A new graphite deposit has been found in Xinjiang, the China
Ministry of Land and Resources announced on November
14 when the China Geological Survey held the Huangyangshan
Graphite Mine appreciation meeting in Qitai County, Xinjiang of
China.
The project is called the 'special non-metallic mineral
inspection in [the] middle west of China, including flake and
graphite, etc.' and belongs to the 'investigation projects of
strategic new industrial minerals in urgent need" part of the
survey, carried out by the China National Geological
Exploration Center of Building Materials Industry.
According to the funding result, the mineral amount of flake
graphite is 72.64 million tonnes, a super-large size mineral
bed. The fixed carbon content of the ore is 6.15%, 23% of which
is a flake size of +0.15 mm.
The yield rate of fixed carbon from the graphite
concentrates is 94.87%, among which 12.01% is a flake size of
+0.15mm with a fixed carbon content of 90.17%, whereas the rest
is a flake size of -0.15mm with a 95.15% fixed carbon content,
meaning a good development prospect because the carbon content
is so high.
The meeting confirmed that this graphite mine is the first
super-large size lava rock-type flake graphite mine in China,
opening up a new field to find undiscovered graphite mines.
This could change the scarce graphite resource situation in
Xinjiang and the distribution map of graphite mines in China,
which could offer a new drive for the Xinjiang economy.
Industrial Minerals assessed flake
graphite 8
5-87% C, +100 Mesh -80 Mesh, FCL, cif, Europe
at $400-450 per tonne on November 16.
Due to the remote location of Xinjiang, however, which is to
the southwest of Mongolia, east of Kazakhstan and over 4,000 km
away form Qingdao port, graphite industry participants in China
are not yet optimistic about the discovery.
"Even the new graphite mines in Inner Mongolia are difficult
to ship to customers, needless to say for the mines in
Xinjiang, where the political situation is also unstable," one
trader in Qingdao told Industrial Minerals.
Recent political instability in the region includes the rise
of some groups in Xinjiang who want to divide China and commit
terror attacks.
One solution to the shipment problem may be found in the
'One Belt One Road Initiative' policy, which aims, in part, to
promote and improve exports from China through investment in
infrastructure.
"There will be a railway from Xinjiang in west China to
Pakistan’s port in the Indian Ocean, this way the
goods are no longer passing Singapore to get to Europe, but
[this will only work] if the railway is safe enough and avoids
any terrorist attacks, then it will be a shorter way to
transport to Europe", one graphite trader in China
said.