3.14.2.1 Production   

Before the founding of new China except the molybdenum-producing Yangjiazhangzi Mining Bureau (Jinxi, Liaoning province), and a few tungsten mines that recovered molybdenum as by-product, there were few molybdenum mines. According to the statistics the annual output of molybdenum concentrate only totaled up to 1.4 tons in 1949. As a result of more than 40 years' development, not only a group of giant molybdenum industrial bases has been set up, but also a number of copper, tungsten and tin mines are recovering a large quantity of molybdenum as a by-product. In 1997 the molybdenum mines in China mined 13.0102 million tons of ores (of which 9.4987 million tons were mined by enterprises of CNNC, and 3.5115 million tons by non-CNNC enterprises), equivalent to 36,172 tons of metal (of which 28,278 tons by enterprises of CNNC, 7,924 tons by non-CNNC enterprises); dressed 13.449 million tons of ores (of which 10.631 million tons by enterprises of CNNC, 2.718 million tons by non-CNNC enterprises), containing 42,946 tons of metal (of which 26,464 tons by enterprises of CNNC, and 16,482 tons by non-CNNC enterprises). China produced 47,500 tons of molybdenum concentrates (containing 45% of pure molybdenum) (mainly from Shaanxi, Liaoning and Henan provinces), 276 tons of molybdenum products, 152 tons of molybdenum bars and 125 tons of molybdenum powder in 1994. In 1995 the annual outputs greatly increased with molybdenum concentrate reaching 73,300 tons, molybdenum products--517 tons, molybdenum metal--2169 tons, molybdenum bars--118 tons, and molybdenum powder--421 tons. The molybdenum concentrate output attained to 74,000 tons in China in 1997. The molybdenum concentrate output totaled up to 0.1278 million tons in 1995 throughout the world, of which 58,000 tons were produced by USA, 17,900 tons by Chile and 8,900 tons by Canada. The molybdenum concentrate output in 1995 in China amounted to about 33,000 tons of pure molybdenum, and therefore, China ranks second in the world, next to the USA.   

Table 3.14.2 shows outputs of these products in recent ten years.

Table 3.14.2Outputs of molybdenum-related products in China during 1985~1995

3.14.2.2 Distribution of Production

There are quite many molybdenum mines in China, among which the Jinduicheng Mine of Shaanxi, the Yangjiazhangzi Mine of Liaoning and Luanchuan Mine of Henan are the three major molybdenum bases of China, with their aggregate production capacity amounting to moer than 80% of the country's total output of molybdenum concentrates. In addition, the Baoshan Lead-Zinc-Silver mine, the Shizhuyuan Tungsten-Tin-Molybdenum-Bismuth mine and other mines of Hunan also recover a large quantity of molybdenum concentrates.

Table 3.14.3 shows the mining and dressing capacity of major molybdenum mines.

Table 3.14.3 A comparison of mining and dressing capacities between major molybdenum mines

The Jinduicheng Molybdenum Company, located in Huaxian County of Shaanxi, is the largest molybdenum mining, dressing and smelting complex in China. The enterprise was set up in 1958 and as a result of nearly 40 years of upgrading and development, now it has an annual capacity of producing 12,000 tons of molybdenum concentrates, 10,000 tons of molybdenum oxide, 350,000 tons of sulfur concentrates, 1,000 tons of ammonium molybdate, 1,500 tons of ferro-molybdenum and nearly 1,000 tons of copper concentrates. In 1996, 19,556 tons of molybdenum concentrates (45% Mo) and 12,898 tons of molybdenum oxide were produced.   

The Luanchuan Molybdenum Company of Luoyang was set up in 1972 and now it has become a large State-owned enterprise combining mining, dressing, smelting and intensive processing together, with an annual mining and dressing capacity of one million tons, annual smelting capacity of 3,000 tons, and intensive processing capacity of 150 tons. It produced 4,717 tons of molybdenum concentrates, 1,096 tons of ferro-molybdenum, 89 tons of molybdenum powder and 23 tons of molybdenum bars in 1996.   

The Yangjiazhangzi Mining Bureau is an enterprise with a long history, which was put into production as early as in 1899, and now it remains to be an important molybdenum producing base in China. In 1995, it mined 826,000 tons of ores and made an excavation of 25,500 m. In 1996, it produced 2,689 tons of molybdenum concentrates.   

In addition to the above-mentioned three large molybdenum-producing bases there are several other important molybdenum enterprises and mines. They are: the Jinxi Molybdenum Company, Daheishan molybdenum Mine of Jilin, Xinhua molybdenum Mine of Chaoyang, Xiaoshigou Mine of Hebei, Xianlinfu Iron- molybdenum Mine of Zhejiang, as well as Huangshan, Qingtian and other molybdenum mines. A number of copper mines, such as Dexing, Shouwangfen, Tongshan, Baoshan and a part of tungsten mines also recover a certain quantity of molybdenum.