After geological survey, several minerals in China rank first in the world.

Mineral resources are an important material basis for social existence and development. At present, about 80% of raw materials, 95% of energy, more than 70% of agricultural production resources and more than 30% of drinking water needed for social production in China come from mineral resources. Mineral resources are non-renewable natural resources, which can be generally divided into three categories: energy, metal minerals and non-metal minerals. The distribution of mineral resources in the world is extremely uneven. Solid minerals such as ferrous metals, nonferrous metals, precious metals and diamonds are mainly distributed in several countries or regions in the world. For example, 82% of the world's chromium reserves, 89% of platinum group metals and 465,438+0% of gold reserves are located in South Africa, 43% of tungsten reserves and 42% of rare earth metals reserves are located in China, 27% of lead reserves are located in Australia and 26% of copper reserves are located in Chile.

1. Development and utilization of mineral resources in China.

China's mineral resources occupy an important position in the world. According to the comparison between the proven reserves of 45 main minerals and the world, there are nearly 20 dominant minerals such as titanium, vanadium, tungsten, tin, antimony, mercury, rare earth, tantalum, coal, phosphorus, fluorite, graphite, magnesite, bentonite, mirabilite and barite. There are five kinds of minerals with potential advantages: zinc, bauxite, kaolin, refractory clay and perlite. China's rare earth mineral reserves account for 90% of the world's total reserves and are known as the "rare earth kingdom"; The proven reserves of tungsten and ilmenite account for more than 70% of the world's total reserves; The reserves of tungsten, coal, antimony, molybdenum, magnesite and barite rank first in the world, while the reserves of phosphorus, tin, graphite and fluorite rank first and second in the world. However, in China's mineral resources, there are many associated minerals, few single minerals, many small and medium-sized minerals, and few large and super-large minerals. Large iron ore reserves only account for 5.2%, but the reserves account for 63% of the total reserves. Large copper mines only account for 2.6%, but their reserves account for 58%. Among the proven reserves, 86% of iron ore is lean with a grade of 30% ~ 35%, while in Australia, Brazil, India, Venezuela and other countries, the grade of iron ore is generally above 60% ~ 65%, and only 6% of copper ore is above 2%, less than 30% and 70% are above 1%. Only 7% of phosphate rock in China has a grade greater than or equal to 36%, and less than 20% of bauxite has an Al-Si ratio greater than 7. The aluminum-silicon ratio of bauxite in many countries in the world is more than 7, and some of them reach 10. Coal is concentrated in Shanxi, Shaanxi and Mongolia provinces, accounting for 68% of the national reserves; Phosphate rock is concentrated in Yunnan, Guizhou, Sichuan and Hubei provinces, accounting for 70% of the national reserves. In addition, there are some large-scale mineral deposits distributed in remote areas of China. This distribution pattern makes the development and utilization of mineral resources seriously restricted by traffic conditions, and also brings great pressure to traffic and infrastructure construction. In a mineral deposit in China, several major minerals are often stored together, and one major mineral is often accompanied by several or even a dozen beneficial elements. For example, nonferrous metal minerals are mostly multi-component comprehensive minerals, some of which account for more than 90% of the original ore; Among the iron ore reserves, comprehensive minerals account for about 1/3. In particular, there are a number of super-large deposits in China, which are associated with many beneficial components to form one or more comprehensive deposits.

2. The main problems existing in the development and utilization of mineral resources in China

The development and utilization of mineral resources involves different departments and industries such as mineral exploration, mineral exploitation, mineral processing and mineral utilization. The exploration, mining, processing and utilization of mineral resources restrict and influence each other. From front to back, these four links should be carried out in turn. Without the support of the previous link, the latter link cannot be realized. On the contrary, the latter link is counterproductive to the former link. If mineral resources are not used reasonably enough, it will naturally cause waste of resources and increase the workload of the first three links. At the same time, the four elements of this system act on the external environment, including natural environment, economic environment, scientific and technological environment and so on. , but also by the positive or negative impact of the external environment. From the whole process of mineral resources development and utilization, the problems existing in the development and utilization of mineral resources in China are as follows:

