Aeromagnetic data analysis to enhance the demonstration of the subsurface mineralized zone occurrences, As-Safra prospect area, Saudi Arabia

The aeromagnetic survey was conducted by the French organization, BRGM in 1966, where As-Safra prospect area at the east of Al-Madinah city was included. The aeromagnetic data were then interpreted for potential occurrences of mineralization zones along with their extensions. Spectral analysis, using Filon Fourier transform, was implemented to extract the residual anomalies that can be attributed to mineralization zones. In this study, analytic signal, normalized standard deviation (NSTD), and 3D Euler deconvolution filters were used to enhance the demonstration of subsurface mineralized zones occurrences. Analytic signal and NSTD filters showed that the studied area is dominated by three main trends controlling the occurrences of mineralized zones, NNW-SSE, N-S, and E-W to ENE-WSW. On the other hand, 3D Euler deconvolution filter showed that the dominant structures are mostly the magnetic contacts, and their depths vary between 118 and 355?m.