The division of metallic mineral exploration deployment areas (belts) in China

Based on the national mineral resources potential evaluation results and using the 28079 minimum prediction areas delineated for 15 mineral species, such as iron, aluminum, copper, gold, lead, zinc, tungsten, tin, antimony, silver, molybdenum, chromium, nickel, lithium, and manganese, the author conducted optimization and incorporation and, as a result, determined 584 prognostic areas which are likely to have large or superlarge resource potential. On such a basis coupled with the exploration progress, the main metallic mineral exploration deployment areas (belts) in China have been determined. There are 13 Ⅱ-grade and 51 Ⅲ-grade prospecting areas (belts), which can serve as the national mineral exploration deployment areas during the period of 2015-2020.