Geological setting of some classical selenium-bearing formations in China

SELENIUM is a highly dispersed element with a lower Clarke of 0.05×10-6 and rarely forms its own independent deposits in the crust. In recent years by the discovery of a series of selenium-bearing deposits（such as Laerma selenium-gold deposit and Yutangba selenium deposit） and selenium-rich strata （westHubei, Laerma, Ziyang, Langao, northwest Hunan, etc.）, the character and genesis of the seleniumbearing formation （SBF） have been noted by many researchers. 1 Some classical SBF in China In China the classical SBFs include: （i） The Lower Cambrian SBF in Laerma, west Qinling: Thebackground value of selenium is 5.47×10-6, and the selenium content of the sillcalite and slate （mainrock type） averages 8.70×10-6 and 3.05×10-6 respectively. （ii） The Lower Cambrian SBF inZiyang and Langao, east Qinling: Selenium is present in relatively high abundance in the SBF, averaging3.89×10-6 in the slate, 2.86×10-6 in the sillcalite. （iii） The Lower Cambrian SBF in northwest Hu-