Metallogenic mechanism and prospecting model of iron deposits in the western segment of East Kunlun Mountain

Based on the summarization of the regional geology and ore-forming characteristics of three types of iron deposits and a study of the geological conditions and geophysical data of the western segment of the East Kunlun Mountain, the authors established metallogenic models to explain the ore-forming mechanisms of the Dimunalike, Panlongfeng and Tatelark iron deposits. The sedimentary-metamorphic iron deposits formed in the Paleozoic are mainly distributed in the Changshagou and Mangya ophiolite melange zones, and hosted mainly in flysch and marble formations. The skarn type iron deposits are distributed mainly in the NW-SE trending Qimantage ophiolite mélange zone, hosted in the marble formation of the Palaeoproterozoic Baishahe Formation, the crystalline limestone-dolomitic limestone-dolomite of the Jixian System and the Late Carboniferous-Early Permian reef limestone-graywacke-dolomite-biological micrite formation. The skarn type iron deposit was formed mainly in Paleozoic and Mesozoic epochs, genetically linked to the intrusion of the Indo-Chinese granodiorite and adamellite and the Yanshanian K-feldspar granites, with ore bodies hosted mainly in the calcareous skarns formed in the contact zones between the fault-controlled intrusions and the carbonate.