The Xainza‐Dinggye rift, an approximately north‐south trending Cenozoic fault zone across the Lhasa Terrane, is an ideal location to investigate extensional mechanisms in the upper crust and lithospheric deformation caused by the subducting Indian Plate beneath the central‐southern Tibetan Plateau. The 3‐D electrical resistivity structure was obtained by modeling magnetotelluric data from an array across the rift zone. Using the temperature distribution throughout the crust combined with the pressure and water content, we compute the pure melt conductivity. This enables estimation of the partial melt fraction of large‐area conductive zones imaged throughout the crust, and thus allows their rheology and strength to be evaluated. The heterogeneous distribution of high melt fraction areas in the crust has implications for the local continuous migration of fluids in the east‐west direction. The electrical structure also reveals a dipping resistive zone beneath the Tethys‐Himalaya terrane that represents the subducted Indian Plate. Significantly, its depth is observed to vary substantially from east (deeper) to west (shallower), which may indicate tearing of the plate. We suggest that the cause of extension and the formation of the crustal rift zone is related to tearing of the plate directly below this location, and the subsequent partial melting of the mid‐lower crust. Furthermore, the ascent of deep hydrothermal fluids, and heating of the shallow subsurface, likely led to the formation of the congruent Xainza‐Dinggye Thermal Belt. Additionally, the emplacement of numerous adjacent magmatic‐hydrothermal ore deposits is also likely related to partial melting and hydrothermal fluid migration in the crust.

In development over 70 years, magnetotelluric (MT) sounding, a high-resolution technique for subsurface electrical resistivity imaging, has been widely applied in resource exploration in the Earth. The key factors of the metallogenic system of metallic mineral deposits can be closely correlated to the electrical anomalies of the lithosphere. In this paper, we review the relationship between the electrical resistivity model of the lithosphere and the metallogenic system. At the beginning, we indicate why the electrical parameters relate to the metallogenic system in all geophysical parameters. The advantage of MT sounding in sketching an electrical resistivity model of the lithosphere is subsequently discussed, and some methods of data processing, analysis and inversion are also introduced. Furthermore, we summarize how to bridge the relationship between the electrical resistivity model of the lithosphere and metallogenic system, and analyze the influence of the rheological variation estimated from conductivity in the lithosphere on mineralization. In the end, we list some typical cases of the application of MT sounding in mineral exploration, and also give some suggestions for future work. This study is aimed at providing guidance in discussing the metallogenic system using an electrical resistivity model.