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The Great Altai region, located at the boundary of Russia, Mongolia, China, and Kazakhstan, belongs to the system of the Central Asian Orogenic Belt. It has undergone a long complex geological and metallogenic history. Extremely rich resources of base, precious, and rare metals (Fe, Cu, Pb, Zn, Ag, Au, Li, Cs, Ta, Nb, REE, etc.) maintain developed mining and metallurgical industry, especially in East Kazakhstan, which is the key metallogenic province. The East Kazakhstan province comprises the Rudny Altai, Kalba-Narym, West-Kalba, and Zharma-Saur metallogenic belts, each having its typical mineralization profiles and deposits. The reconstructed geodynamic and metallogenic history of the Great Altai province, along with the revealed relationships between tectonic settings and mineralization patterns, allowed us to formulate a number of geodynamic, structural, lithostratigraphic, magmatic, mineralogical, and geochemical criteria for exploration and appraisal of mineral potential in Eastern Kazakhstan. Geodynamic criteria are based on the origin of different mineralization types in certain geodynamic settings during the Late Paleozoic–Early Mesozoic orogenic cycle. Structural criteria mean that the location of base-metal deposits in Rudny Altai, gold deposits in the West Kalba belt, rare and base metals in the Kalba-Narym and Zharma-Saur zones is controlled by faults of different sizes. Lithostratigraphic criteria consist of the relation of orebodies with certain types of sedimentary or volcanic-sedimentary rocks. Magmatic criteria are due to the relation between mineralization types and igneous lithologies. Mineralogical and geochemical criteria include typical minerals and elements that can serve as tracers of mineralization. The joint use of all these criteria will open new avenues in prospecting and exploration at a more advanced level.

New geological, mineralogical, geochemical, and geochronological data have been obtained for Li-bearing pegmatites from the Tochka deposit located within the Karagoin–Saryozek zone in East Kazakhstan. Earlier, the exploration works in this zone were carried out to detect only Ta and Sn mineralization, but other ores (including Li) were not considered. The estimation of lithium resources in pegmatites from the area was methodologically imperfect. Previously, it was believed that the formation of rare-metal pegmatite veins was associated with Late Carboniferous Na-granites. The obtained geological observation confirms that the ore-bearing rare-metal pegmatites at the Tochka deposits cut the Late Carboniferous Na-granites and do not cut the Early Permian Kalba granites. The associations of the accessory minerals in host hornfels, Na-granites, and rare-metal pegmatites are different and the accessory minerals in pegmatites are similar to the accessory minerals in the Kalba granites. Geochemical data show that the behavior of rare elements (Ba, Th, HFSE, and REE) and the levels of accumulation of rare metals prove that pegmatites are similar to the product of the differentiation of the granitic magmas of the Kalba complex. The 40Ar/39Ar muscovite age of the Tochka pegmatites (~292 Ma) fits the age range of the Kalba granite complex. Based on the main principles of the generation of rare-metal pegmatites, the Tochka pegmatites formed during the fluid–magmatic fractionation of magma in large granitic reservoirs of the Kalba complex. The Karagoin–Saryozek zone—located between several large granite massifs of the Kalba complex where host rocks play a role as a roof—may be very promising for rare-metal pegmatite mineralization.

Replenishment of mineral resources, especially gold and rare metals, is critical for progress in the mining and metallurgical industry of Eastern Kazakhstan. To substantiate the scientific background for mineral exploration, we study microinclusions in minerals from gold and rare-metal fields, as well as trace-element patterns in ores and their hosts that may mark gold and rare-metal mineralization. The revealed compositions of gold-bearing sulfide ores and a number of typical minerals (magnetite, goethite, arsenopyrite, antimonite, gold and silver) and elements (Fe, Mn, Cu, Pb, Zn, As, and Sb) can serve as exploration guides. The analyzed samples contain rare micrometer lead (alamosite, kentrolite, melanotekite, cotunnite) and nickel (bunsenite, trevorite, gersdorffite) phases and accessory cassiterite, wolframite, scheelite, and microlite. The ores bear native gold (with Ag and Pt impurities) amenable to concentration by gravity and flotation methods. Multistage rare-metal pegmatite mineralization can be predicted from the presence of mineral assemblages including cleavelandite, muscovite, lepidolite, spodumene, pollucite, tantalite, microlite, etc. and such elements as Ta, Nb, Be, Li, Cs, and Sn. Pegmatite veins bear diverse Ta minerals (columbite, tantalite-columbite, manganotantalite, ixiolite, and microlite) that accumulated rare metals late during the evolution of the pegmatite magmatic system. The discovered mineralogical and geochemical criteria are useful for exploration purposes.