China's land area is vast, the geological conditions are complex and diverse, and the mineral resources are very rich, with 171 kinds of minerals. There are 157 proven reserves. Among them, the proven reserves of tungsten, antimony, rare earth, molybdenum, vanadium and titanium rank first in the world. The reserves of coal, iron, lead and zinc, copper, silver, mercury, tin, nickel, apatite, asbestos, etc. are among the top in the world.
An important feature of the distribution of mineral resources in China, the regional distribution is uneven. For example, iron ore is mainly distributed in Liaoning, eastern Hebei and western Sichuan; coal is mainly distributed in north China, northwest, northeast and southwest regions, especially in Shanxi, Inner Mongolia, Xinjiang and other provinces and regions are the most concentrated, while the southeast coastal provinces are relatively few.
The uneven distribution of resources makes some minerals very concentrated, such as tungsten ore, which are distributed in 19 provinces and regions, but the reserves are mainly concentrated in southeast Hunan Province, Gannan Province, Northern Guangdong, Western Fujian and Guidong-Guizhong, although the concentration of resources is conducive to large-scale mining, but it brings great inconvenience to transportation.
China's forest area is 195 million hectares, the forest coverage rate has reached 20.36%, and the plantation area ranks first in the world.
In short, China is a country with vast territory, superior geological conditions, complete mineral resources and abundant resources in the world, and a large country with mineral resources with very distinct resource characteristics. The world's three major mineralization areas are all in China, so the mineral variety is very complete.
China's 8 kinds of mineral reserves are the world's first, and the potential value ranks third in the world. Let's take a look at what minerals are specific.
First, China's rare earths
China is the largest country in rare earth reserves, accounting for 41.36% of the world's rare earth resources, and is a veritable country of rare earth resources. China's rare earth resources are extremely rich and the distribution is extremely reasonable. China's rare earth reserves accounted for 71.1% of the world's largest, but 2012 data showed that China's rare earth reserves accounted for about 23% of the world's total reserves. From 71.1% to 23%.
Rare earths have always been known as "industrial vitamins". Rare earths in the military, science and technology, petroleum, chemical, metallurgy, textile, ceramics, glass, permanent magnet materials and other fields have been widely used, with the progress of science and technology and the continuous breakthrough of application technology, the value of rare earth oxides will be more and more large.
The abundance of rare earths in the earth's crust is not rare, it is just dispersion. Therefore, although the absolute amount of rare earths is very large, there are not many rare earth mines that can be truly mined, and the distribution in the world is very uneven, and the rare earths in the world are mainly concentrated in: China, the United States, India, the former Soviet Union, South Africa, Australia, Canada, Egypt and several other countries, of which China has the highest share in the world.
China's main rare earth mines are: Baiyun Obo Rare Earth Mine, Shandong Weishan Rare Earth Mine, Mianning Rare Earth Mine, Jiangxi Weathered Shell Leaching Rare Earth Mine, Hunan Brown Yttrium Niobium Mine and coastal placer mines on the long coastline.
Among them, Baiyun Obo rare earth ore and iron symbiosis, the main rare earth minerals are: fluorocarbon cerium ore and monazite, the ratio of which is 3:1, basically reached the rare earth recovery grade, therefore, known as mixed ore, the total reserves of rare earth REO is 35 million tons, accounting for about 38% of the world's reserves, can be called the world's largest rare earth ore.
Weishan rare earth ore and Mianning rare earth ore are mainly fluorocarbon cerium ore, and are accompanied by barite, etc., which are a kind of rare earth ore with relatively simple composition and easy selection.
Jiangxi weathered shell leaching type rare earth ore is a new type of rare earth mineral, the smelting is relatively simple, and the medium and heavy rare earth is high, which belongs to the rare earth mine with great market competitiveness.
It is worth mentioning that China's coastal sand is also very rich, the coastline of the entire South China Sea and the coastline of Hainan Island and Taiwan Island can be called the gold coast of coastal sand accumulation, with modern sedimentary placer ore and ancient placer ore, of which monazite and phosphorus yttrium ore are recycled as by-products when processing coastal sand to recover ilmenite and zirconite.
In summary, China has large reserves of rare earth resources, rich mineral species, complete rare earth elements, high rare earth grade, and reasonable distribution of ore points. Compared with other countries, the situation of rare earths is as follows:
China's rare earths compare with the rest of the world
1, the United States rare earth: its rare earth resources accounted for about 12.50% of the world, but its rare earth consumption and fluorocarbon cerium production has always ranked first in the world, in recent years, rare earth production has retreated to the second place, giving way to China (the reason is to attach importance to the protection of rare earths).
The rare earth resources in the United States mainly include fluorocarbon cerium ore, monazite and other minerals, as well as recoverable black rare gold ore, silicon beryllium yttrium ore and phosphorus yttrium ore as a by-product.
For example, the California-Mount Pass Mine, the world's largest single fluorocarbon cerium mine, was found in 1949 when exploring radioactive minerals, rare earth grade 5 to 10% REO, reserves of 5 million tons, is a large rare earth mine.
Monazite has long been mined in the United States, and the amount of placer mined today is the Green Cove Springs Mine in Florida. The deposit is about 19 km long, 1.2 km wide and 6 m thick, and the monazite is relatively abundant. In addition, there are also placer deposits in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Idaho and Montana, and the reserves are also very impressive.
