Evaluation of gold mineralisation potential using AHP systems and weighted overlay analysis

Abstract The demand for sustainable development goals and the absence of systematic development and organised exploration for gold has prompted this study to integrate magnetic and radiometric datasets with lithology to evaluate the gold mineralisation potential in the Ilesha schist belt. This study considers 3168.72 km 2 of the Ilesha schist belt in southwestern Nigeria, a frontier belt for gold deposits. The high-resolution airborne magnetic and radiometric datasets were processed using enhancement techniques, including the analytical signal, lineament density, and K/Th ratio. CET grid analysis, Euler deconvolution, and analytical signal depth estimation methods were used to aid the interpretation. The spatial integration and interpolation were performed using the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) and weighted overlay analytical tools within the ArcGIS environment. The dominant structural controls for potential mineralisation are ENE–WSW and ESE–WNW trends. The depth of the magnetic sources revealed by the analytical signal ranged from 63.17 to 629.47 m, while depths ranging from 47.32 to 457.22 m were obtained from Euler deconvolution. The delineated highly magnetic edge sources, dense lineaments, radiometrically highlighted alteration zones, and lithological hosts for gold mineralisation were integrated to establish the gold mineralisation potential map. The AHP deductions reveal that 10.52% of the study site is within the high mineralisation potential class, a remarkable 60.39% falls within the moderate class, a significant portion (28.86%) falls within the poor class, and 0.23% is considered unfavourable. The result was optimised by validation using known mines, with 94% (i.e., 15 out of 16 mining sites) plotting within the high mineralisation potential class. This assessment provides invaluable insight for stakeholders and policymakers to embark on gold exploration and exploitation and promote sustainable mineral development.