Situated in the western Erzgebirge metallogenetic province (Vogtland, Germany), the Eichigt prospect is associated with several quartz-Mn-Fe-oxyhydroxide veins that are exposed at surface. Bulk-rock geochemical assays of vein material yield high concentrations of Li (0.6–4.1 kg/t), Co (0.6–14.7 kg/t), and Ni (0.2–2.8 kg/t), as well as significant quantities of Mn, Cu, and light rare earth elements, a very unusual metal tenor closely resembling the mixture of raw materials needed for Li-ion battery production. This study reports on the results of a first detailed investigation of this rather unique polymetallic mineralization style, including detailed petrographic and mineralogical studies complemented by bulk rock geochemistry, electron microprobe analyses, and laser ablation inductively coupled mass spectrometry. The mineralized material comprises an oxide assemblage of goethite hematite, hollandite, and lithiophorite that together cement angular fragments of vein quartz. Lithiophorite is the predominant host of Li (3.6–11.1 kg/t), Co (2.5–54.5 kg/t), and Ni (0.2–8.9 kg/t); Cu is contained in similar amounts in hollandite and lithiophorite whereas light rare earth elements (LREE) are mainly hosted in microcrystalline rhabdophane and florencite, which are finely intergrown with the Mn-Fe-oxyhydroxides. ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar ages (~ 40–34 Ma) of coronadite group minerals coincide with tectonic activity related to the Cenozoic Eger Graben rifting. A low-temperature hydrothermal overprint of pre-existing base metal sulfide-quartz mineralization on fault structures that were reactivated during continental rifting is proposed as the most likely origin of the polymetallic oxyhydroxide mineralization at Eichigt. However, tectonically enhanced deep-reaching fracture-controlled supergene weathering cannot be completely ruled out as the origin of the mineralization.

Eichigt 勘探区位于 Erzgebirge 成矿省西部（德国 Vogtland），与几个暴露在地表的石英-Mn-Fe-羟基氧化物矿脉有关。脉材料的大块岩石地球化学分析产生高浓度的锂（0.6-4.1 公斤/吨）、钴（0.6-14.7 公斤/吨）和镍（0.2-2.8 公斤/吨），以及大量的锰、Cu 和轻稀土元素，这是一种非常不寻常的金属元素，与锂离子电池生产所需的原材料混合物非常相似。本研究报告了对这种相当独特的多金属矿化类型的首次详细调查结果，包括详细的岩相学和矿物学研究，并辅以大块岩石地球化学、电子探针分析和激光烧蚀电感耦合质谱法。矿化材料包括针铁矿赤铁矿、荷兰铁矿和锂硫磷矿的氧化物组合，它们将脉状石英的角碎片粘合在一起。锂硫磷矿是 Li (3.6–11.1 kg/t)、Co (2.5–54.5 kg/t) 和 Ni (0.2–8.9 kg/t) 的主要宿主；Cu 在 hollandite 和 lithiophorite 中的含量相似，而轻稀土元素 (LREE) 主要存在于微晶弹纹石和萤石中，它们与 Mn-Fe-羟基氧化物精细共生。冠陨石族矿物的⁴⁰ Ar/ ³⁹ Ar 年龄 (~ 40–34 Ma) 与与新生代 Eger Graben 裂谷相关的构造活动一致。在大陆裂谷期间重新激活的断层结构上预先存在的贱金属硫化物-石英矿化的低温热液套印被认为是 Eichigt 多金属羟基氧化物矿化的最可能来源。然而，不能完全排除构造增强的深部断裂控制的表生风化作用是成矿的成因。