2, India's rare earth: India's main deposits are placer ore. Production of monazite in India began in 1911, with the largest deposits in Kerala, Madras and Orisala. India's famous mining area is the large deposits of Chavara and Manavanakurić on the south west coast called Travanco, which accounted for half of the world's ore supply between 1911 and 1945 and is still an important source. In 1958, during the exploration of uranium and thorium resources, a new monazite and ilmenite deposit was discovered on the Ranchi Plateau inland in the interior of Bihar, on a huge scale.
The solitary thorium content in India is as high as 8% ThO2. Heavy sand monazite is mined in Manavan rakurić, which accounts for 5 to 6%. Ilmenite accounts for 65%, rutile 3%, zircon 5 to 6%, garnet 7 to 8%.
3, the former Soviet Union's rare earth: the former Soviet Union's rare earth reserves are very large, mainly associated deposits, located in the Kola Peninsula, existing in alkaline rocks containing rare earth apatite. The main source of rare earths in the former Soviet Union was the recovery of rare earths from apatite ore. In addition, in apatite ore, the recoverable rare earth minerals are cerium niobium perovskite, containing 29 to 34% rare earths.
4, Australia's rare earth: Australia is the world's largest producer of monazite, its monazite is recycled as a by-product of the production of zirconite and rutile and ilmenite. Placer mines in Australia are mainly concentrated in the western region. Australia also produces yttrium phosphate. Australia's exploitable rare earth resources, as well as uranium mining tailings in Mount Isa, central Queensland, and the Rocksburth Copper and Uranium Gold Deposits in South Australia.
5, Canada's rare earths: Canada mainly produces rare earths from uranium ore. For example, the uranium mine located in the Braund river-Elit Lake area of Ontario is mainly composed of: asphalt uranium ore, titanium uranium ore and monazite, phosphorus yttrium ore. When it is wet to extract uranium, rare earths can also be proposed. In addition, the chlorophyllite mine owned in the Oka region of Quebec is also a very large potential resource for rare earths.
6, South African rare earths: South Africa is the most important producer of monazite in Africa. The apatite mine in Steenkampsklar, Cape Province, with its associated monazite, is the world's only single veined monazite rare earth mine.
7, Malaysia's rare earths: mainly from the tailings of tin ore to recover monazite, phosphorus yttrium ore and niobium yttrium and other rare earth minerals, Malaysia was once the world's main source of heavy rare earths and yttrium.
8, Egypt's rare earths: Egypt mainly recovers monazite from ilmenite. Located in the Nile Delta region, the Egyptian deposit is a riverside sand mine, the source of which is deposited from weathered alluvial sand upstream, and the monazite reserves are about 200,000 tons.
9, Brazil's rare earths: Brazil is the world's oldest country in rare earth production, in 1884 began to export monazite to Germany, once famous in the world. Brazil's monazite resources are mainly concentrated on the eastern coast, from Rio de Janeiro to fortaleza in the north, an area of about 643 km long, with large deposits.
The important role of rare earths:
I. Military role:
Rare earth has the reputation of industrial "gold", rare earth due to the very good light electromagnetic and other physical characteristics, can be composed of different properties with other materials, a wide variety of new materials, so the most significant function of rare earth can greatly improve the quality and performance of other products. For example, the tactical performance of steel, aluminum alloy, magnesium alloy and titanium alloy used in the manufacture of aircraft, tanks and missiles has been greatly improved.
Rare earths are high-tech lubricants for electronics, lasers, the nuclear industry, superconductivity and many others. Once rare earth material technology is used in the military, it is bound to bring about a significant leap in military science and technology. For example, an important reason why the US military has been able to have overwhelming control in several local wars after the Cold War is that it is better in the field of rare earth technology.
Second, the role in the metallurgical industry:
Rare earth metals or fluoride, silicides added to steel, can play a role in refining, desulfurization, neutral and low melting point harmful impurities, but also can improve the processing performance of steel; rare earth ferrosilicon alloys, rare earth silicon magnesium alloys as a spheroidizing agent to produce rare earth ductile iron, because this ductile iron is particularly suitable for the production of complex ductile iron parts with special requirements, is widely used in automobiles, tractors, diesel engines and other machinery manufacturing industry; the rare earth metal is added to magnesium, aluminum, copper, zinc, nickel and other non-ferrous alloys, It can improve the physicochemical properties of the alloy, and improve the room temperature and high temperature mechanical properties of the alloy.
Third, in the petrochemical role
The molecular sieve catalyst made of rare earth has the advantages of high activity, good selectivity and strong resistance to heavy metal poisoning, so it replaces the aluminum silicate catalyst for petroleum catalytic cracking process;
In the process of synthetic ammonia production, a small amount of rare earth nitric acid is used as a co-catalyst, and its treatment dose is 1.5 times larger than that of nickel-aluminum catalyst; in the process of synthesizing cis-butadiene rubber and isoprene rubber, the use of naphthenate rare earth-triisobutyl aluminum catalyst can obtain excellent product performance, with less equipment hanging glue, stable operation, short post-treatment process and other advantages; composite rare earth oxide can also be used as an internal combustion engine exhaust gas purification catalyst, cerium naphthenate can also be used as a paint drier.
Fourth, the role of glass ceramics
The applications in glass ceramics mainly include: superconducting ceramics, piezoelectric ceramics, conductive ceramics, dielectric ceramics and sensitive ceramics.
