Duanfengshan Mine, Tongcheng Co., Xianning, Hubei, Chinai

Regional Level Types
Duanfengshan Mine	Mine
Tongcheng Co.	County
Xianning	Prefecture
Hubei	Province
China	Country

This page is currently not sponsored. Click here to sponsor this page.

PhotosMapsSearchMineralogy

A small Nb-Ta mine, working a pegmatite vein.

Duanfengshan represents a major pegmatite concentration zone. Situated in the Be + Nb–Ta + Li mineralization belt, the area trends east–west over a length of approximately 15.2 km and a width of 3–4 km. Pegmatitic veins, predominantly lenticular, branching, or tabular, are distributed within biotite monzogranite and contact-metamorphic zones. Two primary pegmatite types are observed: microcline pegmatites, concentrated in the western and southwestern sectors, and albite pegmatites, primarily located in the northeastern part of the mining field. Microcline pegmatites, occurring as veins or branching structures, extend up to 1100 m in length and 1–110 m in width.

The Duanfengshan deposit is a high-grade pegmatite-type rare-metal deposit enriched in Nb and Ta, with average grades of 0.0112%–0.0117% for Nb2O5 and 0.0033%–0.0084% for Ta2O5. The dominant strata exposed in the district belong to the Xiaomuping Formation of the Qingbaikou System Lengjiaxi Group, whose protoliths (shale and argillaceous sandstone) were transformed into slate and metamorphic siltstone via regional metamorphism. Subjected to multiple tectono-magmatic events, the strata experienced contact thermal metamorphism, forming two-mica schist with local occurrence of thermal metamorphic minerals such as garnet, sillimanite, staurolite, and andalusite.
Pegmatites are widely developed in the deposit, with more than 260 occurrences. They are mainly hosted in the two-mica schist of the Lengjiaxi Group, occurring predominantly as irregular dykes, lenses, or bands with significant variations in scale—length ranging from several meters to over 1000 m and width from a few centimeters to more than 100 m. Based on the distance from the two-mica monzogranite, dyke scale, mineralization intensity, and type, the pegmatites are subdivided into four horizontal zones.
(I) Yutoupo Zone: Located in the central part of the deposit, adjacent to the two-mica monzogranite, with a width of 1.5–2.7 km. The dykes are generally large-scale (500–1000 m long and 1–100 m wide), dominated by microcline-albite pegmatite, with minor graphic-textured microcline pegmatite, containing minor biotite and tourmaline, and showing weak Nb-Ta mineralization. (II) Baichongwu Zone: 2–4.5 km away from the two-mica monzogranite, with a width of ~2 km. The dykes are relatively large (300–1000 m long and 1–30 m wide), also of microcline-albite type, primarily with graphic texture followed by coarse-grained texture, and only local areas exhibit good Nb-Ta-Be mineralization. (III) Jiangjialong Zone: Approximately 4.2–5.7 km from the two-mica monzogranite, with a width of 0.5–1 km. The dykes are relatively large (20–800 m long and 0.5–15 m wide), dominated by albite pegmatite with minor microcline-albite pegmatite. Nb-Ta mineralization is well-developed, and all dykes here can form ore bodies. (IV) Tieshujian Zone: Situated in the northeastern corner of the deposit, 4.2–6 km from the two-mica monzogranite. The pegmatite dykes are small-scale (20–300 m long and 0.1–0.8 m wide), consisting entirely of albite pegmatite with intense alteration. Nb-Ta mineralization is excellent, making it one of the mineralization zones in the district.

Commodity List

This is a list of exploitable or exploited mineral commodities recorded at this locality.

Mineral List

14 valid minerals.

Rock Types Recorded