(1) The exploitation of mineral resources is extensive and the resources are seriously wasted. According to statistics, the total recovery rate of mineral resources in China is only 30%, and the comprehensive utilization rate of associated mineral resources is less than 20%, while the average level abroad is above 50%. For example, in the mining industry, China consumed 4 billion tons of coal reserves in 1990, but only produced 108 billion tons of coal, with an average recovery rate of only 25%. In the process of mining production, from 1952 to 1998, China's national income increased by 8.6 times at comparable prices, while the consumption of energy, pig iron and cement increased by 16 times, 26.3 times and 54.8 times respectively. Due to technical reasons, the primary and associated mineral resources in iron ore cannot be recycled, which is a serious waste of resources. In addition, some mining enterprises blindly pursue economic benefits, abandon poverty and wealth, and waste resources more seriously.

(2) The processing depth of mineral resources is not enough and the recovery rate is low. From the perspective of modern industrial technology, raw ore can only be regarded as a semi-finished product. In order to make full use of mineral resources, improve their use value, save transportation capacity and improve their comprehensive utilization rate and economic benefits, mining enterprises should also carry out deep processing of mineral resources while completing mining. Taking coal mine as an example, the mined raw coal has to be washed and processed by coal washing plant to produce clean coal with good quality, which can meet the requirements of modern industrial coal. From this point of view, coal mines can obtain economic benefits several times that of raw coal, and can also comprehensively utilize other by-products (mixed coal and gangue) in the process of coal washing. However, most mines in China only pay attention to quantity, regardless of quality, and only simply process the mined raw ore. Moreover, the wastes generated in the processing process cannot be comprehensively recovered, which not only reduces the profits of enterprises, but also wastes national resources, pollutes the environment and brings endless future troubles to society. Therefore, when implementing the strategy of sustainable utilization of mineral resources, we should pay attention to improving the technical content and adopting deep processing and high value-added product production technology.

(3) The comprehensive utilization rate of mineral resources is low. Many associated and biogenetic components are the characteristics of mineral resources in China. Although the progress of beneficiation and metallurgy technology sets a good example for the comprehensive utilization of Panzhihua vanadium-titanium magnetite and Bayanobo rare earth ore, the overall comprehensive utilization level is low. For example, only 33 of the 45 main components of non-ferrous metals can be recovered, with a comprehensive utilization rate of 33% and a total recovery rate of about 30%, which is 20 percentage points lower than that of foreign countries; The comprehensive utilization rate of ferrous metals is 30% ~ 40%. In Japan, the comprehensive utilization rate is 76% ~ 90%, and the former Soviet Union Hujiesk mine is 87%.

(4) The mining management system is backward and the management of mineral resources is relatively weak. For a long time, China's mining administrative power has been scattered in the 1 1 industrial sector, forming a "compartmentalization", and at the same time it belongs to the central, provincial, municipal and even county departments, forming a "compartmentalization" in the management of state-owned, local state-owned, township collective and individual mining enterprises. This "compartmentalized" management system has basically not got rid of the inertia and bondage of the old model of product economy. The administration of geology and mineral resources is lagging behind, and the management of mineral resources is relatively weak, so it is impossible to implement prior management and post supervision, which leads to disorder in the development and utilization of some mineral resources and great waste of resources. This management system is not conducive to the unified planning and comprehensive utilization of mineral resources, and it is even more difficult to study and formulate a unified industrial policy, so it is not conducive to the development of mining industry, nor to the unified coordination of exploration, development and utilization of mineral resources, and will inevitably affect the sustainable utilization of mineral resources.

3. Ways to realize the sustainable utilization of mineral resources

(1) Technical approaches for sustainable utilization

Science and technology are the primary productive forces, and social development cannot be separated from scientific and technological progress. As an important part of social economy, the mining economic system should take the road of developing mines through science and technology, put science and technology in the first place, realize the dual benefits of mining economic benefits and social benefits, extend the service life of mineral resources, and ensure the needs of sustainable development of the national economy.

