Application of airborne hyper-spectral remote sensing technique to uranium prospecting: A case study of Baiyanghe area, Xinjiang

Using the hyper-spectral data acquired by CASI(Compact Airborne Spectrographic Imager)/SASI(Shortwave infrared Airborne Spectrographic Imager) airborne hyper-spectral survey system, the mineral mapping in Baiyanghe area, Xinjiang, was made, and Al-rich muscovite, Al-middle muscovite, Al-poor muscovite, epidote, carbonate were mapped. Through analysis, it was discovered that the Al-rich muscovite was consistent with the known uranium mineralization in spatial distribution feature. This shows that the Al-rich muscovite has key relationship with uranium mineralization in Baiyanghe area. By deeply data processing and analysis, six sub-categories of Al-rich muscovite were mapped further, and the class1 and class2 of Al-rich muscovite were discovered to have most key relationship with uranium mineralization. These two sub-categories have obvious spectral feature different from other sub-categories. These preliminary new ideas are of important significance for uranium prospecting not only in the outside of Baiyanghe area, but also in the wider Xuemisitan area.