Original text of the Opinions:
Strengthen the development and utilization of strategic resources such as rare earths. Support the systematic exploration and evaluation, protective development, high-quality utilization and standardized management of strategic mineral resources in Inner Mongolia, and improve the guarantee capacity of strategic mineral resources such as rare earth, iron, nickel, copper, tungsten, tin, molybdenum, gold, fluorite, crystalline graphite, lithium, uranium, and helium. Accelerate the development of high-purity rare earth metals, high-performance rare earth permanent magnets, high-performance polishing and other high-end rare earth functional materials. Expand the application of rare earth catalytic materials in steel, cement, glass, automobile, thermal power and other industries. Support the Baotou Rare Earth Products Exchange to build a nationwide rare earth products trading center in accordance with laws and regulations, and build Baotou into the country's largest rare earth new material base and the world's leading rare earth application base.
The rare earth industry in Inner Mongolia has ushered in the best development opportunities.
In October 2023, the "Opinions on Promoting the High-quality Development of Inner Mongolia and Striving to Write a New Chapter of Chinese-style Modernization" (hereinafter referred to as the "Opinions") was released, proposing to "strengthen the development and utilization of strategic resources such as rare earths", and one of the important tasks is to "build Baotou into the country's largest rare earth new material base and the world's leading rare earth application base." ”
The opportunity for Baotou has come!
Interpretation——
How to strengthen the development and utilization of strategic resources such as rare earths?
As a scarce and non-renewable resource, rare earth is known as the "mother of industry" and "new materials", and is an important national strategic resource. Baotou's Baiyun Obo mine is the world's largest rare earth mine and one of the world's rare all-rare earth element mines. The proven reserves of rare earth resources are 43.5 million tons, accounting for 83% of the national total7%, accounting for 37 percent of the global total8%。
Baotou has the only national high-tech development zone named after rare earths in China, the Rare Earth High-tech Industrial Development Zone (hereinafter referred to as the Rare Earth High-tech Zone). Northern Rare Earth is also the largest light rare earth company in China and the world.
Northern Rare Earths. At present, the output of rare earth permanent magnet materials, hydrogen storage materials and polishing materials in Baotou ranks among the top in the country.
Not long ago, the first batch of medium and heavy rare earth metal products of Northern Rare Earth Ruixin Company was successfully trial-produced, marking the first large-scale production of medium and heavy rare earth metal products of Northern Rare Earth, filling the gap in the industrial chain of Northern Rare Earth.
In June this year, the general secretary of Inner Mongolia emphasized that "we must give full play to the advantages of strategic resources, strengthen the protective development, high-quality utilization and standardized management of strategic resources, strengthen the local deep processing of energy resources, and develop the strategic resources industry".
In the past few months, we have faithfully practiced the spirit of the important instructions of the general secretary when he inspected Inner Mongolia, especially after the release of the "Opinions", focusing on the construction of the country's largest rare earth new material base and the world's leading rare earth application base, and continuing to polish the brand of "World Rare Earth Capital", which has become a new mission and new task for Baotou.
How to solve the problem of the construction of two rare earth bases?Where to start with rare earth applications?How to expand the advantages of medium and heavy rare earths?
A few days ago, the Baotou Municipal Bureau of Industry and Information Technology organized the Rare Earth High-tech Zone, Baotou Iron and Steel Co., Ltd., Northern Rare Earth, and Inner Mongolia Rare Earth Industry Association to conduct a special study on the reserves, production and application status of medium and heavy rare earths.
The "Opinions" proposes to support the systematic exploration and evaluation, protective development, high-quality utilization and standardized management of strategic mineral resources in Inner Mongolia, and improve the guarantee capacity of strategic mineral resources such as rare earth, iron, nickel, copper, tungsten, tin, molybdenum, gold, fluorite, crystalline graphite, lithium, uranium and helium.
Participants in the industry suggested that to carry out scientific research in an all-round way, we should rely on the academician workstation to promote the research of medium and heavy rare earths in Baiyun Obo deposits, study the carrier minerals and enrichment minerals of heavy rare earths in Baiyun Obo mine, and the enrichment zone of carrier minerals and rich minerals of medium and heavy rare earths.
Enhance the scale of the rare earth industry. On the one hand, it is necessary to promote the construction of key projects and increase the production capacity of heavy rare earths in Baiyun Obo mineOn the other hand, we should expand the scale of the waste industry and effectively utilize the medium and heavy rare earth resources such as gadolinium, terbium and dysprosium in the NdFeB waste. In addition, it is necessary to improve the scale of the medium and heavy rare earth metal industry. Expand differentiated products such as high-purity rare earth metals, medium and heavy rare earth metals and alloys, and help Northern Rare Earth become the largest and most complete rare earth metal enterprise in China.
