Outline of the mineral resources of China and their tectonic setting

Abstract

China consists of several small cratons accreted during different geological epochs. The complexity of its tectonic pattern and geological evolution has resulted in formation of a series of different mineral deposits. Archaean mineral deposits are rare, except the banded iron‐formation‐type iron deposits in the North China Block, which are economically important. The Proterozoic, mainly the Mesoproterozoic, was an important metallogenic epoch in China, during which SEDEX‐type Cu‐Pb‐Zn ore deposits, and ultramafic and mafic‐hosted Cu‐Ni ore deposits were formed along rifts in both the North China and Yangtze Blocks. Caledonian‐age Cu‐Pb‐Zn deposits are mostly in the Qilianshan‐Qinling orogenic belt along the southwestern margin of the North China Block. Late Palaeozoic metallogenic provinces (Au, Cu, Ni, Fe, V, Ti) are mainly located in the Xingjiang region, and the southwestern margin of the South China Block where Devonian SEDEX‐type Pb‐Zn‐Ag and Sn deposits are also dominate. The Yanshanian metallogenic epoch is a highlight of Chinese metallogenic history. Au, Mo, Pb, and Zn mineralisation occurred in North China. .W, Sn and REE ore deposits related to granitoids were formed in South China and in the coastal regions of East China. Cu, Ag, Pb, and Zn ore deposits occurred mainly in and around continental volcanic basins. The Himalayan metallogenic province of China covers Tibet, Yunnan and western Sichuan and is characterised by Au, Cu, Pb, Zn, Ag ores and lake salt deposits. The ages of oil‐ and gasfields between western and eastern parts of China are different, with the former mainly of Jurassic‐Cretaceous age and the latter (including the offshore fields) predominantly of Tertiary age.