A method has been developed to automatically characterize the type of mineral phases by means of digital image analysis using optical properties of crystals. The method relies on microscope automation, digital image acquisition, image processing and analysis. Two hundred series of digital images were taken from 45 standard thin sections using a digital camera mounted on a conventional microscope and then transmitted to a computer. CIELab color space is selected for the processing, in order to effectively employ its well-defined color difference metric for introducing appropriate color-based feature. Seven basic optical properties of minerals (A. color; B. pleochroism; C. interference color; D. birefringence; E. opacity; F. isotropy; G. extinction angle) are redefined. The Local Binary Pattern (LBP) operator and modeling texture is integrated in the Mineral Identification (MI) scheme to identify homogeneous regions in microscopic images of minerals. The accuracy of mineral identification using the method was %99, %98, %96 and %95 for biotite, hornblende, quartz and calcite minerals, respectively. The method is applicable to other minerals and phases for which individual optical properties of crystals do not provide enough discrimination between the relevant phases. On the basis of this research, it can be concluded that if the CIELab color space and the local binary pattern (LBP) are applied, it is possible to recognize the mineral samples with the accuracy of more than 98%.

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