Current Situation and Problems of Development and Utilization of Graphite Resources in my country
As an extremely important non-metallic mineral, its processed products are not only widely used in traditional industries such as iron and steel industry, but also in emerging industries such as new energy and new materials, and are considered to be an important strategic resource to support the future development of high-tech . The Chinese government attaches great importance to the protection, development and utilization of graphite resources. In November 2016, the National Mineral Resources Plan (2016-2020) approved by the State Council listed 24 minerals including graphite in the strategic mineral catalog for the first time.
First, the development status of my country's graphite resources
my country is rich in graphite resources, and crystalline graphite and cryptocrystalline graphite are distributed all over the country. Now four crystalline graphite development bases have been formed, including Heilongjiang Luobei, Jixi, Shandong Pingdu, Inner Mongolia Xinghe, Jilin Panshi and Hunan Lu. Tang et al. two cryptocrystalline graphite bases.
In addition, in recent years, my country has discovered crystalline graphite mines in Panzhihua, Sichuan, Alxa, Inner Mongolia, Bayinnur, Hubei Yichang and other places, and discovered cryptocrystalline graphite mines in Yongan, Fujian. Among them, Sichuan Panzhihua graphite mine is adjacent to Panxi It is a high-tech industrial park that has introduced China National Building Materials Group for development, and is expected to become a new graphite production and processing base in the future.
From 2005 to 2015, the available resources of crystalline graphite in my country remained stable, the reserves and basic reserves did not change much, and the identified resource reserves rose steadily. This reflects that the exploration of crystalline graphite resources in my country in the past ten years has met the development needs of crystalline graphite resources in my country.
From 2005 to 2012, the recoverable resources of cryptocrystalline graphite in my country decreased significantly. After 2012, the recoverable resources of cryptocrystalline graphite in my country tended to be stable. Compared with 2012, the resource reserves, basic reserves and reserves identified in 2014 increased steadily. This reflects that my country's cryptocrystalline graphite has experienced disorderly mining in the past few years, and the resource consumption is very large. However, after 2012, the disordered mining has been effectively curbed, and the demand for cryptocrystalline graphite resource exploration and resource development has become more reasonable.
2. The current situation of utilization of graphite resources in my country
According to the data of the Non-Metallic Mining Association, the average annual consumption of graphite in my country is about 1 million tons (including artificial graphite), and the annual output value of the industry is about 10 billion to 20 billion yuan. Among them, the consumption of crystalline graphite is about 500,000 to 750,000 tons, which is mainly used in the fields of steel, foundry, and refractory materials. From the consumption structure of graphite, we can see that my country's graphite consumption is mainly concentrated in traditional industries, and accounts for less in emerging industries.
In terms of traditional fields: the steel industry, which accounts for the largest proportion of graphite consumption, may be affected by capacity reduction in the future, which may reduce the consumption of graphite in this industry.
Emerging industries: The market for graphite anode battery materials is growing rapidly, and the amount of graphite in the graphene market is too small, which has little impact on the overall consumption of graphite.
3. Problems and optimization approaches in the development and utilization of graphite resources in my country
(1) Problems existing in the development and utilization of graphite resources
1. Disorderly mining, serious waste of resources
In the early mining process of graphite resources, there were a large number of small private mines, and disorderly mining accelerated the depletion of graphite resources. Although this situation has improved after the integration of resources, due to the fact that graphite mines are still mainly small and medium-sized mines, there is a lack of systematic planning in the production of mining enterprises. In addition, the mining and selection rate of such mining enterprises is usually low, and the phenomenon of resource waste is relatively serious.
2. Overcapacity and high market volatility
Due to the strong foreign demand for graphite resources in the early days, my country's graphite output has grown rapidly, and the graphite industry has experienced a rapid development stage. Later, with the decline in foreign demand, the overcapacity of graphite in my country led to a decline in product prices. Various graphite enterprises fell into vicious competition in the process of mutual price reduction. Some enterprises were forced to stop production, and the graphite industry experienced an overall decline.
Since the discovery of graphene, driven by technological progress and rapid social and economic development, the market's demand for graphite has begun to recover, and the amount of graphite mining has increased sharply again. However, enterprises lack the ability to adapt to the market economy, resulting in excess primary products. , Insufficient high-end products.
3. The foreign trade structure of graphite is unbalanced, mainly selling raw ore
my country is a major producer and exporter of graphite in the world. The foreign trade of graphite is mainly based on the export of primary graphite products at low prices and the import of high-end application products of graphite at high prices. At present, most of my country's graphite mining enterprises are mainly small and medium-sized mines, while small mining enterprises are mostly workshops. It is a small-scale operation with no deep-processing industrial chain, and mainly sells raw ore.
4. The mining and selection process is backward, and the environmental pollution is serious
Since most of my country's graphite mining enterprises are small and medium-sized, the technology, equipment, and mining and selection processes are relatively backward. Most companies still use the low-cost hydrofluoric acid method for purification. Hydrofluoric acid itself is highly toxic and produces fluorine-containing wastewater. Improper treatment of wastewater can cause great damage to water sources and the environment.
(2) Optimal approach to the development and utilization of graphite resources
1. System optimization for the development and utilization of graphite resources
When the macro-control of policies and the market mechanism work together, it is possible to ensure a reasonable layout, appropriate methods, appropriate development scale, accelerate the development of products in the direction of high-end, refined, and deep-processing, and achieve a win-win situation of economic, social and ecological benefits.
2. Set a reasonable mining scale
As a non-renewable resource, my country needs to plan the scale of graphite mining scientifically, and effectively avoid the occurrence of excessive mining of graphite resources by taking protective mining measures and reasonably determining the ratio of graphite reserves.
3. Use market means to allocate resources
Make full use of the market price mechanism, competition mechanism and the law of supply and demand to effectively allocate graphite resources. In the process of graphite resource allocation, the government needs to avoid excessive intervention. The government can formulate relevant policies, determine competition rules, and take effective measures to create a good market environment and play a guiding role in the healthy development of the market.
4. Promote the development of deep-processed products with graphite industrial parks
A necessary step for the optimization and upgrading of the graphite industry is to transform from the sale of primary products to the sale of deep-processed products. The future development direction of graphite products is mainly high-tech products. Accelerate the construction of the graphite industrial park, and gradually promote the development of the graphite deep processing industry.
summary:
China is a big country in graphite resources, but there is still a long way to go before it develops into a powerful country in graphite resources. Only by firming up the development concept of "scientific protection and utilization of high-quality graphite resources, development of deep processing technology and development of high-end products", adjusting product structure, encouraging the development of high value-added products, driving the integrated development of the graphite industry chain, and enhancing the international competitiveness of my country's graphite industry , in order to realize the dream of a powerful country with graphite resources.
