One of the most important characteristics of porphyry copper deposits (PCDs) is the type and distribution pattern of alteration zones which can be used for screening and recognizing these deposits. Hydrothermal alteration minerals with diagnostic spectral absorption properties in the visible and near-infrared (VNIR) through the shortwave infrared (SWIR) regions can be identified by multispectral and hyperspectral remote sensing data. Six Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) bands in SWIR have been shown to be effective in the mapping of Al-OH, Fe-OH, Mg-OH group minerals. The five VNIR bands of Landsat-8 (L8) Operational Land Imager (OLI) are useful for discriminating ferric iron alteration minerals. In the absence of complete hyperspectral coverage area, an opportunity, however, exists to integrate ASTER and L8-OLI (AO) to compensate each other’s shortcomings in covering area for mineral mapping. This study examines the potential of AO data in mineral mapping in an arid area of the Duolong porphyry Cu-Au deposit(Tibetan Plateau in China) by using spectral analysis techniques. Results show the following conclusions: (1) Combination of ASTER and L8-OLI data (AO) has more mineral information content than either alone; (2) The Duolong PCD alteration zones of phyllic, argillic and propylitic zones are mapped using ASTER SWIR bands and the iron-bearing mineral information is best mapped using AO VNIR bands; (3) The multispectral integration data of AO can provide a compensatory data of ASTER VNIR bands for iron-bearing mineral mapping in the arid and semi-arid areas.

Jiama is the largest porphyry-skarn ore system in the Gangdese metallogenic belt, Tibet. It is composed of porphyry Cu-Mo, Cu-polymetallic skarn, Cu-Pb-Zn manto, and distal vein Au orebodies with associated Ag, W, and Bi. However, the precise timing of the magmatism and hydrothermal events at Jiama remains obscure. Here, using high-precision chemical abrasion-isotope dilution-thermal ionization mass spectrometry (CA-ID-TIMS) U-Pb zircon dating of ore-bearing and post-ore intrusions, we accurately constrain the lifespan of magmatism and hydrothermal mineralization. Monzogranite porphyry dikes are cut by Cu-Mo vein mineralization in the deeper part of the system, indicating that they were emplaced pre-ore, and yield a crystallization age of 15.534 ± 0.007 Ma (mean square of weighted deviates [MSWD] = 0.99, n = 6). A granodiorite porphyry that cuts the monzogranite porphyry and hosts vein and disseminated chalcopyrite and molybdenite is considered synchronous with ore and yields a crystallization age of 15.368 ± 0.007 Ma (MSWD = 1.01, n = 5). These two phases of intrusions are cut by quartz-diorite porphyry bodies, which yield a crystallization age of 15.076 ± 0.006 Ma (MSWD = 0.13, n = 6) and contain weak, subeconomic Cu and almost no molybdenum mineralization. A post-ore barren quartz monzonite porphyry yields a crystallization age of 14.925 ± 0.006 Ma (MSWD = 1.12, n = 6). The lifespan of magmatism at Jiama is thus about 0.61 m.y. The difference with previous molybdenite Re-Os isochron ages from the porphyry (14.7 ± 0.3 Ma), hornfel (14.7 ± 0.4 Ma), and skarn (15.4 ± 0.2 Ma) suggests that high-precision chronology is required to decipher accurate timing of mineralization in porphyry systems such as Jiama. The ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar ages of hydrothermal biotite coexisting with molybdenite in monzogranite porphyry and hornfels are 15.25 ± 0.17 Ma (MSWD = 1.6) and 15.25 ± 0.24 Ma (MSWD = 0.14), respectively, slightly younger than the granodiorite porphyry and older than weakly mineralized quartz diorite porphyry, which represents the time of the ore-forming hydrothermal event. Thus, Jiama is the product of pulsed magmatism during which a short-lived hydrothermal event formed the giant Cu polymetallic system.