3.11.3.1 Availability and Consumption   

Due to the limited resources, the cobalt production in China has been increased slowly and can not meet the demands of the domestic market for a long time, and the deficiency is made up by import. In recent years, the cobalt production in China (including production of cobalt oxide reduced to that of cobalt) has reached 600~700 tons while the annual domestic consumption is maintained at around 1,200 tons. Thus, about 500 tons of cobalt need to be imported every year. The import and export data in recent years are listed in Table 3.11.3.

Table 3.11.3 Import and export trade of metallic cobalt during the period of 1993~1997

3.11.3.2 Trends   

There is a certain proportion of nickel consumption to steel output (i.e. nickel/steel ratio) worldwide. There is also a certain proportion of cobalt output to nickel output in China, and it is about 0.045~0.036. In 1983, the steel output in China was 40 million tons. In the same year, the nickel consumption was 30,000 tons, and the cobalt consumption was 800 tons. Based on these figures, cobalt consumption is equal to 0.002% of steel output. On this basis, the demand for cobalt in China can be predicted in the future, and the detailed figures in this respect are given in Table 3.11.4.

Table 3.11.4 Prognosis of annual demand for cobalt in China

In China, cobalt is mainly consumed in hard alloys, cobalt alloys, magnetic material, ceramics, chemical products and catalysts. In recent years, the hard alloy industry grows rapidly, and the demand for metallic cobalt powder rises. Besides, the demand of the battery industry for metallic cobalt powder increases dramatically, adding new energy to the market of metallic cobalt powder. The development of electric automobiles will also promote the increasing demand of the battery industry for metallic cobalt powder. The demands of the diamond tool and catalyst industries for metallic cobalt are showing a tendency to go up.   

According to the plan of Jinchuan Nonferrous Metal Company, Jinchuan Nickel Mine in Gansu, the largest cobalt producer in China, will provide 600 tons of electrolytic cobalt in 2010. It is estimated that in 2010 the Daye Iron Mine in Hubei, Jinling Iron Mine in Shandong and Zhongtiaoshan Nonferrous Metal Company in Shanxi will keep an annual cobalt output of 300~400 tons. Once the associated cobalt in the Shilu Mine, Hainan province, is recovered, cobalt production will even be higher. In addition, some cobalt has been recovered from cobalt-bearing waste in China, but its amount is limited.   

To sum up, China can produce 1,200~1,500 tons of cobalt in 2010, which will meet only 40%~50% of the country's needs. Consequently, domestic cobalt production will not meet China's demands.   

Most domestic cobalt-bearing ores are low-grade ones. The recoveries of both ore dressing and smelting are low. At present, cobalt production using domestic raw material can not satisfy the country's needs. Under the existing conditions of cobalt resources, it is suggested to strengthen efforts in the following aspects.   

(1) To further strengthen recovery of by-product cobalt in Jinchuan Nonferrous Metal Company   

Cobalt reserves of the Jinchuan Nickel Mine in Gansu have reached 142,700 tons and accounted for 30.25% of the national total reserves. They are the principal part of recoverable cobalt resources in China. Jinchuan is also an important production base of metallic cobalt in China. In 1996, its output of metallic cobalt was 180 tons, constituting 78.6% of the national total output. 150 tons of cobalt can be extracted simultaneously with production of every 10,000 tons of nickel. According to the short-, medium- and long-term aims of Jinchuan Nonferrous Metal Company, an integrated production capacity of 45,000 tons of nickel will be achieved in 2000. At that time, 675 tons of cobalt will be retrieved per year. Moreover, once the technology for extracting cobalt from converter slags is put into regular production, cobalt recovery will be maintained at over 50%. So, there is still a potential for increased output of cobalt. The cobalt produced by Jinchuan Nonferrous Metal Company is a by-product of nickel and copper production. Its mining, dressing and smelting expenses have been shared by nickel and copper products. Only the cost of refining falls on cobalt. Therefore, this company has a lower cost of cobalt production and is the enterprise with the highest competitive power in China. Now its electrolytic cobalt and cobalt oxide workshops are to be technologically transformed, and their outputs are to be increased. The improvement of by-product cobalt recovery of Jinchuan Nonferrous Metal Company is of upmost importance to the development of the cobalt industry in China. We hope that more attention will be paid to increasing cobalt production significantly

(2) To speed up the solution of the problem of utilization of co-bearing pyrite concentrate in China  
 
The cobalt content of Co-bearing pyrite concentrate in China is usually only 0.2%~0.3%. Besides, cobalt is associated with iron, copper and nickel, leading to complex smelting technology and high production cost. As a result, many producers have stopped its production. At present, only Zibo Cobalt Co. Ltd. in Shandong and Guanglin Chemical Industry and Metallurgy Co.Ltd. in Hubei produce various cobalt salts using Co-bearing pyrite concentrate. Elsewhere, Co-bearing pyrite concentrate is only used as a raw material for sulfuric acid production, resulting in waste of resources. Thus, it is necessary to study and spread the experience of Zibo Cobalt Co. Ltd. and Guanglin Chemical Industry and Metallurgy Co. Ltd. to make full use of available cobalt resources.   

The Shilu Cobalt-Copper Mine in Hainan has retained reserves of 10,900 tons with a cobalt grade as high as 0.26%. It is a mine with ideal resources conditions in China. The mine has now generally come to mining, dressing and smelting capacities of 500 tons daily, but its concentrate has not found users yet. Cobalt recovery stopped for a time. Nowadays, a smeltery is to be constructed in Hainan to recover cobalt. This will be conducive to narrowing the gap between supply and need of cobalt in China and will avoid waste of resources.   

(3) To import modderite ore and cobalt-rich slag   

Since the 1960s, Ganzhuo Cobalt Smeltery has processed modderite ore imported from Morroco, and over 50,000 tons have been processed up to now. The technology for processing modderite ore is up to standard at the smeltery. It has supplied large amount of cobalt for our country for many years and gained substantial economic benefit. The smeltery has accumulated rich experience in reducing arsenic  contamination  and   achieved  significant success.Its processing technology is generally up to the national permissible waste gas and waste water drainage standards. Therefore, we propose that modderite ore be further imported to keep a fairly large scale of production of the smeltery and to narrow the gap between supply and demand in China.  

In recent years, China imported small amount of cobalt-rich slags from Zaire, South Africa and other countries. Its cobalt grade is 10%~38%. The slag has been processed by several small smelteries in Zhejiang, and substantial economic benefit has been achieved.   

(4) To attach importance to recovery and utilization of renewable cobalt   

In the past, there were numerous smelteries in China recovering cobalt using cobalt-bearing waste. For example, Ganzhou Cobalt Smeltery in Jiangxi processed waste catalyst, and Huludao Zinc Smeltery processed magnetic slag. At present, some small smelteries in China, such as Zhenjiang Smeltery, Chaozhou Smeltery, Fuzhou Cobalt Smeltery, Ningpo Cobalt Smeltery and other enterprises, all gain certain economic benefit by recovery of cobalt from various cobalt-bearing wastes. Production technology of renewable cobalt is simple and cheap, thus enabling recovery and utilization of reclaimed cobalt to be of great significance.