I. Fluorite: Strategic Resources
Fluorite, also called fluorite, is the main source of chemical fluorine. It is widely used in many important industries related to national economy and people's livelihood, such as new energy, new materials and other emerging industries and refrigeration, building materials, smelting, optics, ceramics, glass and other traditional industries At the same time, there are also areas of strategic importance such as national defense, electronics, and military.
In November 2016, the "China Mineral Resources Plan (2016 ~ 2020)" for the first time included 24 types of minerals, including fluorite, into the strategic minerals catalog, as one of the key targets for macro-control and supervision of mineral resources. Subsequently, domestic fluorite prices soared.
In addition to China, developed countries such as Europe and the United States have also listed it as a key mineral that requires key protection.
In May 2018, the U.S. government released a list of key minerals, and fluorite was listed! The European Commission also updated its "Key Raw Materials List" to include 14 rare mineral raw materials such as fluorite on the "scarce" mineral list.
Fluorite is an exhaustible and non-renewable world-class scarce resource. With the rise of new industries such as new energy and new materials, the future is expected!
Second, the distribution of fluorite resources
According to the U.S. Geological Survey, as of the end of 2018, global fluorite reserves reached 310 million tons. Mexico's fluorite resource reserves account for the first place in the world at 68 million tons, accounting for 21.9% of the world's total reserves. China and South Africa have fluorite reserves of 42 million tons and 41 million tons, respectively, accounting for 13.5% and 13.2% of the total global reserves.
In 2018, China's fluorite resource base reserves were 45.543 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 4.3%. China's fluorite deposits are widely distributed, mainly in Zhejiang, Inner Mongolia, Hunan, Jiangxi, Fujian, and Henan provinces. Large and medium-sized fluorite deposits are concentrated in the eastern coast, central China and central and eastern Inner Mongolia.
China's currently identified fluorite resource reserves are mainly associated (co-) generating ores, and the single mineral resource reserves are seriously insufficient. Among the associated (common) ore, Hunan, Inner Mongolia and other places are often associated with non-ferrous metals and rare metals, and Yun, Gui, and Sichuan are often associated with barite, which is difficult to separate.
Third, Consumption
The fluorite industry is a typical small and scattered industry. In recent years, as the country has increased the environmental protection of the fluorite industry, it is difficult to increase the supply of fluorite. Be supported. In particular, industrial policies will be conducive to the development of advantageous companies in the industry. Advantageous companies with advanced technology, environmental protection standards, and standardized operations are expected to further expand their competitive advantages and become bigger and stronger in the process of industry integration.
However, it should be warned that at present, there is still a gap in the protection of fluorite resources in China, and basic exploration work is still a major constraint to the rapid development of China's fluorite industry.
China's annual production, consumption and export of fluorite rank first in the world, leading to the depletion of high-grade and easily exploitable fluorite resources. Although the amount of fluorite resources identified is still considerable, the associated minerals with low utilization account for More than half, while the basic reserves only account for 18% of the identified resources, the recoverable reserves are lower, and the reserve-production ratio is significantly lower than the global average, indicating that our degree of geological work is not deep enough and the level of resource protection needs to be further improved. .