A Low-Cost In-Silico Geological Assessment Workflow for Two IOCG-Style Targets with Mixed Iron-Oxide Surface Expression in Chile, with Comparative Reference to a Copper Porphyry Gossan-Blanket System

horst dr. kutsch, Kentaro Takasaki

This study presents a low-cost, in-silico geological assessment workflow for early-stage mineral exploration under minimal-data conditions, with particular relevance for artisanal mining and small-scale exploration. Contrasting Chilean case settings are used to examine differences in oxidized surface expression. The analysis focuses on two targets in the Chilean Coastal Cordillera cobalt–iron belt, where mixed iron oxide signatures form heterogeneous, structurally controlled surface patterns consistent with an IOCG-style setting, and compares them with a laterally coherent gossan-blanket surface in the Precordillera of central Chile. Geological interpretation was derived exclusively from remotely sensed data, combining very-high-resolution RGB imagery from Airbus Pléiades with RGB–HSV transformation, object-based image analysis, and morphometric evaluation of slope and erosional texture. Particular emphasis is placed on datasets based only on RGB imagery, where enhanced spatial detail can partly compensate for the absence of diagnostic hyperspectral bands used in prospect-scale targeting. The workflow reconstructs geological meaning entirely from digital image interpretation, without field calibration or analytical input. Results show that this approach can support coherent prospect-scale reasoning under minimal-data conditions, while requiring subsequent validation through mapping, trenching, drilling, and analytical confirmation. The study highlights the potential and limitations of accessible, image-based exploration workflows for artisanal mining and low-resource exploration contexts.