Mineral potential mapping in frontier regions: A Mongolian case study

The quality of a mineral potential map is dependent on the quality of the input data used in the analysis. In frontier regions or those with limited or no exploration history, datasets are often of questionable quality, and are generally incomplete with data missing either due to incomplete mapping or data not being made available to the public. This study introduces a method for addressing these challenges in mineral potential mapping to derive exploration targets. Utilizing four established statistical measures, an iterative weights of evidence method is employed to assess the strength of the relationship between known deposits and a set of geological feature layers. This method acts as an indirect validation tool for assessing the quality of the data by allowing an expert user to determine whether the statistics conform to expected relationships. Taking data from Mongolia, this iterative weights of evidence method is used to produce a mineral potential map and to evaluate potential targets for orogenic gold mineralization. The success of the method is determined by the ability of the mineral potential map to predict the location of the known mineralization. © 2012 Elsevier B.V.