During the Mesoproterozoic large volumes of magma were repeatedly emplaced within the basement of NW Namibia. Magmatic activity started with the intrusion of the anorthositic rocks of the Kunene Intrusive Complex (KIC) at 1,385-1,347 Ma. At its south-eastern margin the KIC was invaded by syenite dykes (1,380-1,340 Ma) and younger carbonatites (1,140-1,120 Ma) along ENE and SE trending faults. Older ferrocarbonatite intrusions, the ‘carbonatitic breccia’, frequently contain wallrock fragments, whereas subordinate ferrocarbonatite veins are almost xenolith-free. Metasomatic interaction between carbonatite-derived fluids and the neighbouring and incorporated anorthosites led to the formation of economically important sodalite deposits. Investigated anorthosite samples display the magmatic mineral assemblage of Pl (An37-75) ± Ol ± Opx ± Cpx + Ilm + Mag + Ap ± Zrn. Ilmenite and pyroxene are surrounded by narrow reaction rims of biotite and pargasite. During the subsolidus stage sporadic coronitic garnet-orthopyroxene-quartz assemblages were produced. Thermobarometry studies on amphiboles yield temperatures of 985-950°C whereas the chemical composition of coronitic garnet and orthopyroxene indicate a subsolidus re-equilibration of the KIC at conditions of 760 ± 100°C and 7.3 ± 1 kbar. In the syenites Kfs, Pl, Hbl and/or Cpx crystallized first, followed by a second generation of Kfs, Hbl, Fe-Ti oxides and Ttn. Crystallization of potassium feldspar occurred under temperatures of 890-790°C. For the crystallization of hastingsite pressures of 6.5 ± 0.6 kbar are obtained. In order to constrain the source rocks of the two suites, oxygen isotope analyses of feldspar as well as geochemical bulk rock analyses were carried out. In case of the anorthosites, the general geochemical characteristics are in excellent agreement with their derivation from fractionated basaltic liquids, with the d18O values (5.88 ± 0.19 ‰) proving their derivation from mantle-derived magmas. The results obtained for the felsic suite, provide evidence against consanguinity of the anorthosites and the syenites, i.e. (1) compositional gaps between the geochemical data of the two suites, (2) trace element data of the felsic suite points to a mixed crustal-mantle source, (3) syenites do not exhibit ubiquitous negative Eu-anomalies in their REE patterns, which would be expected from fractionation products of melts that previously formed plagioclase cumulates and (4) feldspar d18O values from the syenites fall in a range of 7.20-7.92 ‰, which, however, is about 1.6 ‰ higher than the average d18O of the anorthosites. Conformably, the crustal-derived felsic and the mantle-derived anorthositic suite are suggested to be coeval but not consanguineous. Their spatial and temporal association can be accounted for, if the heat necessary for crustal melting is provided by the upwelling and emplacement of mantle-derived melts, parental to the anorthosites. In order to constrain the source of the 1,140-1,120 Ma carbonatites and to elucidate the fenitizing processes, which led to the formation of the sodalite, detailed mineralogical and geochemical investigations, stable isotope (C,O,S) analyses and fluid inclusion measurements (microthermometrical studies and synchrotron-micro-XRF analyses) have been combined. There is striking evidence that carbonatites of both generations are magmatic in origin. They occur as dykes with cross-cutting relationships and margins disturbed by fenitic aureoles, and contain abundant flow-oriented xenoliths. The mineral assemblage of both carbonatite generations of Ank + Cal + Ilm + Mag + Bt ± Ap ± pyrochlore ± sulphides in the main carbonatite body and Ank + Cal + Mag ± pyrochlore ± rutile in the ferrocarbonatite veins, their geochemical characteristics and the O and C isotope values of ankerite (8.91 to 9.73 and –6.73 to –6.98, respectively) again indicate igneous derivation, with