The first stage is the formation stage of ancient continental nucleus. At this time, the crust is in an active state. During the active process, tiny or small silica alumina bodies gather into a larger continental core, but the differentiation and enrichment of material components are not obvious. In China, this stage mainly occurred in Archean, such as the ancient continental core of North China.
The second stage is the stage of land mass formation. During this period, volcanic eruption-sedimentation and sedimentation occurred in the trough around or between the relatively stable ancient continental cores, and the material components began to be enriched. When it is folded and uplifted, the ancient land core will continue to develop and expand, forming a large or huge stable ancient land block (platform). This stage mainly occurred from the late Archean to the late Proterozoic in China, forming the North China Platform and the Yangtze Platform.
The third stage is the development stage of continental margin. At this stage, different scales of cracking occurred around or between ancient landmasses, accompanied by magmatic activity and sedimentation, and the phenomenon of material differentiation and enrichment was obvious, forming active zones and metallogenic zones with different properties. This stage is mainly from late Proterozoic to late Paleozoic or early Mesozoic, such as Qinling active belt and Tianshan-Xing 'an active belt.
The fourth stage is the stage of intracontinental variation. Due to large-scale submarine expansion and ocean crust subduction, large-scale fault structures, magmatic activities, fold deformation and related mineralization have occurred in the continent far from the continental margin. This stage mainly occurred after the middle Mesozoic in China, such as East China.
The above four stages of evolution show that there are two tectonic units with completely different properties in the development and evolution of the crust in China, namely, relatively stable landmasses and relatively active active belts. They not only have their own history of occurrence and development, but also have different mineralization, thus forming the regional geological background of two mineralization. Although they are different in nature, they are interrelated and regularly distributed in space. The active zone always develops around the relatively stable plots and is restricted by the activities of the plots. The relatively stable plots have been constantly migrating and transforming in the evolution of the surrounding active zones, leading to the continuous proliferation and expansion of the plots. Therefore, the stable plots are often in the main position and play a role in framing the structural pattern and mineral distribution.