Mapping mine waste using hyperspectral imaging spectrometry data

The Parys Mountain mine on Anglesey, North Wales is a site of great importance both historically and mineralogically. Mining at the site dates back to the Bronze age and this has left a legacy of mine waste at the site. The main objectives of this study are to use hyperspectral imaging spectrometry to: characterise mine waste at, and map contamination transport around, the Parys Mountain mine site and; to map associated vegetation stress using SWIR Imaging Spectrometry. This work builds on the expertise gained during the MINEO project in which mine waste was mapped at various sites across Europe using advanced Earth observation techniques. In MINEO BGS used HyMap data to map an area of abandoned tin mining in Cornwall and so the skills learnt in contamination mapping have been applied to the HyMap data for Parys Mountain. Both HyMap and CASI (Compact Airborne Spectrographic Imager) SWIR (Short Wave Infrared) data have been acquired over Parys Mountain. Mine site characterization has been undertaken using SAM (Spectral Angle Mapper) classification techniques and the contamination at Parys Mountain has been mapped. This is being backed up with geochemical analysis for verification of the spectra observed both in the field and the image data. Historical geochemical and spectral data from the Parys mountain deposit is being used for comparison proposes. Mine waste at the mine site has been characterised and mapped and the resulting maps of contamination will be shown at the conference. These methods will now be applied to the HyMap data of Rheidol Valley, acquired by Vito during 2004