The prospecting for magmatic liquation type nickel deposits on the southern and northern margin of Qaidam Basin, Qinghai Province: A case study of the Xiarihamu Ni-Cu sulfide deposit

Abstract: The Xiarihamu Cu-Ni sulfide deposit is a magmatic liquation type deposit discovered for the first time in East Kunlun orogenic belt. This kind of ore deposits is one of the research directions of prospecting for Cu-Ni deposits in Qinghai Province. Based on a study of the metallogenic characteristics of the Xiarihamu Cu-Ni sulfide deposit, the authors hold that the collisional extension environment constituted the basic condition for the formation of the Xiarihamu superlarge Cu-Ni sulfide deposit, the rock-forming and ore-forming processes took place exclusively in early Devonion, and the rock body was emplaced in Paleoproteerozoic Baishahe Formation of Linshuikou, with the addition of the later hybridization mineralization. Based on an analysis of the metallogenic conditions of the magmatic liquation type Ni deposits on the southern and northern margin of Qaidam Basin, the authors have also found that the Devonian thermal event indicated that collisional extension occurred on both the southern margin and the northern margin in this period, the ore-forming mafic-ultramafic rocks on both margins intruded into old strata, stratigraphic sulfur took part in the ore-forming process, and the ore-forming mafic-ultramafic rock bodies are consistent with the geophysical magnetic anomalies as well as Ni, Co, Cu combinational anomalies. An integrated analysis shows that the prospecting potential for magmatic liquation type Ni deposits on the southern and northern margin of Qaidam Basin is great. It is also pointed out that the key prospecting targets in this region is the central kunlun magma arc belt on the southern margin of Qaidam Basin, the high-pressure metamorphic belt on the northern margin of Qaidam Basin, and the Olongbuluck landmass.