Abstract: Rhododendron nivale Hook. f. subsp. boreale Philipson et M. N. Philipson is the dominant plant species in the Jiajika rare metal mining area located in the eastern Tibetan Plateau. In this study, the Rhododendron nivale Hook. f. over two buried but known lithium orebodies, NO.804 and ST, was sampled, and the anomalies of rare metals in these samples were used to delineate the orebodies. The results show that notable botano-geochemical anomalies of Li, Be, Rb, Nb, and Ta have been found in Rhododendron nivale Hook. f Jiajika area, botano-geochemical anomalies have been developed above the two concealed lithium ore bodies, the positions of the anomaly and the concealed deposit agree well, which can reflect the existence of deposits at different buried depths up to 100 m. Therefore, this provides a new method for the Jiajika rare metal area to search for concealed ore deposits.

Key words: Jiajika, rare metal deposits, botano-geochemistry, Rhododendron nivale Hook. f