Abstract: The study area includes the east Kunlun Mountain and the Altun Mountain, the research degree of the survey on mineral resources is very low, and the conventional geologic work is extremely difficult to undertake due to the high elevation, low temperation temporal and spatial distribution of mineral resources with remote sensing is an effective and ideal way. In this paper, the regional structure and its patterns and evolution as well as the temporal and spatial distribution of mineral resources are mainly researched by extracting, processing and analyzing the information from NOAA MSS and TM images. The results show that the main stretching directions of the structural system in the Altun Mountain-Kunlun Mountain region are NW, EW and NWW, and the deep faults along these three directions are the main boundary lines for classifying the regional structural patterns. Four secondary structural units can be classified according to the information from NOAA, MSS and TM images. Some mineral resources distribute extensively in the study area.

Key words: remote sensing, TM image, mineral resources, Kunlun Mountain