A Preliminary Review of Metallogenic Regularity of Silver Deposits in China

China has widely distributed silver deposits,and is rich in silver resources.Although silver deposits are mainly associated with Pb-Zn deposits,a number of independent silver deposits have also been discovered in recent years.Silver deposits include different types,such as submarine volcanism and continental volcanism related type,intrusion related type,and sedimentary related type.This study summarized the metallogenic regularity of China's silver deposits systematically based mainly on the data from 490 silver deposits.It is shown that submarine volcanic sedimentary type,continental volcanic or sub-volcanic type,skarn type,hydrothermal type(including vein type and stratabound type),sedimentary metamorphic type,sedimentary type and regolith type should be regarded as the most important prediction types of silver deposit.A total of 32 silver mineralization belts and 111 silver concentration areas have been delineated.The map of "Spatial distribution of silver mineralization belts in China" and other series of maps finished in this study may provide a theoretical basis for the evaluation and prognosis of silver resources potential in China.