In recent years, accompanying with the deepening of mineral exploration and scientific research, as an important gathering area for nonferrous metal deposits,Qibaoshan area in Wulian county in Shandong province has shown great potential for mineral exploration. Clarifying the evolution process of mineral exploration and research hotspots in this area is of great significance for exploring the genesis of mineral deposits and guiding the direction of subsequent mineral exploration. In this paper, papers related to mineral exploration research in Qibaoshan area in Wulian county published on China National Knowledge Infrastructure and Elsevier Science Direct database from 1984 to 2024 have been obtained. By using CiteSpace software, evolutionary trends of the authors, research institution and key words in published papers have been analyzed. The research results show that the average number of published papers per year is positively correlated with the breakthrough achievements in mineral exploration and the increase in mining capital investment in Qibaoshan area. Moreover, No.8 Exploration Institute of Geology and Mineral Resources, which has long been rooted in Qibaoshan area and engaged in mineral exploration and scientific research, occupies a dominant position in the publication of papers. The trend of keyword evolution indicates that research on nonferrous polymetallic deposits in the Qibaoshan area has shifted from a single exploration direction to mineralization prediction, 3D modeling and other directions. The refined study of mineralogy has also become one of the hotspots in mineral exploration work in Qibaoshan area. Based on analysis of the paper data, it is suggested that the mineral exploration work in Qibaoshan area should strengthen the secondary development and utilization of geological data on the basis of comprehensive evaluation of existing geological information of the deposit, deeply explore the hidden information of data, and combine scientific and technological innovation achievements to provide theoretical support for breakthroughs in deep and peripheral mineral exploration in the Qibaoshan area.