The application of rare earth should start from scientific survey, development of new products, promotion of new product applications, etc., through technological upgrading, transformation of technological achievements, product promotion and application, etc., to balance the use of surplus elements, and ultimately promote the Baotou rare earth industry to achieve the goal of "seeking great use" and "high-end".
In short, it is necessary to work scientific and technological innovation, improve the efficiency of use, and promote the balanced application of surplus elements. The relevant person in charge of the Baotou Municipal Bureau of Industry and Information Technology said.
Baiyun Obo Rare Earth New Material Industrial Park.
Action –
Agglomeration has become a momentum to cultivate new momentum for the rare earth industry
On August 26, Baiyun Obo Mining Area signed a cooperation agreement with Cocoa (Baotou) Rare Earth Permanent Magnet Technology Co., Ltd., and determined to invest in the construction of a high-performance rare earth permanent magnet material project with an annual output of 6,000 tons in Baiyun Obo Mining Area Industrial Park.
On November 23, in the nervous and excited expectation of everyone, the first furnace of rare earth magnetic blanks was released.
From signing to production, this rare earth permanent magnet material project took only 86 days!
The project is the first rare earth deep processing and rare earth new material project that has been fully implemented since the construction of the 'two rare earth bases' was launched in the Baiyun Obo mining area. The trial production of the first batch of rare earth magnetic blanks was successful. At the same time, the official commissioning of the project symbolizes that the Baiyun Obo mining area, which has the reputation of "the hometown of rare earths in the world", has taken a key step in promoting the construction of "two rare earth bases" and further launching the brand journey of "hometown of rare earths in the world". Yu Huan, director of the Office of the Management Committee of the Baiyun Obo Mining Area Industrial Park, said.
Rare earth resources are the key mineral resources in global competition, and technological innovation is the key to improving the high-quality application level of rare earth resources and promoting the transformation and industrialization of high-end rare earth materials.
To build "two rare earth bases", Baotou is the main position, and in the application of rare earths, the rare earth high-tech zone is the main battlefield.
In September this year, the "Three-year Action Implementation Plan for the Construction of "Two Rare Earth Bases" (2023-2025) and 7 supporting plans of the Rare Earth High-tech Zone were officially released, which aims to focus on the construction of "two rare earth bases", vigorously promote the construction of rare earth-related producer services, innovation-driven development to improve quality and carry, "high" and "new" development multiplication actions, optimize the tax structure, and guarantee the elements of project construction. As the development of 7 fields, the rare earth talent highland and cadres are responsible for making up for the shortcomings and weaknesses, seeking practical work measures, and providing scientific guidance and system guarantee for accelerating the construction of the "two rare earth bases".
Wu Junjun, Secretary of the Party Working Committee of the Rare Earth High-tech Zone, said that the Rare Earth High-tech Zone will focus on the construction goal of "two rare earth bases", build the "three highlands" of rare earth industry innovation, talent and service, and accelerate the output value of rare earth to exceed 80 billion yuan in 2025 and 160 billion yuan in 2030.
The construction of "two rare earth bases", rare earth high-tech zone has unique advantages. In the total rare earth production control plan issued by the state every year, the product indicators obtained by the North Rare Earth Group, an enterprise in the rare earth high-tech zone, account for more than half, and the resource ownership ranks first in the country. At the same time, the rare earth high-tech zone has a complete range of rare earth new material industries, complete chains, and a complete industrial supporting system, with the second largest production capacity of permanent magnet materials in the country, and the first in the production capacity of hydrogen storage and polishing materials in the country.
In order to give full play to the role of Baotou as the "main battlefield" of the construction of "two rare earth bases", the rare earth high-tech zone actively explores new areas of rare earth terminal applications, promotes and develops all aspects of R&D, production, sales and service in an integrated manner, accelerates the development of R&D and design, science and technology promotion and application, software and information technology and other sub-industries, strengthens the planning and implementation of major projects in the rare earth-related production service industry, and provides relevant supporting services for enterprises.
The Rare Earth High-tech Zone is also committed to building a national-level rare earth trading platform, promoting the Baotou Rare Earth Products Exchange to improve the management mechanism, supporting the construction of supporting facilities such as logistics warehousing and quality inspection, gradually attracting more domestic and foreign enterprises to enter the exchange for trading, and striving to launch the "Baotou Index" for rare earth trading as soon as possible.
Zhang Qiang, deputy director of the Management Committee of the Rare Earth High-tech Zone and director of the Office of the Leading Group for the Construction of "Two Rare Earth Bases", told reporters that at present, the rare earth high-tech zone has basically opened up the upstream, middle and downstream industrial chains, and the proportion of output value of new rare earth materials and rare earth application products is also increasing.
Rare Earth Research Laboratory of Rare Earth Research Institute.
