Development of graphite mines

China has a long history of discovering and utilizing graphite. There are many records about graphite in ancient books. For example, "Shui Jing Zhu" records that "there is Graphite Mountain on the side of Luoshui River. The rocks are completely black and can be written sparsely, so the mountain is famous for graphite." Oracle bones, jade pieces, and pottery pieces unearthed from archaeological excavations have been discovered as early as 3,000 years ago during the Shang Dynasty. Characters written with graphite have been used since ancient times, and it lasted until the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty (AD 220), when graphite was replaced by ink made from pine smoke. During the Daoguang period of the Qing Dynasty (1821-1850 AD), farmers in Chenzhou, Hunan Province mined graphite as fuel and called it "oil carbon".

In the early 20th century, the technology of using graphite to make batteries and pencils was introduced to China. Graphite, then known as "electrical coal" and "pen lead", began to be used in modern industry and promoted China's graphite mining industry. development. Xinghe, Nanjiang, and Panshi graphite mines were mined one after another from 1916 to 1928. In 1929, seven graphite mines were opened in Leiyang, Chenzhou, Yizhang and other places in Hunan. In 1932, high-quality graphite was discovered in Guiyang, Hunan, and more than ten pen and lead companies were established. Participate in the mining or acquisition of mineral sands. Pen Lead Mining Company was established in Mei County, Shaanxi Province in 1936, with an annual output of approximately 3,000 tons of graphite ore.

After September 1931, the Panshi, Liumao, and Xinghe mines, and after July 1937, the Nanshu, and Ding'an mines were plundered and mined by Japanese invaders. It is estimated that more than 50,000 tons of graphite were looted. At that time, there were 9 mines and 2 companies extracting graphite and grinding powder in the Pinghe area of ??Nanjiang, Sichuan, behind the Anti-Japanese War, with an annual output of 200t. Production ceased in 1947. After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, the People's Government of the Liberated Areas took over the Liumao, Panshi, and Nanshu mines in 1948 and resumed production; there were once more than 20 pen and lead companies in the Kuomintang-controlled areas, but by 1949 only two were left in Chenzhou and Meixian, ** *Calculated annual graphite output is 5915t.

With the development of graphite mines, geological work on graphite deposits in China has begun in the 1920s. Some scholars have conducted geological surveys of graphite deposits, such as Liang Jin’s investigation of the Nanping Pen Lead Mine in Fujian. Hou Defeng, Zeng Shilu, Nan Yanzong, Liao Youren, Lu Yanhao, Gao Junxi, Li Heping, Wang Yuelun and others investigated some mineral sites in Sichuan, Henan, Fujian, Shaanxi, Gansu and other places. However, no formal geological exploration work was done in the mines before 1949.

After the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, the country invested a lot of geological exploration work in graphite mines. As early as the early 1950s, the East China Ministry of Industry sent a geological team to begin exploring Nanshu graphite resources. Later, the geological teams of the building materials and mineral mining systems explored the Nanshu, Xinghe, Lutang, Panshi and other mines in the 1960s, the Nanjiang, Beishu, Shibaoqi, Sanchaya and other mines in the 1970s, and the 1980s. The Liumao and Jinxi mines were explored, and the Muling and Chicheng mines were explored in the 1990s. Over the past 40 years, not only have the reserves of old mines been identified and expanded, but a large number of new mineral deposits have also been discovered, a large number of reserves and abundant reserve resources for industrial utilization have been discovered, and the characteristics and distribution patterns of China's graphite mineral resources have been fully grasped. The geological results provide a reliable basis for the sustainable development of China's graphite mining industry.

After the founding of the People's Republic of China, graphite production has developed vigorously with the needs of the development of metallurgy, machinery, electrical and other industries. From 1950 to 1952, the state invested in the construction of Nanshu, Liumao, Xinghe, Lutang, Nanjiang and other mines. In 1952, it produced 12,200 tons of graphite. From 1953 to 1957, after technological transformation and the completion of process equipment, the backwardness of graphite mines was initially changed. In 1957, 8 mines across the country produced 43,300 tons of graphite, and products began to be exported. In 1958, 21 new small mines were established, with a national output of 150,000 tons. However, mining imbalances occurred and product quality declined. After adjustments in 1962, product quality improved, but output declined. In 1966, the annual output was 8.9 t, and it only increased in 1970, with the addition of Zhangping, Lengshuijiang, Muling, Mashan, Lingbao and other mines. Construction, the national output reached 206,000 tons in 1977. After 1978, the graphite industry stagnated for four years, with the national annual output remaining at around 180,000 tons.

After China implemented the policy of reform and opening up, new vitality emerged in the graphite industry.

In the 1980s, Laixi, Wuchuan, Wuyuan, Xixia and other mines were restored and developed. Guangdong Fogang Coal Mine and Jixi Phosphate Mine both have graphite production mines. By 1985, there were 25 large and medium-sized graphite enterprises at or above the county level in the country, and more than 200 small enterprises in townships. The national annual output was 279,000 tons, and the export volume increased from 13,700 tons in 1978 to 81,000 tons, becoming a non-metallic mineral. bulk export products. China's graphite production peaked in 1990, with annual output of 679,000 tons and export volume of 141,000 tons. In 1992, it dropped to 508,000 tons and export volume of 155,000 tons. A new peak appeared in 1995, with annual output reaching 2.163 million tons, of which flake graphite output was 549,000 tons and export volume was 154,000 tons. At present, the country has 9 state-owned backbone mines, 15 local state-owned mines, 187 collective and township mining and processing plants, and more than 180 various processing plants, forming an industrial chain focusing on Heilongjiang Liumao, Shandong Nanshu, and Inner Mongolia Xinghe. The output of the crystalline graphite production base and the cryptocrystalline graphite production base centered in Lutang, Hunan, the output of state-owned backbone mines accounts for 38% of the national output, and the output of collectives and township enterprises accounts for 62%.

China's graphite mining industry has gone through more than 70 years of vicissitudes. Since the founding of the People's Republic of China, although there have been several twists and turns, the overall development has been significant. By 1995, not only the annual output was 365 times the output in 1949 , and has formed a series of comprehensive industries supporting mining, mineral processing, processing, quality purification and graphite products. The annual output accounts for about half of the world's output, ranking first. There are more than 20 product varieties and 272 product brands. Product quality, particle size classification and crushing processing methods have reached the world's advanced level. At the same time, due to the continuous development of deep-processed products, the product structure has also undergone great improvements. It has been able to produce graphite emulsion for color TV tubes, GRT energy-saving anti-friction additives, expandable graphite, graphite sheets, graphite seals and graphite refractory products that represent the contemporary international advanced level. Nearly 1,000 deep-processing products in 6 categories including materials. Graphite has long been one of China's dominant non-metallic minerals and will continue to develop steadily in the future.