorial
crossing time. ASTER acquires imagery within a 60 x 60 kilometre scene area from three 15 m
pixel resolution VNIR channels (bands 1-3), six 30 m pixel resolution SWIR channels (bands 4-9)
and five 90 metre pixel resolution TIR channels (bands 10-14) (Yamaguchi and others, 2000). The
VNIR and SWIR modules consist of pushbroom detectors arranged as a 5000-element linear array
and 2048-element staggered array, respectively, while the TIR uses a whiskbroom detector with a
scan mirror for across track sampling. The VNIR and SWIR are available in 8 bit dynamic range
and the TIR in 12 bit quantisation. There is also a backward looking VNIR telescope that provides
stereo coverage and enables the generation of digital elevation models (DEM) with a base-to-height
ratio of 0.6.
The bandpass coverage of the ASTER sensor, as well as HyMap, SEBASS and Landsat TM, is
provided in Figure 1, together with a selection of mineral and vegetation spectra.

Figure 1: The bandpasses of SEBASS, HyMap, ASTER and Landsat TM together with selected
mineral and vegetation library spectra (from Hausknecht, pers. comm. 2003).

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CSIRO Exploration and Mining Report 1122
The ASTER scene selected for the Yerington study was collected on the 15th August 2001. The
scene was supplied as Level 1B radiance at senor with no correction for SWIR crosstalk.

4.0 Library Mineralogical/Geological Signatures

The full-spectral-resolution library mineral signatures and their ASTER bandpass-convolved
equivalents expected for the Yerington area are presented in Figures 2, 3 and 4. The spectrally
active minerals in VNIR (Figure 2a), which extends from the 400 to 1000 nm (0.4 to 1.0 µm)
wavelength region, includes: iron oxides, such as hematite and goethite, which show changes in the
relative depth and wavelength position of broad electronic absorptions centred at 450, 660 and
9000 nm, as well as related physicochemical states like the degree of hydration, sometimes called
limonite and characterised by water bands at 1400 and 1900 nm and a general decrease in
reflectance towards 2500 nm; ferric sulphates like jarosite, which has broadly similar electronic
absorptions as the ferric oxides; and green plants, which show the characteristic near infrared
plateau and chlorophyll absorption near 600 nm. The convolved ASTER signatures (Figure 2b)
only broadly capture these spectral signatures. The ratio of ASTER bands 2 over 1 (B2/B1) is partly
sensitive to the ferric minerals, the band ratio B3/B2 is sensitive to green vegetation and the
opposing band ratio B2/B3 is possibly sensitive to jarosite. Extracting the hematite-goethite ratio is
difficult.

(a) (b)

2 4
3

Figure 2: USGS library spectra of VNIR active minerals at (a) full spectral resolution; and
(b) convolved to ASTER bandpass signatures. 1,2,3,4 relate to ASTER bands B1,B2,B3,B4.
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CSIRO Exploration and Mining Report 1122
The spectrally active minerals in SWIR (Figure 3a), which extends from the 1000 to 2500 nm (1.0 to
2.5 µm) wavelength region, includes: the Al-OH minerals with narrow absorption bands in the 2200
nm region like pyrophyllite, muscovite and kaolin; the Mg-OH and Fe-OH minerals with narrow
features in the 2300 nm region, like biotite, epidote, chlorite and tremolite; the carbonates with
features also in the 2300 nm region, like calcite and dolomite; and sulphates like alunite. Minerals
without OH, CO3 or SO4 groups, like feldspars, silica, pyroxenes and garnets, do not possess
narrow, diagnostic absorption bands at these wavelengths. The convolved ASTER signatures
(Figure 3b) only broadly capture these spectral signatures with specific minerals very difficult to
confidently determine uniquely.

4
7
6 8 9
5

Figure 3: USGS library spectra of SWIR active minerals at (a) full spectral resolution; and
(b) convolved to ASTER bandpass signatures. 4,5,6,7,8,9 relate to ASTER bands
B4,B5,B6,B7,B8,B9.

The spectrally active minerals in TIR (Figure 4a), which extends from the 7500 to >12000 nm (7.5 to
12.0 µm) wavelength region, includes: the non-OH silicate minerals like the feldspars, albite
anorthite and microcline, which have multiple reststrahlen bands (reflectance peaks) in the 8-11 µm
region; quartz with strong peaks in the 7.5 to 9 µm region; pyroxenes like diopside with features in
the 8-12 µm region; and garnets like andradite and grossular with features in the 10-13 µm region.
The other OH-bearing and carbonate minerals also have features at these wavelengths. The
convolved ASTER signatures (Figure 4b) only broadly capture these spectral signatures with
specific minerals very difficult to confidently determine uniquely.

