◎ Liu Xuan Li Xi finished
Mining hotspots this week
01
China and Serbia will strengthen exchanges and cooperation in the fields of geology and mining
IMPORTANT NEWS
Xinhua News Agency, May 8, at the invitation of President of the Republic of Serbia Aleksandar Vučić, President of the People's Republic of China Xi Jinping paid a state visit to the Republic of Serbia from May 7 to 8. The People's Republic of China and the Republic of Serbia issued a joint statement on deepening and enhancing the comprehensive strategic partnership and building a China-Serbia community with a shared future in the new era. The two sides expressed their willingness to strengthen exchanges and cooperation in the field of geology and mining, jointly carry out scientific research on karst water resources and karst ecology, promote the construction of monitoring stations in key karst zones in Serbia, and continue to strengthen practical cooperation in the field of evaluation of key mineral resources, and welcome the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation in the Field of Geology and Minerals between China and Serbia.
02
The China Geological Survey will make every effort to promote the construction of large-scale resource bases
IMPORTANT NEWS
On May 9, the WeChat public account of the Ministry of Natural Resources reported that the China Geological Survey recently held a new round of prospecting breakthrough strategic action promotion meeting in Beijing. The meeting required that we should improve our position and accurately grasp the new situation and new tasks faced by the new round of prospecting breakthrough strategic actions; Scientific deployment, careful organization, and overall promotion of a new round of prospecting breakthrough strategic actions; Continue to adhere to the construction of large-scale resource bases as the main line, based on the "four areas", strengthen overall deployment, and achieve work echelon deployment and achievement echelon output; We will continue to promote the implementation of the new coordination and linkage mechanism of "government-led, public welfare first, business follow-up, science and technology-led, and rapid breakthrough", give full play to the role of the three-level technical support system, and strengthen business consultation and technical guidance; Make full use of transformative technologies such as big data, artificial intelligence, and cloud computing, strengthen support through policy support, equipment support, and talent team construction, add and consolidate a number of large-scale resource bases, and enhance the country's ability to ensure the security of energy resources.
03
Since the "14th Five-Year Plan", Guangxi has coordinated 395 million yuan to support a new round of prospecting breakthroughs, and 34 new strategic deposits have been discovered
IMPORTANT NEWS
China News Network, May 7, the Department of Natural Resources of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region recently said that since the "14th Five-Year Plan", the department has actively raised funds and coordinated 395 million yuan to support a new round of strategic actions for mineral prospecting breakthroughs, and achieved phased results. 34 new strategic mineral deposits have been discovered in the region, 25 new mineral deposits with large and medium-sized resources have been identified, and a number of strategic mineral resource reserves such as indium, antimony, tin, manganese and rare earth have been added, providing resource support for the high-quality development of Guangxi. From 2021 to 2023, the Guangxi Department of Natural Resources has successively allocated 89.84 million yuan, 79.89 million yuan and 97.55 million yuan for the exploration of strategic minerals and mineral resources urgently needed by the autonomous region's industries. After the convening of the new round of national prospecting breakthrough strategic action promotion meeting, Guangxi will increase financial support, and arrange 127.55 million yuan in 2024, mainly for the exploration of strategic mineral resources such as bauxite, manganese, tin, antimony, rare earth, coalbed methane, uranium, zirconium and hafnium, nickel and cobalt, and the scale of funding arrangements is the largest in the past.
04
Hu Ruizhong, academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences: "Rich ore mining" is of great strategic significance to Guizhou Province, and scientific and technological innovation is an important driver to achieve this goal
IMPORTANT NEWS
Tianyan News client on May 6, Hu Ruizhong, academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and researcher of the Institute of Geochemistry of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said in an interview a few days ago that Guizhou is a large province of mineral resources, and "rich ore refinement" is an important starting point for the province's economy to become bigger, stronger and better, and has important strategic significance. Therefore, they will focus on the major task of making breakthroughs in Guizhou's strategic mineral prospecting, do a good job in scientific and technological innovation, help Guizhou find more, large and good mines, and contribute to the high-quality development of Guizhou.
05
High-grade gold resources were discovered for the first time in the Wuhe area of Anhui Province
IMPORTANT NEWS
On May 5, the website of the Anhui Provincial Department of Natural Resources reported that the 2023 Provincial Geological Exploration Fund Project "Rongdu-Daliuzhuang Gold-lead-Zinc Polymetallic Ore Survey in Wuhe County" undertaken by the Exploration and Technology Institute of Anhui Provincial Bureau of Geology and Mineral Exploration has made an important breakthrough in prospecting, with a 100% ore occurrence rate in 6 boreholes under construction, and a high-grade gold ore body with an apparent thickness of about 4 meters was detected for the first time, with an average grade of 7 times higher than the lowest industrial grade (the highest grade of 25.87 g/t), and the prospecting prospect is good. It is reported that the metallogenic geological conditions of Wuhe area are similar to those of Jiaodong, Xiaoqinling and other metallogenic areas, and the prospecting potential is huge. From 2010 to 2017, Anhui Province successively deployed and implemented 39,000 meters/74 holes in the Wuhe area, and submitted 2 gold ore fields.
06
The Xinchang tectonic belt in the Sichuan Basin is expected to have a potential of 500 billion cubic meters of proven reserves
IMPORTANT NEWS
Sichuan Daily, May 4, Sinopec deployed the Sichuan Basin deep engineering risk exploration well - Xinqiao 1 well, recently drilled to 3,966 meters underground. More than 30 kilometers away, a number of exploration and evaluation wells are being drilled in the Hexingchang-Fenggu block. It is reported that including the Fenggu block, the Xinchang tectonic belt, which is a large-scale uplift belt formed by multiple local structures such as Xiaoquan, Xinchang, Hexingchang, Gaomiaozi, etc., is a hot spot for natural gas exploration in the Sichuan Basin. Recently, 133.012 billion cubic meters of proven geological reserves of Hexingchang gas field, a new 100 billion cubic meter tight sandstone gas field in the Xinchang structural belt, have been approved by the expert group of the Ministry of Natural Resources. It is predicted that the structural belt has the potential of 500 billion cubic meters of proven reserves, and is an important area for the construction of 100 billion cubic meters of natural gas production capacity base in Sichuan and Chongqing.
