ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Earth Sci.
Sec. Solid Earth Geophysics
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/feart.2025.1682097
This article is part of the Research TopicGeophysical Electromagnetic Exploration Theory, Technology and ApplicationView all 10 articles
Integrated geophysical and geological analysis for peripheral exploration of Makeng-type Fe-polymetallic deposits: A case study from the Dapai Fe-polymetallic deposit, SE China
Provisionally accepted
- 1China University of Geosciences Beijing School of Earth Sciences and Resources, Beijing, China
- 2Fujian Institute of Geology Survey, Fuzhou, China
- 3Institute of Geology and Geophysics Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
- 4Ministry of Natural Resources of the People's Republic of China Information Center, Beijing, China
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The Makeng-type Fe–polymetallic deposits in the southwestern Fujian constitute the largest iron metallogenic belts of southeastern China. The Dapai iron–polymetallic deposit in Yongding County is an important example of the Makeng-type iron– polymetallic deposits. With the progress in mining and exploration, the priority has transferred to deep and peripheral orebodies. Although the ore-forming mechanism of the Makeng-iron–polymetallic deposit has been studied previously, effective new prospecting orientation and comprehensive techniques are urgently needed for the further exploration. Based on previous studies and an analysis of ore-controlling factors, in this study, we performed a high-precision magnetic ground survey in the Dapai deposit's surrounding area. The reduction to the pole, upward continuation, total horizontal derivatives and magnetization vector inversion with an unstructured tetrahedral mesh were conducted on the magnetic anomaly results to infer the structure framework and favorable prospecting area. The results were verified by borehole, revealing ore bodies with thickness over 40m and ore-related intrusions with strong alteration below. In addition, the resulting anomalies showed a trend extending northwards. The magnetic anomaly features, ore-controlling characteristics, and drilling results indicated that there is potential for prospecting in deeper and more peripheral positions. Based on geological and geophysical characteristics, we proposed a comprehensive prospecting model and summarized an exploration method for the Dapai iron–polymetallic deposit, which enables prospecting the deeper and surrounding areas of the Dapai deposit and provides a basis for investigations of similar Makeng-type iron–polymetallic deposits in this area.
Keywords: Southwestern Fujian Depression Belt, Makeng-type iron–polymetallic deposit, high-precision magnetic ground survey, Prospecting model, periphery exploration
Received: 08 Aug 2025; Accepted: 06 Oct 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Hu, Yuan, Wu, Zhang and Hu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Yuan Yuan, y_yuan0731@163.com
Shaojiang Wu, wushaojiang@mail.iggcas.ac.cn
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