Rare earth oxides or processed rare earth concentrates can be widely used as polishing powder for optical glass, spectacle lenses, picture tubes, oscilloscopes, flat glass, plastic and metal tableware polishing; in the process of melting glass, cerium dioxide can be used to have a strong oxidation effect on iron, reduce the iron content in the glass, in order to achieve the purpose of removing green in the glass; the addition of rare earth oxides can produce optical glass and special glass for different purposes, including glass that can absorb ultraviolet rays through infrared, acid-resistant and heat-resistant glass Anti-X-ray glass, etc.; adding rare earths to ceramic glaze and enamel can reduce the fragmentation of the glaze, and can make the products show different colors and lusters, which is widely used in the ceramic industry.
Lead lanthanum zirconate (PLZT) ceramic obtained by adding rare earth lanthanum to lead zirconate (PZT) ceramics is not only an excellent electro-optical ceramic, but also a self-tuning mechanism that reflects shape self-recovery because of its shape memory function, that is, it reflects the self-tuning mechanism of shape self-recovery.
The concept of intelligent ceramic materials is proposed, advocating a new concept of developing and designing ceramic materials, which is extremely beneficial to broadening the application of rare earths in modern functional ceramics. Recent studies have also shown that rare earths also have a unique role in new ceramic materials such as bioceramics and antibacterial ceramics. Since rare earth elements can synergize with transition elements such as silver, zinc, and copper, the development of rare earth composite phosphate antibacterial can make the surface of the ceramic produce a large number of hydroxyl radicals, thereby enhancing the antibacterial properties of the ceramic.
Rare earth cobalt and NdFeB permanent magnet materials, with high residual magnetism, high coercivity and high magnetic energy product, are widely used in the electronics and aerospace industries; pure rare earth oxides and ferric trioxide compounded together garnet-type ferrite monocrystalline and polycrystalline, can be used in microwave and electronics industry; yttrium aluminum garnet and neodymium glass made of high-purity neodymium oxide can be used as solid laser materials; rare earth hexaborides can be used to make cathode materials for electron emission; lanthanum nickel metal is a newly developed hydrogen storage material in the 1970s;
Lanthanum chromate is a high-temperature thermoelectric material; at present, the superconducting materials made of barium-based oxides improved by barium yttrium copper oxygen elements in various countries in the world can obtain superconductors in the liquid nitrogen temperature zone, which has made a breakthrough in the development of superconducting materials. In addition, rare earths are also widely used in lighting sources, projection TV phosphors, sensor-enhancing screen phosphors, tri-primary color phosphors, photocopy lamp powders; in agriculture, the application of trace amounts of rare earths nitrate to field crops can increase yields by 5 to 10%; in the light textile industry, rare earth chlorides are also widely used in tanning fur, fur dyeing, wool dyeing and carpet dyeing.
Fifth, the role in agriculture
Rare earth elements can increase the chlorophyll content of plants, enhance photosynthesis, promote root development, and increase root uptake of nutrients. Rare earths can also promote seed germination, improve seed germination rate, and promote seedling growth. In addition to the above main effects, it also has the ability to make some crops more resistant to disease, cold and drought.
Numerous studies have also shown that the use of appropriate concentrations of rare earth elements can promote the absorption, transformation and utilization of nutrients by plants. Corn was mixed with rare earth seeds, and the emergence of seedlings and joints was 1 to 2 days earlier than that of the control, the plant height increased by 0.2 meters, and the early maturation was 3 to 5 days, and the yield was increased by 14%.
Rare Earth is a general term for lanthanides and scandium and yttrium and yttrium in the chemical periodic table. There are 250 kinds of rare earth minerals in nature. The first to discover rare earths was the Finnish chemist John Gadolin. In 1794 he isolated the first rare earth "element" (yttrium, or Y2O3) from an asphalt-like heavy ore. Because there were fewer rare earth minerals found in the 18th century, only a small amount of water-insoluble oxide could be obtained by chemical method, and this oxide was habitually called "soil" in history, hence the name rare earth.
Depending on the structure and physico-chemical properties of the atomic electron layers of rare earth elements, as well as their co-occurrence in minerals and the characteristics of different ion radii can produce different properties:
Light rare earths include: lanthanum, cerium, praseodymium, neodymium, neodymium, samarium, osmium, and.
Heavy rare earths include: gadolinium, terbium, dysprosium, holmium, erbium, thulium, ytterbium, radium, scandium, yttrium.
Classification according to mineral characteristics:
Cerium group (light rare earths) – lanthanum, cerium, praseodymium, neodymium, promethium, samarium and osmium;
Yttrium group (heavy rare earths) – gadolinium, terbium, dysprosium, holmium, holum, thulium, ytterbium, scandium, and scandium.
Classification by extraction and separation:
Light rare earths (P204 weak acidity extraction) - lanthanum, cerium, praseodymium, neodymium;
Medium rare earths (P204 low acidity extraction) – samarium, europium, gadolinium, terbium and dysprosium;
Heavy rare earths (acidity extraction in P204) – holmium, erbium, thulium, ytterbium, ytterbium, yttrium.
China's rare earth reserves accounted for 71.1% of the world's largest, and now account for less than 23%.
China's rare earth reserves fell rapidly to 37 percent between 1996 and 2009, leaving only 27 million tons. At this rate of production, China's reserves of medium and heavy rare earths can only be maintained for 15 to 20 years, and must be imported from abroad to meet domestic demand around 2040-2050.
