Analysis of WorldView-3 Satellite Imagery for the Leland Lakes Area, Alberta

As part of the Alberta Minerals Strategy and Action Plan, the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) / Alberta Geological Survey (AGS) acquired WorldView-3 satellite imagery over the Canadian Shield (the Shield) in northeastern Alberta. This acquisition was to support the detection and mapping of metallic mineral occurrences in the Shield, where known occurrences of gold, base metals, uranium, and rare-earth elements have been previously documented in narrow belts surrounding several major shear zones.
In March 2022, Professor Emeritus Benoit Rivard was contracted to conduct a preliminary analysis on the WorldView-3 satellite imagery in the Leland Lakes area in northeastern Alberta. This contract was awarded as part of the Mineral Grant provided by the Government of Alberta on June 22, 2021. The primary objective was to identify potential mineral occurrences in the Alberta Shield region by detecting exposed rock outcrop, delineating lithologic units, and mapping mineral alteration.
This report describes the results of this preliminary analysis which focusses on the preprocessing methods required to isolate pure pixels of rock outcrop in the imagery and to mask non-rock features such as vegetation, water, and shadows. The report also describes the findings from an initial analysis of the spectra of these rock surfaces in terms of detecting iron oxides and hydroxyl-bearing minerals and distinguishing between mafic and felsic lithological domains.

This work was completed under the Mineral Grant provided by the Government of Alberta June 22, 2021.