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A preliminary study on the volcanic intrusive complex type beryllium metallogenic belt from the southeast coast of China

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Abstract

Beryllium (Be) is one of the unsubstitutable key metals in strategic emerging industries and national defense industries, mainly originating from volcanogenic Be deposits. Thus, volcanogenic Be deposits have become important research objects of key metal deposits, with a focus on their occurrence, metallogenic mechanism, and resource distribution. In the southeast coast of China, the Late Mesozoic volcanic intrusive complex has a good Be metallogenic background, and strong Be mineralization occurs in some areas. Field geological investigation and analyses of samples from Southeast Zhejiang as well as Northeast and Southeast Fujian indicate that Be mineralization in the southeast coast of China is closely related to the hydrothermal processes in the volcanic intrusive complex. In Southeast Zhejiang, Be ore in the Qingtian area mainly occurs in granite porphyry, with the Be content reaching 939 ppm, while strong Be mineralization from Zhangji rhyolite porphyry in the Pingyang area contains up to 11400 ppm Be. In Xiapu County, Northeastern Fujian, the Dawan Be deposit is characterized by constituents of helvite and beryl. In Pinghe County, Southeastern Fujian, the Fulishi Be ore is a quartz vein beryl-type ore. These results suggest that the volcanic intrusive complex area in the southeast coast of China has a wide range of Be mineralization and better Be metallogenic potential, and it is expected to become an important Be metallogenic belt in China. Thus, we should thoroughly investigate the Be resources of granite porphyry, rhyolite porphyry, quartz porphyry, and quartz vein in this volcanic rock area, which can provide a theoretical basis for the exploration and guiding prospecting of volcanic intrusive complex Be deposits.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Xiaoliang DANG and Wei ZHANG (the Seventh Geology group of Zhejiang Province), Wei LI (the Eleventh Geology group of Zhejiang Province), and Xinpeng HUANG (Fujian Institute of geological survey) for field geological investigation. We also thank four anonymous reviewers and the responsible editor for their comments and suggestions that have helped improve the quality of this paper significantly. This work was supported by the Major Research Plan of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 92062212) and the Key Deployment Project of Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences (Grant No. IGGCAS-201902).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Geoscience Big Data and Deep Resource of Zhejiang Province, School of Earth Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310027, China

    Can Rao, Qi Wang, Zhiqi Zhang & Runqiu Wu

  2. State Key Laboratory for Mineral Deposits Research, School of Earth Sciences and Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210023, China

    Rucheng Wang & Xudong Che

  3. State Key Laboratory of Lithosphere Evolution, Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100029, China

    Fuyuan Wu & Xiaofeng Li

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  1. Can Rao
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Rao, C., Wang, R., Wu, F. et al. A preliminary study on the volcanic intrusive complex type beryllium metallogenic belt from the southeast coast of China. Sci. China Earth Sci. 65, 1586–1600 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11430-021-9910-3

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