the 18O values suggesting minor subsolidus alteration. NaCl-rich fluids, released from the carbonatite melt mainly caused the fenitization of both, the incorporated and the bordering anorthosite. This process is characterized by the progressive transformation of Ca-rich plagioclase into albite and sodalite. Applying conventional geothermobarometry combined with fluid-inclusion isochore data, it was possible to reconstruct the P-T conditions for the carbonatite emplacement and crystallization (1200-630°C, 4-5 kbar) and for several mineral-forming processes during metasomatism (e.g. formation of sodalite: 800-530°C). The composition and evolutionary trends of the fenitizing solution were estimated from both the sequence of metasomatic reactions within wallrock xenoliths in the carbonatitic breccia and fluid inclusion data. The fenitizing solutions responsible for the transformation of albite into sodalite can be characterised as of NaCl-rich aqueous brines (19-30 wt.% NaCl eq.), that contained only minor amounts of Sr, Ba, Fe, Nb, and LREE. / Die mesoproterozoische Entwicklung Namibias ist durch wiederholte magmatische Aktivität gekennzeichnet. Zunächst erfolgte vor 1385-1347 Ma die Platznahme von Anorthositen des Kunene-Intrusiv-Komplexes (KIK) innerhalb von hochgradig metamorphen Gesteinen des Epupa-Komplexes. Der KIK wurde nahe seiner südöstlichen Begrenzung von zahlreichen Störungen durchschlagen. In diese SE-NW und ENE-WSW streichenden Schwächezonen intrudierten Syenite (ca. 1380-1340 Ma) sowie jüngere Karbonatite (ca. 1140-1120 Ma). Hierbei erfolgte zunächst die Platznahme einer ersten Ferrokarbonatit-Generation, die in hohem Maße durch Anorthosit-Xenolithe kontaminiert ist („karbonatitische Brekzie“). Diese wird von jüngeren und annähernd Xenolith-freien Ferrokarbonatit-Adern durchschlagen. Metasomatische Wechselwirkungen den Karbonatit-Magmen und angrenzenden Anorthositen und Anorthosit-Xenolithen führten zur Bildung ökonomisch bedeutsamer Sodalith-Vorkommen. Die typische primär-magmatische Mineralogie in den Gesteinen des KIK umfasst: Pl (An37-75) ± Ol ± Opx ± Cpx + Fe-Ti-Oxide + Ap ± Zrn. Säume von Amphibol und Biotit umgeben Pyroxen und Ilmenit. Geothermometrische Untersuchungen ergaben Temperaturen von 985-950°C für die Kristallisation von Amphibol. Eine Reequilibrierung der Anorthosite unter granulit- bis amphibolitfaziellen Bedingungen (760 ± 100°C; 7.3 ± 1 kbar) wurde für Orthopyroxen-Granat-Quarz-Koronen um Olivin festgestellt. In den Syeniten kristallisierten zunächst Kfs, Pl, Cpx und Hbl, gefolgt von einer zweiten Generation von Kfs, Hbl, Fe-Ti-Oxiden und Ttn. Die Kristallisation von K-Feldspat fand unter Temperaturbedingungen von 890-790°C statt. Für die Kristallisation von Hastingsit wurden Drucke von 6.5 ± 0.6 kbar ermittelt. Mit dem Ziel, die Natur der Magmenquelle der Anorthosite und Syenite zu charakterisieren wurden geochemische Untersuchungen durchgeführt, sowie die Sauerstoff-Isotopie von Feldspat-Separaten bestimmt. Die Ergebnisse dieser Untersuchungen belegen, dass es sich bei den Stamm-Magmen der Anorthosite um fraktionierte basaltische Magmen handelt. Die d18O-Daten (5.61-6.13 ‰) legen nahe, dass diese Schmelzen durch partielle Aufschmelzung des Erdmantels entstanden sind. Die für die Syenite ermittelten Ergebnisse belegen, dass es sich bei Anorthositen und Syeniten um chemisch unabhängige Systeme handelt, da (1) keine chemische Kontinuität zwischen Anorthositen und Syeniten vorliegt, (2) die Spurenelementgehalte der Syenite auf eine gemischte Kruste-Mantel-Quelle hindeuten, (3) Chondrit-normierte Seltenerd-Element-Muster der Syenite keine negative Eu-Anomalie aufweisen, und (4) die d18O-Werte von Feldspat der Syenite mit 7.20-7.92 ‰ etwa 1.6 ‰ höher liegen als die der Anorthosite. Dementsprechend liegt die enge räumliche und zeitliche Assoziation von Anorthosite und Syeniten vermutlich darin begründet, dass der