Multi-Gaussian kriging: a practice to enhance delineation of mineralized zones by Concentration–Volume fractal model in Dardevey iron ore deposit, SE Iran

•Identify the effect of oMK and sMK estimation methods•Delineation of Fe mineralized zones using C–V fractal modeling•According to the oMK and sMK variance, optimum threshold values for mineralized zones are outlined.

The purpose of this study is to identify the effect of ordinary and simple multi-Gaussian kriging (oMK, sMK) estimation methods for the delineation of iron mineralized zones based on subsurface data using Concentration–Volume (C–V) fractal modeling in the Dardevey iron ore deposit, NE Iran. Spatial data analyses (variograms and anisotropic ellipsoid) were initially calculated for the Fe distribution. The C–V log–log plots based on the estimation methods represent the various mineralized zones via threshold values. Additionally, variance in the both methods was compared. The comparison and interpretation of the mineralized zones based on the C–V fractal modeling show that the methods are similar, but the enriched and highly zones resulted by the oMK have variances lower than the sMK method. Furthermore, the weakly and moderately mineralized zones have lower variances based on the sMK method. According to the comparison and variance, optimum threshold values for enriched, highly, moderately and weakly iron mineralized zones are 56%, 51%, 41% and 35%, respectively.