Discovery, characteristics and significance of the Nyixung skarn iron-copper field in Coqên County, Tibet

Abstract：Tectonically located in the north Gangdise tectono-metallogenic belt, the Nyixung skarn iron-copper field in Coqên, Tibet, is composed of the superlarge Nyixung iron deposit and intermediate-sized Ri'a copper deposit. It was found during the regional geological survey of the 1:250000 Comai Sheet, Tibet, in the first-round of the land resource survey of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. The Nyixung iron-copper field originated in the process of major tectonic transition from plate subduction and collisional epeirogeny to Cenozoic intraplate orogeny of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. The metallogenic epoch is Late Cretaceous. It is a superlarge iron deposit with the largest ore potential in the north Gangdise belt. On the basis of the evaluation data from the rich iron and copper deposits in the Coqên-Ngamring area, the geological characteristics of the Ngixung iron-copper field in Coqên and its significance for ore prospecting and analyzed.