GeoHybridGNN: A Hybrid Intelligent Mapping Framework for Porphyry Copper Prospectivity Mapping Integrating Remote Sensing, Geology, and Geochemistry

The Western Chagai Belt of Pakistan hosts major porphyry Cu-Au systems, but prospectivity mapping in this arc remains difficult because favorable lithology, intrusive bodies, fault corridors, hydrothermal alteration, and Cu geochemical anomalies are spatially heterogeneous across a structurally complex and arid terrain. These conditions create a scientific need for an integrated mapping framework that can combine remote sensing alteration evidence, geology, structure, and geochemistry within a unified and reproducible workflow. This study presents GeoHybridGNN, a hybrid deep learning framework for porphyry copper prospectivity mapping in the Western Chagai Belt. The framework integrates multi-source raster evidence, including remote sensing-derived spectral alteration indices, a Cu geochemical raster, and distance-to-fault information, with graph-based node representations that combine regular neighborhood adjacency on retained grid cells with node attributes derived from lithology and aligned geoscientific raster summaries. All predictors were harmonized to a common 30 m reference raster grid and evaluated using five-fold spatial block cross-validation to provide a more spatially realistic assessment than ordinary random splitting. The implemented model combines a CNN-based raster patch encoder with a GraphSAGE-based graph classifier. Raster patches extracted around graph nodes are encoded into 64-dimensional embeddings, and these embeddings are concatenated with node-level graph features before full-batch graph learning and prediction. Copper occurrences were used only for supervised label assignment and evaluation and were not used as predictive inputs. The results show that GeoHybridGNN produces spatially coherent prospectivity maps, stable fold-wise prediction patterns, and improved target delineation relative to the tested comparison models. Cu geochemical integration produces only a limited change in global discrimination but provides modest local target sharpening in selected zones. These results indicate that GeoHybridGNN can serve as an uncertainty-aware and geologically constrained decision support workflow for porphyry copper targeting. More broadly, the framework provides a transparent strategy for exploration screening in structurally complex and data-heterogeneous metallogenic belts where remote sensing, geological, structural, and geochemical evidence must be integrated consistently.

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Publication Details

Journal
Remote Sensing
Published
2026-05-19
DOI
https://doi.org/10.3390/rs18101638
Primary Topic
Geochemistry and Geologic Mapping
Type
article
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article

GeoHybridGNN: A Hybrid Intelligent Mapping Framework for Porphyry Copper Prospectivity Mapping Integrating Remote Sensing, Geology, and Geochemistry

Zubair Nabi, Yue Wang, Muhammad Atif Bilal, Kateryna Hlyniana
Remote Sensing
Geochemistry and Geologic Mapping
article

GeoHybridGNN: A Hybrid Intelligent Mapping Framework for Porphyry Copper Prospectivity Mapping Integrating Remote Sensing, Geology, and Geochemistry

Zubair Nabi, Yue Wang, Muhammad Atif Bilal, Kateryna Hlyniana
article en

Abstract

The Western Chagai Belt of Pakistan hosts major porphyry Cu-Au systems, but prospectivity mapping in this arc remains difficult because favorable lithology, intrusive bodies, fault corridors, hydrothermal alteration, and Cu geochemical anomalies are spatially heterogeneous across a structurally complex and arid terrain. These conditions create a scientific need for an integrated mapping framework that can combine remote sensing alteration evidence, geology, structure, and geochemistry within a unified and reproducible workflow. This study presents GeoHybridGNN, a hybrid deep learning framework for porphyry copper prospectivity mapping in the Western Chagai Belt. The framework integrates multi-source raster evidence, including remote sensing-derived spectral alteration indices, a Cu geochemical raster, and distance-to-fault information, with graph-based node representations that combine regular neighborhood adjacency on retained grid cells with node attributes derived from lithology and aligned geoscientific raster summaries. All predictors were harmonized to a common 30 m reference raster grid and evaluated using five-fold spatial block cross-validation to provide a more spatially realistic assessment than ordinary random splitting. The implemented model combines a CNN-based raster patch encoder with a GraphSAGE-based graph classifier. Raster patches extracted around graph nodes are encoded into 64-dimensional embeddings, and these embeddings are concatenated with node-level graph features before full-batch graph learning and prediction. Copper occurrences were used only for supervised label assignment and evaluation and were not used as predictive inputs. The results show that GeoHybridGNN produces spatially coherent prospectivity maps, stable fold-wise prediction patterns, and improved target delineation relative to the tested comparison models. Cu geochemical integration produces only a limited change in global discrimination but provides modest local target sharpening in selected zones. These results indicate that GeoHybridGNN can serve as an uncertainty-aware and geologically constrained decision support workflow for porphyry copper targeting. More broadly, the framework provides a transparent strategy for exploration screening in structurally complex and data-heterogeneous metallogenic belts where remote sensing, geological, structural, and geochemical evidence must be integrated consistently.

Remote SensingVol. 18(10)
Government College University, Faisalabad (PK), Jilin University (CN), Xinjiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CN), Xinjiang Academy of Forestry (CN), Jilin Province Science and Technology Department (CN), Changchun University (CN)
Peace, Justice and strong institutions
Openalex Percentile: Top 3%
Geochemistry and Geologic Mapping
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