Mapping of multi-element geochemical anomalies is the basic goal of stream sediment sampling in worldwide, and especially at 1:100,000 scale in Iran. In the central part of the Lut-Block in eastern Iran, 855 stream sediment samples from an area of 3000 km² have been collected. The existence of sub-volcanic rock units along with argillic and sericite alterations provides potential for poly-metallic mineralization in the study district. Hierarchical clustering analysis of the stream sediment geochemical data in R-mode shows that it is possible to group the 44 analyzed elements into four clusters. The first cluster, with Ag, Au, Ba, Pb, Sr, Te, Tl and Zn elements, and the third cluster, with Cd, Co, Cr, Cs, Cu, Fe, Ge, Ni, Th, Ti, U and V elements, comprise the strategic metals in the study district. Four hierarchical clustering algorithms—OS-AHC-av, OS-AHC-wa, BIRCH and BHC—have been used to determine multi-element geochemical anomalies in the data. The results show four and three areas with mineralization potential for metals of the first and third clusters, respectively. Because the four algorithms resulted in anomalous areas with almost the same shapes and locations, the results indicate the ability of these clustering algorithms to help in mapping of multi-element geochemical anomalies. However, the comparison of these results with those of principal components analysis indicates the relative superiority of the BIRCH clustering algorithm over the others. Therefore, the areas occupying 186–365 km² are the first priority for exploration in the next stage and the areas occupying 872–1189 km² are the second priority.

绘制多元素地球化学异常是世界范围内河流沉积物采样的基本目标，尤其是伊朗的 1:100,000 比例。在伊朗东部 Lut-Block 中部，3000 km ²区域的 855 个河流沉积物样本已被收集。亚火山岩单元的存在以及泥质和绢云母蚀变为研究区的多金属矿化提供了潜力。R 模式下河流沉积物地球化学数据的分层聚类分析表明，可以将 44 种分析元素分为四个聚类。第一个簇包含 Ag、Au、Ba、Pb、Sr、Te、Tl 和 Zn 元素，第三个簇包含 Cd、Co、Cr、Cs、Cu、Fe、Ge、Ni、Th、Ti、U 和V 元素，构成研究区的战略金属。四种层次聚类算法——OS-AHC-av、OS-AHC-wa、BIRCH 和 BHC——已被用于确定数据中的多元素地球化学异常。结果显示，第一和第三簇的金属分别有四个和三个具有成矿潜力的区域。由于这四种算法产生了形状和位置几乎相同的异常区域，结果表明这些聚类算法有助于绘制多元素地球化学异常的能力。然而，将这些结果与主成分分析的结果进行比较表明 BIRCH 聚类算法相对于其他算法的优越性。因此，占地 186-365 公里的区域²为下一阶段优先勘探，872～1189 km ²为次要勘探区域。