Texture and chemistry of quartz and its applications in ore genesis and mineral exploration

Quartz is one of the most common minerals in various hydrothermal ore deposits and has long been the focus of economic geologists and prospecting engineers. With the advancement of high-spatial-resolution observation and microanalysis techniques in recent years, the study of quartz textures and chemistry plays increasingly important roles in understanding ore genesis and guiding mineral exploration. This paper provides a review of recent advances in quartz textures and chemistry and its applications for ore genesis and mineral exploration. We first focus on the detailed observation of quartz textures and relevant generations in hydrothermal ore deposits, and then document the applications of quartz trace elements, isotope and fluid inclusion in tracing the source of ore-forming materials, understanding the ore-forming process, revealing the mechanism of ore enrichment, and providing timing constraints on ore formation. Additionally, this paper also explores vector variation of quartz chemistry and its applications in metallogenic potential analysis, ore types discrimination, and delineation of mineralization centers. Finally, we summarized the main issues that may exist in the current study and provided some prospects for future studies.