At present, there are about 250 molybdenum deposits at home and abroad, which are distributed in the United States, China, Canada, Chile and Russia and other countries. In addition, Peru, Mexico, the former Yugoslavia, Greenland, Iran, Bulgaria, Japan, Argentina, South Korea, Mongolia, Panama, Colombia and Ecuador and other countries and regions also have molybdenum deposits or copper molybdenum (tungsten and molybdenum) deposits. Foreign key deposit reserves are more in the United States, Canada, Chile, Peru. China’s molybdenum reserves rank among the top three in the world.
Main characteristics of molybdenum mine in China
1, large deposits and more suitable for mining.
China’s Shaanxi Jinduicheng, Henan Luanchuan, Liaoning Yangjiazhuzi, Jilin Daheishan molybdenum mine is a world-class scale of large mines. According to statistics, large molybdenum deposits (reserves of more than 100,000 tons) accounted for 76% of reserves, and medium-sized deposits (reserves of 1-100,000 tons) accounted for 20% of reserves. Most large deposits can be exposed, and the molybdenum deposits suitable for open mining account for 64% of the reserves.
2, molybdenum ore grade is significantly low, mostly belong to low-grade deposits.
Although China’s molybdenum ore proved reserves, but the proportion of high-grade ore is relatively low, China’s low-grade deposits (less than 0.1%) reserves accounted for 65%, of which less than 0.05% accounted for 10%, medium grade deposits (0.1%-0.2%) reserves accounted for 30%, grade rich (0.2%-0.3%) deposits accounted for 4%. The rich ore reserves with grade greater than 0.3% accounted for 1%.
3, the associated beneficial components, high economic value.
According to the “Global molybdenum resource supply and demand Situation Analysis and Outlook” published by the China Academy of Natural Resources Economics in October 2020, China’s molybdenum resources are mainly sulfide ores, accounting for about 78% of the country’s molybdenum ore resources, of which molybdenum as a single mineral deposit reserves accounted for 14%; Molybdenum as the main mineral, but also associated with other useful components of the deposit, the reserves accounted for 64%. Molybdenum reserves associated with copper, tungsten and tin account for only 22%, while more than 60% of molybdenum ore abroad comes from copper byproducts.
4. High degree of geological work.
In China’s molybdenum mines, the molybdenum reserves that have reached the exploration level through geological work account for 50.5% of the total reserves, and the molybdenum reserves that have reached the detailed investigation level account for 41.8%. Together, the molybdenum reserves up to the above work level account for 92.3% of the total reserves of molybdenum mines in China.
