Student: Yongjun Lu

Thesis title: Tectonic Setting, Magmatic Evolution and Metallogenesis of Cenozoic Alkali Intrusions in the Eastern Indo-Asian Collision Zone, Yunnan, China

Supervisors: Prof.Cam McCuaig, Prof.Peter Cawood, Prof.Craig Hart, Prof.Li Zhengxiang, Prof. Robert Kerrich, Prof. Hou Zengqian

Contact: 6488 2675; Email: luy03@student.uwa.edu.au

Sponsor/funding: IPRS scholarship; Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences; ET

Project detail:

The 1,000-km-long, north- and northwest-striking, so called Jinshajiang-Ailaoshan alkali-rich magmatic belt spans along the eastern margin of the Tibetan plateau through China and into adjacent Vietnam and Laos. It is a significant porphyry Cu-Mo-Au province in China with over 10 million tons of copper metal and several hundred tons of gold metal. The porphyry deposits are spatially and temporally associated with the Cenozoic alkali intrusions. This project will focus on the middle segment of the magmatic belt between Dali and Lijiang area where the alkali intrusions are well exposed.

The main objectives of the proposed project are:

Characterize the lithology and geochemistry of the alkali intrusion, unravelling the origin and evolution of approximately nine significant alkali intrusions;

Distinguishing compositional or process differences between mineralized and barren intrusions;

Determine the age of the alkali intrusion, establishing the P-T uplift and erosion history of the intrusion;