Heavy minerals survey as an economic prospecting had been widely applied during 1960 to 1980 with regional survey. It accumulated large quantity of data, which had been systematically processed in recent ten years during national mineral resource assessment project. This paper analyzes its issues and outlook of heavy minerals prospecting, concludes that heavy minerals and their combination indicate many kinds of metals deposits including gold and silver, black metal and partial nonmetallic minerals, determine the genesis of deposits, and look for possible magmatic intrusions. It also can be used to study regional petrology, structures, regional structural framework. This paper presents approaches to heavy minerals and data application.
Heavy minerals are commonly used to explain sediments, transportation, source and geochemistry. Cassiterite, stable as its chemical components, is seldom used as an indicator of tin deposit in western Yunnan tin zone, China's vital tin concentrating area. Heavy minerals combination of tin deposits can indicate the deposit types and genesis, helps locate the new discovery. Heavy minerals of Lailishan tin deposit are composed of zicon, apatite, epidote, rutile and anatase, commonly found in granites, and tourmaline, a specific tinbearing granite mineral, totally less than 3% in weight. In a short transportation, heavy minerals combination includes cassiterite, pyrite and magnetite, also associated with monazite, hematite and limonite. Large quantity of pyrites implies a cassiteritesulfides ore body rather than Greisen type.
Heavy minerals survey is an effective prospecting. In practice, however, target minerals can not be enough acquired in samples due to their physical and chemical features. How to find deposits according to heavy minerals combination is notable during minerals resource survey. This paper, based on Mn and Ag bearing minerals'occurrence forms, enrichment rules and coexisting relation of Xiangguang Mn-Ag Deposit, establishes a heavy mineral comprehensive prospecting model for volcanic hydrothermal filling Mn-Ag deposits in the northern margin of North China Craton.
Cuomolong Tin polymetallic deposit is one of major nonferrous metallic deposits in the West Sichuan Plateau. Natural heavy placer mineral displays obvious distribution characteristics. Anomaly is characterized by large scale and high intensity, closely related to the Triassic Tumugou, Qugasi and Dang’en formation of ore source bed, adamellite, kfeldspar granite and biotite granite of tinbearing granites and orecontrolling structures, consistent with Sn, Pb, Zn, Ag geochemical anomaly and comprehensive geochemical anomaly, which is a good response to the tin deposit. Cassiterite, galena and cerussite as the typomorphic mineral combination, their combination anomaly can be used as an important predictive factor to delineating the smallest prospecting area. Heavy minerals anomaly is a vital indicator of tin prospecting and exploration in this area and its vicinity.
This paper, based on Shanxi’s 1∶200k heavy minerals survey,uses copper heavy minerals to introduce the lineation of heavy minerals combination anomaly. Zhongtiaoshan copper zone is composed of five copper anomalies, 2 Class I, 2 Class II and 1 Class III. Chencun town Class I anomaly is located in Laojundian high anomaly zone, where possesses Henglingguan, Tongkuangyu and Xumaogongdian copper deposits, also in a low and gentle minus magnetic anomaly with HuBi type, Henglingguan and Tongkuangyu deposits, consistent with chemical anomaly after Fractal processing. This anomaly shows a good indication for copper potential combined with the geology and offers the guideline for next work.
This paper, based on a statistic analysis of gold heavy minerals in Heilongjiang, Jilin and Laoning's typical gold deposits, presents their typical heavy mineral combination in porphyry, skarn, orogenic and hydrothermal gold deposits. Gold heavy minerals are widely spreading, mainly confined by terrain and streams, showing center zoning. Study area can be divided into 12 anomaly zones, most near hidden faults with highly relativity with gold deposits from natural gold, pyrite, cinnabar and scheelite. Gold heavy mineral combination varies with gold deposit types. Porphyry gold shows an combination of natural goldpyritecinnabarscheelitegalenachalcopyriteziconrutile, skarn gold shows natural goldpyritecinnabargarnetapatite, orogenic gold shows natural goldpyritecinnabarscheelitegalenachalcopyrite, hydrothermal gold shows natural goldpyritecinnabarscheelitegalena. Heavy minerals anomaly is an indicator of ore deposit, their combination is related to certain gold deposits.
