3.12.2.1 Production

Products of the tungsten industry include mainly tungsten concentrates and intermediate products, such as ferro-tungsten, tungsten acid, sodium tungstate, WO3, blue tungsten oxide, APT, ammonium metatungstate and tungsten powder. Heteropoly tungstate is still being studied in fine chemical industry and has not become a commondity.

In 1949~1997, China produced a total of 1.847 million tons of tungsten concentrates, of which 873,000 tons were exported, earning 3.093 billion US dollars, and turned over to the State 680 million yuan in tax and profits. The tungsten industry of the country played a very important part in the national economic construction and, especially in the initial stage of the founding of the People's Republic of China, made great contributions to the earning of foreign exchange and the repayment of foreign debts for the country.

Production of tungsten concentrates is concentrated chiefly in 6 provinces or autonomous regions, which are, in order of increasing output since 1990, Hunan, Jiangxi, Guangdong, Yunnan, Fujian, and Guangxi. They produced over 95% of China's total tungsten concentrates, and the aggregate production of three provinces (Hunan, Jiangxi and Guangdong) accounted for 88% of the total (production of 1990~1996) (see Table 3.12.3). Besides, Hubei, Zhejiang, Anhui, Gansu and Xinjiang also produced tungsten concentrates, but their production was low.

Table 3.12.3 Production of tungsten concentrates in China and its major productive provinces or autonomous regions

¢Ù Enterprises directly under the China National Nonferrous Metals Industry Corp. (CNNMIC);     ¢Ú Production of concentrates of the enterprises under the unified-allocation system, which includes the 22,981 tons that belongs to the enterprises directly under the CNNMIC; ¢Û Production of concentrates of the enterprises under the unified-allocation system, which includes the 26,896 tons (concentrates containing 65% WO3) that belongs to the enterprises directly under the CNNMIC;¢Ü Local enterprises.

China's tungsten mine production is derived from the mining enterprises directly under the China National Nonferrous Metals Industry Corp. (CNNMIC) and from local mining enterprises. The production (in 1990~1996) of tungsten concentrates from the enterprises directly under the CNNMIC accounts for 42.2% of the country's total, while that from the local enterprises makes up 57.8%. The technological and economic criteria for the whole country's tungsten ore mining and dressing are shown in Table 3.12.4.

Table 3.12.4 Principal technological and economic criteria for tungsten ore mining and dressing in 1991~1998

During the recent 10 years, the production of intermediate tungsten products has developed rapidly and the productive capacity grown by a big margin. The 1989 statistics show that the productive capacity of APT for the analyzed 48 enterprises was 31,680 tons and their production also increased year by year. If the country's various intermediate products were all converted to APT, the production of APT of the whole country would have increased annually by 9.28% in the period 1987~1991. At the beginning of the 1990s, the country's total production of APT reached 22,085.87 tons.

3.12.2.2 Distribution of Production

Although rich in tungsten resources, China had possessed neither large and medium-sized tungsten ore-dressing plants nor large and medium-sized tungsten smelting and hard-metal alloy industries before 1949.

After experiencing more than 40 years of development and construction since the founding of the People's Republic of China, the country's tungsten industry has had a complete industrial system ranging from mining to hard-metal alloy production, which is based on the rich tungsten resources. Now China has about 90 State-owned tungsten mines administered by county or higher-rank governments, of which over 30 are under the unified-allocation system. Besides, it also has 43 tungsten ore-dressing plants and over 100 enterprises producing intermediate tungsten products.

Tungsten mines are the basis for the tungsten industry. In light of the distribution and development conditions of the tungsten occurrences, China has established three major tungsten production bases centered in southern Jiangxi, southern Hunan and northern Guangdong, respectively. In addition, there are tungsten mines of a considerable size in Fujian, Guangxi, Yunnan and Gansu and some small local mines in other provinces or autonomous regions of the country.

The Jiangxi tungsten production base consists of 11 large and medium-sized mines under the unified-allocation system, which are the Daji Mountain, the Xihua Mountain, the Pangu Mountain, the Kuimei Mountain, the Hukeng, the Tieshanlong, the Huamei'ao, the Piaotang, the Dangping, the Xialong and the Xiaolong, and also of some other mines under local enterprises. At the end of the 1950s, three large ore-dressing plants were constructed respectively at the Daji Mountain mine, Xihua Mountain mine and Kuimei Mountain mine. In recent years, they have been technologically transformed into modernized large ore-dressing plants. Other mines also have large or medium-sized ore-dressing plants, some of which are using comparatively advanced techniques and processes in their production. The above-mentioned 11 large and medium-sized mines, all built in the 1950s~1960s and forming the principal part of China's tungsten mining industry, have a combined ore-mining and -dressing capacity of 5.349 million tons and an integrated tungsten concentrate production capacity of 17,080 tons per year. Their output of tungsten concentrates occupies 60% of the total of the country's mines under the unified-allocation system. Therefore, they have played an important role in the development of China's tungsten industry, especially in the export of tungsten ore to the former Soviet Union for machinery and equipment urgently needed by the country in the 1950s.

The Hunan tungsten production base is composed of the Shizhuyuan, Xianghualing, East Hunan (Dengfuxian), Yaognagxian and Chuankou mines (which are under the unified-allocation system and affiliated to the CNNMIC) and the West Hunan mine (which is under the unified-allocation system but not affiliated to the CNNMIC), and also of many other mines under local enterprises.

The Guangdong tungsten production base is made up of the Shaoguan ore-concentration plant, the Lianhuashan mine, the Nanshan mine, the Xishan mine, the East Guangdong Nonferrous Metals Co., the Dongjiang Nonferrous Metals Co., the North Guangdong Nonferrous Metals Co., the Jubankeng mine, the Jilongshan mine, the Mianhuawo mine and the Hongling mine (which are all under the unified-allocation system and affiliated to the CNNMIC) and also of some other mines under local enterprises.

Furthermore, the Pinggui Bureau of Mines in Guangxi, the Daye Nonferrous Metals Co. in Hubei and the Yunnan Tin Co. have some mines (dealing chiefly with associated tungsten ore) that are under the unified-allocation system. In Gansu, the Ta'ergou scheelite deposit is relatively large, and some other tungsten deposits of considerable size (e.g. the Xiaoliugou scheelite deposit) have been discovered in recent years. Thus, it is possible that a tungsten production base would be established in the northwest of the country.

The distribution of enterprises engaged in tungsten smelting and the production of hard-metal alloys and intermediate tungsten products tends to be rational. On the basis of the construction of the Zhuzhou and Zigong hard-metal alloy plants (which are large) in the 1950s~1960s, a series of small and medium-sized tungsten smelters (workshops) have been built, further enhancing the country's tungsten smelting capacity and improving the distribution of its tungsten industry. At present there are more than 100 enterprises producing intermediate tungsten products.