Xinjiang is one of the provinces that are abundant in mineral resources in China. It is of spacious future for further exploitation owing to the complete species of mineral products and great reserves. At present, 138 species of mineral products have been found, in which, 5 species rank top in reserve, 25 species rank top five, 40 species rank top 10 in the country, 23 species rank top in the northwest region.
Mineral resources that rank top 10 for preserved reserves include Beryllium, natrium saltpeter, white isinglass, vermiculite, argil; quartz for metallurgy, natural sulfur, feldspar, snake stone for chemical fertilizer; bulked earth, marble for concrete, nickel, chromite; diabase for casting, oil; coal, magnesite, magnesium salt, Kalium salt, quartz for glass, clay for concrete, natural gas, Cs, shale for concrete; bismuth, platimum element, lithium; oil shale, loess for concrete, Glauber’s salt; marlite, boron, Te; manganese, cobalt, Ta, columbium, sand for glass and salt.
I.Main feature of the mineral resource
1.There are various species of mineral products, completely qualified with the resources. At present, mineral resource detected in Xinjiang has covered 85% of the whole country. Xinjiang is one of the several provinces where there are comparatively complete species of mines, ranking the second only after Sichuan.Mineral products necessary for economic development are complete species and abundant in reserves, in which, the most important oil, natural gas and coal are the most advantageous mineral products in Xinjiang; iron ore, manganese, chrome, flux limestone, dolomite, coal for coking plant and many species of mineral products are qualified for iron and steel industry; mines for colored metal industry are also quite a lot, including copper, nickel, lead, zinc, along with rare metals of lithium, Be, columbium, Ta, Cs and other mines for auxiliary materials of metallurgy; mines for salt chemistry include rock salt, glauber’s salt, Kalium; abundant and various non-metal mines provide qualified resources for construction material industry, ceramics, paper making, salt industry, industrial arts and other light industries; the complete and qualified mineral resources lay strong and stable substantial basis for the overall development of industry in Xinjiang.
2.The possession rate of mineral resource per person is quite large. The potential value is calculated according to preserved reserves of the leading mineral products, the possession rate per person reaching 4 times of the average value per person of the country. The rate of abundance of energies in Xinjiang is 4500 tons standard coal per person, 6.5 times higher than the average level of the country.
3.Some of the mineral products are of high quality, high-grade ores covering comparatively high proportion, in addition, part of characteristic mineral products are included, such as coal, complete in species, low sulfur and low ash, most belong to high grade coal of high quantity of heat, coal for coking plant covers 9% of the total; iron, high-grade ore covers 25.6%, largely higher than 5.7%, level of the country; chrome, high-grade ore covers 58%, it is rare raw material for top grade fire-resistant material production in the country; copper and nickel,? large cooper and nickel ores in Xinjiang reach 3-6%, valuable and rare in the country; vermiculite, vermiculite ore content is 59%, high-grade ores amounting to 73% of the total reserves and of high multiple of distensibility; bulked earth, natrium earth being in the majority, of high slurry making capacity, it is the only high quality bulked earth that achieves international standard. The characteristic ores include jade in Hotan, natrium saltpeter, soapstone, alkali magnesium vanadium, albumen earth, etc.
II. Circumstance of the main mineral resource
1.Energy resource:
Xinjiang is possessed of 5 energy ores including petroleum, natural gas, coal, oil shale and uranium, in which, petroleum, natural gas and coal belong to the most advantageous mineral resources of Xinjiang. Xinjiang is one of the prospective districts for the development of terrestrial petroleum in China. Junngar, Tarim, Turpan, Hami are all basins with deposit petroleum gas, other 19 aggradation basins of different sizes are also of nice geologic conditions, the aggradation acreage reaching 950 thousand sq. km., 1/4 of the total terrestrial aggradation area.
Tarim Basin covers an area of 560 thousand sq. km, it is the largest aggradation basin containing petroleum gas, where the petroleum gas amount is predicted to be 184 hundred million tons, including petroleum of 101 hundred million tons and natural gas of 83000 hundred million cubic meters. It is the start point of ‘transferring natural gas from west to east’ in China.
According to the second evaluation to oil gas resource, Xinjiang possesses 300 hundred million tons of oil resource, 1/4 of the total amount of terrestrial petroleum in China (940 hundred million tons). The current oil preserved amount ranks third in China while the unsealed oil preserved amount ranks top in China.? Base oil in Xinjiang is characteristic to be low sulfur content and low freezing point, ideal for the production of top class lubricant, asphaltum of highway, freezing engine oil, and medical and cosmetic products. In particular, heavy oil ranks top in the country for large reserve and top quality. The natural gas is 108000 hundred million cubic meters, 34% of the total amount of terrestrial natural gas amount (300000 hundred million cubic meters). The coal stratum in Xinjiang is predicted to be 307 thousand square kilometers and the predicted coal resource is 21900 hundred million tons, 40% of the country total amount, ranking the top in China. The proved reserve is about over 170 hundred million tons, ranking eighth in China and second in the northwest region. Turpan-Hami basin and? Junggar Basin have been listed into world top 10 coalfields.
2. Metal ores:
The black metal and colored metal is of quite important status in China. The approve metal ores have been totaled 27 species. The black metal resources include iron, manganese, chrome, vanadium and titanium, in which, the proved reserve of iron ranks fifth in the country, manganese ranks eighth and chrome ranks fifth in China. The colored metal ores include cooper, nickel, lead, zinc, and aluminium, whose character is wide distribution, multiple locations and plenty of high-grade ores, advantageous for integrated development and utilization. The noble metal and rare metal in Xinjiang both come out top in China. Noble metals with proved reserves include gold, silver, platimum and palladium. Furthermore, Xinjiang is also rich in gold resource, in the total 85 cities and counties, gold resource may be found in 59 cities and counties. Xinjiang is one of the main producing area of rare metals in China, enjoying high reputation both in China and abroad for Beryllium, lithium, columbium, Ta and such rare metal ores.
3.Non-metal ores:
Non-metal ores in Xinjiang is comparatively complete, the detected non-metal ores amounting to 43 species. There exist 8 species of non-metal minerals for auxiliary raw material of metallurgy, in which, magnesite ranks fourth in China; 13 species of non-metal minerals for chemical and industrial raw material, in which, natrium saltpeter, snake stone, kalium salt, magnesium salt, glauber’s salt,? natural sulfur and salt all come out top in preserved reserve; 24 species of raw materials for construction material and other non-metal minerals, in which, the proved reserves of white isinglass, bulked earth,? vermiculite and clay all rank top or second in the country. Special non-metal and diamond minerals include crystal, all kinds of diamonds, jade, and colorful stones.
Over 70 species of diamonds have been found in Xinjiang, such as sapphire, beryl, jade seal, lotus stone, garnet, violet stone, which are well know throughout China and abroad. Jade mainly refers to Hotan Jade, which also called soft jade, owned only by China. In particular, suet jade is even rare species in the world.
To sum up, Xinjiang is one of the provinces with the most abundant mineral resources. Possessed of spacious future for further exploitation, it may be developed into base of oil and oil chemical industry, base of coal and coal chemical industry, base of salt and salt chemical industry, base of colored metal and rare metal, which will be of great significant throughout the country.
