Knowledge-driven mineral prospectivity modelling in areas with glacial overburden: porphyry Cu exploration in Quesnellia, British Columbia, Canada

Abstract

ABSTRACT Modern mineral exploration involves making discoveries in geological environments where detecting deposits is increasingly difficult. This study presents an integrated, knowledge-driven prospectivity mapping approach to exploration in the glacial till-covered region of the Quesnel Terrane in British Columbia, Canada. The Quesnel Terrane hosts base and precious metal deposits; however, a ∼20,000 km2 area consisting of variably thick glacial overburden truncates surface exposure, likely masking buried deposits. Through a combined fuzzy logic and index overlay approach, geophysical, structural, and geochemical criteria were integrated into a prospectivity model. Three concealed porphyry Cu targets were identified in the till-covered region and were validated by statistical analysis of lake and stream sediment geochemistry. The process of integrating various geoscientific disciplines and identification of targets has provided valuable insight for future exploration in covered regions. Moreover, the adopted approach leverages open-source public datasets, highlighting advantages of utilising such datasets for regional-scale exploration.