Applications of hyperspectral mineralogy for geoenvironmental characterisation

Technological innovations and emerging analytical capabilities are transforming the mineralogical and textural analysis of rock samples and drill core. Accurate mineralogical identification and systematic documentation can enhance deposit knowledge across the mining chain. From the earliest stages of mine‐life, accurate mineralogical identification can also enhance environmental characterisation which traditionally utilises a range of wet chemical tests to predict acid generation and acid neutralisation. An enhanced understanding of both the ore and gangue mineralogy allows accurate prediction of the geoenvironmental characteristics of future waste materials. This study presents examples of the use of hyperspectral data (SWIR and LWIR) for domaining acid neutralisation capacity using samples from a volcanic hosted massive sulphide (VHMS) and a porphyry Cu‐Au deposit. Specifically, we review the hyperspectral techniques used for identification of carbonate‐group minerals and validate the accuracy of these techniques using mineralogical and chemical techniques (XRD and EMPA).