Geodatabase development and GIS based analysis for resource assessment of placer platinum in the offshore region of Goodnews Bay, Alaska

Abstract

Goodnews Bay, southwest Alaska, is known for extensive Pt reserves that have their source in the neighboring Red Mountain. The reserves potentially extend offshore into the Bering Sea. This study aims at developing a geodatabase to integrate all offshore platinum related data collected by researchers and agencies in the past, with the intent to identify data gaps. Based on these data gaps 49 new areas were sampled for Pt and geophysical data were collected in summer 2005. Spatial distribution map for offshore Pt was created using a new Multiple Regression Pattern Recognition Technique (MRPRT) that gave an R²=0.76, a significant improvement from standard GIS based geospatial techniques. Four potential Pt exploration areas were delineated, including one area where drowned ultramafics and buried alluvial channels co-occur. Coastal currents influenced the surficial platinum accumulations, and no clear relation between Pt distribution and sand bars in the far offshore could be established.