4.5.2.1 Present State of Production

The sulfur products include mined pyrite and dressed sulfur concentrates, as well as powdered sulfur and sulfur concentrates recovered as a by-product during dressing and sulfuric acid produced from smelter fumes. As China's crude oil is mostly low-sulfur oil with a sulfur content <0.5% and there are limited high-sulfur sour natural gas, little sulfur is recovered as a by-product from oil and natural gas. Other kinds of sulfur are not exploited or utilized except sulfur in base metal sulfides and coals which are recovered from smelter acid and from by-product sulfur concentrates produced during coal washing.

According to the statistics of the State Administration of Petrochemical Industry, State Administration of Nonferrous Metals Industry and State Statistical Bureau, in 1997 China produced 230,200 tons of powdered sulfur, 17.2672 million tons of pyrite standard ore (sulfur-containing concentrates) and 20.03 million tons of sulfuric acid (or 20.37 million tons according to the Statistical Yearbook of China). Pyrite and sulfur acid are China's main products of sulfur-bearing ores.

China ranks third in the production of pyrite and powdered sulfur containing the sulfur equivalent of 6.27 million tons, following the United States and Canada. China is the second leading producer of sulfuric acid, next to the United States.The structure of the pyrite (standard ore) production is: mines of the chemical sector, 6.76 million tons; mines of the nonferrous metallurgical sector, 4.622 million tons; the coal sector, 43,500 tons; others, 5.8417 million tons.

The structure of the sulfuric acid production is: acid from pyrite, 14.239 million tons; acid from smelter fumes 4.287 million tons; acid from powdered sulfur 1.083 million tons; acid from gypsum (mainly phosphatic gypsum), 234,000 tons; others, 187,000 tons.

4.5.2.2  Distribution of Production

The provinces that are major producers of pyrite in China are Guangdong, Shanxi, Sichuan, Anhui, Liaoning and Jiangxi; their production amounts to over 70% of China's total pyrite production. China's pyrite (sulfur-containing concentrates) mainly comes from pyrite mines of the chemical sector, nonferrous metal mines (by-product sulfur concentrates) of the nonferrous metals metallurgical sector, and sulfur concentrates recovered from washed coals of coal mines, as well as pyrite mined as a by-product in ores containing other metals.

The principal pyrite mines and their production capacities in the chemical sector are: the Yangquan pyrite mine, Shanxi, 230,000 tons per  year of pyrite (standard ore, the same hereinafter); the Tanyaokou pyrite mine, Inner Mongolia, 190,000 tons per year; the Yuntaishan

Fig. 4.5.2Distribution of major sulfur-producing enterprises in China

 1. Dalian Chemical Industry Corp.; 2. Hongtoushan copper mine, Wushun; 3~4: Huludao Northeast Nonferrous Metals Group Co. Ltd.: 3. Huludao Zinc Plant; 4. Shenyang Smelting Works; 5. Bajiazi lead-zinc mine, Huludao; 6. Tanyaokou pyrite mine, Inner Mongolia; 7. Xilieshan Minging Office; 8. Jinduicheng Mining Office; 9. Baiyin Nonferrous Metals Corp.; 10. Xiaosigou copper mine, Hebei; 11. Zhongtiaoshan Nonferrous Metals Corp.; 12. Yangquan pyrite mine, Shanxi; 13. Kaifeng Chemical Fertilizer Plant; 14. Lingbao pyrite mine, Henan; 15. Daye Nonferrous Metals Corp.; 16. Tongling Nonferrous Metals (Group) Corp.; 17. Tongling Chemical Industry Corp,; 18. Xiangshan pyrite mine, Anhui; 19. Xinqiao pyrite mine, Anhui; 20. Hejiaxiaoling pyrite mine, Anhui; 21. Ma'anshan Jinxing Chemical Industry Corp.; 22. Nanjing Chemical Industry Corp.; 23. Yuntaishan pyrite mine, Nanjing; 24. Suzhou Fine Chemical Industry Corp.; 25. Quzhou Chemical Industry Corp.; 26. Longyou pyrite mine, Zhejiang; 27. Yunfeng Chemical Industry Corp.; 28-29: Jiangxi Copper Industry Corp.: 28. Dexing copper mine; 29. Guixi Smelter; 30. Zhuzhou Chemical Plant; 31. Qibaoshan pyrite mine, Hunan; 32, Dashu pyrite mine, Sichuan; 33. Huize lead-zinc mine, Yunnan; 34. Honghezhou Phosphate Fertilizer Plant; 35. Huize lead-zinc mine, Yunnan; 36. Liuzhou Nonferrous Metals Smelting General Works; 37. Yunfu pyrite mine, Guangdong; 38. Yingde pyrite mine, Guangdong; 39. Yangchun pyrite mine, Guangdong; 40. Shaoguan Smelter

