| More than 4 000 geologists from more than 600 areas in China have been working together for more than 10 years to compile a series called “Annals of Geology of Mineral Resources of China”. The aim of this work was to publish more than 200 sets of annals and more than 150 sets of attached maps to comprehensively record the mineral exploration results and metallogenic regularity of the approximately 70 000 mineral deposits (mineral-producing areas) of 180 kinds of minerals in China, providing full coverage of the three areas: the discovered minerals, mineral deposits (mineral producing areas), and national areas. The annals fill the historical gap, having epoch-making milestone significance. Under the guidance of the theory of the metallogenic series of mineral deposits (hereinafter referred to as the “metallogenic series”), the annals describe the metallogenic series for mineral deposits, covering all kinds of minerals in each spatiotemporal domain of the evolution of the earth. Additionally, the regional metallogenic pedigree was constructed for 94 metallogenic zones/belts and 31 provinces in China. On this basis, the metallogenic system, which is closely aligned with the time and space domains and mineralization, was constructed; the metallogenic prediction of whole minerals was achieved by applying the prediction thinking of ore formation in all positions and ore prospecting in the ore-vacant positions of various metallogenic series. With the support of the editorial department of Acta Geoscientica Sinica, we selected 12 studies conducted at different scales (such as the country, province, and metallogenic zone/belt scales) to constitute this Special Issue of “ ‘Minerogenetic Series and Prospecting Direction’ of ‘Annals of Geology of Mineral Resources of China’ ” to systematically summarize and analyze the status of strategic minerals such as iron, gold, REE, rare metals, dispersion elements, and phosphorus and actively guide a new round of breakthrough strategic action. The aim is to provide scientific and technological support for selecting and deploying strategic mineral prospecting, promote the exploration and development of important domestic mineral resources, and increase reserves and production. |