Geological Characteristics and Prospecting Indicator of Wuheshalu Sandstone Copper Deposit in Wuqia County, Xinjiang

The Wuheshalu sandstone copper deposit is located in the northern margin of Meso-Cenozoic foreland basin, southwest of the Tarim depression in Wuqia County, XinJiang. The orebody is hosted in Neogene of the Keziluoyi Formation and Anju Formation. There are 7 ore-bearing layers and 28 copper orebodies with the average Cu grade between 1.12 and 2.03% and the medium scale deposit. The ore-bearing layers are 7-13 km long and 30-180 m of apparent thickness, with a nearly zonal distribution in the EW direction and a dip angle of 15°-330°, 15°-40°. The ore minerals are mainly malachite, chalcocite, copper blue, and a small amount of silicon malachite and natural copper, etc. The gangue minerals are mainly quartz and other minerals of calcite and sericite, etc. This paper systematically studied the geological characteristics of this deposit, summarized the ore controlling factors and the prospecting indicators and analyzed the genesis of the ore deposit. it is held that Wuheshalu is a sandstone copper deposit controlled by redox barrier and some lightly tectonic activities in later stage. The discovery of this deposit is of indicative significance for the regional ore prospecting and metallogenic prediction.