pyrite mine, Nanjing, 220,000 tons per year; the Xinqiao pyrite mine, Anhui, 500,000 tons per year; the Qibaoshan pyrite mine, Hunan, 170,000 tonsper year; the Yunfu pyrite mine, Guangdong, 2.4 million tons per year.

The nonferrous metal mines of the nonferrous metals metallurgical sector that produce by-product sulfur concentrates are distributed widely in more than 20 provinces (region); they are mainly the Hongtoushan copper mine, Liaoning; the Anhui Tongling Nonferrous Metals Corp.; Jiangxi Copper Industry Corp.; the Hubei Daye Corp.; Gansu Baiyin Nonferrous Metals Corp.; Shaanxi Jinduicheng Molybdenum Industry Corp. and Yunnan Tin Industry Corp. Their total production capacity is about 4.2 million tons per year.

The sulfur production of the coal sector is mainly from recovering pyrite during coal washing and mining of pyrite ore beds occurring together with coal beds. In the coal sector the sulfur dressing plants or coal mine enterprises that mine by-product pyrite besides coal are widespread, mainly in Sichuan, Henan Shandong, Shanxi, Hebei, Jiangxi, Hubei, Yunnan and Guizhou. The important enterprises are the Nantong Mining Office, Sichuan, the Kailuan Mining Office and Handan Mining Office, Hebei, the Shenyang Mining Office, Liao-ning, the Fengcheng Mining Office, Jiangxi, the Liuzhi Mining Office, Guizhou, and the Wuda Mining Office, Inner Mongolia. In 1997 the by-product pyrite production capacity of the nationwide coal sector was 1.3 million tonsper year, but most mines have been suspended or are operating under capacity and the production declines steadily. In 1997 only about 44,000 tons of sulfur concentrates were recovered.

In the oil and natural gas sector and petrochemical sector, sulfur recovered as a by-pro-duct is mainly from natural gas fields in Sichuan, with a processing capacity of 140,000 tons per year, and now 69,600 tons of sulfur have been recovered. Less commonly it comes from crude oil in refineries and a small amount from oil shale, both contributing 39,000 tons of recovered sulfur. The production of the above-mentioned three sources totals 108,600 tons of sulfur, equivalent to 350,000 tons of standard ore.

In addition to the sulfur produced by the aforesaid industrial sectors, collective mining enterprises of villages and townships also produce 6 to 7 million  tons per year of pyrite. The major sulfur producing enterprises of China and index of these enterprises are shown in Fig. 4.5.2.

According to the Yearbook of Chemical Industry of China, China's sulfuric acid production in 1997 was 20.03 million tons (or 20.37 million tons according to the Statistical Yearbook of China), an increase of 7.27% over 1996, setting a historical record. Of this, 71.52% came from pyrite, 21.53% from smelter fumes, 5.44% from powdered sulfur, 1.2% from gypsum and 0.31% from others. The provinces with an annual production exceeding 1 million tons are: Liaoning, 1.087 million tons; Jiangsu, 11.894 million tons; Anhui, 1.396 million tons; Shandong, 1.383 million tons; Hubei, 1.517 million tons; Hunan, 1.104 million tons; Guangdong, 1.378 million tons; Sichuan, 1.661 million tons; Yunnan, 1.44 million tons.

The major sulfuric acid-producing enterprises are presented in Tables 4.5.1, 4.5.2, 4.5.3 and 4.5.4.

Table 4.5.1 China's top 10 enterprises of sulfuric acid produced from pyrite in 1997 (t)

Table 4.5.2 China's top 6 enterprises of sulfuric acid produced from smelter fumes in 1997(t)

Table 4.5.3 China's top 6 enterprises of sulfuric acid produced from powdered sulfur in 1997(t)

Table 4.5.4 China's major enterprises of sulfuric acid produced from gypsum in 1997 (t)