Discovery of a bauxitic mudstone-hosted copper deposit in the Huize area, northeastern Yunnan, China

Recent study shows that mineralization of the Daheishan stratiform copper deposits, in Huize County, Yunnan, occurs at the bottom of the Xuanwei Formation above the hiatus surface (disconformity) on the top of the Upper Permian Emeishan basalt and is obviously controlled by horizons of bauxitic mudstone. The geological characteristics of the deposit and its comparison with typical sandstone-hosted copper deposits in other areas of China suggest that this deposit is a new type of copper deposit, different from sandstone-or shale-hosted copper deposits in Sichuan and Yunnan, southern China, with respect to the metallogenic setting, host rocks and metallogenic-geological characteristics. According to its macroscopic geological characteristics such as the host rocks and stratabound sedimentary character, it is tentatively termed the "bauxitic mudstone-hosted copper deposit".