A Preliminary Study of the Characteristics of Lead-Zinc Deposits in Shaanxi Province and Their Distribution Laws

Shaanxi Province is rich in lead-zinc resources and lead-zinc is the dominant mineral of the province. This paper summarizes the types, characteristics, and time-and-space distribution of lead-zinc deposits in Shaanxi Province based on “China Mineral Geology，Shaanxi Volume” and divides the lead-zinc deposits (genesis/industrial) into 4 types and 7 subtypes according to mineralization. The characteristics of lead-zinc deposits are: a large number of orefields but with uneven distribution; multiple types of deposits but dominated by layered hydrothermal type; small number of medium or large scale deposits, but a big proportion in total resources; much more paragenetic-and-associated lead-zinc deposits but a small proportion in total resources. Metallogenic epoch of the lead-zinc deposits spanned from Neoproterozoic to Mesozoic, among which the late Paleozoic (Hualixi period) being the most important. In space, medium and large scale lead-zinc deposits are mainly distributed in the Fengxian-Taibai (Ⅳ-66B-1) and Zhen'an-Xunyang(Ⅳ-66B-3) metallogenic sub-belts of the South Qinling metallogenic belt (Ⅲ-66B), hence formed two important lead-zinc concentrated areas of Fengxian-Taibai and Sirengou-Nanshagou.