Mineralization Age of the Karakorum Luobugaizi Large Lead-zinc Deposit: The Implication on Exploration of Tianshuihai-Karakorum Super-large Lead-zinc Deposits

The Western Kunlun-Karakorum is in the northern margin of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, belonging to the Tethyan tectonic domain. In recent years, the nonferrous metals exploration in this region has achieved significant breakthrough. Several large and super-large lead-zinc deposits have been discovered.Among them, the Luobugaizi large lead-zinc deposit, which is in the western section of the Tianshuihai-Karakorum nonferrous metals belt, has more than 1000,000 ton reserve.On the basis of the geological features the authors concluded that the deposit is a typical hydrothermal deposit related to the Cretaceous intrusive event, with the U-Pb age of (99.25±0.78) Ma, hence the Luobugaizi lead-zinc deposit was hydrothermal type. Through the comprehensive analysis, this paper concluded that the lead-zinc deposits were controlled by the Jurassic-Cretaceous sedimentary magmatic rocks. This metallogenic belt has great potential for the future mineral exploration.