Mapping singularities with stream sediment geochemical data for prediction of undiscovered mineral deposits in Gejiu, Yunnan Province, China

This paper proposes the concept of singularity for characterizing hydrothermal mineralization processes. A singular physical process may result in anomalous amounts of energy release or material accumulation within a narrow spatial–temporal interval. Mineralization can be considered as a type of singular process due to large amounts of material accumulation and element enrichment. A spatial singularity mapping technique is developed based on the local singularity involved in the context of multifractal theory. It assembles geochemical map at different scales and calculates an index indicating the scaling characteristics of enrichment and depletion of geochemical concentration at multiple scales. This index was used for quantifying spatial singularity of mineralization-associated geochemical anomalies. A case study for the Gejiu tin–polymetallic mineral district, Yunnan Province, China demonstrates that the concepts of singularity and the singularity mapping technique are applicable and useful for delineating anomalies caused by mineralization and for predicting the locations of undiscovered mineral deposits.