Abstract: In recent years, a series of nickel deposits (points) related to ultrabasic rocks have been discovered in the periphery of Qaidam Basin, Qinghai. According to current geological and mineral data, the authors summarized the metallogenic geological background, spatial distribution and metallogenic characteristics of the Cu-Ni sulfide deposits in the periphery of Qaidam Basin based on comprehensive analysis of current geological data. The four nickel metallogenic zones(the high-pressure mélange zone and Oulongbuluke block on the northern margin of Qaidam Basin, northern Kunlun aulacogen belt and middle Kunlun magma arc belt on the southern margin of Qaidam Basin)were pointed out in the periphery of Qaidam Basin. And the metallogenic characteristics of each nickel metallogenic zone were analyzed emphatically. Besides, the authors summarized the metallogenic model of the nickel deposits (the deeper liquation and the upper intrusion of mantle-derived magma), and the prospecting criteria (the outcrop of ore-bearing rock and the geophysical and geochemical anomaly). And the six prospecting potential areas of nickel minerals, including the Mangya Town - Lenghu Town located in the southern margin of Altyn in the west of the high-pressure mélange zone on the northern margin of Qaidam Basin , Wulan in the east of Oulongbuluke Block, Southern Binggou in the west of northern Kunlun aulacogen belt, Northwestern Xiarihamu in the east of northern Kunlun aulacogen belt, Xiarihamu-Southern Tuolahai and Bairiqili-Hatu in the middle of middle Kunlun magma arc belt, were delineated. The results of geological prospecting are of great significance to promote the exploration of the nickel deposits related to ultramafic rock bodies in the periphery of Qaidam Basin.