Mine waste characterization via remote sensing in Cripple Creek, Colorado, area and application to inventorying abandoned mines
- Bureau of Mines, Denver, CO (United States)
- Spectral International, Inc., Lafayette, CO (United States)
- Geological Survey, Denver, CO (United States)
The U.S. Bureau of Mines, partly in conjunction with the U.S. Geological Survey, has been investigating remote sensing methods for characterizing mine wastes, with emphasis on abandoned metal-mine sites. The Cripple Creek gold mining district was chosen as a pilot study area because of extensive historic and current mining activity, the availability of several remote sensing data sources, and site accessibility. The total number of abandoned mine sites in the United States is unknown, with estimates ranging from 100,000 to 500,000 depending on the data used and the source of the estimate. Likewise, speculation on the impact of these numerous sites on the surrounding and downstream environments often is grounded on isolated case studies or anecdotal evidence. A means of reliably inventorying mine sites and prioritizing them for more detailed environmental and engineering investigations can be provided through remote sensing. Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) and Airborne Visible-Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (AVIRIS) data have been used to identify mineralogical differences among the wastes and between the wastes and surrounding unmined areas. Over 1,200 sample spectra for the wastes and open pit mines also have been collected using portable spectrometers. This is a simple system mineralogically. Illite/sericite and kaolinite are the common infrared-active hydrothermal alteration minerals present in the ore which contains pyrite and gold tellurides. Differences in clay minerals and iron minerals among the wastes can be tied back to known weathering and geochemical mineral processes. Although many of the mine dumps and old leach pads have large proportions of rocks with visually heavy coatings of iron/manganese oxides and silica, the coatings do not prevent identification of the internal clay minerals through the coatings with a spectrometer. These relationships are consistent throughout the 54 sites investigated in the district.
- OSTI ID:
- 255310
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-960203-; TRN: 96:002806-0010
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: 11. thematic conference on geologic remote sensing, Las Vegas, NV (United States), 27-29 Feb 1996; Other Information: PBD: 1996; Related Information: Is Part Of Proceedings of the eleventh thematic conference - geologic remote sensing: Practical solutions for real world problems. Volume 1; PB: 634 p.
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Using imaging spectroscopy to map acidic mine waste
Mapping the distribution of mine tailings in the Coeur d`Alene River Valley, Idaho, through the use of a constrained energy minimization technique