3.2 Reserves of mineral resources types

Through constant exploration of 50 years, there are 173 kinds of minerals found, which is third in the world in total reserves; 15 of them were proven deposits, including 8 kinds of energy resources. The western and middle China contains the majority of the reserves of important materials, and some important industrial chemicals such as zinc, gold, silver, and are abundant in western China. Copper concentrates on the middle and lower reaches of Yangtze River. In general, the characteristics about the mineral resources in China can be described as follow:

China has a very broad variety of mineral reserves. The proven reserves of 20 key minerals rank first in the world, including coal, titanium, lead-zinc, molybdenum, tungsten, tin, lithium, rare-earth elements, antimony, magnesite, asbestos, etc. are ranked first in the world. Mineral such as iron, silver, oil, natural gas, though in existence, cannot meet current needs due to insufficient proven reserves or deficient quality.

The mineral sources in China are very widespread, for the frequent tectonic movements, volcanic activity, miscellaneous strata and varied formations between the Eurasian, Indian, and Pacific plates shift the distribution and produce multiple sources for different minerals. There are more than 5300 coal mines and 1971 iron-producing areas in 29 provinces. Over 900 copper-producing areas in 28 provinces, municipalities, and autonomous regions; furthermore, there are about 1000 gold mines located in almost all provinces.

Many important mineral reserves are concentrated in China. Over two-thirds of China’s coal reserves are concentrated in Shanxi, Inner Mongolia, and Shaanxi; nearly 60% of iron reserves are concentrated in the Ahshan-Benxi, Panzhihua-Xichang, Qian’an-Miyun, Wutai-Lanxian, Nanjing-Ma’anshan, and Baotou-Bayan Obo. Copper reserves are concentrated in the middle and lower reaches of Yangtze River, Changdu in Xizang, southern Sichuan, northern Yunnan, Jinchuan-Baiyin in Gansu, and Zhongtiaoshan in Shanxi.

China has an abundance of accompanying minerals. Minerals such as troilite and fireclay found in coal mines, and accompanying gold and sulphur in many copper mines are of great values to the Chinese economy. The value of the accompanying minerals can even be comparable to that of the major minerals, if China can solve the problem of comprehensive application.

The existence of some world-class mineral deposits plays an important role in the development of the social economy of China. The abundance of vanadic titanomagnetite in the Panzhihua-Xichang region, for instance, has made the region to be a main base of iron, steel, vanadium and titanium production in the south-west of China. By exploiting the copper-nickel sulphide mine in Jinchuan, Gansu, China has radically changed its history of importing nickel. In addition, China was put in the forefront of the rare earth field for the development of the rare earth-niobium-iron deposits in Bayan Obo. Other mineral deposits include: the antimony deposit in Xikuangshan and tungsten-tin-molybdenum-bismuth-beryllium polymetallic ore deposit in Shizhuyuan, Hunan; the molybdenum deposit in Jinduicheng, Shaanxi; the polymetallic lead ore deposit in Dachang and the bentonite deposit in Ningming, Guangxi; the porphyry-type silver-lead-zinc deposit in Dashiqiao, Liaoning; and the rock salt deposit in Qarhan, Qinghai.

China has a shortage of pay ore in some important mineral types. Over 97% of the iron ores in China are lean ores, with an average iron content of 33%. The concentration in manganese ores is only 22%; most of the ores are manganese carbonate. The tenor of ores in two-thirds of copper reserves is less than 1%.

Though China has a high number of proven reserves of different minerals, the reserve per capita is lower than the world level, due to the enormous population. China needs to focus strongly on the development of geological work in order to meet the needs of construction in urban and rural areas.

Reserves of important mineral resources types .Fig[3.1]

Ensured reserves of major mineral resources .Fig [3.2]

Iron is generally distributed in eastern China, and it is more concentrated in the north east than the south east. Hebei produced 171 million tons of pig iron in 2000, the most among the provinces. Liaoning and Shanghai major pig iron producing province. The steel production of 177 million tons in Shanghai was the most among all the steel producing provinces in 2000.

Distribution of ferrous minerals .Fig [3.3]

Production of ferrous minerals . Fig[3.4]

Copper is mostly distributed in northern Fujian and west of Sichuan. Anhui with a production of 2.3 million tons, produced the most copper; Jiangxi produced 1.9 million tons of copper. Lead and zinc is mostly distributed in Hunan and northern Guangxi in southern China. Hunan also had the most production in lead and zinc, with 2.6 million tons of lead and 4.5 million tons of zinc. Liaoning produced 3.4 million tons of zinc. Aluminum is distributed around Ningxia and Henan. The production of aluminum in Henan in 2000 was 4.2 million tons, the most aluminum production in China.

Distribution of non-ferrous minerals Fig[3.5]

Production of non-ferrous minerals Fig[3.6]  

Coal is the most abundant energy resource in China. The ensured coal reserves in 2000 were 1 trillion tons. It is mainly distributed in the northern and northwestern part of China, and is produced in all provinces; however, Shanxi produces the most coal in the country. In the late 80’s, the coal industry in China had been greatly developed. During the Seventh Five-year Plan (1985-90), the RMB in original value of fixed assets increased by 91.5%. In 1990, the coal production in Shanxi was 286 million tons, which was more than a quarter of the national total. In the late 90’s, the production of coal started to decline. The coal production in Shanxi has declined dramatically from 347 million tons to 196 million tons in 2000. In 2000, the total output of coal of China reached 9.980 billion tons. Shandong, Liaoning, and Hebei all reached more than 900 million tons. Coal consumption is mostly concentrated in the eastern China; among the provinces Shanxi, Heibei consumes the most coal. In northern China the consumption has increased steadily, while in the south west the consumption has slightly decreased in the late 90’s.

Distribution of energy-producing minerals (coal) Fig[3.7]

Coal production Fig[3.8]