China is not the only country in the world that owns rare earths, but it has assumed the role of supplying rare earths to the world over the past few decades.
It is worth mentioning that Japan has always been looking around the world for rare earth supply sources that can replace China. Tokyo, Japan, plans to invest $1.2 billion to improve the supply of rare earths. Japan once reached an agreement with Mongolian Lightning to develop the country's rare earth resources. South Korea, another rare earth consumer, has a similar plan. South Korea has previously announced that it will invest $15 million to reserve 1,200 tons of rare earths by 2016.
Second, China's titanium
China's titanium resource reserves are about 200 million tons, accounting for 28.9% of the world's total reserves, ranking first in the world. According to data released by the U.S. Geological Survey in 2012, the global ilmenite reserves are 650 million tons; rutile reserves are 42 million tons, and the combined reserves of the two are about 692 million tons. Titanium is mainly present in the earth's crust in the form of ilmenite and rutile.
China's proven titanium resources are distributed in 108 mining areas in 21 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the central government). The main production areas are Sichuan, Hebei, Hainan, Guangdong, Hubei, Guangxi, Yunnan, Shaanxi, Shanxi and other places, of which Sichuan has the largest reserves.
Although titanium is a new type of metal, human development and application history is only a hundred years old, but the content of titanium in the earth's crust is higher than the common copper, nickel, tin, lead, zinc. Most titanium deposits are polymetallic symbiotic ore and exist in the form of metal oxides. Titanium resources with industrial utilization value are mainly: ilmenite, rutile, anatase, plate titanium ore, ditetanite, perovskite, of which ilmenite and rutile mineral resources are the most abundant
A total of more than 30 countries in the world have titanium resources, mainly distributed in: China, Australia, India, South Africa and other countries. According to the data released by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) in 2015, the total resources of anatase, ilmenite and rutile in the world exceed 2 billion tons, of which ilmenite reserves are about 720 million tons, accounting for 92% of the global titanium ore, and rutile reserves are about 47 million tons, with a total reserve of about 767 million tons.
Global titanium resources are mainly distributed in Australia, South Africa, Canada, China and India and other countries, of which China, India and other mainly rock mines; Australia, the United States is mainly placer mines; South Africa's rock mines and placer mines are very rich. The Top Five Ilmenites announced by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in 2015 were: China (200 million tons), Australia (170 million tons), India (85 million tons), South Africa (63 million tons), Brazil (43 million tons); the top three rutile mineral reserves were Australia (28 million tons), South Africa (8.3 million tons), and India (7.4 million tons).
According to USGS global ilmenite reserve distribution data: ilmenite accounts for 98% of China's total titanium resource reserves, and rutile accounts for only 2%. According to the data released by USGS in 2015, China's ilmenite reserves are 200 million tons, accounting for 28% of the world's reserves, ranking first in the world.
China is mainly dominated by titanium magnetite ore, and the main deposits are distributed in: Panzhihua and Hongge in Sichuan Province, Baima in Miyi, Taihe in Xichang; Damiao, Black Mountain, Fengning Recruitment Ditch in Chengde, Hebei Province, and Nantianmen in Chongli; Tongyu in Zuoquan, Shanxi Province; Bijigou in Yang County, Shaanxi Province; Weiya in Xinjiang; Zhao Casezhuang in Wuyang, Henan Province; Xialan in Xingning, Guangdong Province; Huma in Heilongjiang Province; Shangzhuang and Huairou Xindi in Changping, Beijing. Among them, the on-surface reserves of Sichuan Province (TiO2 442.5632 million tons) accounted for 95.1% of the similar reserves in the country (TiO2 465.2283 million tons), Hebei Province (TiO2 15.4446 million tons) accounted for 3.3%, Shaanxi Province accounted for 0.46%, and Shanxi Province accounted for 0.35%.
Although China is rich in titanium resources, the mineral content is low, the content of other metal impurities such as calcium and magnesium is high (≥2%), the separation of titanium ore resources is difficult, the recovery rate is low, the production cost is high, and the comprehensive utilization rate of resources is too low. At present, the titanium mine in Panxi, the largest production capacity in China, has a resource utilization rate of only 6% to 8%, resulting in 90% of China's high-end aviation-grade metal titanium production raw materials relying on imports, which is difficult to meet the long-term stable demand for titanium alloy raw materials in China's high-end field in the future.
Important applications of titanium
Aero engines are known as the "flower of industry", and the two most important parts of engine development are the thermodynamics and materials science. Without a good thermodynamic design, it is theoretically difficult for the engine to have maximum efficiency, especially materials science. In aero engines, titanium alloy is one of the most important components and has always received great attention from the world industry.
Titanium is a chemical element, the chemical symbol Ti, atomic number 22, is a silvery-white transition metal, titanium is an important feature: light weight, high strength, metallic luster, has a very good corrosion resistance (including seawater, aqua regia and chlorine).
Titanium is known as "space metal" because of its stable chemical properties, good resistance to high temperature, low temperature resistance, strong acid resistance, strong alkali resistance, and high strength and low density. Titanium, discovered in 1791 by William Gregor in Cornwall, England, was named by Claprote after the Titan of Greek mythology.
