Epigenesis of Pb-Zn Deposits in the Xicheng Ore Field,Western Qinling

It was previously considered that all of the Pb-Zn deposits in the Xicheng orefield belong to Devonian hydrothermal-sedimentary deposits or their reworked ones. Study proves that the host strata, besides the Devonian, include the Palaeoproterozoic. The super-large Changba-Lijiagou Pb-Zn deposit occurs in the Palaeoproterozoic strata. The deposits in this district are not hydrothermal-sedimentary deposits or their reworked ones, but Yanshanian-Himalayan epigenetic hydrothermal deposits. The modes of occurrence, sizes and positions of all the deposits in the Xicheng orefield are completely controlled by the choula (draw)-thrust sheet Therefore the previous grounds for the model of the Qinling-type Pb-Zn deposits cannot hold good. The authors propose that the Changba-type and Bijiashan-type Pb-Zn deposits be used to represent two mineral deposit models with different characteristics in the Xicheng orefield.