Copper reserves in the Tarim Basin

Many people may ask a question in their lives: Why is the standard voltage of household electricity in our country 220V, while the standard in the United States, Japan and other countries is 110V?

In fact, the answer is very simple. With 220V voltage, the wires in the circuit system require less copper. my country is a country extremely short of copper. my country's copper consumption accounts for more than half of the world, but its copper reserves only account for 3.9% of the world's copper reserves, and its external dependence on copper is as high as 78.4%.

Copper has excellent electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, and wear resistance. Coupled with the scarcity of copper, brands in daily life, such as air conditioners, faucets and other home appliances and daily necessities, like to use "all copper" ” as its own selling point.

Even the price of recycled scrap copper is 20 to 30 times that of scrap iron, which shows how rare copper is.

There is a place in our country that is rich in copper resources, but has not dared to develop it for a long time. This is Tibet.

Note: Copper Mine

Tibet belongs to the continental plate collision zone. The mineralization caused by the collision has made Tibet rich in minerals, and its copper reserves account for more than half of the country.

The three richest copper mines in Tibet are the "Three Dragons": Qulong, Yulong and Duolong.

The Qulong Mining Area has copper metal reserves of 4.2099 million tons. The mining area was discovered in 1986, but it was not put into production until the first phase in 2021.

The Yulong Mining Area has copper metal reserves of 4.6991 million tons. The mining area was discovered as early as 1966, but it took 50 years before the first phase of the project was put into production in 2016.

Alibaba’s Duolong Mining Area has a proven copper mine capacity of 20 million tons in 2016. It is my country’s first world-class super copper mining area and is currently only included in the development plan.

The three mines have been silent for a long time and have not been exploited for decades. It was not until recent years that they suddenly started to work. What is the reason?

First of all, the "Three Dragons" mining areas in Tibet are all located at high altitudes of about 5,000 meters. The air here is thin, and altitude sickness such as headaches and nosebleeds are common. Some locals are unable to adapt to strenuous physical labor. It is even more difficult for outsiders to work here.

In the past, recruitment of workers in these areas was only for local people. However, Tibet’s local permanent population is only more than 3 million, with a small population, low education level, and fewer experienced workers. This has become a long-term factor restricting the development of mining in Tibet.

Since 2015, with the advancement of science and technology and economic development, portable oxygen concentrators and hyperbaric oxygen chambers have been gradually used in Tibetan enterprises.

In 2021, the national trade union also launched the "Oxygen Bar for Plateau Workers" project, allowing oxygen production equipment to cover workplaces in Tibet that have a large number of people and high labor intensity.

This change has greatly reduced the difficulty for people from other regions to work in Tibet, creating important conditions for the Santiaolong Copper Mine to start production in recent years.

In addition, for copper mining, infrastructure is crucial. An exploration team member from the Yulong Mining Area recalled that before 2013, Tibet's Qamdo Bangda Airport was only 126 kilometers away from Qamdo City, but due to inconvenient transportation, the driving time actually took 8 hours.

Inconvenient transportation will greatly increase the cost of copper mining. For Tibetan mining areas where the ore contains low copper content, this increase in costs may make the company unprofitable.

But this situation has also changed. In 2006, the total mileage of roads in Tibet was 44,000 kilometers. By 2021, the total mileage will reach 118,800 kilometers, an increase of nearly three times. The drive from Bangda Airport to Qamdo City has also been shortened from 8 hours to 3 hours. In addition, by 2021, Tibet's railway mileage will reach 1,400 kilometers, and the total number of civil aviation routes will reach 130.

These improvements in transportation facilities have greatly reduced the operating costs of mining companies.

Looking at electricity, both copper mining and smelting require electricity. Duolong, our country’s first world-class super copper mining area we just mentioned, is located in Ngari, Tibet. In the past, the infrastructure here was backward and power supply was available only half of the year. Without electricity, even if there are mountains of gold and silver at your feet, it is meaningless.

The Alibaba Internet Project will be put into operation in 2020, giving this place a stable power supply. Stable power supply makes mining at the Duolong copper mine possible.

The total installed capacity of the power grid in Tibet in 2021 will be 4.01 million kilowatts, more than six times that of 2010.

The full coverage of infrastructure such as road networks and power grids is another important reason for the sudden acceleration of the development of copper mines in Tibet in recent years.

In addition, the most important factor that has always restricted the development of copper mines in Tibet is actually the environment.

The copper content of Tibetan copper ore is relatively low. If large pieces of ore are transported out of Tibet for smelting, the cost is too high and unrealistic. Therefore, it must be smelted on site, which involves a pollution discharge question.

Due to the fragile ecology, it is difficult to restore the Tibetan environment once it is damaged. Duolong Mining Area, for example, is close to the Qiangtang National Nature Reserve, where rare animals such as Tibetan antelopes, wild yaks, and Tibetan wild donkeys live. Mining and smelting require even more caution.

To achieve environmentally friendly smelting, biological copper extraction technology needs to be applied. Some smelters in the United States can achieve zero emissions of harmful gases by applying this technology. In the past, there was a large gap between our country's technology and that of the United States, but in recent years the gap has narrowed significantly.

In 2008, Zijin Mining’s Zijinshan Copper Mine Smelter became my country’s first 10,000-ton biological copper extraction smelter. After more than ten years of practice, the technology has matured and can be applied and promoted in high-altitude areas of Tibet.

“You can’t reach a thousand miles without taking small steps.” The mining of underground treasures in Tibet is actually the result of the country’s long-term economic and technological accumulation.