Abstract: The Luzong volcanic basin is an important part of the metallogenic belt in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River. In recent years, a large-scale Xiwan lead-zinc deposit has been discovered in the East Ma’anshan Formation on its northern margin. Previous studies have shown that sphalerite in this deposit is enriched in certain dispersed elements, but there are few in-depth studies on its content and distribution characteristics and comprehensive evaluation of dispersed elements is lacking. Therefore, in this paper, the LA-ICP-MS analytical method was used to study the characteristics of trace elements in sphalerite of No. Ⅳ and Ⅴ ore bodies in the Xiwan lead-zinc deposit and discuss its geological significance. The results show that (1) Sphalerite is rich in Fe, Mn, Cd, Pb elements, and depleted in In, Tl, Se, Te, Sn elements, among which dispersed Cd element has certain comprehensive utilization values; (2) The substitution mechanisms of trace elements in sphalerite mainly include single element and multi-element coupling. Among them, the substitution mechanism of single element mainly includes Fe²⁺ instead of Zn²⁺, Cd²⁺ instead of Zn²⁺, etc. The multi-element coupling substitution mechanism mainly includes (Cu⁺+Ge³⁺) instead of 2Zn²⁺, (2Cu⁺+Ge⁴⁺) instead of 3Zn²⁺, etc.; (3) The composition characteristics of Fe, Mn, Cd, In and other trace elements (dispersed elements) in sphalerite show that the metallogenic temperature of the Xiwan lead -zinc deposit is medium to low temperatures, which belong to the epithermal deposit. 

Key words: Xiwan lead-zinc deposit, trace elements, substitution mechanism, metallogenic temperature, ore deposit genesis