Heavy mineral method is an ancient and effective prospecting method, it had been adopted since two thousand years ago. This paper based on Qinba’s primary gold deposits, placer gold deposits and gold heavy minerals data, analyzes goldbearing minerals, gold particle size, grade, and texture from placer gold deposit, primary gold deposit and gold heavy minerals, uses physical and chemical transportation, sedimentary mechanism to study the relation between flow speed and debris or natural gold particle size under water dynamics, formation, decomposition and sedimentary process of gold complex in oxidized environment or in chloride ion solution, and discusses the relation between gold minerals anomaly and gold deposits (goldbearing geological units), and classifies gold minerals anomaly types, providing references for predicting gold types.
Weining’s Beishan area of Ningxia is an important polymetallic metallogenic belt. Over years, a geological survey work has found more than 30 gold, copper, iron occurrences, but no breakthrough due to poor work and complicated geology and structures. This paper, by using heavy minerals survey data of Ningxia Resources Potential Assessment Project, overlaps Beishan’s gold, copper and lead single minerals (or combination), combined with geochemical anomaly, regional geology, compiles Beishan Area heavy minerals anomaly map and discusses their indication for prospecting.
Conglomerate gold deposit is an important gold category. The occurrence form of gold vary its category, making finding gold possible according to the gold heavy minerals. This paper summarizes the distribution of gold heavy minerals in eastern Shandong, showing clustering and zoning anomalies, which are closely related to strata, intrusives and gold deposits (occurrences). A field investigation on Dianzi gold heavy mineral anomaly, Xiaoyuan, Jiaozhou city reveals the anomaly is connected to the Ducun formation goldbearing conglomerate, indicating conglomerate gold potentials in southerneastern Jiaolai basin in its Laiyang group conglomerate.
Heavy minerals prospecting is low cost but workable. Lots of clues and deposits (occurrences) were found through Tibet’s 1：200k heavy minerals survey, such as chromium, tungsten, tin, lead, zinc and molybdenum. Tibet’s chromites are chiefly hosted in the ultrabasic units of two ophiolite melange zones, one in south and one in north, in which heavy minerals anomalies are zoning, highly consistent with ultrabasic rocks and chromite deposits. The ultrabasic rocks contain large quantity of black chrome spinel, resistant to weathering, heavy, and stable, which is zoning as an outstanding prospecting. This paper discusses the prospecting direction in the two zones attempting to find new ultrabasic units or chromite resources.
Aixi gold deposit’s surrounding area possesses gold potential regarded one of vital gold forecasted areas. This paper, based on a study of its heavy minerals, reveals their distribution of heavy minerals anomaly, and highlights some indicative heavy minerals and determines their combination. This paper also discusses its response to gold mineralization in Aixi gold deposit and its surrounding area. Heavy minerals anomaly as a mark for deposit provides mineralogical basis for regional potential assessment and exploration.
GIS is commonly used in processing heavy mineral data. This paper combined with professional data processing and GIS 2nd Development in information domain, presents an effective and fast data processing method that GeoTools developed in MapGIS can calculate in batch anomaly points, average, and maximum of heavy mineral anomaly, and help complete classification of anomalies. GeoTools had achieved good results in processing Qinghai and Shanxi’s heavy minerals data in rising efficiency and quality and accuracy, and can be processing data under MapGIS.
Chromite heavy minerals and their combination have a good response to ultrabasic chromite deposits. There are many ophiolite belts holding ultrabasic rocks in the Tibetan plateau. It is worthwhile studying the indication of heavy minerals and their combination to chromite mineralization. This paper describes the anomaly distribution of chromite and its related mineral placers, summarizes their response extent to chromite mineralization around Dingqing of Tibet based on existing data, which would provide prospecting information to find the deposit. Research proves that the natural heavy placer combinations of ultrabasic chromite deposits are chromite and chromium spinel. Based on the heavy minerals survey, their anomalies in Dingqing area mainly distribute around the suture zone, closely related with ultrabasic rocks in genesis. Chromite high anomalies are highly response to chromite deposits (occurrences). These characteristics may provide indication for prospecting chromite ore deposits.
