New Advances in the study of the gigantic Gangdise porphyry copper metallogenic zone, Tibet

Abstract：The Gangdise porphyry copper metallogenic zone belongs to the Himalaya-Tethyan metallogenic domain—one of the three porphyry copper metallogenic belts in the world, where a major breakthrough has been made in mineral exploration in recent years. The Gangdise zone is also a porphyry metallogenic zone where a major breakthrough has been made in copper exploration in China. The discovery and evaluation of a number of large and superlarge porphyry copper deposits such as the Qulong deposit signifies the primary formation of a new base of exploration and exploitation of over ten million tons of porphyry copper ores. The paper mainly introduces the latest achievements and experience in exploration of the Qulong, Zhunuo, Chongjiang and Jiru porphyry copper deposits in the Gangdise belt, and on that basis, it summarizes the main results of theoretical research on the rock- and ore-controlling structures, features of ore-bearing porphyries and their source regions, metallogenic characteristics, metallogenic series and mineralizing ages in this belt and at last presents some thoughts and suggestions on the disadvantages and future direction in the copper exploration and theoretical research.