The West Junggar region,located in the loci of the Central Asian Orogenic Belt,is a highly endowed metallogenic province with >100 tonnes Au,>0.7 Mt Cu,>0.3 Mt Mo,and >2.3 Mt chromite as well as significant amounts of Be and U.The West Junggar region has three metallogenic belts distributed systematically from north to south:(1) late Paleozoic Saur Au-Cu belt;(2) early Paleozoic XiemisitaiSharburt Be-U-Cu-Zn belt;(3) late Paleozoic Barluk-Kelamay Au-Cu-Mo-Cr belt.These belts host a number of deposits belonging to at least eight economically important styles,including epithermal Au,granite-related Be-U,volcanogenic massive sulfide(VMS) Cu-Zn,podiform chromite,porphyry Cu,hydrothermal quartz vein Au,porphyry-greisen Mo(-W),and orogenic Au.These deposit styles are associated with the tectonics prevalent during their formation.Five tectonic-mineralized epochs can be recognized:(1) Ordovician subduction-related VMS Cu-Zn deposit;(2) Devonian ophiolite-related podiform chromite deposit;(3) early Carboniferous subduction-related epithermal Au and porphyry Cu deposits;(4) late Carboniferous subduction-related granite-related Be-U,porphyry Cu,and hydrothermal quartz vein Au deposits;and(5) late Carboniferous to early Permian subduction-related porphyry-greisen Mo(-W) and orogenic Au deposits.