Goals——
Broaden the new track and seize the commanding heights of the rare earth industry
During the heavy snowfall season, the temperature plummets. Walking into the 3,000-square-meter production workshop of Baotou Samarium Rare Earth, 58 vacuum carbon tube furnaces are in full swing. Accompanied by the roar of the machine, the raw materials samarium oxide and lanthanum are transformed into products – samarium metal – here through a lanthanum thermal reduction process.
The samarium metal we produce is a medium rare earth element and is the raw material for samarium cobalt permanent magnets. Yang Huafeng, the person in charge of Baotou samarium rare earth, told reporters that as the core magnetic material of the motor, samarium cobalt permanent magnet is widely used in aviation, satellite, military and other terminal fields. The quality of the metal samarium determines the performance of the end product to a certain extent. At present, the leading domestic samarium and cobalt enterprises are using the company's products, in addition to the local downstream enterprises in Baotou, its products are sold to Hangzhou, Ningbo, Mianyang and other places, and also exported to Japan, the Netherlands, Canada and other countries. As the only enterprise in northern China that produces samarium metal on a large scale, the purity of its products can reach up to 9999%, at the leading level in the industry.
In recent years, in the face of market changes, the company has overcome many difficulties, and the monthly sales volume has climbed from 8 tons to 20 tons, and the production capacity has reached 40 tons.
At present, Baotou is speeding up the construction of "two rare earth bases". In the face of once-in-a-lifetime development opportunities and favorable policies, Yang Huafeng is particularly excited. With a new vision, he is opening a new plan for the next development of the enterprise.
Baotou not only has a good development in traditional light rare earth products, but also has a lot of room for development in medium and heavy rare earths. To this end, the company plans to build a new phase II plant next year, in addition to samarium metal, it will also produce yttrium, dysprosium and terbium and other medium and heavy rare earth products. Yang Huafeng said, "While continuously enriching product categories and expanding production capacity, we hope to contribute to Baotou's construction of 'two rare earth bases'." ”
The robot youth research team of Beijing University of Science and Technology is conducting a robot performance test.
In the interview, Zhang Qiang, deputy director of the Management Committee of the Rare Earth High-tech Zone, said that at present, the Rare Earth High-tech Zone has shown a "timetable" and "roadmap" for the development of the rare earth industry in the next three years. In the next step, the rare earth high-tech zone will implement scientific policies and make precise efforts, and continue to make efforts in the construction of innovation platforms, the transfer and transformation of scientific and technological achievements, the introduction of projects and the introduction and cultivation of talents. "Through the construction of an innovative layout, the introduction of domestic and foreign leading enterprises, excellent enterprises, and constantly expand the scale of the rare earth industry, to carry out key technology research from new materials to application products, we will go all out to make positive contributions to Baotou to build 'two rare earth bases'. He said.
From "world-class reserves" to "world-class industry".
Promote the implementation of the "Opinions" series of talks
Yuan Baonian. **The opinions on supporting the high-quality development of Inner Mongolia emphasize the need to strengthen the development and utilization of strategic resources such as rare earths, which fully shows that it is of great significance to do a good job in the systematic exploration and evaluation, protective development, high-quality utilization and standardized management of strategic mineral resources in Inner Mongolia to enhance the supply capacity of important national energy and strategic resources.
As an important national energy and strategic resource base, Inner Mongolia has the world's largest light rare earth reserves, and has the remarkable characteristics of high grade, low mining cost, many co-associated resources and high comprehensive utilization value. It is necessary to aim at the world's leading level to plan the development of the rare earth industry, and accelerate the development of high-purity rare earth metals, high-performance rare earth permanent magnets, high-performance polishing and other high-end rare earth functional materials. Make good use of rare earth resources, develop the rare earth industry, expand the application of rare earth catalytic materials in steel, cement, glass, automobiles, thermal power and other industries, and extend the industrial advantages to the middle and lower reaches by extending, supplementing and strengthening the chain.
Baotou has abundant rare earth resource reserves, obvious advantages in industrial development, and complete development factors, and has the superior conditions to build a "rare earth capital of the world". It is necessary to transform the advantages of rare earth resources into industrial advantages and development advantages, support the Baotou Rare Earth Products Exchange to build a nationwide rare earth products trading center in accordance with laws and regulations, and build Baotou into the country's largest rare earth new material base and the world's leading rare earth application base.
From the complete industrial chain of rare earth raw ore mining, beneficiation, smelting, separation, functional materials, and terminal applications, to the full coverage of rare earth functional materials industries such as permanent magnets, alloys, catalysis, polishing, luminescence, pigments, ceramics, etc., Inner Mongolia is constantly expanding the application fields of rare earths and promoting the rare earth industry to move towards high-end, intelligent and green. In accordance with the requirements of the "First Opinions", we will be able to promote Inner Mongolia rare earth from "world-class reserves" to "world-class industry", and continuously improve the "rare" gravitational force of Inner Mongolia.
Source: "Inner Mongolia**" official WeChat.
Editor: Qiao Hong Proofreader: He Shiyu.