Optimising gold exploration in Northeast Sudan using analytical hierarchy process with multidisciplinary geodata

Orogenic gold deposits, responsible for about one-third of the world’s gold production, typically form in tectonically active zones, where shear zones, suture zones, and faults serve as pathways for hydrothermal fluids, promoting gold mineralisation. Sudan’s diverse geology, characterised by Pan-African terrains within the Arabian-Nubian Shield, is a globally significant gold province with a rich history of ancient and modern mining activities. Despite having a rich legacy of gold exploration, there is an absence of an optimised strategy that helps reduce the cost of exploration. This research aims to seek how a geoscientific decision-making tool, the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP), optimises orogenic gold exploration by systematically weighing key geological and geophysical parameters in regions with complex tectonic histories. By evaluating four key parameters, lineament density, mineral composite map, lithological classification and free air gravity anomalies, available through open-access geospatial data sources, and introducing an empirical Relative Gold Mineralised Index (RGMI), this study applies AHP to assign weights to these variables, reflecting their influence on gold mineralisation. This structured approach identifies high-potential gold zones in northeast Sudan and proposes a scalable methodology for strategic orogenic gold exploration in similar geological settings worldwide.