中非新元古代造山带钴超常富集研究进展与展望

Cobalt is defined as an energy critical metal that is urgently demanded by China and the world. More than 60% of the annual global cobalt production comes from the sedimentary rock-hosted Cu-Co deposits in the Central African Cu-Co belt, which represents a natural laboratory for investigating the mechanism of cobalt super-enrichment. Previous studies mainly focused on copper mineralization in the system, which is not always associated with cobalt mineralization in space and time. There is still a lack of understanding in relation to the sources and enrichment process of cobalt in the system, which records sedimentary, diagenetic and orogenic mineralization. This paper presents an overview of up-to-date research progress on the cobalt mineralization in the Central African Cu-Co belt and discusses remaining research gaps. The impact of tectonic evolution on the formation of an ideal basin environment for cobalt mineralization in this world-class cobalt metallogenic belt was reviewed. Pale-climate condition, including the Oxygenation Events and glacier events, may also have positively influenced the cobalt mineralization in the region. The Neoproterozic orogenesis may have played a key role in re-mobilizing early disseminated cobalt in the sedimentary system, leading to an upgrade of cobalt mineralization. Essentially, the cobalt mineralization in the Central African Cu-Co belt reflects a prolonged and productive interplay of atmospheric-geosphere-hydrospere-biosphere. Understanding the formation of sedimentary rock-hosted Cu-Co deposits at deposit-regional scale is therefore crucial for exploring for more cobalt mineral resources in both the Central African Cu-Co belt and other favorable basin environments worldwide.