Integration of VNIR and SWIR spectral reflectance for mapping mineral resources; a case study, north east of Hajjah, yemen

Laboratory reflectance spectra of 18 rock samples from the Precambrian basement of north east of Hajjah were measured and analyzed using the instrument of FieldSpec3 with spectral range 0.250-2.500 μm. The aim of this study is to use the spectral reflectance of rocks for mapping the mineral resources in the north east of Hajjah. The altered system in the study area comprises of silicification, sericitification, oxidation, clay minerals and carbonatization. Silicified alteration is not distinguishable in the regions of Visible-Near Infrared (VNIR) and Short wave Infrared (SWIR) of the electromagnetic spectrum, because of lack of diagnostic spectral absorption features in silica in this wavelength. Although the arsenopyrite and pyrite are wide spread in the whole study area their features do not appear in any range of spectra because they exhibit trans-opaque behavior and often lack distinction in VNIR and SWIR. The entire spectral reflectance curves of samples show alteration. Based on the examination of laboratory spectra all samples in the study area show promise in the field of mineral resources.