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CSIRO Exploration and Mining Report 1122
 11 12
10
13 14

Figure 4: Johns Hopkins library spectra of TIR active minerals at (a) full spectral resolution; and (b)
convolved to ASTER bandpass signatures. 10,11,12,13,14 relate to ASTER bands
B10,B11,B12,B13,B14.

Table 1 presents a summary of spectrally active minerals associated with different styles of
alteration at Yerington along with suggestions for possible ASTER band combinations that could be
used to map these minerals and/or mineral groups. All available ASTER wavelengths in theory are
required to map this suite of alteration minerals.

Table 1: Yerington alteration mineralogy and ASTER band combinations for their mapping.
Alteration Zonation Alteration Mineralogy ASTER Band Combinations
Exoskarn garnet/pyroxene B12/B13
calcite/dolomite B13/B14
Endoskarn - Porphyry epidote/chlorite/amphibole (B6+B9)/(B7+B8)
white mica (B5+B7)/B6
ferrous silicate (biotite/chlorite/amphibole) B5/B4
Epithermal silica B11/B10, B11/B12, B13/B10
alunite/pyrophyllite/kaolinite/dickite/mica B5/B6, B7/B5, B7/B6
ferric oxides B2/B1, B4/B3

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CSIRO Exploration and Mining Report 1122
5.0 ASTER SWIR Crosstalk Effect
The SWIR crosstalk effect represents a leakage of photons from one band detector element to
other detector elements producing an additive increase in photons for these other detector
elements (Figure 5) (Iwasaki, 2000). This cross-detector leakage is most pronounced in bands 5
and 9, mainly because these detectors receive relatively few photons and their neighbour, band 4,
generally receives the most photons. However, this leakage affects all SWIR bands and similar but
significantly smaller affects have also been detected in the VNIR bands (Hugh Keifer, USGS, pers.
comm. 2003). Crosstalk was first observed as ghost images in scenes showing sharp boundaries
that separate bright from dark surfaces, like the sand covered Habomai Islands off Hokkaido, Japan
(Figure 6). Note that the ghosting effect is most apparent over “dark” surfaces and that there is an
offset, with apparent “ringing”, representing multiple reflections, with a spatial affect of up to 165
pixels before or after the “responsible” bright pixels. This offset is caused by the foreoptics of the
SWIR area array which collects each band from a given pixel element at different times of the
overpass.

2048 pixels (by 6) array

B7

Forward movement
B8

B9

B4

B5

B6

Figure 5: Leakage of photons from SWIR one band detector to another SWIR band
detector.

Band 5 Band 9

Figure 6: Crosstalk ghosting of the Habomai Islands, Hokkaido. The positioning and
number of multiple reflections of this ghosting is different for each band. (Images courtesy
of H. Tonooka, University of Ibaraki, 2002).
In summary, crosstalk is a SWIR-dependent, spatially-dependent and band-dependent, additive
effect, with greatest effect on dark pixels near bright pixels. Iwasaki and others (2001) estimate that

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CSIRO Exploration and Mining Report 1122
crosstalk adds on average 10% to the signal of a given pixel. Of course, in situations with very dark
pixels next to bright pixels like that shown in Figure 6, the crosstalk effect will approach 100% of the
measured signal. This is a significant problem for affected pixels, such that the spectral integrity
and interpretability of the ASTER SWIR data could be severely compromised if left uncorrected.
The effect of SWIR crosstalk on the accuracy of the geological information content of the Yerington
ASTER data is demonstrated in Figure 7. This figure presents a subarea that includes the
Yerington open pit mine which is filled with water at the base (A) and thus appears as black in the
SWIR albedo image (Figure 7a). The other two colour images are of the same area but comprise
SWIR data processed using log residuals (Green and Craig, 1985), without (Figure 7b) and with
(Figure 7c) a SWIR crosstalk correction. Only bands 4, 5 and 9 are presented here as an RGB.
With this band combination, it would be possible to interpret the cyan colours as high in bands 5
and 9 but relatively low in band 4, which is indicative of absorption by ferrous silicates/carbonates.
However, the two log residual images in Figure 7 show very different distributions of cyan. The
image without crosstalk correction (Figure 7b) shows all areas with low SWIR albedo (as illustrated
in Figure 7a), including shaded sides of hills and water, as cyan. In contrast, the cross talk
corrected product (Figure 7c) does not highlight these dark surfaces as cyan. Furthermore, one
small area of cyan labelled “B” in Figure 7c is associated with a bright area in Figure 7a, but does
not yield a similar colour in Figure 7b. Which image is spectrally correct?

