Gravity and magnetic field characteristics and regional ore prospecting of the Yili ancient continent, West Tianshan, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, China

Gold, iron, copper, lead-zinc and other mineral exploration in West Tianshan, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, has made remarkable progress in recent years. However, due to the dispute on the tectonic division of West Tianshan, the ore-controlling factors and the regional metallogenic laws are controversial. The authors analyze regional gravity data and notice that the high-value region corresponds to the Yili ancient continent, thus the southeastern boundary of the Yili ancient continent is delineated. Comparative analysis of gravity, aeromagnetic and geologic data reveals that the Tulasu basin, where some medium to large epithermal gold deposits locate, lies above the Yili ancient continent; the Yili Carboniferous-Permian rift extends in E-W direction, numbers of copper deposits have been found in the mid-west section of the rift which lies above the Yili ancient continent, whereas few copper deposits have been discovered in the east section which is outside the Yili ancient continent. Accordingly, the Yili ancient continent may be rich in gold, copper and other metal elements; the metal-bearing hydrothermal solution moves up with the activity of magmatism, and deposits in the favorable places (the Tulasu basin and the Yili Carboniferous-Permian rift), forming numerous small and medium gold, copper deposits, as well as some large and super-large gold deposits. Therefore, the tectonic-magmatic hydrothermal zone above the Yili ancient continent should be the prospective area for epithermal gold and copper polymetallic deposits. (C)2020 China Geology Editorial Office.