Aufstieg und die Platznahme der Stamm-Magmen der Anorthosite zum partiellen Aufschmelzen der Unterkruste und somit zur Bildung potentieller Stamm-Magmen der Syenite führten. Um eine umfassende Vorstellung über die genetische und zeitliche Stellung der Karbonatite und über die Sodalith-bildenden Vorgänge zu gewinnen, wurden verschiedene Untersuchungsmethoden angewendet (petrographische und Mikrosonden-analytische Bearbeitung von Dünnschliffen, Bestimmung der Gesamtgesteins-Geochemie, mikrothermometrische Untersuchungen sowie Synchrotron-XRF(SRXRF)-Untersuchungen von Fluid-Einschlüssen, Laser-ICPMS und SRXRF-Analysen der Spurenelement-Gehalte ausgesuchter Minerale sowie O-, C- und S-Isotopenanalytik). Die für die Karbonatite gewonnenen Ergebnisse belegen eindeutig, dass es sich hierbei um magmatische Kristallisationsprodukte fraktionierter Mantelschmelzen darstellen: Die Karbonatite treten als Gänge auf, welche ältere Gesteinseinheiten durchschlagen. Gesteine im Kontakt zu den Karbonatiten haben eine metasomatische Überprägung erfahren; Nebengesteinsklasten werden von Karbonat-reichen Lagen umflossen. Die Mineralogie beider Karbonatit-Generationen, i.e. (1) Ank + Cal + Mag + Bt ± Ilm ± Ap ± Pyrochlor ± Sulfide in der karbonatitischen Brekzie und (2) Ank + Cal + Mag ± Pyrochlor ± Rutil der Ferrokarbonatit-Adern, ihre geochemischen Signaturen sowie die O- und C-Isotopie von Ankerit (8.91-9.73 ‰ d18O und –6.73 bis –6.98 ‰ d13C) bestätigen diese Interpretation, wobei die O-Isotopendaten eine schwache hydrothermale Alteration der Karbonatite nahe legen. Die Ergebnisse von konventioneller Geothermometrie in Kombination mit den für Fluid-Einschlüsse kalkulierten Isochoren belegen, dass die Platznahme der Karbonatite unter P-T-Bedingungen von 4-5 kbar und 1200-630°C erfolgte. Unter Temperaturen von 800-530°C bewirkte die Zirkulation NaCl-reicher wässriger Fluide (19-30 Gew.% NaCl äquivalent) die Umwandlung von Albit der eingeschlossenen Anorthosit-Bruchstücke in Sodalith. Wie SRXRF-Analysen belegen, enthielten die fenitisierenden Fluide zudem geringe Konzentrationen an Sr, Ba, Fe, Nb und SEE.

Im Umfeld von Delitzsch befinden sich unter der etwa 100 m mächtigen Bedeckung aus tertiären Lockersedimenten mehrere magmatische Körper aus Karbonat. Im Jahr 2012 wurde durch die Deutsche Rohstoff AG bei Storkwitz eine 700 m tiefe Explorationsbohrung auf Seltene Erden Elemente abgeteuft. Im Rahmen eines Forschungsprojektes wurde der Frage nachgegangen, wie und woher die Seltenen Erden in das Gestein hineingelangten. Die Ergebnisse können Hinweise auf möglicherweise bisher unbekannte Anreicherungen von Seltenen Erden in anderen Nebengesteinen als den Karbonatiten geben. Die Veröffentlichung liegt nur in englischer Sprache vor. / The Storkwitz-Carbonatite is a Late Cretaceous intrusive complex, which is well-explored by a relatively large number of exploration bore holes both from the 1970ies, 1980ies and from one more recent bore hole, SES-1/2012. The carbonatite complex hosts a (currently) marginally economic mineralisation of rare earth elements (REE) and niobium, which is technically still difficult to recover. The upper part of the carbonatitic body is located some 100-120 m below the Pre-Cenozoic land surface, which in turn is overlain by approximately 100 m of glacial, fluvio-glacial, and fluviatile sediments. The aim of this study was to characterize the mineralisation in the upper part of the intrusion geochemically and mineralogically and to try to identify indications of a supergene overprint on the late magmatic to hydrothermal mineralisation. Fresh drill core samples from the exploration bore hole SES-1/2012 have revealed that the mineralisation is associated with a carbonatitic igneous breccia body and also with several alvikite veins. The breccia body is very heterogeneous, displays a variety of matrix colours and also a range of matrix-to-clast ratios.