China's titanium metal mineral resources are very rich, with vanadium and titanium ore reserves in southwest Sichuan of nearly 10 billion tons. Although in recent years, China has strengthened titanium ore mining, eliminated some low-level competitors, and allowed China to occupy a certain leading position in the field of titanium derivative technology, but in the top titanium products, it is still controlled by the United States, Russia and Japan. In recent years, China attaches great importance to titanium, prevents the low sale of titanium materials to foreign countries, and ensures the supply of domestic military industry applications.
In terms of performance, titanium alloy has good heat resistance, low temperature toughness and fracture toughness, so it is mostly used as aircraft engine parts and rocket and missile structural parts. Titanium alloys can also be used as fuel and oxidizer storage tanks and high-pressure vessels. Automatic rifles, mortar mount plates and recoilless gun launch tubes have been made of titanium alloy.
In the petroleum industry, titanium is mainly used for various vessels, reactors, heat exchangers, distillation towers, pipelines, pumps and valves. Titanium can be used as a condenser for electrodes and power stations, as well as as as environmental pollution control devices.
Titanium nickel shape memory alloy has been widely used in instrumentation. Titanium In medical treatment, titanium can be used as artificial bones and various instruments. Titanium is also a deoxidizer for steelmaking and a component of stainless steels and alloy steels.
Titanium dioxide is a good raw material for pigments and paints. Titanium carbide, titanium hydride is a new type of cemented carbide material. Titanium nitride is nearly gold in color and is widely used in decoration.
Deep-sea probes made of titanium alloy can dive to a depth of 6500 meters without being crushed by seawater, especially submarines made of steel, which can only dive up to 300 meters. In the aerospace and aerospace industry, titanium alloys are widely used for their excellent properties, and most of them use titanium alloys to make shells for carrier rockets, artificial satellites, space shuttles, space stations, planetary probes, etc. The metal housing is tough in space conditions and withstands the heat generated by intense friction during high-speed flight.
In the chemical industry, most of the equipment such as pumps, valves, and reactors with corrosion resistance are also made of titanium alloys. The combination of titanium and nickel can also be made into a "memory alloy" with memory function. The shell of the car is made of this material, and when the collision deforms, as long as the hot air above 80 ° C is blown, the original shape can be restored.
Titanium is abundant in the earth's crust, accounting for 9th among various metal reserves, about 17 times the total amount of copper, nickel, aluminum and zinc. There are more than 70 kinds of titanium-containing minerals, mainly rutile ilmenite distributed in igneous rocks.
Third, China's tungsten
China's tungsten ore reserves rank first in the world, and China's tungsten ore production and export volume has long ranked first in the world, therefore, with tungsten "three firsts in the world"
Tungsten is a metallic element. Atomic number 74, atomic weight 183.84. High hardness, high melting point, no air erosion at room temperature; The main uses are the manufacture of filaments and high-speed cutting alloy steel, superhard molds, but also used in optical instruments, chemical instruments. China is the world's largest depositor of tungsten.
Tungsten is the refractory metal with the highest melting point. The general melting point is higher than 1650 °C. Metals with a melting point higher than the melting point of zirconium (1852 °C) are called refractory metals. Typical refractory metals are tungsten, tantalum, molybdenum, niobium, hafnium, chromium, vanadium, zirconium and titanium. As a refractory metal, the most important advantage of tungsten is that it has good high temperature strength, good corrosion resistance to molten alkali metals and vapors, and tungsten only appears above 1000 °C when oxide volatilization and liquid phase oxides occur.
Tungsten is a rare metal. Rare metals usually refer to metals that are less abundant or sparsely distributed in nature. Tungsten is a widely distributed element, found almost everywhere in all kinds of rocks, but in lower levels. The content of tungsten in the earth's crust is 0.001%, and the content in granite is average 1.5×10, which makes it very difficult to extract, and can usually only be separated and extracted by organic solvent extraction method and ion exchange method.
Tungsten is a non-ferrous metal, but also an important strategic metal, tungsten ore in ancient times known as "heavy stone". In 1781, the White Tungsten Mine was discovered by the Swedish chemist Carl Wilhelm Schöller and a new elemental acid, tungstic acid, was extracted. In 1783, the Spanish de Puerya discovered that the black tungsten ore also extracted tungsten acid from it, and in the same year, the tungsten powder was obtained for the first time by reducing tungsten trioxide with carbon, and the element was named.
It was exhibited for the first time at the Paris World's Fair in 1900. Therefore, the extraction industry of tungsten has since developed rapidly. The advent of such steel marks a major technological advance in the field of metal cutting and processing. Tungsten becomes the most important alloying element.
In 1900, the Russian inventor А.Н.Ладыгин first proposed the application of tungsten in light bulbs.
Tungsten and its alloys are one of the most important functional materials in modern industrial, national defense and high-tech applications, and are widely used in aerospace, atomic energy, shipbuilding, automotive industry, electrical industry, chemical industry and many other fields.
In 2016, the Zhuxi Tungsten Mine in Fuliang County, Jiangxi Province, proved 333+334 tungsten trioxide (WO3) resources of 2.86 million tons, once again refreshing the world record of tungsten ore reserves, becoming the new world's largest tungsten ore.
According to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Mineral Products Summary 2020 data, as of the end of 2019, the world's tungsten resource reserves were 3.2 million tons, of which China's tungsten reserves were 1.9 million tons, becoming the world's largest tungsten resource country; Russia's tungsten reserves of 240,000 tons, ranking second in the world; followed by Vietnam (95,000 tons), Spain (54,000 tons), the United Kingdom (44,000 tons), North Korea (29,000 tons), Australia (10,000 tons), Portugal (3,100 tons).
