The development and the utilization of copper deposits in the Tibetan Plateau have a long history.The Tibetan Plateau is under a unique metallogenic geologic condition of copper deposits due to its complex geological structure and the geological evolution process,and the copper deposits become one of the most important types of mineral deposits in the Tibetan Plateau.The proven resource of copper in the Tibetan Plateau ranks the first in China,and the Tibetan Plateau becomes the most important producer of copper and the bake-up base of the copper resource.The copper deposits in the Tibetan Plateau are mainly distributed in the Yulong copper metallogenic belt,the Gangdise copper metallogenic belt and the Bangong Co-Nujiang copper metallogenic belt,and are mainly formed in the Himalayan and Yanshanian period,which suggests that their formation and evolution are closely related to the plateau tectonic-magmatic events,and to the major geological events of the Tibetan Plateau.These deposits involve complex causes of deposit formation and have a very high comprehensive utilization value.In this paper,the genetic types of the main types of copper deposits in the Tibetan Plateau are introduced,taking the Tiegelongnan copper (gold) deposit,the Xiongcun copper-gold deposit,the Jiama copper-polymetallic deposit and the Qulong copper-molybdenum deposit as examples.The huge potential of copper resources of the Tibetan Plateau will change the pattern of the copper resources in China,but while we develop copper resources,at the same time,we should pay attention to the coordinated development of resource development and environmental protection.

Qinghai-Tibet Plateau  /  copper deposits  /  mineral resource development