Carbonatites are unique and enigmatic magmatic rocks of unclear origin, with very specific mineralogy and geochemical properties. They are predominantly composed of magmatic calcite or other carbonate minerals (Le Bas 1987) and have low content of SiO2 (Le Maitre 2002). Origin of these peculiar magmas is still not clear but they appear to represent an important "window" into processes in Earth's mantle. They are considered either as residual melts from a fractionated carbonated nephelinite or melilitite (Gittins 1989; Gittins and Jago 1998), as immiscible fractions of CO2-saturated silicate melts (Freestone and Hamilton 1980; Amundsen 1987; Kjarsgaard and Hamilton 1988, 1989; Brooker and Hamilton 1990; Kjarsgaard and Peterson 1991; Church and Jones 1995; Lee and Wyllie 1997; Dawson 1998; Halama et al. 2005; Brooker and Kjarsgaard 2011), or as primary melts which are were generated from CO2-bearing peridotite through partial melting (Wallace and Green 1988; Sweeney 1994; Harmer and Gittins 1998; Harmer et al. 1998; Ying et al. 2004). Abundances of rare earth elements (REE) are often high in carbonatites because carbonatitic magmas can dissolve these elements much easily than silicate magmas (Nelson et al. 1988). Carbonatitic magma can also dissolve large quantities of Sr, Ba, P and mainly Zr and Nb,...

Mining will remain indispensable for the foreseeable future. For millennia, our society has been exploring and exploiting mineral deposits. Consequently, most of the easily exploitable high-grade deposits, which were of primary interest given their obvious technical and economic advantages, have already been depleted. For the future, the mining sector will have to efficiently produce metals and minerals from low-grade orebodies with complex mineralogical and microstructural properties -- these are generally referred to as complex orebodies. The exploitation of such complex orebodies carries significant technical risks. However, these risks may be reduced by applying modelling tools that are reliable and robust. In a broad sense, modelling techniques are already applied to estimate the resources and reserves contained in a deposit, and to evaluate the potential recovery (i.e., behaviour in comminution and separation processes) of these materials. This thesis focusses on the modelling of recovery processes, more specifically mineral separation processes, suited to complex ores. Despite recent developments in the fields of process mineralogy and geometallurgy, current mineral separation modelling methods do not fully incorporate the available information on ore complexity. While it is well known that the mineralogical and microstructural properties of individual particles control their process behaviour, currently widely applied modelling methods consider only distributions of bulk particle properties, which oftentimes require much simplification of the particle data available. Moreover, many of the methods used in industrial plant design and process modelling are based on the chemical composition of the samples, which is only a proxy for the mineralogical composition of the ores. A modelling method for mineral separation processes suited to complex ores should be particle-based, taking into consideration all quantifiable particle properties, and capable of estimating uncertainties. Moreover, to achieve a method generalizable to diverse mineral separation units (e.g., magnetic separation or flotation) with minimal human bias, strategies to independently weight the importance of different particle properties for the process(es) under investigation should be incorporated. This dissertation introduces a novel particle-based separation modelling method which fulfills these requirements. The core of the method consists of a least absolute shrinkage and selection operator-regularized (multinomial) logistic regression model trained with a balanced particle dataset. The required particle data are collected with scanning electron microscopy-based automated mineralogy systems. Ultimately, the method can quantify the recovery probability of individual particles, with minimal human input, considering the joint influence of particle shape, size, and modal and surface compositions, for any separation process. Three different case studies were modelled successfully using this new method, without the need for case-specific modifications: 1) the industrial recovery of pyrochlore from a carbonatite deposit with three froth flotation and one magnetic separation units, 2) the laboratory-scale magnetic separation of a complex skarn ore, and 3) the laboratory-scale separation of apatite from a sedimentary ore rich in carbonate minerals by flotation. Moreover, the generalization potential of the method was tested by predicting the process outcome of samples which had not been used in the model training phase, but came from the same geometallurgical domain of a specific ore deposit. In each of these cases, the method obtained high predictive accuracy. In addition to its predictive power, the new particle-based separation modelling method provides detailed insights into the influence of specific particle properties on processing behaviour. To name a couple, the influence of size on the recovery of different