Heavy minerals survey is a direct prospecting which can reveal clues to ore deposits. Kaishantun chromite deposit has a long mining history. This paper, based on a study on its typomorphic minerals related to basic to ultrabasic rocks, chromite, pyrite, natural gold and cinnabar by their anomaly spatial distribution and combination, combines with chemical prospecting to determine the heavy mineral anomaly and its indication, and establishes a heavy minerals prospecting model of Kaishantun chromite deposit.
Tangshan gold mine is the only independent, miniature fine disseminated gold deposit found in Jiangsu Province. Followed by 1∶〖KG-*2〗200000, 1∶〖KG-*2〗50000 database of natural placer mineral survey in Tangshan gold district, and combined with the assemblage characteristics of minerals in deposit, we chose limonite, pyrite, arsenic minerals (like realgar, orpiment and arsenopyrite), cinnabar, native silver, lead minerals (including natural lead, galena and cerussite), sphalerite, native gold, copper minerals (such as chalcopyrite, bornite, azurite and malachite), barite and so on as the major typomorphic minerals. Through ZSAPS2.0 software and GIS platform, this paper finally delineates natural placer mineral combinaton anomalies, and finds out that pyrite and limonite are the direct indicative minerals, and native gold, sphalerite, cinnabar, arsenopyrite, barite are the secondary indicative minerals of Tangshan gold mine. Considering prospecting signs, we establish Tangshan gold mine geologicalnatural placer prospecting criteria, which provides some reference for indepth evaluation of Tangshan gold prospecting potential.
Cassiterite heavy minerals are indicator for tin deposits. The heavy minerals data shows a mineral combination of cassiterite, tungsten, lead, pyrite and magnetite in work area, which is compared with ore minerals and heavy minerals of Lianghe’s typical deposits. Indication of heavy minerals to tin deposits is summarized by their well relativity. This paper analyzes the deposit genesis implied from heavy minerals combination that can be used to determine the mineralization types and temperature and to find out a workable exploration model. Heavy minerals anomaly zones which are outlined based on magma, strata, structure, terrain and streams provide references for next exploration.
Heavy minerals and their combination contain lots of source lithological units and provide abundant information of ore source. Geological prospecting and studies are chiefly focused on gold, tungsten ant tin, but less on copper, lead and zinc, etc. This paper studies the CuPbZn deposits and their genesis, compares their heavy mineral types and distribution in Pulang area, and finds out the copper mineralization and indication of prospecting. The heavy minerals and their combination are clustering, their anomalies are responsive to copper deposits, reflecting copper mineralization model and metallization and revealing metallization information of genesis, which is of indication to regional mineral resources prospecting.
Gansu’s MingshuiHeiyingshan area is a third class metallogenic belt with AuCuNiFe (WSn) mineralization potentials. This paper, based on the orehosting foundation, uses natural heavy mineral placer data to predict metallogenesis in Hersynian stage AuCuNiFe (WSn) mineralization of MingshuiHeiyingshan belt. According to the foundation distribution and geology, the belt is divided into 50 geological units for assignment values by natural heavy mineral placer data, which is integrated with number and scale of ore deposits or occurrences. Totally, 5 predicted areas of A class, 12 of B class and 16 of C class were obtained. Through comparison, it is found that the known deposits (occurrences) all located in both A and B class prediction area, which is in accordant with regional mineralization. This study provides usefully information for metallogenic evaluation and mineral exploration.
This paper studies the natural heavy minerals data of Hubei Province and the relationship between the anomalies and the regional gold deposits. By researching and dealing with natural heavy minerals data of 1∶〖KG-*2〗200k of Hubei Province, the author discusses the distribution of the gold minerals of natural heavy minerals of Hubei Province and the relationship between natural heavy minerals abnormal points and geological structures. According to mineral natural heavy minerals anomalies and geology and metallogenic background, this paper presents areas of attention for prospecting gold potential, ZhuxiBingying anomaly area south east, YaquelingSongzi anomaly area, XuanhuadianHekou gold anomaly area, Daqishan anomaly area, ShangbaheMeichuan anomaly area south east, TongchenFangshan anomaly area middle. Studying the application of natural heavy minerals results data can provides important information for geological prospecting and geological structure research on natural heavy concentrate.