(a) (b) (c)

B B

Figure 7: ASTER colour composite images of bands R:4, G:5 and B:9, (a) radiance at sensor data;
(b) KWIK residuals but with no crosstalk offset; and (c) KWIK residuals with a crosstalk offset.
Confirming the effectiveness of the SWIR crosstalk correction can be assessed by checking
whether topographic illumination variations have been removed through a normalisation procedure
like band ratios or log residuals, which theoretically cancels any wavelength-independent,
multiplicative effects like topographic shading. That is, the cosΘ term is cancelled. In Figures 7 and
8, the log residual images without the crosstalk correction clearly show residual topographic effects,
in contrast with the crosstalk corrected data. This indicates that the crosstalk correction data is
accurate.
The deleterious effect that crosstalk has on pixel spectral signatures is demonstrated in Figure 8.
Here the mean spectral responses, without crosstalk correction from ROIs taken from both the
brightly lit and shaded sides of hills as well as dark versus light albedo surfaces, show poor
correlation in spectral shape (Figures 8e and 8g). This contrasts with the corresponding crosstalk
corrected data, which show very similar spectral responses (Figures 8f and 8h). This confirms that
SWIR crosstalk correction is a necessary preprocessing step if the spectral integrity of the ASTER
data is to be preserved for accurate geological mapping. Thus, all the cyan colours in Figure 7b
are not caused by absorption by ferrous silicates/carbonates.

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CSIRO Exploration and Mining Report 1122
 Figure 8: The effect of crosstalk on pixel SWIR spectra. Pixel spectra taken from shadowed versus
brightly lit topographic surfaces for the same geological surface types (blue versus yellow and green
versus red respectively) in (a), show very different shapes if no crosstalk correction is made (e) and
(f) but show similar shapes if the crosstalk correction is made (g) and (h).
A spatially-dependent correction for crosstalk has been developed by Iwasaki and others (2001)
and has since been incorporated by the Japanese ASTER Ground Data System (GDS) as part of its

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CSIRO Exploration and Mining Report 1122
L1A to L1B pre-processing. This method involves using a defocused band 4 to provide the
spatially-dependent estimate of crosstalk. There are plans by GDS to make publicly available this
software for users to correct their existing ASTER data for SWIR crosstalk, however until then,
another solution is required.
One possible solution is to assume that the spatial dependency of SWIR crosstalk is not significant
and such that only one estimate of this additive effect is required for each band for each scene.
This assumption may only be applicable for areas dominated by geology that does not have strong
contrasts in pixel brightness, as is the case for scenes comprising varying amounts of land, water
and cloud. The crosstalk effect can then simply be determined by searching each scene for its
topographic shading dark-point or bodies of water, which also should approximate the dark-point in
the SWIR. This is shown in Figure 9 where the pixels located over the Yerington open pit mine
filled with water, occupy the dark point for the data cloud of the scattergram between ASTER bands
4 and 9, with the convergence to this point related to the variation in topographic shading for
different surface types.

(a) (b)

Figure 9: ASTER scene dark point determination. (a) ASTER image of SWIR bands R: 4; G: 6; B:
8, from the Yerington area, Nevada. This scene contains variable topographic relief as well as the
water-filled abandoned open pit Yerington Cu mine. (b) scattergram of ASTER L1B bands 4 versus
9 (non cross talk corrected). The yellow ROI defined by those pixels approaching the dark point are
from the standing water base of the Yerington open pit.
The temporal nature/stability of the ASTER instrument crosstalk effect was assessed using a series
of six ASTER scenes collected over a 12 month period under variable solar illumination conditions
from an area of moderate topographic relief at the Mount Fitton area, Flinders Ranges, SA. The
Mount Fitton area was used because the Yerington area did not have an adequate series of ASTER
data. The mean response of band 4 for each common scene area (approximately 500 by 500
pixels) was compared with the estimated dark point for each scene area, estimated by extrapolation
to the dark point. The results (Figure 10) show significant linear correlation between these data for
all bands, which indicates that a scene’s albedo, in this case approximated by the average band 4
response is linearly correlated with the extrapolated image dark point for that scene. This shows
that the ASTER sensor and the crosstalk effect have been stable over time and that a given ASTER
scene’s overall brightness can in theory be used to provide an estimate of the SWIR crosstalk
effect.