carbonate minerals by flotation in an industrial operation; and a comparison to traditional methodologies demonstrated the limitation of only considering particle liberation in process mineralogy studies -- the associated minerals should be evaluated, too. Finally, the potential application of the method to minimize the volume of test work required in metallurgical tests was showcased with a complex ore. The approach developed here provides a foundation for future developments, which can be used to optimize mineral separation processes based on particle properties. The opportunity exists to develop a similar approach to model the comminution of single particles and ultimately allow for the full prediction of the recovery potential of complex ores.:1 Introduction 1 1.1 Background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 1.2 Objectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 1.3 State-of-the-art in particle-based separation models . . . . . . . . . . . 11 1.4 Moving forward . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 1.4.1 Particle data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 1.4.2 Mathematical tools required for the particle-based separation model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 1.4.3 Workflow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 1.5 Structure of the thesis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 2 The method and its application to industrial operations 23 2.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 2.1.1 Background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 2.2 Methodology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 2.2.1 Assumptions and limitations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 2.2.2 Data structure and required pre-treatment . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 2.2.3 Algorithm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 2.3 Demonstration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 2.3.1 Artificial test cases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 2.3.2 Real case study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 2.4 Discussion and final considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 3 The robustness of the method towards compositional variations of new feed samples 45 3.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 3.2 Generalization potential of current Particle-based Separation Model (PSM) methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 3.3 Case study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 3.3.1 Samples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 3.3.2 Dry magnetic separation tests . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 3.3.3 Sample characterization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 3.3.4 Particle-based separation models . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54 3.4 Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56 3.5 Discussion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62 3.6 Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 4 Flotation kinetics of individual particles 67 4.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68 4.2 Method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70 4.2.1 Data collection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 4.2.2 Cumulative recovery probability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72 4.2.3 Particle-based kinetic flotation model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74 4.3 Demonstration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75 4.3.1 Materials and methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75 4.3.2 Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76 4.4 Discussion and final thoughts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80 5 Conclusions and outlook 85 5.1 Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85 5.2 Outlook . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86 Bibliography 89

The advent of unoccupied aerial systems (UAS) as disruptive technology has a lasting impact on remote sensing, geophysics and most geosciences. Small, lightweight, and low-cost UAS enable researchers and surveyors to acquire earth observation data in higher spatial and spectral resolution as compared to airborne and satellite data. UAS-based applications range from rapid topographic mapping using photogrammetric techniques to hyperspectral and geophysical measurements of surface and subsurface geology. UAS surveys contribute to identifying metal deposits, monitoring of mine sites and can reveal arising environmental issues associated with mining. Further, affordable UAS technology will boost exploration data availability and expertise in the global south. This thesis investigates the application of UAS-based multi-sensor data for mineral exploration, in particular the integration of hyperspectral imagers, magnetometers and digital cameras (covering the visible red, green, blue light spectrum). UAS-based research is maturing, however the aforementioned methods are not unified effectively. RGB-based photogrammetry is used to investigate topography and surface texture. Image spectrometers measure mineral-specific surface