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Abstract
Mineral prospectivity mapping (MPM) based on the principle of geometric mean was applied to stream sediment geochemical, fault density, and aeromagnetic data from Tagmout basin, Morocco to determine new areas for optimizing copper exploration. The application of a fuzzy operator using stream sediment data, factor analysis, and fault density map, allowed weights to be assigned to these parameters so that the MPM function can process them to indicate the most favorable zones of copper mineralization. The model's accuracy as evaluated using a normalized density index (Nd with value 1.22) shows the reliability of the method. The potential copper concentration areas represent 8.22% of the entire basin of which 30% are concentrated in the western portion of the basin and other significant areas are in the southwest and northeast portions. The results indicate that MPM is a powerful technique for planning exploration programs that aim for sustainable mining activities.
Acknowledgments
Our deepest gratitude to Professor Bradley C. Rundquist (Editor-In-Chief, Geocarto International) and three anonymous reviewers for their careful work and thoughtful suggestions that have helped improve this paper substantially. This paper is a contribution to IGCP 683: “Pre-Atlantic geological connections among northwest Africa, Iberia and eastern North America: Implications for continental configurations and economic resources”. All authors approved the final version of the manuscript.
Ethical statement
The authors declare that all ethical practices have been followed in relation to the development, writing, and publication of the article.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
Data availability statement
The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author, upon reasonable request.