Mineralization of the carbonate-hosted Pb-Zn deposits in the SichuanYunnan-Guizhou area, southwestern China

The present paper gives a detailed description of the mineralization of the carbonate-hosted Pb-Zn deposits in the Sichuan Yunnan-Guizhou area, southwestern China. Three types of the Pb-Zn deposits may be distinguished in the Luding-Yingjing-Hanyuan, Leibo-Jinyang-Qiaojia-Huidong, Hezhang-Weining-Shuicheng and Huize-Yiliang ore fields. The Sinian and Palaeozoic strata constitute the main host rocks of the Pb-Zn deposits outlined above. These Pb-Zn deposits are assigned to three types of mineralization and three types of tectonic settings, including the SEDEX-type deposit represented by the Heiqu-Xuequ Pb-Zn deposit formed in the Early Cambrian submarine seismic contemporaneous fault environment; the intrusion-related carbonate-hosted (IRCH) deposit represented by the Huize deposit formed in the extensional environment in the early stages of foreland thrust during the Late Triassic, and the Mississippi Valley-type (MVT) deposit represented by the Daliangzi and Tianqiao deposits formed in the late stages of foreland thrust and compression. Different from those in the other parts of the world, the mineralization of the Mississippi Valley-type Pb-Zn deposits in the study areas occurred mostly during the Early Jurassic.