Abstract: Wolframite occurs as one of the main ore minerals in tungsten deposit. It is more effective to directly date wolframite to represent its mineralization age. Since it usually contains a certain amount of U and some samples exhibit high Sm/Nd ratios, thus, wolframite U-Pb and Sm-Nd dating methods have been applied to the metallogenic chronology study of various wolframite deposits. However, wolframite U-Pb and Sm-Nd dating methods have their own limitations, so the dating is commonly unsuccessful or the results are not ideal. In this paper, we systematically reviewed and analysed the development of wolframite U-Pb and Sm-Nd dating methods, and discussed the challenges and opportunities of wolframite U-Pb and Sm-Nd chronology. Meanwhile, we also evaluated the application prospect of wolframite Lu-Hf chronology in the light of the published Lu and Hf data of wolframite. It has been shown that the Lu/Hf ratio in wolframite has a large variation range and that Lu-Hf dating method is of great potential. This paper discussed the existing problems and possible solutions of wolframite geochronology in defining the mineralization age of tungsten deposit, in order to promote the development of wolframite geochronology in the future.

Key words: tungsten deposit, ore deposit chronology, dating methods, wolframite, research progress