RESOURCE POTENTIAL ANALYSIS OF SEDIMENTARY LITHIUM DEPOSITS IN WEST GUANGXI REGION

Guixi area(West Guangxi), an important bauxite deposit concentrated area in China, is associated with a variety of rare and rare earth elements such as gallium and scandium. To explore the lithium resource potential, based on the comprehensive analysis of regional geological background, lithium geochemical anomaly and mineral distribution, the lithium anomaly characteristics and provenance differences on the north and south sides divided by the Youjiang fault are compared:The south lithium anomaly may be mainly from restricted platform, which is consistent with the Permian Heshan Formation; while the north lithium anomaly is much closely related with the Carboniferous Yaoyunling Formation, mainly caused by the weathering of carbonate rocks in Yangtze Platform. It is preliminarily considered that the lithium exploration in Guixi area should be carried out in the north of Youjiang fault first, with carbonate-hosted clay type lithium deposit as the major target. The paleo-weathering crusts of carbonate rocks in Li, Be and Fe₂O₃ comprehensive anomaly areas, especially those in the Carboniferous Yaoyunling Formation and Permian Heshan Formation should be the main target layers.