According to the statistical classification of mineral
reserves of China, metallic mineral resources can be divided into the following
types: ferrous, nonferrous, precious, rare, rare-earth and dispersed-element.
The ferrous metallic mineral resources include Fe, Mn, Cr, V and Ti;the
nonferrous embrace Cu, Pb, Zn, bauxite, Ni, W, Mg, Co, Sn, Bi, Mo, Hg and Sb;the
precious comprise Au, Ag, and the Pt group (Pt, Pd, Ir, Rh, Ru and Os);the rare
include Nb, Ta, Be, Li, Zr, Sr, Rb and Cs;the rare earths encompass Sc, LREEs
(La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Pm, Sa and Eu), and HREEs (Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho, Er, Tu, Yb, Lu and
Y);the dispersed elements are Ge, Ga, In, Tl, Hf, Re, Cd, Se and Te.
In addition, for the convenience of administration by
corresponding industrial departments in China, titanium is incorporated in the
nonferrous metal type. With respect to the production of nonferrous metals in
China, a standardized expression is being used for 10 common nonferrous metals
and 10 rare metals. The 10 common nonferrous metals refer to Cu, Al, Pb, Zn, Ni,
Sn, Sb, Hg, Mg and Ti. The 10 rare metals, of which the standardized expression
of production was determined at the National Conference on Nonferrous Metal
Industry held in 1990, include wolfram concentrate, molybdenum concentrate,
sponge tita-nium, rare earth metals and their respective compounds and
semiconductor materials, tantalum, niobium, lithium, beryllium and zirconium.
Metallic minerals are indispensable basic materials and important strategic
substances for national economy, daily life, national defence industry,
sophisticated technology and high-tech industry. Production of iron and steel
and nonferrous metals of a country is generally considered as an indicator of
the national strength of that country. In 1996, China's production of steel
topped for the first time the high figure of 100 million tons, leaping to first
place in the world; its production of the 10 common nonferrous metals in the
same year reached 5.23 million tons, remaining second among the world's major
producers; its production of gold was 128.05 tons in 1996 and hit 166.3 tons in
1997, an all-time high; and the actual production of rare earths of China, the
major producer of these in the world, was almost equivalent to the world's total
consumption.
The presently available metallic mineral resources and
resultant high production capacity in China has laid a solid foundation for a
healthy, sustainable development of the country's economy in the 21st century.
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