【 Foreign niobium ore resources 】 The world has abundant niobium ore resources with huge reserves. According to the United States Geological Survey, in 1999, the world's niobium metal reserves were 3.5 million tons, with a reserve base of 5.6 million tons (excluding China and Russia)< The main industrial types of niobium ore in foreign countries include carbonate weathering crust type, niobium iron ore granite (pegmatite) type, and sand ore type Three types. Among them, the weathering crust type of carbonate rock is the most important, accounting for more than 90% of niobium resources, mainly produced in countries such as Brazil, Russia, Gabon, and Australia. The niobium containing industrial mineral is pyrochlore. The reserves of niobium tantalum iron ore granite and granite pegmatite deposits account for a small proportion of various niobium deposits, about 1%. The main component of the ore in this type of deposit is niobium tantalum iron ore, which is often associated with cassiterite and is generally recovered as a by-product of cassiterite mining. Niobium bearing sand ore is generally small in scale, but it is easy to mine and select, and is often produced together with tantalum iron ore, cassiterite, etc., thus having certain economic significance. The cassiterite concentrate containing niobium iron ore and tantalum iron ore obtained from sand mining in countries such as Thailand, Malaysia, Zaire, and Australia, after smelting crude tin, contains 10% to 20% Nb2O5 is recycled as an important byproduct< The Baiyun Ebo deposit is the largest niobium deposit in China, accounting for 63.4% of the country's proven niobium reserves With 82.7% of industrial reserves, the vast majority of niobium reserves are concentrated in large and medium-sized mineral deposits. The main types of niobium deposits in China include Baiyun Ebo type iron niobium rare earth deposits, alkaline rock carbonate rock deposits, granite and alkaline granite deposits, granite pegmatite deposits, and sand deposits< The Bayan Obo deposit has niobium rare earth deposits distributed in iron ore bodies, dolomite, and slate, appearing in thick and layered, layer like formations. The rock layers throughout the entire ore belt generally exhibit niobium and rare earth mineralization. Industrial ores have ① Magnetite ore, with an average grade of 0.126% to 0.141% Nb2O5; ② Dolomite ore, with an average grade of 0.110% Nb2O5 ~0.168%. Niobium containing minerals include niobium iron ore, niobium soluble minerals, niobium hematite, etc. Due to the fine particles embedded in niobium minerals (20m)， It coexists with iron and rare earths, and the problem of niobium beneficiation has not been solved yet. Currently, only low-grade niobium iron can be produced< The alkaline rock carbonate type niobium deposit, represented by the Miaoya syenite carbonate type niobium and rare earth deposit in Zhushan County, Hubei Province. A complex is composed of carbonate rocks and syenite containing niobium and rare earth elements. Isotope age is 255 million years. The main niobium minerals are niobium iron ore and niobium hematite. Niobium iron ore is mainly enriched in biotite carbonate rocks, while niobium hematite is more enriched in mixed diorite and syenite porphyry. At present, the Miaoya deposit has not been developed and utilized< Granite type niobium deposits are relatively developed in China, with many mineral deposits. Important ones include the Yichun 414 mine in Jiangxi, the Limu mine in Gongcheng, Guangxi, the Jinzhulong mine in Chaling, Hunan, and the Boluotaimei mine in Guangdong. These deposits are mainly medium-sized, followed by small-scale, without large niobium deposits, and generally have low grades (Nb2O5, 0.01% to 0.02%). The industrial mineral is tantalum niobium iron ore, which is currently one of the sources of niobium concentrates in China. Alkaline granite type niobium ore is generally large in scale and has a relatively high grade. For example, the Balzhe mine in Zhemeng, Inner Mongolia, has not yet been developed and utilized due to its complex ore composition and low recovery rate< Granite pegmatite type niobium ore is currently the main source of niobium concentrate in China. The Mount Huangshan ore deposit in Hengfeng County, Jiangxi Province is the most important deposit of this type. Granite pegmatite veins in the mining area are distributed in the outer contact zone of Yanshanian granite body, with more than 70 in total. The industrial mineral is niobium iron ore, and there is titanium tantalum niobium ore. The scale is medium< There is also an alkaline pegmatite type niobium deposit, which is found in the Luku mining area of Huili County, Sichuan Province. The alkaline pegmatite veins and sodium feldspar veins in the mining area are produced in the gabbro facies zone of the Indosinian alkaline syenite contact zone, with complex vein morphology and unclear zoning. Niobium mineral is cerium uranium pyrochlore, with good selectivity, medium scale, and rich grade (0.17%). But it has not yet been developed and utilized< In summary, China's niobium ore resources have the following characteristics: ① widely distributed production areas and relatively concentrated resources. The proven niobium deposits are distributed in 17 provinces and regions across the country, but highly concentrated in Inner Mongolia and Hubei provinces and regions. It accounts for the national niobium resources 95.5%;② The Nb2O5 grade of niobium ore already utilized in China ranges from 0.0083% to 0.0437%, which is significantly lower than the grade of niobium ore abroad Symbiotic minerals are complex and difficult to select and refine< Several large niobium mines in China, including Bayan Obo, Barzhe, Miaoya, etc., are multi-component rare earth co associated ores with fine mineral particle size, difficult beneficiation