Spectral characteristics of minerals associated with skarn deposits: a case study of Weondong skarn deposit, South Korea

This study examined the spectral characteristics of minerals occurring at Weondong skarn deposit located in South Korea and assessed the effectiveness of VNIR-SWIR spectroscopic approaches in zone definition characterizing skarn deposits based on XRD, XRF, and petrographic studies. The spectroscopic analyses identified intrusive rock, garnet-clinopyroxene skarn, clinopyroxene-garnet skarn, W-ore, and host rock zones. The assessment results for VNIR-SWIR spectroscopy in skarn exploration illustrated that the spectral approaches would be very useful for attaining skarn mineral information such as calcite, chlorite, clinopyroxene, garnet, scapolite, vesuvianite, and wollastonite and clay minerals. Furthermore, the rock-forming minerals such as K-feldspar, plagioclase, quartz, fluorite, and tungsten-bearing minerals like scheelite may require supplementary mineral analysis. A combined analysis of spectrometry, XRD, XRF, UV lamp scanning, and petrographic studies reveals that the skarn mineralization of the study area related to W mineral of the study core is defined as proximal endoskarn to proximal exoskarn, which could be defined by spectroscopic approaches.