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CSIRO Exploration and Mining Report 1122
 band 4 vs SWIR dark point values
10

9 2
band 4 R = 0.8459
SWIR band dark point radiance

8 2
band 5 R = 0.9611
7 2
band 6 R = 0.9776
6 2
band 7 R = 0.9296
5 2
band 8 R = 0.9598
4
2
band 9 R = 0.8722
3

0
15 17 19 21 23 25 27 29 31 33 35
Band 4 maximum radiance

Figure 10. Scattergram of scene band 5 mean response versus the estimated dark point spectral
response for six dates of ASTER imagery collected from the same test site over different times of
the year (variable solar illumination conditions).

The efficacy of this method of using just a scene derived, rather than a spatially-dependent pixel
estimate of SWIR crosstalk, is demonstrated in Figure 11. Three ROIs of different geology types
(coloured red, blue and green), surface albedos (red is bright and blue is dark) and variable
topographic shading, were selected and the means calculated for the crosstalk corrected L1B data
(Figure 11a). The major component of variation in the 18 means taken from the three ROIs is
caused by variations in solar illumination for the different times of the year (summer versus winter
sun angles). To remove this affect, as well as any topographic illumination variations, these 18
mean spectra were normalised with respect to the each spectrum’s own mean. The results (Figure
11b) show all the spectra to essentially overlay one another, though this high correlation is largely a
function of the dominance that the solar irradiance spectral shape has on these L1B radiance at
sensor signatures. To remove this dominance, each spectral band for each scene was normalised
with respect to the mean of that band for all scenes. The resultant spectra (Figure 11d) represent
the surface reflectance and atmospheric transmission components of the original L1B signal. The
residual spectra clearly group into the three colours related to their ROIs. The scene-dependent
crosstalk correction has effectively removed this additive error for a wide range of solar illumination
conditions and surface albedos, indicating that the spatial dependency of crosstalk is minor at least
for geological terrains.

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 (a)40 Site 1 - 4/11/01 (b)3.5
Site 1 - 4/11/01
Level 1B radiance Site 2 - 4/11/01

pixel-mean normalised L1B radiance

35 Site 1 - 4/24/00
3
radiance@sensor (W.SR.um.m2)

Site 3 - 4/11/01
Site 1 - 4/24/00
L1B pixel-mean Site 1 - 5/29/01
Site 1 - 12/04/00
30
Site 2 -4/24/00
Site 3 - 4/24/00
2.5
normalised Site 1 - 10/01/00
Site 1- 1/12/01
25
Site 1 - 5/29/01 2 Site 2 - 4/11/01
Site 2 -5/29/01 Site 2 -4/24/00
20
Site 3 -5/20/01 Site 2 -5/29/01
1.5
Site 1 - 12/04/00 Site 2 - 12/04/00
15
Site 2 - 12/04/00 Site 2 - 10/01/00

Site 3 - 12/04/00
1 Site 2 - 1/12/01
10
Site 3 - 4/11/01
Site 1 - 10/01/00
0.5 Site 3 - 4/24/00
5 Site 2 - 10/01/00
Site 3 -5/20/01
Site 3 - 10/01/00
Site 3 - 12/04/00
0 Site 1- 1/12/01 0 Site 3 - 10/01/00
1.6 1.8 2 2.2 2.4 Site 2 - 1/12/01 1.6 1.8 2 2.2 2.4 Site 3 - 1/12/01
Site 3 - 1/12/01 w avelength (microns)
wavelength (microns)

(d)
(c) 1.1 8 9 Site 1 - 4/11/01
Site 1 - 4/24/00
7 Site 1 - 5/29/01
psuedo log residuals

6 Site 1 - 12/04/00
1.05 4 5 Site 1 - 10/01/00
Site 1- 1/12/01
Site 2 - 4/11/01
1
Site 2 -4/24/00
Site 2 -5/29/01
Site 2 - 12/04/00
0.95
Site 2 - 10/01/00
L1B channel-mean Site 2 - 1/12/01

0.9 and pixel-mean Site 3 - 4/11/01

Site 3 - 4/24/00
normalised Site 3 -5/20/01
0.85 Site 3 - 12/04/00
Site 3 - 10/01/00
1.6 1.8 2 2.2 2.4 Site 3 - 1/12/01
wavelength (microns)

Figure 11: The temporal stability and effectiveness of scene-dependent crosstalk correction
examined for 3 ROIS collected from six dates of ASTER imagery from the Mount Fitton area of SA.
(a) ROI means; (b) ROI mean spectra normalised by each spectrum/s own mean of all bands; (c)
location of the ROIs; (d) ROI means from (b) but further normalised where each spectral band for
each scene is normalised with respect to the mean of that band for all scenes.

