A discussion on the major molybdenum ore concentration areas in China and their resource potential

Abstract：Distributed extensively in the whole country, molybdenite is one of the dominant minerals in China. Mo deposits are mainly of porphyry type, skarn type and hydrothermal vein type in genesis. Metallogenic epochs are mostly concentrated in Mesozoic and Cenozoic. In recent years, with the development of technology, the applied area of molybdenum has been gradually expanded, which has stimulated the exploration and exploitation work of molybdenum minerals and made a series of breakthroughs in the exploration and expansion of molybdenum resources. In non-traditional molybdenum ore areas, many large or giant molybdenum deposits were found, which has fundamentally changed the original pattern of“W in South, Mo in North”. In this paper, based on extensive data collection, the authors summarized the characteristics of molybdenum ore resources in China and preliminary divided molybdenum ore deposits in China into 17 large ore concentration areas in consideration of magma, tectonic settings, stratigraphy, fluids, metallogenic ages and other factors. The main geological characteristics and metallogenic characteristics of molybdenum ore concentration areas were described. On such a basis, regional metallogenic models for four most important molybdenum ore concentration areas were established. Meanwhile, based on data and molybdenum ore-searching achievements, this paper makes a comment on the resource potential of major molybdenum ore concentration areas and gives suggestions for future exploration work.