07
China Minmetals will hold a controlling stake in a world-class salt lake industry group
IMPORTANT NEWS
Caixin.com, May 8, Qinghai Salt Lake Industry Co., Ltd. recently announced that Salt Lake Co., Ltd. received the controlling shareholder Qinghai Provincial State-owned Assets Investment Management Co., Ltd. "Notification Letter", Qinghai SDIC intends to work with China Minmetals Corporation to build a world-class salt lake industrial base, to build a world-class salt lake industry group (controlled by China Minmetals) and other aspects of strategic cooperation, this cooperation involves the company and may involve the company's controlling shareholders and actual controller changes. As of now, matters related to this cooperation are under negotiation.
08
China University of Geosciences (Wuhan) established the School of New Energy
IMPORTANT NEWS
On April 30, the inaugural meeting of the School of New Energy of China University of Geosciences (Wuhan) was held on the Nanwangshan campus, attended by a number of academicians of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
It is reported that the School of New Energy is a new secondary teaching and research unit in China University of Geosciences (Wuhan) in 2023, and the college is oriented to the country's major strategic needs for the construction of a new energy system and the training needs of compound scientific and technological talents in the field of new energy. We will jointly build a diversified cooperation platform in the field of new energy with domestic and foreign advantageous scientific research units and leading enterprises, and explore a new model of new energy engineering construction in colleges and universities with the integration of talent chain, innovation chain, discipline chain and industrial chain, with the goal of becoming an important hub for international exchanges and cooperation in related fields and an important engine for the industrialization and promotion and application of innovative achievements.
09
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has issued final interpretative guidance on the definition of a "foreign entity of concern," and China is among them
IMPORTANT NEWS
On May 4, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) website reported that the U.S. Department of Energy recently released the legal definition of "Foreign Entity of Concern" (FEOC) in Section 40207 of the Infrastructure Investment and Employment Act (BIL), that is, "an entity owned, controlled by, or subject to the jurisdiction or direction of a foreign government in the country to which it belongs", and the countries covered are defined as China, Russia, Iran and North Korea. Under the U.S. Treasury and IRS final rule on the Section 30D Clean Vehicle Tax Credit, electric vehicles containing battery components manufactured or assembled by "concerned foreign entities" will not be eligible for the tax credit starting in 2024. Meanwhile, starting in 2025, electric vehicles with batteries containing critical minerals extracted, processed or recycled by "concerned foreign entities" will not be eligible for this tax credit.
10
Over the next 10 years, Australia will invest $566.1 million to find out the domestic resource base
IMPORTANT NEWS
On May 8, the official website of the Australian Prime Minister, Australian Prime Minister Albanese said in an interview a few days ago that the government will invest 566.1 million Australian dollars (about 2.689 billion yuan) in the next ten years, and unite top geologists in the country to comprehensively draw a map of Australia's mineral resources, aiming to find out the country's resource background and provide impetus for Australia's economic development. At the same time, these projects will help communities, Indigenous peoples to better manage their land and water resources, and to fully understand the potential value of mineral resources. It is reported that the project will be led by the Australian Geoscience Corporation.
11
Colombia intends to reform the current mining law, and state-owned units and enterprises will give priority to the exploration and development of strategic mineral resources
IMPORTANT NEWS
In the coming months, the Colombian government will submit a bill to Congress to reform the mining law that has been in force since 2001. If approved, the new mining law would give the government greater powers, including the exploitation of strategic mineral resources. It is reported that the draft of the new mining law stipulates that in the demarcated strategic mineral area, activities throughout the mining cycle will be prioritized for the allocation of Colombian geological surveys, state-owned industrial and commercial enterprises and public-private partnerships, and public-private partnerships can also be established. The national priority also includes the establishment of the National Mining Company of Colombia to lead the exploration, development, production and marketing of strategic minerals. At the same time, the draft amendments to the new mining law also add a new pre-exploration preparation phase to the mining cycle, in which the contractor must communicate with the community, develop a community management plan, and apply for an exploration permit and an environmental permit from the national mining authority. This stage takes at least 2 years, if not longer. In addition, the new mining law proposes a number of new measures, including a ban on the issuance of new thermal coal production licenses, stronger environmental regulations, and support for small-scale or artisanal mining.
12
India will introduce policies to encourage its own lithium processing
IMPORTANT NEWS
Global Geology and Mineral Information System, May 10, according to the Mining.com website, citing Reuters, three sources in the Indian government revealed that the country is considering incentives to guide private companies to build lithium processing facilities, as New Delhi is trying to develop its nascent lithium mining industry and increase the supply of this power battery metal. According to the news, according to the new critical minerals policy formulated by the Ministry of Mines, India will encourage enterprises to build lithium processing plants.
"The critical minerals policy comprehensively covers all areas from exploration to mining to processing" and that "India will try to learn from the experience of Australia and Canada," the sources said. India's Ministry of Mines responded that the government will take various measures to ensure the supply of critical minerals needed by downstream industries.
Last year, India published a catalogue of 30 critical minerals, including lithium, which is critical to the country's ambitious goals in areas such as electronics, communications, transport and defence. India only secured its first lithium reserves last year, and industry experts believe it is necessary to build facilities on its own soil to process lithium.