Abstract: Based on a review of the development history of geoelectrochemical technology in China,the development of geoelectrochemical technology is summarized,and the research progress of geoelectrochemical technology made since 2011 is emphatically analyzed as follows:① The halo-forming mechanism of "segmented theory" is put forward,which is divided into the generation process for ore-forming-related metal particles (mainly electrochemical dissolution),the migration process of metal particle (containing aeration and saturated zone),and the unloading process of metal particle (geochemical barrier).② The manufacturing process of extraction electrode is simplified which maximizing the material performance and the preprocessing methods with adsorption material (polyurethane foam) is improved.Meanwhile,the controllability of the instrumentation power supply is optimized which resulting in the reality of relevant data (instantaneous voltage and current) collection and recordation during geo-electrochemical extraction.③ The whole progress of geo-electrochemical technology,from sample collection,processing,testing and analysis is standardized and the Technical Specification of Geo-electrochemical Measurement (Version for Comment) is drafted.④ In terms of application,favoring prospecting results and predictive progress have been respectively achieved not only in different coverage and typical mining areas but also in soil heavy metal remediation.Based on the above discussion results,the future development of geo-electrochemical technology is envisioned from three aspects:① From the macroscopically study perspective of elemental content changes and occurrence forms on the shallow surface (both on bedrock and weathering layer-soil):with the microscopic point of view,to observe the elemental migration forms and factors affecting their distribution with the help of high-resolution electron microscope to further improve the method and mechanism.② based on the concept of portability,automation and commercialization,further attention will be focused on optimizing the time control and data storage function of the power supply,and improving the visualization and application degree of the environmental protection materials for the extraction device,and applying more mature statistical methods to extract weak abnormal information from geoelectric data to meet the demand of the exploration market as far as possible.③ To enhance the universality of technology application in other fields,it is necessary to accelerate the compilation of technical regulations,which can further deepen the application of geo-electrochemistry technology in the field of soil heavy metal remediation.

Key words: geo-electrochemistry,concealed deposit,halo forming mechanism,technical specification,application result