Detection of Pb–Zn mineralization zones in west Kunlun using Landsat 8 and ASTER remote sensing data

The integration of Landsat 8 OLI and ASTER data is an efficient tool for interpreting lead–zinc mineralization in the Huoshaoyun Pb–Zn mining region located in the west Kunlun mountains at high altitude and very rugged terrain, where traditional geological work becomes limited and time-consuming. This task was accomplished by using band ratios (BRs), principal component analysis, and spectral matched filtering methods. It is concluded that some BR color composites and principal components of each imagery contain useful information for lithological mapping. SMF technique is useful for detecting lead–zinc mineralization zones, and the results could be verified by handheld portable X-ray fluorescence analysis. Therefore, the proposed methodology shows strong potential of Landsat 8 OLI and ASTER data in lithological mapping and lead–zinc mineralization zone extraction in carbonate stratum.