Breakthroughs in graphite ore prospecting in Altai metallogenic belt


 

Recently, the sub project of "1:50000 regional geological and mineral survey in East Junggar, Xinjiang" undertaken by Xi'an Geological Survey Center of the China Geological Survey found a new crystalline graphite ore belt in the Sandyk area during the field geological survey, named "Sandyk graphite ore".
The project discovered through trench exploration that the Sandeke graphite ore body occurs in a layered manner, and the favorable parts for mineralization are mostly concentrated in the secondary fault zone. Affected by the superimposition of later acidic intrusive rocks, the thermal energy generated by magmatic activity makes the graphite near the rock body crystallize better, and the crystalline graphite sheet diameter is larger. The surface tracing shows that the graphite ore body extends far, up to 20~30km, and the ore body is stable. The abnormal geophysical characteristics of the graphite ore belt, such as "low magnetism, low gravity, low resistivity and high polarization", are obvious, indicating that the metallogenic conditions of crystalline graphite ore in this area are superior. The prospecting scope is further expanded along the brittle ductile shear zone, and it is expected to find another large crystalline graphite ore in the eastern Junggar area.