The metallogenic model and development potential of the Zhilyanskoe potash salt deposit in Kazakhstan

China lacks potash resources and needs to import huge amounts of potash fertilizer. The Zhilyanskoe deposit is a large sylvite-polyhalite deposit which is located in western Kazakhstan and lies on the eastern margin of the Pricaspian basin, close to Ural orogeny. The orebearing salt strata belong to the Kungurian Formation, and orebodies are localized within the Zhilyanskaya anticline structure. The upper horizon of potash salt contains 2-3 sylvinite beds, while the lower horizon of potash salt contains 3 polyha-lite beds. The Zhilyanskoe deposit shares similar depositional environments and many similar characteristics with other potash salt deposits such as Solikamsk deposit in Pricaspian basin and along the Ural orogeny; nevertheless, its unique metallogenic condition allows large scale deposition of primary polyhalites, and hence the study of the Zhilyanske polyhalite deposit would provide valuable reference for the study of the formation and evolution of two important potash metallogenic zones, i.e., the Pricaspian basin and the Ural orogeny.