Uranium exploration plays a pivotal role in meeting global energy demands and advancing nuclear technology. This study presents a comprehensive approach to uranium exploration in the Gebel Duwi area of the Central Eastern Desert of Egypt, utilizing remote sensing and airborne gamma-ray spectrometric data. Multispectral remote sensing techniques, including Principal Component Analysis (PCA), Minimum Noise Fraction (MNF), and Band Ratioing (BR), are employed to identify lithological units and hydrothermal alteration zones associated with uranium deposition, such as iron oxides, argillic, propylitic, and phyllic alterations. Additionally, airborne gamma-ray spectrometry data provide insights into the spatial distribution of radioelements, including uranium (eU), thorium (eTh), and potassium (K), as well as radioelement ratios (eU/eTh, eU/K, and eTh/K). The uranium migration index map (eU-(eTh/3.5)) and the F-parameter map (K*(eU/eTh)) have been generated to investigate the movement of uranium within various geological zones and characterize anomalous uranium concentrations. Statistical analyses, including mean (X), standard deviation (S), and coefficient of variability (C.V.), are conducted to identify uranium-rich zones. The integration of these datasets enables the generation of a uranium potential map highlighting areas of elevated concentrations indicative of uranium mineralization. Field observations and mineralogical analyses of collected samples validate our findings, confirming the presence of minerals associated with uranium mineralization in mapped high-potential areas. The significance of minerals like Fe-Chlorite, Fe-Mg-Chlorite, ferrihydrite, goethite, calcite, muscovite, dolomite, actinolite, vermiculite, and gypsum in indicating potential uranium mineralization processes underscores the importance of our results.

Mineral exploration is essential for economic growth, but it must be conducted with careful consideration of health and environmental impacts. This study focuses on mapping potential mineralization areas and evaluating environmental consequences in the Jabal Hamadat area. By integrating ASTER, Landsat-9 and airborne radiometric data, the study includes: (1) identification of alteration mineral indicators including iron oxides (gossanized zone), chlorite (propylitic zone), kaolinite, sericite, montmorillonite/illite (argillic zone), and alunite (advanced argillic zone) via the Band Ratio (BR) technique; (2) preparation of a lineament density map through an automated lineament extraction technique; and (3) identification of areas with elevated F-parameter values exceeding 10. Ten areas with high mineralization potential are delineated for further exploration. Additionally, the study assesses environmental radiation exposure, finding that certain areas exceed the safe radiation limit of 1.0 mSv/year. Peak radiation levels range from 0.75 to 1.25 mSv/year, with mining sites showing the highest readings at 1.25 mSv/year and 0.64 mSv/year. These findings highlight elevated radiological hazards, emphasizing the need for comprehensive monitoring and effective mitigation strategies to protect human health and minimize environmental impact. The methodology's success in this area indicates its potential applicability to other mining areas, contributing to enhanced safety and environmental protection.

The integration of remote sensing, spectral measurements and field verification helped in discriminating new iron occurrences hosted in the metavolcanic rocks at Wadi Karim and Gabal El-Hadid areas in the Central Eastern Desert (CED) of Egypt. The iron host rocks were carefully recognized through different image processing techniques that were applied on Landsat-8 satellite image data with the implementation of the spectral signatures of the various iron minerals and host rocks. The detected iron ore is found in the form of Banded Iron Formation (BIF), veins and lenses of varied thicknesses ranging from a few centimetres to 5 m. They are composed mainly of magnetite and hematite, as well as accessories of aluminium, iron silicates and quartz. Moreover, the structure controls on iron ore occurrences were also illustrated in the investigated areas. The alignment of the iron forms with the primary and secondary structural planes of their host rocks may indicate the origin and mode of occurrence of the explored iron ore, as contemporaneous and syngenetic deposition with the solidification of the host metavolcanics. Several remote sensing techniques including Crosta principal component analysis (CPCA), constrained energy minimization (CEM) supervised classification technique and a newly proposed Landsat-8 band ratio (band6/band2) were applied for discriminating the iron-rich localities within the studied areas. These techniques showed high efficiency and applicability in the accurate delineation of the iron-enriched areas; this was validated through the field study.