6.0 Processing
Although atmospherically corrected ASTER data (Thome and others, 1998) is available, this study
used ASTER Level 1B radiance at sensor data only, mainly because this is a data set is most
readily available and often in the archives of many users, besides which the additive SWIR
crosstalk must be corrected prior to atmospheric correction and was not available until recently and
still not offered by the US ASTER archive and distribution centre run by the USGS
(h
http://asterweb.jpl.nasa.gov/gettingdata/). The Yerington ASTER Level 1B radiance at sensor data
was first processed to remove the additive effects of SWIR crosstalk and aerosols in the VNIR. No
other atmospheric correction was applied to these data, and as a consequence no temperature-
emissivity separation was applied to the TIR data (Gillespie and others, 1998). To minimise the
effect of temperature effects on the desired TIR geological products that targeted the types of
emissivity signatures (Kirchoffs Law: emissivity = 1 – integrated reflectance) observed in Figure 4,
selected bands for ratios were ensured to be closely spaced in wavelength. That is, the Planck
temperature curve changes slowly relative to the diagnostic mineralogical emissivity variations.
The information extraction was performed using either simple band combinations or partial
unmixing, with both performed using RSI’s ENVI.

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CSIRO Exploration and Mining Report 1122
7.0 RESULTS
7.1 Spectral Dimensionality
The 14 ASTER VNIR-SWIR-TIR bands from the Yerington scene were tested for their spectral
dimensionality using the MNF transformation (Green and others, 1988), which was developed for
ordering image data into the signal versus noise components. This MNF transformation was
applied to each module separately with the results presented in Figures 12, 13 and 14. All three
modules show surface compositional information in every MNF band, with some oblique striping
apparent in VNIR MNF band 3 (Figure 12) and various degrees of discontinuous line striping in the
TIR MNF bands 2, 3 and 4. No channels show only random noise indicating that the full spectral
dimensionality of this scene is at least equal to or more likely greater than the number of spectral
channels available from ASTER. That is, ASTER does not capture the full spectral variability of this
area, which is not surprising given that the previous studies with hyperspectral HyMap VNIR-SWIR
and SEBASS TIR data yielded 20-30 spectral dimensions each.

MNF 1 MNF2 MNF3

Figure 12: ASTER VNIR MNF bands for the Yerington subscene.

MNF 1 MNF2 MNF3

MNF 4 MNF5 MNF6

Figure 13: ASTER SWIR MNF bands for the Yerington subscene.

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CSIRO Exploration and Mining Report 1122
 MNF 1 MNF2 MNF3

MNF 4 MNF5
Figure 14: ASTER SWIR MNF bands for the Yerington subscene.

7.2 Spectral Signatures

The SWIR and TIR ASTER scene endmembers for the Yerington area are presented in Figures 15
and 16 alongside the airborne hyperspectral HyMap VNIR-SWIR and SEBASS TIR endmembers
for effectively the same area. Seven SWIR and six TIR ASTER endmembers were identified using
ENVI’s n-dimensional visualiser approach, showing geological/mineralogical significance. The six
SWIR ASTER endmembers relate to the 14 HyMap endmembers and the 5 TIR ASTER
endmembers relate to the 16 SEBASS endmembers in mineralogical information. In contrast with
the hyperspectral spectra, which enable precise mineralogical identification and even mineral
chemical measurement, the ASTER signatures only enable mineralogical groups to be identified
and mapped. For example, the HyMap data allows the identification and mapping of chlorite,
epidote, actinolite, calcite and dolomite, which all have features in the 2300 nm region (Figure 15b).
In contrast, ASTER has only one band in this region and so all of these minerals are lumped
together (Figure 15a). Only, when other parts of the spectrum are used, can some of these
minerals be partly teased out, like the carbonates from the TIR, though even this does not allow
separation of calcite from dolomite.
Similarly, the SEBASS TIR data allows the identification and mapping of diopside, epidote, calcite
and dolomite and the complete solid solution chemical variation between andradite and grossular
garnet (Fe to Al garnet) which all have diagnostic features in the 10-12 µm region (Figure 16b). In
contrast, ASTER has only 2 channels in this part of the spectrum and so lumps all of these into
essentially 2 groups, carbonates versus garnet-diopside-epidote (Figure 16a).

