The Lanping sedimentary basin has experienced a five-stage evolution since the late Paleozoic: ocean-continent transformation (late Paleozoic to early mid-Triassic); intracontinental rift basin (late mid-Triassic to early Jurassic); down-warped basin (middle to late Jurassic); foreland basin (Cretaceous); and strike-slip basin (Cenozoic). Three major genetic types of Ag-Cu polymetallic ore deposits, including the reworked hydrothermal sedimentary, sedimentary-hydrothermally reworked and hydrothermal vein types, are considered to be the products of basin fluid activity at specific sedimentary-tectonic evolutionary stages. Tectonic differences of the different evolutionary stages resulted in considerable discrepancy in the mechanisms of formation-transportation, migration direction and emplacement processes of the basin fluids, thus causing differences in mineralization styles as well as in genetic types of ore deposit.