The anomalies determined using a soil geochemical survey and prospecting model of the Matou gold deposit in Sichuan Province

The Matou gold deposit is located in the Mianning-Yanyuan strike-slip orogenic belt and is part of the deeply cut Quaternary coverage area and, thus, has limited surface prospecting clues. In this prospecting stage, a comprehensive anomaly area was delineated through the 1:10 000 soil geochemical survey. Then, gold ore bodies were discovered through trenching engineering, indicating excellent prospecting performance. Moreover, this study established a geological-geochemical prospecting model dominated by the HT3 anomaly area by combining the geological and geochemical anomalies in the work area. Finally, the next prospecting direction was proposed.