A Preliminary Review of Metallogenic Regularity of Molybdenum Deposits in China

Molybdenum is one of the dominant minerals in China because of its rich reserves. In recent years, outstanding breakthroughs have been made in molybdenum prospecting in China, and the distribution of molybdenum deposits in China is found to have a “planar pattern”. In general, the molybdenum deposits are concentrated in eastern China, including the largest molybdenum reserves of Henan Province. In terms of the scale of molybdenum deposits, the identified resources of the superlarge deposits are the most important, which account for about 53% of the whole country, and those of the large deposits account for about 30%, those of the medium‐sized deposits account for about 14%, those of the small‐sized deposits, mine spots and mineralization account for about 3%. The molybdenum deposits are mainly classified as porphyry type, skarn type, hydrothermal (vein) type and sedimentary (metamorphic) type in genesis, and the identified resources of these types account for 85.75%, 8.83%, 2.79% and 2.63% of the total resources respectively. Based on the statistics of precise chronology data of molybdenites Re‐Os, Mo‐mineralization can be divided into 6 periods in Chinese geological history, which are Precambrian (>800 Ma), Cambrian‐Silurian (540–415 Ma, Caledonian), Devonian‐Permian (400–290 Ma, Hecynian), Triassic (260–200 Ma, Indosinian), Jurassic‐Cretaceous (195–70 Ma, Yanshanian) and Paleogene‐Neogene (65–10 Ma, Himalayan). Mo mineralization during the Yanshanian period is the strongest one, in which about 76.69% of the Chinese total identified resources was formed. The second is the Himalayan period. According to spatial‐temporal distribution characteristics of molybdenum deposits, the metallogenic regularity of molybdenum deposits was preliminarily summarized, and 41 level‐III molybdenum‐forming belts, 13 level‐II molybdenum‐forming provinces and 4 level‐I molybdenum‐forming domains were ascertained in the mainland of China. There are 39 metallogenic series of and 60 sub‐series of molybdenum deposits with molybdenum as the dominant metal and corresponding representative molybdenum deposits proposed. Metallogenic lineages of molybdenum deposits were also established. Spatial‐temporal evolution of different types of molybdenum deposits, and the relationship between Mo‐mineralization and tectonic evolution have been discussed in this paper. On this basis, the authors think that element Mo is an effective tracer for recording the crustal evolution history of China. At present, there are some problems in the exploration of Mo deposits in China, such as uneven exploration degrees in eastern and western China, shallow exploration depth, low and uneven grade, complex associated components, difficulty of mineral development and utilization, increasing costs of prospecting, and so on. According to successful experience of superficial and deep prospecting and considering also the discussion above, some suggestions are proposed for the prospecting of molybdenum deposits in the future.