Remote sensing for rare earth element exploration: a case study in Galicia, Spain

Rare earth elements (REE) have been gaining increasing attention worldwide due to their economic and strategic importance for technological and, consequently, economic development. Discovering new REE deposits within European territory is of high strategic relevance for the European Union, and developing novel approaches to identify such deposits is equally critical. This study evaluates the potential of high-resolution WorldView-3 satellite imagery combined with classical remote sensing techniques to detect areas favorable for REE mineralization. A well-known and previously explored test site in Galicia, Spain, was selected for validation. The applied methods include spectral band ratios targeting hydrothermal alteration minerals, lineament extraction to map fractures and shear zones, and fuzzy logic integration to synergistically combine these datasets and generate REE prospectivity maps. The results demonstrate the feasibility of using high-resolution satellite data and classical remote sensing methods to support REE exploration in Europe.