Study on the major minerals potential in China

Abstract

China is located at the convergence zone of the Paleo-Asian metallogenic domain, East Pacific margin metallogenic domain, and Tethyan metallogenic domain. Theoretically, this feature favor metallogenic conditions, which suggest an abundance of mineral resources. Today, the rapid development of urbanization and industrialization has triggered a continuously increasing demand for and a large scale consumption of mineral resources. Therefore, in order to satisfy this demand, China has furthered its evaluation of mineral resources potential to help guide future mineral explorations. Based on the innovation of geological theory, prediction and prospecting models, as well as GIS-based comprehensive assessment methods, 25 important mineral resources and key metals have been assessed in China. Herein, we evaluate the national mineral resources assessment study by combining it with metallogenic areas (belts) research. Through our analyses, we identify the potential characteristics of important mineral resources in different metallogenic areas (belts) to enhance the scientific decision-making process for the exploration and deployment of mineral resources in China. We found that the exploration and deployment of bulk minerals such as iron, manganese, and copper are continuously changing. Currently, the eastern region should be the primary focus of deep prospecting, while exploration for copper, lead, and zinc should occur in the central and western regions.