Aeromagnetic Study of Buenavista de Cuellar, Mining Region, Guerrero, Mexico

Analysis of the aeromagnetic anomalies south of the central sector of the Mexican Volcanic Belt sheds new light on the knowledge of the mining region of Buenavista de Cuellar, in the state of Guerrero, southeast Mexico. The area is located in the northern part of the Mixteco Terrain characterized by a Paleozoic metamorphic basement and overlain by a sedimentary platform (Guerrero-Morelos Platform). The iron deposits located north of the state, between the cities of Taxco and Iguala have motivated studies in the region.

The analyzed region covers a rectangular area of 660 km² approximately from 440000, 2025000 to 462000, 2055000 UTM. The total field aeromagnetic data was obtained with a Geometrics G-803 proton magnetometer at a flight altitude of 300 m above ground level. For the analysis of the anomalies, the data was further smoothed to construct a 2 km regularly spaced grid.

The anomaly map was compared with the surface geology and larger anomalies were correlated with major geologic features. Our main interest was in mapping the subsurface intrusive and plutonic bodies.

The total field magnetic anomalies were reduced to the pole by using the double integral Fourier method. The analysis and interpretation of these anomalies allows us to infer the presence of four plutonic bodies of evolved composition that would be associated with metallic mineralized bodies in two new prospective areas.