The sedimentary- type lithium- rich bauxite deposit in the Nanchuan district of Chongqing is mainly located on the erosional surface between the Middle- Lower Silurian Hanjiadian Formation and the Liangshan Formation of Middle Permian ie. the ore bearing bed is located in the middle and lower part of the Liangshan Formation (Dazhuyuan Formation), which is an important part of the northern Guizhou and southern Chongqing bauxite metallogenic belt. As detrital zircon is abundant in bauxite, we applied a variety of analytical techniques on clastic and earthy bauxite samples, including all- rock geochemistry, zircon U- Pb dating, zircon Hf isotopes, and zircon trace elements. The results show that the two samples are mainly granite- type zircons that are related to orogenic/arc interactions. Their U- Pb age distributions appear to be from the Late Devonian to the Archean (406~3054 Ma), showing four main age ranges: 410~630 Ma, 732~1251 Ma, 1405~1757 Ma and 2409~2553 Ma. The peak age appears at 800 Ma and 1000 Ma, and the zircon ε Hf ( t ) values are mainly distributed in -15 to 10. The consistent age distribution of clastic zircon and the sedimentary paleogeographic environment of the bauxite, the Hanjiadian Formation and the Huanglong Formation indicate that the latter are the most direct parent rock of bauxite. By comparing the geological characteristics and zircon U- Pb ages and Hf isotopes from different strata in the South China Plate, we found that the Sino- Neoproterozoic perilithic rocks from the western part of the Jiangnan Orogen and the Nanling- Yunkai block of the Huaxia continental plate are the most important source area, with smaller contribution from the western and northern margins of the Yangtze.