Yangliuping Cu-Ni-PGE deposit, Yangliuping Cu-Ni-PGE ore field, Danba Co., Garzê Autonomous Prefecture (Ganzi Autonomous Prefecture), Sichuan, Chinai

Regional Level Types
Yangliuping Cu-Ni-PGE deposit	Deposit
Yangliuping Cu-Ni-PGE ore field	Ore Field
Danba Co.	County
Garzê Autonomous Prefecture (Ganzi Autonomous Prefecture)	Prefecture
Sichuan	Province
China	Country

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Tectonic dome, consisting of Devonian to Triassic strata that underwent Late Triassic greenschist facies metamorphism. These rocks are overlain by Carboniferous calcareous slate and micaschist, Early Permian marble and Late Permian basalts of the Dashibao Formation, which are believed to form part of the Emeishan continental flood basalt system.

Four mafic-ultramafic sills intruding Devonian carbonaceous marble and graphitic schists in the center of the Yangliuping dome are the hosts for PGE-bearing Ni-Cu-sulphide mineralizations (Daqiangyanwo, Xiezuoping, Yangliuping and Zhengziyanwo ore blocks). The sills are believed to have acted as conduits for the overlying Dashibao formation basalts where the magma passed through prior to eruption. The rocks have been modified by hydrothermal activity and now chiefly consist of serpentinite, talc schist, tremolite schist and meta-gabbro. Disseminated Cu-Ni-sulphide mineralization (with 0.2-2 g/t PGE), accounting for more than 95% of the ore reserves, occurs abundantly in the serpentinite in the lower parts of the sill. Massive sulphide minerals (with 1-8 g/t PGE) occur at the base of the sill and in the footwall along fractures beneath the mineralized serpentinite. There also exist independent ore bodies which were formed by hydrothermal replacement and are hosted in limestones and shales instead of magmatic rocks. These ore bodies were preferentially mined because of their high grades of copper and nickel (e.g. Yuhaizi ore block).

Sulphides also occur in small, uneconomic veinlets, with quartz and calcite as gangue minerals. Contact metamorphic minerals, including slender prismatic diopside and granular epidote or garnet, occur locally in marble near the boundaries of the sill.

The Yangliuping Ni-Cu-PGE deposit contains approximately 0.5 Mt Ni, 0.17 Mt Cu, and about 55 t of PGE, with metal grades of 0.45 wt.% Ni, 0.16 wt.% Cu, and a total PGE concentrations of 0.5 ppm. It is recognized as the largest magmatic sulfide deposit situated in the Emeishan large igneous province (ELIP), southwestern China. In the Yangliuping deposit, the disseminated ores and the net-textured ores were extensively overprinted by hydrothermal processes, with serpentine, chlorite, and secondary anhedral magnetite occurring within the BMS. Conversely, the Ni-rich massive ores are fresh and contain no secondary magnetite or pyrite formed by hydrothermal alteration. The massive ores contain 70–95 vol.% sulfides with pyrrhotite making up 50%–70%, pentlandite accounting for 10%–25%, and chalcopyrite typically contributing less than 5%.

Located about 30 km south of Danba.

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56 valid minerals. 3 (TL) - type locality of valid minerals.

Rock Types Recorded

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