signatures. Magnetometers detect geomagnetic field changes caused by magnetic minerals at surface and depth. The integration of such UAS sensor-based methods in this thesis augments exploration potential with non-invasive, high-resolution, safe, rapid and practical survey methods. UAS-based surveying acquired, processed and integrated data from three distinct test sites. The sites are located in Finland (Fe-Ti-V at Otanmäki; apatite at Siilinjärvi) and Greenland (Ni-Cu-PGE at Qullissat, Disko Island) and were chosen as geologically diverse areas in subarctic to arctic environments. Restricted accessibility, unfavourable atmospheric conditions, dark rocks, debris and vegetation cover and low solar illumination were common features. While the topography in Finland was moderately flat, a steep landscape challenged the Greenland field work. These restraints meant that acquisitions varied from site to site and how data was integrated and interpreted is dependent on the commodity of interest. Iron-based spectral absorption and magnetic mineral response were detected using hyperspectral and magnetic surveying in Otanmäki. Multi-sensor-based image feature detection and classification combined with magnetic forward modelling enabled seamless geologic mapping in Siilinjärvi. Detailed magnetic inversion and multispectral photogrammetry led to the construction of a comprehensive 3D model of magmatic exploration targets in Greenland. Ground truth at different intensity was employed to verify UAS-based data interpretations during all case studies. Laboratory analysis was applied when deemed necessary to acquire geologic-mineralogic validation (e.g., X-ray diffraction and optical microscopy for mineral identification to establish lithologic domains, magnetic susceptibility measurements for subsurface modelling), for example for trace amounts of magnetite in carbonatite (Siilinjärvi) and native iron occurrence in basalt (Qullissat). Technical achievements were the integration of a multicopter-based prototype fluxgate-magnetometer data from different survey altitudes with ground truth, and a feasibility study with a high-speed multispectral image system for fixed-wing UAS. The employed case studies transfer the experiences made towards general recommendations for UAS application-based multi-sensor integration. This thesis highlights the feasibility of UAS-based surveying at target scale (1–50 km2) and solidifies versatile survey approaches for multi-sensor integration. / Ziel dieser Arbeit war es, das Potenzial einer Drohnen-basierten Mineralexploration mit Multisensor-Datenintegration unter Verwendung optisch-spektroskopischer und magnetischer Methoden zu untersuchen, um u. a. übertragbare Arbeitsabläufe zu erstellen. Die untersuchte Literatur legt nahe, dass Drohnen-basierte Bildspektroskopie und magnetische Sensoren ein ausgereiftes technologisches Niveau erreichen und erhebliches Potenzial für die Anwendungsentwicklung bieten, aber es noch keine ausreichende Synergie von hyperspektralen und magnetischen Methoden gibt. Diese Arbeit umfasste drei Fallstudien, bei denen die Drohnengestützte Vermessung von geologischen Zielen in subarktischen bis arktischen Regionen angewendet wurde. Eine Kombination von Drohnen-Technologie mit RGB, Multi- und Hyperspektralkameras und Magnetometern ist vorteilhaft und schuf die Grundlage für eine integrierte Modellierung in den Fallstudien. Die Untersuchungen wurden in einem Gelände mit flacher und zerklüfteter Topografie, verdeckten Zielen und unter oft schlechten Lichtverhältnissen durchgeführt. Unter diesen Bedingungen war es das Ziel, die Anwendbarkeit von Drohnen-basierten Multisensordaten in verschiedenen Explorationsumgebungen zu bewerten. Hochauflösende Oberflächenbilder und Untergrundinformationen aus der Magnetik wurden fusioniert und gemeinsam interpretiert, dabei war eine selektive Gesteinsprobennahme und Analyse ein wesentlicher Bestandteil dieser Arbeit und für die Validierung notwendig. Für eine Eisenerzlagerstätte wurde eine einfache Ressourcenschätzung durchgeführt, indem Magnetik, bildspektroskopisch-basierte Indizes und 2D-Strukturinterpretation integriert wurden. Fotogrammetrische 3D-Modellierung, magnetisches forward-modelling und hyperspektrale Klassifizierungen wurden für eine Karbonatit-Intrusion angewendet, um einen kompletten Explorationsabschnitt zu erfassen. Eine Vektorinversion von magnetischen Daten von Disko Island, Grönland, wurden genutzt, um großräumige 3D-Modelle von undifferenzierten Erdrutschblöcken zu erstellen, sowie diese zu identifizieren und zu vermessen. Die integrierte spektrale und magnetische Kartierung in komplexen Gebieten verbesserte die Erkennungsrate und räumliche Auflösung von Erkundungszielen und reduzierte Zeit, Aufwand und benötigtes Probenmaterial für eine komplexe Interpretation. Der Prototyp einer Multispektralkamera, gebaut für eine Starrflügler-Drohne für die schnelle Vermessung, wurde entwickelt, erfolgreich getestet und zum Teil ausgewertet. Die vorgelegte Arbeit zeigt die Vorteile und Potenziale von Multisensor-Drohnen als praktisches, leichtes, sicheres, schnelles und komfortabel einsetzbares geowissenschaftliches Werkzeug, um digitale Modelle für präzise Rohstofferkundung und geologische Kartierung zu erstellen.