Abstract:Lop Nor, containing abundant potassiumrich brine, is one of the most important saltforming basin in China. Past 14 years of industrial mining show changing geochemical characteristics of brines in different ore layers. In order to estimate the spatial geochemical distribution of potassiumrich brines in different mining areas and utilize brine water resources, we have used the Kriging interpolation method to analyse the spatial distribution of 89 brine samples collected in 2017, and drawn the contour maps of K+, Cl-, Na+, Mg2+, Li+, B3+, SO42-. The results show that K+, Cl-, Mg2+, Li+, B3+ have a relatively consistent distribution trend. The high value area is mainly located in the Luobei depression and the northern part of the Tenglong platform, and the low value areas are located in the north of the Luobei depression and southwest of the mining area. However, the SO42- distribution trend is reversed. Due to the influence of freshwater 〖JP〗supply from the surrounding areas, desalination occurs in the southwest, north and southeast of the mining area; however, only W1 and W2 layers were affected, and the W3 layer shows no obvious desalination. The average K+ content of Lop Nor is 8. 83g/L. Except for the area affected by fresh water, the KCl grade in most areas was higher than the industrial separate mining grade of 1%. Compared with KCl grade before mining, the average grade of KCl in W1 layer of Luobei depression is about 9. 7%.