—The paper discusses current state of the spectral approach to analysis of induced polarization (IP), its possibilities and limitations, along with directions for the method development. Reviewed are the main methods and approaches for estimation of spectral IP parameters and their specific features. Our practical experiments have shown the advantages of analysis of transient IP characteristics over standard approaches to the IP data analysis and processing. Results of the standard and spectral approaches application to analysis of IP data when solving mineral exploration problems at the Maletoyvayam gold deposit (Kamchatka Peninsula) and the Yasnoe gold occurrence (Taimyr Peninsula) are compared. Here, we demonstrate that low efficiency of works is erroneously regarded as one of the main factors hindering a broad adoption of the spectral IP method in mineral exploration activities. Rather, it is a lack of automated techniques for analysis of transient IP characteristics. We propose a new approach to spectral analysis of IP data, based on the algorithms for image recognition of a reference object, and describe pioneering efforts of its practical application.
