HIGH-GRADE BRINE IN THE SICHUAN BASIN: HYDROGEOCHEMISTRY,ORIGIN AND ITS RESOURCE SIGNIFICANCE

The high-grade brine recognized somewhere in the Sichuan Basin are hosted in the evaporite-bearing carbonate reservoirs in the fourth member of the Middle Triassic Leikoupo Formation (T₂l⁴),more than 4,000 m below the surface. The findings of the study suggest that the brines as the rare liquid potash resources and high-grade commercial minerals not only contain extremely large amount of potassium, as compared with those in different concentration stages of sea water, but also have much higher contents of Br, I, B and Li than the pay grades for comprehensive utilization. The brine originated from the metagenesis and dissolution of potash minerals indicate the possibility in the search for solid and liquid potash in the Sichuan Basin.