Abstract: China is not only a major consumer of cobalt resources but also a big importer of cobalt resources. Influenced by the new energy electric vehicle industry, cobalt ore resources have attracted more and more attention in recent years. In order to scientifically evaluate the potential of cobalt resources, guide the deployment of prospecting and exploration, and improve the guarantee capacity of cobalt resources in China, we carried out cobalt resource potential evaluation of cobalt resources in 9 key provinces (regions) from 2019 to 2021. Based on the perspective of the distribution and geological characteristics of cobalt deposits, the types of cobalt deposits predicted for prospecting in China are determined, including: weathering type, chemical deposit type, sandstone type and submarine hydrothermal-sedimentary type, all of which related to the sedimentary geological processes; marine and continental volcanic rock type that related to the volcanic geological processes; magmatic type, skarn type (contact metasomatic type), hydrothermal vein type and porphyry type, all of which associated with intrusive magmatism; sedimentary metamorphic type and a small number of metamorphic core complexes type that related to the metamorphism. And the metallogenic geological bodies related to various types of cobalt deposits are also sorted out and summarized. By analyzing the geological characteristics and spatio-temporal distribution of cobalt deposits in China, and synthesizing prediction elements such as geological, geophysical, geochemical, and remote sensing information, a prospecting prediction model was established, prospecting potential areas were delineated, and resource reserves were estimated. The results show that the cobalt deposits in China include six main prospecting prediction types: weathering crust nickel-cobalt deposit, hydrothermal-sedimentary copper-cobalt deposit, marine volcanic rock copper-cobalt deposit, marine volcanic rock massive sulfide copper-zinc cobalt deposit, magmatic copper-nickel cobalt deposit and hydrothermal veined cobalt deposit; 416 cobalt ores were delineated,  64 prospecting potential areas were delineated, 99 prospecting targets were optimized, and further exploration suggestions were put forward. A total of 453 000 t of cobalt resources have been identified in 9 key provinces (regions), and the estimated cobalt resources are about 420 million t.

Key words: cobalt deposit, geological characteristics, metallogenic regularity, prospecting predictionmodel;resourcepotentialevaluation;keyareas