An experimental study of geochemical exploration methods for concealed deposits in loess overburden area: A case study of the Zhonghedi polymetallic deposit in Henan Province

As it is difficult to collect the weathering stream sediments of bedrock in the loess overburden area,the effect of regional geochemical exploration is often not ideal; therefore, regional geochemical exploration work has not been carried out in many loess overburden areasof China. In this paper, the deep-penetrating geochemistry method was used to carry out the experimental study of geochemical prospecting techniques for concealed deposits in the loess overburden area in the Zhonghedi silver-lead-zinc polymetallic deposit in Xiaoshan, Henan Province. The results of fine-grained soil prospecting method and metal mobile extraction measurement show that both methods can well indicate the anomalies of underlying polymetallic orebodies in the loess overburden area and, at the same time, the mobile extraction method further enhances the abnormal indication of ore-forming elements to the orebody, so both methods can be used as effective means in search for concealed polymetallic deposits in the loess overburden area.