Volcanogenic Massive Sulfide Deposits in China

Abstract

China has many volcanogenic massive sulfide (VMS) deposits, few of which are familiar to Western geologists. The economic importance of VMS deposits in China has been increasingly recognized, especially after progress has been made on exploration and research in major orogenic belts since the 1980s. VMS deposits of various types with ages ranging from Proterozoic to Mesozoic have been identified within a number of major metallogenic belts. The VMS deposits in northwestern China occur in Hercy-Caledonian orogenic belts (the Altaides [Altay] and Qilian); those in southwestern China appear in the Himalaya-Tethyan orogenic belt as well as at the margin of Yangtze continental plate; and those in eastern China are related to basemental sequences of Proterozoic to early Paleozoic ages. Most of the important VMS deposits in China appear to be associated with paleotectonic settings of convergent plate margins. Only a few deposits presently have been identified as economically important, but if VMS deposits occur i...