In 2019, the world's tungsten output was 85,000 tons, of which China's tungsten output reached 70,000 tons, accounting for 82.35%, still the world's largest tungsten producing country; Vietnam's tungsten output of 4,800 tons, ranking second; followed by Mongolia (1,900 tons), Russia (1,500 tons), Bolivia (1,200 tons), North Korea (1,100 tons), Rwanda (1,100 tons), Australia (740 tons), Portugal (700 tons), Spain (500 tons)
China is also the world's largest consumer.
Tungsten is known as "industrial monosodium glutamate" and is a very important rare mineral resource. Tungsten and tungsten products have high melting point, high density, high hardness, and are widely used. At the end of the 19th century, tungsten was first used to produce alloy steel and hardened steel, tungsten products from primary products to deep processing products, the variety has reached more than 20 kinds, including drills, cutting tools, alloys, chemicals, medicine, food to electronic devices, armor-piercing bullets and so on.
Tungsten has become one of the irreplaceable materials in modern industrial society. The tungsten industry directly affects the national economy and military security.
Many countries in the world attach great importance to the exploration and development of tungsten, and reserve tungsten as a strategic resource.
China's tungsten resource reserves rank first in the world. China's tungsten deposits are extremely rich, with 252 proven mineral sites distributed in 23 provinces (regions), especially in Hunan (mainly white tungsten ore) and Jiangxi (mainly black tungsten ore), with reserves accounting for 33.8% and 20.7% of the national total respectively.
In the past half century, the over-exploitation of tungsten ore has made high-quality black tungsten ore resources nearly exhausted, and more than 70% of China's ammonium tungstate products are produced by black tungsten ore concentrate. The current retained resources are mainly white tungsten ore, accounting for about 73%, and the white tungsten ore resources are characterized by associated, symbiotic ore, complex and difficult to select, such as the recovery level in the domestic persimmon Zhuyuan tungsten mine, its mining recovery rate is only 36%, the beneficiation recovery rate is only 63%, the ore grade is low, the impurity content is high;
4. China's barium (barite)
China's barite reserves are 100 million tons, accounting for about 29% of the world's total reserves, ranking first in the world. The total reserves of barium ore resources exceed 1 billion tons, and the reserves and production currently rank first in the world. It is mainly distributed in Hunan, Guangxi, Qinghai and Jiangxi in China.
The main minerals of barium in nature are barite (barium sulfate-BaSO4) and venomite (barium carbonate-BaCO3).
Barium is a alkaline earth metal element, which is the sixth periodic element of group II.A in the periodic table, and is a living element in alkaline earth metal, and the name of the element comes from the Greek βαρύς (barys), which originally meant "heavy". The chemical element symbol is Ba. It is a soft alkaline earth metal with a silvery white luster. Due to its very reactive chemistry, barium elements have never been found in nature. The most common minerals of barium in nature are barite (barium sulfate) and venomite (barium carbonate), both of which are insoluble in water.
Barium was recognized as a new element in 1774, but was not generalized as a metallic element until shortly after the invention of electrolysis in 1808. Compounds of barium are used to make green in pyrotechnics (based on the principle of flame color reaction). Barite is the most common mineral of barium, and its composition is barium sulfate. Produced in low-temperature hydrothermal veins.
Discovery of barium: In 1602, Cassio Lauro, a shoemaker in the Italian city of Borola, roasted a barium sulfate-containing barite with a combustible substance and found that it glowed in the dark, which aroused the interest of scientists. Thereafter, this stone was called The Balola Stone.
In 1774, the Swedish chemist Scheler discovered that barium oxide is a new soil with a relative weight, called "Baryta" (heavy soil). Scheler believed that the stone was a combination of a new soil (oxide) and sulfuric acid, and in 1776 he heated the nitrate of this new soil to obtain pure soil (oxide).
In 1808, the British chemist H. Davy used mercury as a cathode, platinum as an anode, electrolytic barite (BaSO4) to produce barium amalgam, after distillation to remove mercury, to obtain a metal of low purity, and named after the Greek barys (heavy). The element symbol is Ba, called barium.
Barium, like other alkaline earth metals, is found everywhere on Earth: 0.026% in the upper part of the earth's crust and 0.022% in the earth's crust. Barium is mainly present in the form of barite and in the form of sulfates or carbonates.
The main minerals of barium in nature are barite (BaSO4) and virulent stone (BaCO3). Barite deposits are widely distributed, and there are larger deposits in Hunan, Guangxi, Shandong and other places in China.
Barite can be used as a white pigment, but also used in chemical, paper, textile fillers, in glass production can be used as a flux and increase glass brightness, but the most important is used as a weighting agent in the drilling industry and to refine barium. Barium can be used to make barium salts, alloys, fireworks, nuclear reactors, etc., and is also an excellent oxygen remover when refining copper. Widely used in alloys, there are lead, calcium, magnesium, sodium, lithium, aluminum and nickel and other alloys.
Barium nitrate is mixed with potassium chlorate, magnesium powder, and rosin and can be used to make flares and fireworks.
