Copper skarn deposit.
There are five ore bodies in total that are mainly hosted in the contact zone between the Lower Cretaceous Takena Formation and the biotite granodiorite. The No. I ore body extends over 200 m in depth and 350 m in length and contains approximately 220,000 tons of Cu + Zn + Pb metals, which is the largest ore body in Pusangguo. Massive or disseminated sulfide ores are the main ore types, with minor banded or brecciated ores. Ore textures mainly include crystalline texture, metasomatic texture and cataclastic texture. Mineralization is dominated by sulfides with minor Co-bearing minerals.

The Takena Formation dominates the deposit area, comprising limestone and sandstone, and trending east–northeast, with a thickness of over 300 m. The Paleocene Dianzhong Formation, outcropping in the northern part of the Pusangguo deposit, consists of volcanic rocks. The mineralization primarily occurs at the contact zone between the granodiorite, diorite porphyry, and marble of the Lower Cretaceous Takena Formation, which formed the predominant Cu-Zn-Pb mineral resources. These four stages mainly include the pre-ore stage, oxide-ore stage, quartz–sulfide-ore stage, and post-ore stage. Moreover, the quartz–sulfide-ore stage can be further subdivided into the Fe-Cu-Zn sulfide and Pb-Zn sulfide substages. The pre-ore stage features island and chain anhydrous silicates, such as garnet and diopside. Garnet, essentially of the andradite–grossularite series (And47.39–98.17Gro0.59–50.22), is the dominant prograde mineral in the pre-ore stage, and usually occurs as independent massive aggregates. Clinopyroxene, with the composition of hedenbergite–johannsenite–diopside (Hd37.91–74.16Jo0.91–61.66Di0.43–46.07), occurs mainly as discrete massive aggregates, with euhedral to subhedral crystals. Subsequent hydrothermal fluids have altered clinopyroxene into actinolite. The oxide-ore stage is dominated by hematite, with other retrograde minerals including epidote, actinolite, chlorite, hornblende, quartz, and pyrite.

Cobalt-rich Cu-Pb-Zn skarn deposit with significant metal reserves of 0.11 Mt Cu @ 1.42 wt%, 0.80 Mt Pb @ 1.01 wt%, 0.14 Mt Zn @ 1.82 wt%, and 285.8 t Co @ 140 g/t. The skarn mineralization at Pusangguo mainly developed in the contact of granodiorite, diorite with the limestone of Early Cretaceous Takena Formation. The Pusangguo deposit is composed of five ore segments from north to south: I, II, III, IV, and V. Among these five orebodies, the No. I around the granodiorite is the largest and most economic orebody, with measured and indicated resources of 0.08 Mt Cu @ 1.5 wt%, 0.06 Mt Pb @ 1.1 wt% and 0.12 Mt Zn @ 2.3 wt%. Skarns are well developed along the contacts between granodiorite and limestone or marble. These skarns have a width ranging from 40 m to 350 m, and extend down to depths of 80 to 200 m. Unlike other typical Cu skarn deposits, the skarns in the Pusangguo deposit do not display visible zonation.

Other Regions, Features and Areas containing this locality

References