Discovery of Cu-Zn,Cu-Sn intermetallic minerals and its significance for genesis of the Mianning-Dechang REE Metallogenic Belt,Sichuan Province,China

Mianning-Dechang Himalayan REE Metallogenetic Belt in Sichuan Province lies along the western margin of the Yangtze Craton. We have conducted detailed mineralogical studies on ore minerals collected from Maoniuping and Dalucao, the two largest deposits in the belt. With optical microscope, SEM/EDS, and EPMA, three rare intermetallic minerals, i.e., zinccopperite (Cu2Zn), Sn- bearing native copper, and Cu-bearing jupiter were found to occur in the main ore along with barite, fluorite, apatite, sulfide and bastnaesite. Since the conditions under which zinccopperite and Sn- bearing native copper formed are quite unique, finding of these minerals, for the first time in domestic REE deposits, has significant implications for the genesis of the ore deposits in which they occur. In comparison with Cu-Zn intermetallic minerals in other occurrences, we propose that the formation of this REE metallogenetic belt is associated with fast upwelling of the Himalayan magma from deep source.