Soluble barium compounds are often used as insecticides. Barium sulfate is an adjunct to x-ray examinations. Odorless and odorless white powder, x-ray can provide positive contrast in the body substance. Medical barium sulfate is not absorbed in the gastrointestinal tract and has no allergic reactions, and does not contain soluble barium compounds such as barium chloride, barium sulfide and barium carbonate. It is mainly used for gastrointestinal angiography and can sometimes be used for other tests.
5. Antimony in China
China is the country with the richest antimony resources in the world, and China's antimony resource reserves account for about 52% of the world's total reserves. According to data released by the U.S. Geological Survey in 2014, the global proven antimony reserves are 1.8 million tons, mainly distributed in China (950,000 tons), Russia (350,000 tons), Bolivia (310,000 tons), Tajikistan (50,000 tons) and South Africa (27,000 tons). The content of antimony in the earth's crust is 0.0001%, there are as many as 120 known antimony-containing minerals, but it has industrial use value, and there are only 10 kinds of antimony minerals containing more than 20% antimony.
The world's antimony resources are mainly distributed in the Pacific Rim coast, the Mediterranean Belt and the Tianshan Tectonic Mineralization Belt in Central Asia, of which the Antimony Ore Resources of the Pacific Structural Mineralization Belt are the most abundant, accounting for about 77% of the total antimony resources.
China has the largest reserves of antimony resources in the world, accounting for 52% of the global total. There are 171 proven antimony mines in China, mainly distributed in Hunan, Guangxi, Tibet, Yunnan, Guizhou and Gansu, and the total identified resource reserves in these 6 provinces account for 87.2% of the total identified resource reserves. The province with the largest antimony resource reserves is Hunan, and the tin mine in Lengshuijiang City, Hunan Province, is the world's largest antimony ore, accounting for one-third of the country's annual production of antimony.
Chenzhou Mining in Xiangxi, Hunan Province, ranks second in the country in fine antimony and antimony oxide production. In addition, Wanshan, Wuchuan, Danzhai, Tongren and Banpo in Guizhou, Dachang Mine in Nandan County, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Yawan Antimony Mine in Gansu Province, and Xunyang Mercury Antimony Mine in Shaanxi Province are also the main antimony mineral areas in China.
Characteristics of Antimony Resources in China:
First, the reserves are abundant, the ore deposits are numerous and the scale is large. There are 54 well-known large antimony deposits in the world, and 15 in China. Among the proven antimony mining areas in China, the proven reserves of large and super large antimony deposits account for 81% of the country's total proven reserves.
Second, the metallogenic environment is superior, with the formation of large, super large deposits of metallogenic conditions.
Third, the distribution of antimony ore is highly concentrated. The proven super-large and large and medium-sized antimony deposits are concentrated in Hunan, Guangxi, Tibet, Yunnan, Guizhou and Gansu, and the total identified resource reserves in the six provinces account for 87.2% of the total identified resource reserves.
Fourth, the reserve composition of the antimony industry type is dominated by single antimony sulfide deposits, accounting for 67% of the total antimony reserves in the country.
China's world antimony capital: Hunan Lengshuijiang Tin Mine is the world's largest antimony mine, with a total area of 116 square kilometers, antimony resources reserves of 300,000 tons, antimony annual output accounts for one-third of the country, the place is known as "the world's antimony capital". The tin mine antimony mine is located about 15 kilometers northeast of Lengshuijiang City, Hunan Province, and consists of four deposits: Old Mine, Tongjiayuan, Wuhua and Feishuiyan. Tin Mine is the world's first in antimony resource reserves, the world's first in antimony production, and the world's first in the quality of antimony products, and has uncontroversially won the laurel of "the world's antimony capital".
The abundance of antimony in the Earth's crust is estimated at 0.2 to 0.5 parts per million, close to thallium (0.5 ppm) and silver (0.07 ppm). Antimony is a copper-loving element, but it also has a certain degree of oxygenation and has the characteristics of an amphoteric element.
Antimony can be used to produce flame retardants, while 20% of antimony can be used to make alloy materials, plain bearings and welds in batteries. Lead-acid batteries used in lead-antimony alloy plates. Antimony alloys made with lead and tin can be used to improve the performance of welding materials, bullets and bearings.
Antimony is a poor conductor of electricity and heat, which is not easy to oxidize at room temperature and has corrosion resistance. Therefore, the main role of antimony in alloys is to increase hardness, often referred to as a hardener of metals or alloys. After adding unequal proportions of antimony to the metal, the hardness of the metal will increase and can be used to make arms, so antimony is called a strategic metal. Antimony and antimony compounds are first used in wear-resistant alloys, printed lead alloys and the arms industry, and are important strategic materials.
Antimony compounds are important additives for a wide range of chlorine-containing and brominated flame retardants, and antimony has its wide range of uses in emerging microelectronics technologies, such as the manufacture of AMD graphics cards.
Sixth, China's bentonite soil
China's bentonite reserves are the first in the world. China's bentonite is a complete variety and widely distributed, covering 26 provinces and cities, and its output and export are among the top in the world. According to incomplete statistics, China's annual output of bentonite has exceeded 3.5 million tons, and the total reserves account for 60% of the world's total.
China's more than 100 proven bentonite mineral deposits are mainly concentrated in Xinjiang, Guangxi, Inner Mongolia and the three northeastern provinces, of which the bentonite ore reserves in Xinjiang and Buxar Mongol Autonomous County have exceeded 2.3 billion tons, which is the largest bentonite mining area in China with proven reserves.
