Identification of mineral intensity along drifts in the dayingezhuang deposit, Jiaodong gold province, China

Abstract

Great mineral intensity in drifts or drills is characterized by both the high proportion and spatial cluster of the high grades. Great mineral intensity indicates the high ore quality and low dilution in the exploitation. The fractal dimension, the fluctuation exponent proposed in this paper and the lacunarity are utilized to analyze the mineral intensity along drifts in the Dayingezhuang gold deposit in Jiaodong gold province, China. It is proven that the combination of the parameters can identify the mineral intensity. The fractal dimension and fluctuation exponent are negatively correlated. In the places where the fractal dimension is small and fluctuation exponent is great, the mineralization is more pronounced. While in the case that the fractal dimensions are similar, smaller fluctuation exponent means more clustered structure of high grades and greater mineral intensity. In the diagram of fractal dimension versus lacunarity, the drifts with great mineral intensity can also be identified. The methods used in this paper provide a relatively comprehensive description for local mineral intensity, providing information for both the ore-forming process and the exploitation. © 2010 The Authors. Journal compilation © 2010 The Society of Resource Geology.