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 (a) (b)

Figure 15: (a) ASTER log residual SWIR image endmembers (b) HyMap reflectance image
endmembers.
A mineralogical interpretation of the ASTER endmember signatures is given in Figures 15 and 16.
The SWIR appears to be mapping:
(1) two types of white mica, namely an Al-rich mica labelled muscovite and an Al-poor mica
labelled phengite;
(2) chlorite/epidote, on the basis of relatively strong 2265 nm absorption;
(3) pyrophyllite;
(4) alunite; and
(5) carbonate/epidote/chlorite with relatively strong ferrous absorption in ASTER band 4.
The TIR appears to be mapping:
(1) garnet-pyroxene;
(2) garnet-carbonate;
(3) carbonate;
(4) quartz/silica; and
(5) a type of clay.

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CSIRO Exploration and Mining Report 1122
 (a) (b)

Figure 16: (a) ASTER log residual SWIR image endmembers (b) HyMap reflectance image
endmembers.

7.3 Geological Mapping

Geological maps were generated from the ASTER data using partial unmixing procedures as well
as simple band combinations described in Table 1. The results are presented in Figure 17 for the
entire 60 by 60 km ASTER scene. Both methods generally show the same spatial distribution of
mineral assemblages though in detail they differ, arguably significantly from an exploration
perspective. First, the search for epithermal style of alteration associated with advanced argillic
(alunite, pyrophyllite and silica) and phyllic (muscovite-phengite) alteration using both methods with
these ASTER data would target the Buckskin Range (A). Even the associated exoskarn
(carbonate, garnet-pyroxene) and related endoskarn (epidote, garnet) would be targeted with both
methods (B). These areas are known to contain economic mineralisation. ASTER could have been
used to explore and target these areas if the technology had been available prior to their discovery.
The porphyry related alteration is not mapped. There are other areas mapped as garnet-epidote
type associations (C), though no history of mining is recorded at this location. There are also
significant differences between mapping methods. The partial unmixing method (Figure 17a) has
defined large areas of garnet in the north. The band ratio method has mapped this only in the
northeast (D), an area associated with carbonate, making it a more credible target for skarn type
mineralisation. Again though, no history of economic mineralisation is recorded in this area. At any
rate, these processed ASTER data can quickly and efficiently map potential epithermal and skarn
alteration and discount the prospectivity of other large parts of unaltered ground.

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 D
C

A
B

Figure 17: Mineral group theme maps of the Yerington ASTER scene, pricessed using (a) Partial
unmixing mineral; and (b) simple band combinations show in Table 1.

Figure 18 presents a subarea of the ASTER scene centred over the Yerington porphyry (yellow
ellipse), skarn (green ellipse) and epithermal (blue ellipse) alteration and processed using the band
combinations provided in Table 1. The zone of exoskarn alteration is mapped using the carbonate
and garnet-diopside products (Figures 18f and 18g) while part of the neighbouring endoskarn
alteration in the porphyry rocks is mapped by using the Mg-OH/carbonate product (Figure 18e),
which is largely expressed by epidote alteration. Amphibole and carbonate are not separated from
epidote in this SWIR product, though carbonate is well separated and mapped using the TIR
product (Figure 18f). Apart from this epidote related alteration, the porphyry zone of alteration is
poorly mapped, including the lack of mapping feldspars, which was well achieved using the
hyperspectral SEBASS data (Cudahy and others, 2001). The most pronounced alteration zonation
mapped by these ASTER data is the epithermal mineralogy dominated by the Al-OH mineral group
comprising pyrophyllite, muscovite-phengite and kaolin, as well as alunite, iron oxide and
chlorite/epidote. The separation of the various minerals contributing to the 2200 nm absorption Al-
OH absorption (Figure 18c) is achieved in part by the changes in geometry of the 2200 nm
absorption using three ratios (Figure 18d). In this image, cyan relates to strong left-asymmetric
2200 nm absorption caused by alunite and/or pyrophyllite (Figure 3). Theoretically, kaolin minerals
(dickite and kaolinite) also produce slightly less left-asymmetry 2200 nm absorption yielding, in the
case of no mineral mixing, blue tones which are not evident in this zone of alteration. Al-rich white
mica (muscovite-paragonite) with low levels Tschermak substitution (Duke, 1995) generate
symmetric 2200 nm absorption yielding green-yellow tones, while high levels of Tschermak
substitution in Al-poor micas, like phengite, yield yellow-red tones