Bentonite is a non-metallic mineral with montmorillonite as the main mineral component, montmorillonite structure is composed of two silicon-oxygen tetrahedral sandwiched with a layer of aluminum-oxygen octahedron 2:1 crystal structure, due to the layered structure formed by montmorillonite unit cells There are some cations, such as Cu, Mg, Na, K, etc., and the role of these cations and montmorillonite crystal cells is very unstable, easy to be exchanged by other cations, so it has good ion exchange.
Bentonite has been applied in more than 100 departments in 24 fields of industrial and agricultural production, with more than 300 products, bentonite is widely used, and has always been known as "universal soil". Bentonite (montmorillonite) due to its good physical and chemical properties, can be used as a purification decolorizer, binder, thixotropic agent, suspension agent, stabilizer, filler, feed, catalyst, etc., is widely used in agriculture, light industry and cosmetics, pharmaceuticals and other fields, so montmorillonite is a widely used natural mineral materials.
Bentonite can be used as waterproof materials, such as bentonite waterproof blankets, bentonite waterproof boards and their supporting materials.
The United States has been at a leading level in the world's bentonite research, and many of the standards for domestic bentonite products are also modeled on American standards. Some European countries, Japan, and South Korea also have more advanced technology in some products. Compared with foreign countries, domestic products and market development is relatively slow, and products are mainly conventional products.
Bentonite deposits in China can be summarized into 5 major mineral belts and 4 major producing areas.
The first mineral belt: Bin County, Jiutai City, Shuangyang City, Jilin Province, Heishan City, Jianping County, Lingyuan City, Liaoning Province, Hebei Province, Shanxi Province, Shaanxi Province and Sichuan Province;
The second mineral belt: Hailin County in the east of Heilongjiang Province, Shandong, Henan and Anhui to Hubei and Hunan.
The third mineral belt: Zhejiang Province to Jiangsu Province, Fujian Province, Guangdong Province to Guangxi Autonomous Region.
The fourth mineral belt: extending from Xinjiang to Gansu.
The fifth mineral belt: extends from Tibet to Yunnan and Guizhou.
Among them, the first to fourth mineral belts are the four main production areas of bentonite ore in China.
7. China's Glauber's Salt
China's glauber's salt ore resources are extremely rich, with a total reserve of 10.5 billion tons, ranking first in the world. There are more than 100 mining areas with proven reserves, distributed in 13 provinces (regions) in the country, with Qinghai Province having the largest reserves, accounting for about 40%; followed by Sichuan Province, accounting for about 30%; Yunnan and Inner Mongolia also have more Glauber's salt production.
In the world, China and Russia have the most distribution of Mangan Nitrate Lake. California, Wyoming, and other parts of the southwestern and western United States are rich in Glauber's salt, which is also produced in Austria and Spain, and has rich mineral deposits in Bohemia and the Gulf of Karabogazgor in the Caspian Sea.
Glauber's salt is a non-metallic mineral mainly composed of sodium-containing sulfate minerals, which is an important raw material for the preparation of sodium sulfate, ammonium sulfate, chemical fiber, sodium sulfide, washing powder, sodium silicate, foam materials, etc.
Glauber's salt, alias sodium sulfate, glauber's salt. His foreign name is Sodium Sulfate. Glauber's salt is a widely distributed sulfate mineral, which is a crystallized by processing and refining the sulfate mineral glauber salt. It can be used to treat pussic disease, warm in the middle, consume food, chase water, and slow diarrhea. It is used for gastric diarrhea, food poop, dyspepsia, edema, edema, mastoma, amenorrhea, constipation.
8. Chinese wollastonite
There are 31 mining areas with abundant wollastonite resources and proven reserves in China, with a total reserve of 132 million tons of ore, ranking first in the world. 14 provinces and districts in the country have wollastonite output. From the perspective of domestic distribution, Jilin Province has the most wollastonite mines, accounting for 40% of the country.
The world's wollastonite resources are relatively rich, and the total amount of resources is predicted to be more than 800 million tons, but the distribution is very uneven. Only more than 20 countries in the world have found wollastonite deposits, mainly distributed in Asia china, India, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Mexico, the United States and other countries in the Americas, with proven reserves of 300 million t; in addition, Finland, Turkey, Namibia, South Africa, Sudan, Canada and Yugoslavia and other countries have also found wollastonite deposits.
Wollastonite belongs to a chain metasilicate, which has high whiteness, good insulation, dielectric properties and high heat resistance and weather resistance. Wollastonite is widely used in ceramics, chemical industry, metallurgy, papermaking, plastics, coatings and other fields.
Wollastonite, which can be used to make brake pads, ceramic glazes, etc., is widely used in industrial production of automobiles, metallurgy, ceramics, plastics and so on. It is worth mentioning that the world's most promising field of wollastonite consumption prospects is the engineering plastics industry, wollastonite as a filler and reinforcing agent for the plastic rubber industry, in the industrial manufactured products more and more replace metal parts, market demand growth is very large.
According to foreign experts, the future application field of wollastonite accounts for example: 6% of the ceramic industry and related departments; coatings, plastics and decorative materials 22%; asbestos substitutes 5%; El often living insulation materials with insulating ceramic foam 12%; building insulation ceramic foam 6%; refractory insulation layer ceramic foam 2%; ceramic foam for casting and production 4%; slag concrete block surface coating 3%; paper production 40%.