Chinas Nickel Resources and Exploration
Nickel is an important strategic metal used in the steel industry. Nickel resources in China are extensive, and nickel exploration has been going on for years. According to statistics compiled by the National Bureau of Statistics, Chinas nickel resources currently amount to 4.5 billion tons, of which 3.5 billion tons are identified resources and 1 billion tons are inferred resources. China is one of the countries in the world with the most nickel resources, ranking third after the ore countries Russia and Canada.
Chinas nickel resources are mainly distributed in the western and northern regions, accounting for 82% of the total. The mainland is most abundant in Qinghai and Tibet, accounting for 47%. In Qinghai, Golmud is a well-known nickel ore area. A large number of nickel deposits are located in northern Heilongjiang and Jilin provinces, where an area called Golden Triangle is extremely rich in nickel ore. Southern China is relatively poor in nickel resources, and Fujian, Guangdong, Zhejiang and other provinces have relatively scattered nickel ores.
As a large consumer of nickel, China is an important mineral power in the world. In recent years, Chinas nickel mining has increased significantly. Currently, China has eight nickel ore mining enterprises, among which Tongling nonferrous metals group ranks first. At present, Chinas annual ore output is about 4 million tons, ranking third in the world. At the same time, China has obvious advantages in nickel smelting. Chinas ore-smelting process is relatively advanced, and the output of electrolytic nickel is more than 10 million tons per year.
In recent years, with the development of nickel exploration, Chinas proven and inferred nickel resources have increased significantly. China has promoted nickel mining and smelting through domestic investment and cooperation with foreign mining companies. In order to better utilize nickel resources, Chinas mining enterprises are actively exploring the development of new mines and the purchase of foreign global advanced technology and equipment.
Therefore, the goal of Chinas nickel industry is threefold: first, to continue to increase the surface exploration, through investment, to discover new and large nickel resources; second, to continuously enhance the technological level of ore smelting, to strengthen the exploration of high-grade nickel materials; and third, to accelerate the purchase of foreign advanced metallurgical technology and equipment, to improve the stabilization and long-term stability of the nickel industry.
