The use of ERTS-1 images in the search for large sulfide deposits in the Chagai District, Pakistan
The author has identified the following significant results. Visual examination of color composites was tested under relatively ideal conditions for direct detection of large hydrothermal sulfide deposits at the low-grade porphyry copper deposit at Saindak, western Chagai District, Pakistan. The Saindak deposit is characterized by an elongate zone of easily eroded sulfide-rich rock surrounded by a resistant rim of hornfels and propylitically altered rock. The geomorphic features related to the Saindak deposit are easily distinguished on ERTS-1 images. Attempts to detect a color anomaly using false-color composites were not successful. About 36,000 square km of the western Chagai District were examined on false-color composites for direct evidence of large sulfide deposits. New geologic information acquired from the images was used in conjunction with the known geology to evaluate two previously known proposed areas and to suggest seven additional targets for field checking, one of which is proposed on the basis of tonal anomaly alone. The study also showed that Saindak-type deposits are not likely to be present in some extensive areas of the Chagai District; and also that a rim like that at Saindak does not form if regional metamorphism has increased the resistance of the country rock to erosion.