Landsat 8 and ASTER remote sensing data for ore prospecting in the postmasburg manganese ore field, South Africa

The Postmasburg manganese ore field currently stands as the second largest in the world, featuring a widespread distribution of mining areas. Remote sensing technology possesses distinct advantages in interpreting geological information at a macro level. To further expand the scope of the Postmasburg manganese ore field and identify new target mining areas, we systematically studied the geological alteration information and structural characteristics of the ore field using various remote sensing interpretation methods. Here we show Landset 8 data was utilized to extract linear structural information from the Postmasburg manganese ore field, while ASTER data was employed to identify mineral alteration anomaly information related to iron staining, manganese mineralization, hydroxyl, and carbonate mineralization within the study area. By comparing the extraction results with regional geological survey data, we discovered that structural lines are well-developed in the study area and generally align with the stratigraphic trend. There is a strong correlation between the distribution locations of iron staining and manganese mineralization alterations. Based on the remote sensing interpretation results, we delineated two prospective mineral exploration areas using the analogy extrapolation method. Here we show the linear structure and alteration information interpretation methods employed in remote sensing technology can effectively reflect the distribution of manganese ore in the Postmasburg area.