South Sudan, a new country, is planning to develop its mineral sector by allocating exploration licenses to investors, a decision that requires preliminary knowledge of the geology and mineral occurrences, both of which are un available as the country has been engaged in a civil war for over 50 years. In concert with this need, the objective of this study is to apply remote sensing techniques for mapping hydrothermal alteration zones of the Didinga Hills region in South Sudan, an area that is not easily accessible due to rugged terrain, poor roads, and wars; hence the mapped alteration zones would be utilize as potential areas to facilitate allocation of mineral titles through the South Sudan Mining Cadastre System. Despite that, there are artisanal gold mining sites being excavated by the natives in the area for decades. Those sites have been utilized as ground truth in verifying the results of this study. Digital processing of the multispectral images (Landsat 8) for the study area has been performed to extract information related to lithology, hydrothermal alteration, and geological structures using optimal band combination, band ratioing, and principal component analysis techniques. The results proved the efficiency of remote sensing data and techniques in providing the required geological information for the new country to sustainably develop its crucial mineral resources, which will contribute effectively to socioeconomic planning, development, and prosperity of the nation....
Authors: Cosmas Kujjo, Liang Liang, Dhananjay Ravat.