Abstract
The National Uranium Resource Evaluation (NURE) Program has as its goal the estimation of the nation's uranium resources. It is possible to use discriminant analysis methods on hydrogeochemical data collected in the NURE Program to aid in formulating geochemical models that can be used to identify the anomalous areas used in resource estimation. Discriminant analysis methods have been applied to data from the Plainview, Texas Quadrangle which has approximately 850 groundwater samples with more than 40 quantitative measurements per sample. Discriminant analysis topics involving estimation of misclassification probabilities, variable selection, and robust discrimination are applied. A method using generalized distance measures is given which enables the assignment of samples to a background population or a mineralized population whose parameters were estimated from separate studies. Each topic is related to its relevance in identifying areas of possible interest to uranium exploration. However, the methodology presented here is applicable to the identification of regions associated with other types of resources.
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This manuscript was prepared under contract W-7405-eng-26 of the U.S. Department of Energy.
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Beauchamp, J.J., Begovich, C.L., Kane, V.E. et al. Application of discriminant analysis and generalized distance measures to uranium exploration. Mathematical Geology 12, 539–558 (1980). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01034743
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01034743