① Using modern investigation technology to improve the open source ability of resources. With the rapid growth of national economy and the sharp increase of population, the mineral resources in China are rapidly decreasing at a rate several times higher than the economy, and all kinds of mineral resources are more or less in danger, making it more difficult to find minerals. However, China has a vast territory, and the degree of geological research in different regions is very different. For most minerals, there is still great prospecting potential. Therefore, we must apply modern prospecting methods and means to improve the scientific and technological level of prospecting, apply high-tech represented by computer and space technology to all aspects of geological exploration, and apply aerial survey and satellite remote sensing methods to explore and develop non-traditional mineral resources.

② Scientific mining and selection of mineral resources can improve the recovery rate of mineral mining and selection, and reduce the loss rate and dilution rate. Mining and separation of mineral resources is an important link in the operation of mineral resources development and utilization system. If there is no mining and dressing work, the exploration of mineral resources will lose its significance, and the utilization of mineral resources will be impossible. In addition, the characteristics of mineral resources, associated minerals and lean minerals in China also determine that scientific and reasonable methods must be adopted in the exploitation and separation of mineral resources. According to the situation of mineral resources, under the conditions of technical feasibility and economic rationality, scientific and reasonable mining and dressing technology must be selected. In terms of mining technology, the conventional operations of mining while digging, digging before mining and rational mining between the rich and the poor are strictly implemented to improve the mining recovery rate and reduce the loss rate and dilution rate. In mineral processing technology, it is necessary to develop mineral processing pre-selection and discard technology, improve mineral processing grade, strengthen crushing and screening technology, reduce mineral processing granularity, improve grinding classification rate, and do a good job in dewatering products and tailings. Adopting advanced and reasonable mining and dressing technology can improve ore quality, increase mineral processing recovery rate, save operating expenses, reduce costs and protect ecological environment. Therefore, whether the mining and dressing technology of mineral resources is scientific and reasonable affects the sustainable utilization of mineral resources to a great extent.

(3) In the process of smelting and processing, deep processing of mineral resources should be carried out to improve the technical content of mineral products. The business purpose of enterprises to pursue as many economic benefits as possible and the objective needs of modern large-scale production determine that in the process of smelting and processing mineral resources, we should take the road of deep processing, improve the processing depth as much as possible and improve the technical content of mineral products. Every time an enterprise adds a mineral resources processing link, it can obtain economic benefits several times higher than the processing cost. Because in the process of processing, it will not only improve the grade of the main mineral products, but also produce some by-products with industrial value. Taking coal as an example, unprocessed coal occupies a large area, with high freight and low price. Combustion will produce a large number of harmful gases such as H2S, SO2 and CO2, which cannot meet the needs of high calorific value in industrial production. However, after washing, it can not only separate high calorific value clean coal that can meet the needs of industrial production, but also recover by-products such as sulfur and coal gangue, and obtain economic benefits. Therefore, the deep processing of mineral resources by enterprises, while achieving the goal of economic development, relatively reduces the consumption of resources and prolongs the guarantee time of resources.

④ Improve the level of science and technology, and enhance the comprehensive utilization ability of mineral resources. The so-called comprehensive utilization of mineral resources refers to the comprehensive recovery of various valuable components and elements in the process of mineral processing and smelting. On the one hand, the * * * and concomitant nature of mineral resources in China determines that mining enterprises should make overall plans for the same and different mineral deposits in the process of mining and dressing, and try to mine as many valuable minerals as possible on the premise of technical feasibility and economic rationality. On the other hand, mineral resources will produce a lot of waste in the process of smelting and processing. If these substances are not used, it will waste resources and pollute the environment. Therefore, before the waste enters the environment, it should be comprehensively recycled by scientific means and methods to realize the recycling and reduction of waste.