Identification of Iron Ore Mine and Structural Lineaments Extraction by Using Remote Sensing Technique, Iran: A Case Study of the Sangan Khaf Iron Ore Mine

In recent decades, the world's space technologies in the field of remote sensing satellites have grown and expanded significantly. Remote sensing has provided many applications in the exploration of mines and various mineral deposits. In this research, an attempt has been made to investigate the method of obtaining information and characteristics of iron minerals. The study area of the research is the Sangan mine, the largest iron ore mine in West Asia, and the images used in this research are related to the ASTER sensor. The spectral behavior of the soil is processed, and by using band ratio algorithms, the spectral behavior of each iron mineral is extracted. The areas that contain iron ore can be visually observed and analyzed. Among the spectral indices used in this research are Fe+3 - Fe+2 - Laterite - Gossan – Ferrous silicates – Ferric oxides, and the algorithms of these indices are implemented in the Google Earth Engine web system. After estimating the iron minerals, according to the output obtained from the spectral indices of iron, the results showed that in the last 19 years, the amount of iron ore in the Sangan region has been decreasing. The highest amount of iron minerals is related to the areas of the Sangan mineral complex and the central areas of the Sangan mountain. The map of the structutal lineamentss in the study area was carried out using the accuracy assessment for the correctness of iron ore calculations by the structural lineaments map and the output of the Ferrous silicates index, and the RMSE shows about 0.14%, which indicates that the accuracy of the iron ore is acceptable.