At the last GRSG we presented early results of combining a hyperspectral VNIR-SWIR push-broom scanner with a white-light laser as the source of illumination. Though the alignment of the laser with the imaged line on the outcrop was crude, we demonstrated that the system could feasible differentiate between SWIR-active alteration minerals in a surface outcrop at night.

Since then we have strongly refined our setup to automate the alignment process, and integrate the setup in a protective housing for mounting on a rover. We have tested the setup under high humidity, low temperature mining conditions. Our latest results show that with careful alignment of all optical components excellent spectral results in the VNIR and SWIR can be achieved that are equivalent to conventional halogen illumination, but at a fraction of the required energy input. This makes the system suitable for putting it on a battery operated rover for underground mine-face scanning without overly draining the power supply.