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CSIRO Exploration and Mining Report 1122
 Figure 18: ASTER geological products for the Yerington area. (a) RGB: ASTER band 3 2 1; (b) Iron
oxide B2/B1 product; (c) Al-OH abundance product (B5+B7)/B6; (d) Al-OH composition product,
RGB : B5/B6 B7/B6 B7/B5; (e) Mg-OH and carbonate product (B6+B9)/(B7+B8); (f) carbonate
product B13/B14; (g) garnet-diopside product B12/B13; and (h) silica/quartz product B13/B10.

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Figure 19 provides a composite mineral group theme map of the Yerington ASTER scene subarea
derived from SWIR (Figure 19a) and TIR (Figure 19b) bands. This shows in larger-scale the detail
ASTER offers down to 1:50,000 scale. Comparing ASTER alteration mineral group maps with
available HyMap data for the Buckskin Range area (Figure 21) west of Yerington, shows that the
same areas and some of the mineral groups associated of epithermal alteration correspond
reasonably well and thus ASTER can define areas of advanced argillic and phyllic alteration.

(a)

(b)

2 km

Figure 19: Mineral group theme maps generated using partial unmixing for the Yerington ASTER
subscene (a) SWIR products: phengite (red), muscovite (blue), alunite (orange), pyrophyllite
(magenta), chlorite/epidote (green); (b) TIR products: quartz (red), garnet-pyroxene (Green),
carbonate (blue). The white box shows the area of detailed mapping covered in Figure 20.

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CSIRO Exploration and Mining Report 1122
 Figure 20: Composite figure of the area of epithermal alteration along the Bucksin Range. (a)
Published solid geology b should be part of a; (c) HyMap alteration map; (d) HyMap reflectance
endmembers as a legend for (c); (e) Published alteration map (Lipske and Dilles, 2000) of the
subarea shown in (c); Interpreted faults (white dots).

A comparison of the SEBASS derived map of garnet Fe-Al solid solution chemistry in Figure 21f,
versus the ASTER product in Figure 19b shows that ASTER only maps the broad zone of garnet-
pyroxene-epidote alteration within carbonate rocks. In this area, Fe-garnet (andradite) is intimately
associated with the Cu mineralisation and the high spectral resolution TIR SEBASS data is able to
measure this solid solution chemistry and precisely define the areas of andradite and hence high
grade low tonnage Cu skarn mineralisation (Cudahy and others, 2001). Hence, SEBASS type TIR
spectral resolution allows the definition of drilling targets whereas ASTER shows the overall area of
skarn alteration.

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CSIRO Exploration and Mining Report 1122
 Figure 21: (a) Published 1:24,000 scale geology of the Yerington region (Proffett and Dilles, 1984)
with field sample locations shown as white circles (see text for details); (b) white mica abundance
calculated using the data Al-OH 2200 nm absorption area from the HyMap and field data; (c) white
mica Tschermak chemistry calculated using the wavelength of the Al-OH 2200 nm absorption
minimum from the HyMap and field data; (d) HyMap mineral map of epidote (abundance), Mg-
chlorite, Fe-chlorite, amphibole, dolomite and calcite calculated using SAM based on image
endmembers; (e) SEBASS plagioclase feldspar Na-Ca chemistry calculated using a ratio of bands
centred at 9.6 and 10.0 µm and masked for potential spectrally overlapping minerals (pyroxene,
garnet, epidote); and (f) SEBASS garnet Fe-Al chemistry calculated using a fitted 4th order
polynomial to the 11.1-11.7 µm wavelength interval.