and smelting, and low recovery rate, generally ranging from 23.61% to 47.64%. The grade of the concentrate is also low (2.80%~34.62%); ④ There is a large amount of mineral resources, but there are very few mineral deposits and reserves available for utilization< According to the United States Geological Survey, the reserves of Ta2O5 abroad are 17100 tons, with a reserve base of 29300 tons. Mainly distributed in countries such as Australia, Nigeria, Congo, Canada, and Brazil. Although new mineral deposits have been continuously discovered in recent years, they have basically not been developed and utilized< At present, granite pegmatite type and cassiterite scheelite hydrothermal type are still the main industrial mining types of tantalum ore abroad. Granite pegmatite type tantalum deposits are mainly distributed in Australia, Canada, Brazil, Russia, and some African countries. Among them, the most famous is the Greenbushes deposit in Australia, which is currently the largest tantalum mine abroad with Ta2O5 reserves 9600 tons, with an average grade of 0.044%, in addition to niobium, lithium, tin and other resources, with an annual output of 254 tons of Ta2O5< The cassiterite scheelite hydrothermal deposit is also an important source of tantalum in foreign countries. In some tantalum rich cassiterite scheelite deposits and their surrounding sand deposits, the Ta2O5 content in cassiterite can reach up to 1% to 30%, generally 1.8% to 15%. The slag left after smelting crude tin contains Ta2O5 up to 1.5% to 10%, which is an important raw material for extracting tantalum. The world's tantalum production About one-third is extracted from cassiterite, scheelite slag, and filter residue in smelters. 90% of tantalum production in Thailand and Malaysia comes from this slag< Domestic Tantalum Resources: Tantalum mines in China are mainly concentrated in provinces such as Jiangxi, Hunan, Fujian, Guangxi, Guangdong, Xinjiang, and Inner Mongolia District. And the national tantalum reserves are highly concentrated in large and medium-sized mineral deposits. The type of tantalum ore industry in China is different from that in foreign countries, mainly granite type, accounting for 77.3% of the proven reserves The granite pegmatite type deposit ranks second, accounting for 19.4% of the proven reserves. There are also hydrothermal deposits containing cassiterite and scheelite in China, but the ore grade is not as high as in Southeast Asian countries, and the deposit size is not as large. Most of the tantalum deposits in our country are co occurring deposits of tantalum, niobium, lithium, tantalum, niobium, tungsten, tin, tantalum, niobium, beryllium, zirconium, rare earths, etc. Only a few are tantalum niobium deposits< Granite type deposits are also the main source of tantalum concentrate in China at present. Mostly large and medium-sized mineral deposits, Yichun, Jiangxi The 414 mine is a super large deposit and currently the largest producer of tantalum concentrate in China. These types of mineral deposits are generally large in scale, with uniform and low grades, Ta2O5 The content is generally between 0.01% and 0.016%. The industrial mineral of tantalum is niobium tantalum manganese ore, and there are also varying amounts of high tantalum mineral - fine spar. There are many components available for comprehensive utilization in mineral deposits, including tin, tungsten, lithium, rubidium, cesium, etc., in addition to tantalum and niobium. The mining conditions of the ore deposit are good, and most of the ore deposits are suitable for open-pit mining< Granite pegmatite type tantalum deposits are mainly distributed in Altai, eastern Qinling, northwestern Sichuan, and western Fujian in Xinjiang. Important mineral deposits include Kelumute and Keketuohai in Xinjiang, Xikeng in Fujian, and Methyl Ka in Sichuan. Weijingyan deposit is currently the second source of tantalum concentrate in China, and Ta2O5 is present in this type of deposit The grade is generally lower than that of foreign pegmatite ores, generally<; 0.01% to 0.028%< The associated tantalum (niobium) ore in the cassiterite hydrothermal vein type deposit containing scheelite has a relatively high grade, with a Ta2O5 content of 0.041% to 0.13%, but its reserves are not large, accounting for only 3.3% of the national reserves, mainly concentrated in the southern Jiangxi region< The Suzhou alkaline granite type tantalum niobium deposit is a significant discovery in the field of tantalum exploration in China in recent years. The scale of this mine is extremely large, with a tantalum niobium grade higher than the granite type deposits currently being mined domestically. Granite rich in tantalum and niobium is composed of biotite rich granite and albite rich granite located at the edges and tops of the main rock mass in Suzhou. Research on the occurrence state of tantalum shows that there are 77.36% of tantalum forms a single mineral, niobium tantalum iron ore, while the rest is dispersed in rock forming minerals and other accessory minerals, indicating that most tantalum forms usable independent minerals. The beneficiation test shows that the ore has good selectivity, and the recovery rate of tantalum niobium is up to 63.8% to 70.8%. This is higher than the beneficiation recovery rate of granite type tantalum ore currently developed in China. Therefore, from the perspective of the material composition of the deposit, it undoubtedly has development and utilization value< The current main issue is that due to the fact that the deposit is a concealed mine with an average depth of 400m, the mining cost is much higher than that of open-pit mining. Whether the future production of the mine will have economic benefits is the most concerning issue for investors. Therefore, a detailed feasibility study for development must be conducted