An Exploration Model for A Gold Deposit in Kervian Area, Kurdistan Province, Iran, using a Combination of Geophysical Results with Geological Information and Other Exploratory Data

Abstract

As many gold deposits are associated with sulfide zones, and the direct exploration of gold deposits using the geophysical methods is very difficult due to its low amount in the sub-surface, the direct exploration of sulfide zones by the geophysical electrical resistivity and induced polarization (IP) methods may lead to the indirect exploration of gold deposits. The gold deposit in the Kervian area is located in the Kurdistan shear zone, and is directly related to the sulfide, silica, and carbonate alteration units. After acquiring the resistivity and IP data, 2D modeling of the data is made in order to indirectly identify the gold-bearing zones in the surveyed area. As some of the identified geophysical anomalies indicating the sulfide zones may not be associated with the economic amounts of gold, in order to obtain an exploration pattern for the gold deposit in the studied area, a combination of the geophysical data modeling and interpretation results with the geological information and other exploratory data is used to reduce the uncertainty in identifying the gold-bearing zones in the studied area. Thus, modeling and interpretation of the geophysical data lead to identify the sub-surface anomalies as the locations of possible gold mineralization in the area, and then the drilling points are suggested in the area. Considering the geological studies and chemical analysis of the samples taken from the drilled boreholes crossing some of the geophysical anomalies, we conclude that the geophysical anomalies occurring inside the phyllite and carbonate units in the area can contain an economic amount of gold, and thus are recommended as the top priority for further exploration.