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CSIRO Exploration and Mining Report 1122
Figure 21 shows examples of the HyMap and SEBASS mineral maps that help define the mineral
and mineral chemistry alteration zonation and hence the geometry and nature of the hydrothermal
fluid circulation associated with the skarn and porphyry mineralisation. These include the
plagioclase Na-Ca chemistry (Figure 21e), which maps the porphyry related albitisation which
fringes the 400 Mt Ann Mason deposit. It also maps the Ca-feldspar alteration related to the
movement of Ca-rich brines from the metasediments into the porphyry rocks (Cudahy and others,
2000b). The corridor of increased white mica abundance along the zone of major porphyry dyke
emplacement is well mapped by HyMap (Figure 21b,c) but not by ASTER (Figure 18c). This zone
of mica alteration post dates the main high tonnage, low grade porphyry Cu mineralisation at Ann
Mason and so is not critical for exploration in this setting. However, it does demonstrate how the
much higher spectral, radiometric and spatial resolutions of the HyMap and SEBASS instruments
allows much more accurate and sensitive mineral mapping beyond ASTER resolution.
While ASTER can be used to regionally map some important minerals groups associated with some
styles of alteration allowing the targeting of potentially attractive prospects, the airborne
hyperspectral systems allow much more accurate and sensitive measurement and mapping of a
much wider range of minerals allowing viable drilling targets to be generated. However, the cost is
another factor, which is a very important consideration when deciding the most effective data set/s
for a specific geological problem.

8.0 Conclusions
This study compared and contrasted the information contents available for regional to prospect
scale mineral exploration from multispectral ASTER VNIR-SWIR-TIR satellite data and
hyperspectral HyMap VNIR-SWIR and SEBASS TIR airborne data collected from the Yerington
area where there is a well exposed porphyry, skarn and epithermal alteration system. Specific
conclusions from this study include:
1. ASTER, with its 15 m VNIR bands, 30 m SWIR bands and 90 m TIR bands is well
suited for mineral exploration chasing targets like advanced argillic, phyllic and Cu-
skarn styles of alteration at scales of 1:50,000 or smaller. In contrast, the airborne
higher spatial resolution systems, with pixels sizes often down to 3 m, are better suited
for prospect and deposit scale exploration;
2. ASTER SWIR data must first be corrected for the effects of an additive instrument
effect, crosstalk, if the spectral integrity and thus interpretability of the data is to be
achieved. SWIR Crosstalk is most pronounced on lower albedo pixels and though is in
theory a spatially dependent effect, a scene based correction determined using either
dark point extrapolation or pixels from suitably illuminated water bodies, can be
implemented to good effect;
3. The spectral dimensionality of the ASTER Yerington scene matched/exceeded the 14
available bands, as assessed using MNF ordering of the signal versus noise. That is,
ASTER does not capture the full spectral variability of the Yerington region. This is also
supported by the fact that only six SWIR and five TIR mineralogically interpretable and
unique endmembers could confidently found from the ASTER data. These contrast
with 14 VNIR-SWIR HyMap and 16 TIR SEBASS endmembers from essentially the
same area;
4. The 14 VNIR-SWIR-TIR spectral bands of ASTER are well positioned for geological
mapping though essentially only allow the identification of mineral groups, like: (i)
advanced argillic (pyrophyllite, alunite); phyllic (muscovite-phengite); Cu exoskarn

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CSIRO Exploration and Mining Report 1122
 (garnet-diopside); (epidote-chlorite-amphibole), as well as silica, carbonate, ferrous iron
in silicates/carbonates and ferric oxides, can be mapped. ASTER is not well suited for
identifying and mapping neither specific minerals nor mineral chemistries, unlike
hyperspectral systems. The lower radiometric resolution of ASTER also means that it
is less sensitive to lower mineral abundances compared with the hyperspectral systems
like HyMap and SEBASS; and
5. As with all spectral imagery, the information content of any derived mineral/geology
products is dependent on the information extraction procedure employed. In this study,
partial unmixing and band combinations were compared. Both mapped the epithermal
and skarn alteration types at Yerington. Elsewhere in the scene, there exists significant
mapping differentiation which could result in either false targets or missed targets.
Arguably, the band combinations are more accurate because these target only the
diagnostic spectral signatures and are not compromised by dependency on scene
statistics to determine mixing projections.

9.0 Acknowledgements

This study was supported by ERSDAC, Sumitomo Metal Mining and CSIRO Exploration and
Mining. Mike Caccetta assisted in software engineering issues, including the dark-point
determination for ASTER SWIR Crosstalk. H. Tonooka from the University of Ibaraki provided his
results on the effects of ASTER SWIR crosstalk for the Habomai Islands, Hokkaido. Paul Linton
from Anglo American provided useful comments and materials on the roles of ASTER versus
airborne systems for geological mapping and mineral exploration. To all of these people and
organizations we give our sincere thanks.

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