Distribution patterns of rare-metal pegmatites in the Hindu Kush (Afghanistan)

In the Hindu Kush system of ranges, rare-metal pegmatites are spatially and genetically associated with granitoids of the Laghman complex, which form gigantic massifs in the Karakorum - South Pamir late Cimmerian fold region. Age of the granitoids and pegmatites is Early Cretaceous - Paleogene. Fields of rare-metal pegmatites occur in the roof of the massifs of biotite and two-mica granites in quartz-muscovite-biotite schists with garnet and staurolite, and in a lesser degree, these pegmatites are distributed among gabbro-diorites, gneisses, limestones, and amphibolites. The fields of rare-metal pegmatites on the largest scale and of practical importance are located in graben-synclines of the upper structural stage, where only the apical crests of massifs of the parent granites crop out. The pegmatite fields in Afganistan have been grouped into clearly defined belts extending for hundreds of kilometers. The principal belts of rare-metal pegmatites (Nuristan, Hindu Kush, and Badakhshan) are located in the surroundings of the rises in the Precambrian basement. —Authors.