Application of discriminant analysis and support vector machine in mapping gold potential areas for further drilling in the Sari-Gunay gold deposit, NW Iran

Hamid Geranian, Seyed Hassan Tabatabaei, Hooshang H Asadi, Emmanuel John M Carranza

DOI: 10.1007/s11053-015-9271-2
Journal Natural Resources Research Volume 25 Issue 2 Pages 145-159 Publisher Springer US
Description In this contribution, we used discriminant analysis (DA) and support vector machine (SVM) to model subsurface gold mineralization by using a combination of the surface soil geochemical anomalies and earlier bore data for further drilling at the Sari-Gunay gold deposit, NW Iran. Seventy percent of the data were used as the training data and the remaining 30 % were used as the testing data. Sum of the block grades, obtained by kriging, above the cutoff grade (0.5 g/t) was multiplied by the thickness of the blocks and used as productivity index (PI). Then, the PI variable was classified into three classes of background, medium, and high by using fractal method. Four classification functions of SVM and DA methods were calculated by the training soil geochemical data. Also, by using all the geochemical data and classification functions, the general extension of the gold mineralized zones was predicted. The …