Overall Positioning:

The Center addresses scientific frontiers in ore-forming theory and the strategic needs for national mineral resources. By integrating the advantages of geological and geochemical disciplines, it focus on strategic minerals, including rare earth elements, rare metals, precious metals, and commodity metals. The Center investigates ore-forming tectonic backgrounds and environments, reveals the activation, migration and enrichment processes of ore-forming element, develops new ore-forming theories, and creates innovative exploration and evaluation methods, providing scientific and technological support for national resource security.

Research Directions:

■ Constraints of Plate Tectonics and Environmental Evolution on Mineralization

Focusing on fundamental frontiers, including ancient ocean environments, multi-sphere material cycling and ore-forming processes, the center explores the intrinsic connections between lithospheric evolution, Earth environmental changes and critical metal mineralization. The Center conducts innovative research on multi-sphere element migration and enrichment mechanisms, as well as tectonic and environmental control mechanisms, using geological modeling, non-traditional isotope analysis, and numerical simulation.

■ Abnormal Enrichment Mechanisms of Strategic Metals

Through interdisciplinary approaches, including geology, geochemistry, experimental petrology, and numerical simulation, the Center focuses on strategic metal deposits, such as rare earth, rare, precious, and commodity metals (e.g., iron, copper). It aims to reveal the mechanisms of metal super-enrichment, and innovates ore-forming theories. The primary research objects include carbonatite-alkaline rock rare earth deposits, granite pegmatite rare metal deposits, orogenic magmatic Ni-Cu-Co deposits, and subduction-type and collision-type porphyry ore-forming systems.

■ Strategic Mineral Prediction and Evaluation

By conducting comprehensive analysis of geology, geochemistry, and geophysics, the Center clarifies ore-forming dynamic backgrounds, spatial-temporal patterns of deposit occurrence. It works to construct mineral resource evaluation technology systems, conducts target selection and ore body location prediction, and verifies and demonstrates exploration evaluation technologies. The goal is to provide theoretical guidance and technical support for building national resource security systems.