Toward sustainable mineral exploration: integrated EnMAP hyperspectral, Sentinel-1 SAR and aeromagnetic datasets for prospectivity mapping of the Gabal Hamadat area, central Eastern Desert, Egypt

Introduction Mineral exploration in Precambrian shield terrains requires the joint use of surface alteration, structural architecture, and subsurface geophysical evidence. This study builds a reproducible, quantitatively classified favourability map for structurally controlled magmatic-hydrothermal mineralization in the Gabal Hamadat area of the Central Eastern Desert of Egypt. Methods EnMAP Level-2A imaging spectroscopy, Sentinel-2 and Landsat-9 multispectral imagery, Sentinel-1 SAR, and airborne magnetic data were processed into ten evidence layers: six EnMAP band-ratio layers representing argillic, phyllic, propylitic, ferrous-mineral, ferrous-silicate, and ferruginous responses; two structural lineament-density layers derived from Sentinel-1 SAR and CET analysis of the RTP magnetic grid; and two aeromagnetic layers comprising CET porphyry-analysis circular sources and source-parameter-imaging (SPI) depth-to-magnetic-source response. Eight of these ten layers, the six alteration layers together with the CET-PA and SPI aeromagnetic layers, were implemented as red-channel digital-number values from color-rendered exports rather than as native spectral-index or depth values; the two structural lineament-density layers were computed directly from their respective datasets. Because the relationship between the SPI display values and physical source depth remains unverified, SPI membership is interpreted only as increasing with the exported display digital number. The ten layers were integrated with a fuzzy-gamma operator and classified with the Concentration-Area multifractal model, which places class boundaries at fuzzy memberships of 0.75, 0.92 and 0.99. Results Enhanced magnetic methods, combined with Sentinel-1 structural analysis, delineated prominent N-S to NNW-SSE and NW-SE structural corridors and circular to semicircular magnetic features. Euler deconvolution and source parameter imaging indicate predominantly shallow magnetic sources (<1 km), with locally deeper roots of 1-2 km along major structural corridors. High- and very-high-favourability classes cover 7.9542 km 2 (3.41%) of the 233.60 km 2 study area. The five largest connected clusters range in area from 0.39 to 1.45 km 2 and contain varying proportions of alteration, structural, and aeromagnetic evidence. Discussion Agreement among contributing products is treated as internal consistency rather than independent validation. The resulting map is therefore a reconnaissance-scale favourability ranking that identifies areas for field mapping, geochemical sampling, and other independent tests. This study provides a quantitative framework for mineral targeting and prioritizing field-based exploration in the Arabian-Nubian Shield.