Report Producer:Huafu**
The following is an excerpt from the original report.
1 Scarce strategic metals with a wide range of uses.
1.1 Low melting point metal, excellent welding performance.
Tin is a silvery-white metal with the element symbol sn, which is easy to bend, has good ductility, and has a melting point of 23189 with a boiling point of 2260. At room temperature, the crystal structure of tin is a square crystal system, which is called white tin. When the temperature is below -132, the white tin will gradually turn into gray tin;When the temperature is higher than 161, the white tin will be transformed into orthorhombic tin, which is very brittle and will be broken by a slight external force, and is often called "brittle tin". The chemical properties of tin are stable, at room temperature, a dense oxide film will be formed on the surface of tin to prevent further oxidation, it is easy to extrude, stretch, forge and cut, corrosion-resistant, fusible, and has a small friction coefficient.
Because tin has the characteristics of low melting point, good ductility, easy alloying with many metals, non-toxic, corrosion resistance and beautiful appearance, its use is mainly concentrated in tin solder, tinplate and tin chemical industry. 1) Solder is an excellent solder made of tin-based alloy with a relatively low melting point, which is mainly used in electronic soldering in the electronics industry, and now tin-lead solder has become an indispensable part of the development of the global electronics manufacturing industry2) Tin can be alloyed with many metals, and the bronze alloy containing tin has the characteristics of wear resistance and corrosion resistance, and is often used in ships, trains, agricultural machinery, chemicals, construction, currency and other industries, and others such as zirconium-based alloys and titanium-based alloys play an important role in atomic energy and aerospace industries3) Tinplate refers to a steel plate or steel strip coated with a thin layer of tin on both sides, so that the tin plating and steel-based materials are combined to make a product, which has the strength of steel and the corrosion resistance of tin and exquisite appearance, which is mainly used for food and beverage packaging, shell and base of electrical industry, etc., and can also be used for general lighting projects, manufacturing toys, office supplies, etc.;4) Organotin mainly includes methyl tin, butyl tin, octyl tin, and the consumption is mainly concentrated in PVC stabilizers, while inorganic tin is mainly used in electroplating and glass spraying and other fields.
1.2 Rare metals, low abundance in the earth's crust.
Tin is less abundant in the earth's crust, with an average amount of only 0004%。There are 50 independent minerals known to contain tin, and more than 20 major tin minerals, the main one of economic significance is cassiterite, followed by yellow tin. In addition, stibnite tin-lead, sulfur-tin-lead, and cylindrical tinite are also tin-containing minerals with certain economic significance.
Depending on the cause of mineralization or mining conditions, tin deposits can be broadly divided into primary deposits (vein tin deposits) and punch deposits (placer tin deposits). The primary deposit is composed of quartz, pegmatite granite and other rocks, and the mineral composition is relatively complex, in addition to cassiterite, it also contains various associated minerals, such as pyrite, chalcopyrite, sphalerite, galena, etc.;Alluvial deposits are formed by cassiterite-containing primary deposits under the influence of natural factors, and most of them contain only associated minerals with a density similar to cassiterite.
According to the mineral composition of tin, it can be divided into sulfide deposits (cassiterite combined with heavy metal sulfides, pyrite, etc.) and oxide deposits (cassiterite dispersed in oxide gangue). 1) Hydrothermal vein-type, skarn-type, pegmatite-type and porphyry-type deposits associated with granite magma and its magmatic hydrothermal fluids, which are associated with elements such as tantalum, niobium, tungsten, copper, lead, zinc, silver, arsenic and antimonyTin ore deposits related to sedimentary regeneration or metamorphism, such as tin-bearing granite weathered residual placer tin ore and slope placer tin ore. Among them, placer tin ore is generally small and medium-sized, and the burial is usually shallow, and the ore contains 005%-0.3%, containing less harmful impurities (copper, sulfur, arsenic), the beneficiation process is simple, and the beneficiation rate is generally 50%-95%.
Tin ore is often concentrated in the form of "zones" or "belts", such as the Rim-Pacific Giant Tin Ore Metallogenic Belt, the Eurasian Intracontinental Tin Metallogenic Belt, and the Central and South Africa Tin Metallogenic Belt. It is common for different types of tin deposits of different ages to occur next to each other, or even overlap each other, for example, some types of deposits in Europe belong to cassiterite quartz vein type, cassiterite sulfide type, cassiterite tourmaline vein type and micite type deposits;The type of deposits in Central Asia is a large number of deposits containing tin skarn and cassiterite sulphides. Compared with other tin belts, the tin metallogenic belt in Central and South Africa is generally of earlier metallogenic age, mostly related to Precambrian granite, and most of them are pegmatite-type tin deposits.
2 Consumption of high-quality resources, the cost curve continues to rise.
2.1 The placer tin ore resources are gradually depleted, and the vein tin ore mined underground increases.
The heyday of high-grade placer tin mining in most countries has passed, and with the gradual depletion of placer tin resources, the underground mining of vein tin ore is increasing.
Placer tin ore occurs on the surface, open-pit mining is easier, low production cost, the main mining methods are mechanical mining (small proportion), water mining, tin mining ship mining, of which tin mining ships are widely used in inland and continental shelf sand tin mining in Southeast Asian countries, such as Indonesia PT Timah company has turned to sea mining due to the decline of land reserves.
Most of the vein tin ore is hidden underground, and the development methods include single development method and joint development method, of which there are four main types of single development: flat hole, vertical shaft, inclined shaft and slope. Mining methods vary according to the nature of the ore: mesh mining is commonly used with or without a bottom pillar segmented caving method;The oxide ore adopts the square pillar filling method, the layered caving method, the segmented caving method, the ore retention method, the comprehensive method, etcThere are many upward horizontal layered cementation filling methods, segmented caving methods, and comprehensive methods for sulfide ores.
2.2. Tin ore beneficiation and smelting process.
At present, the beneficiation method of tin ore is mainly gravity separation, but some iron oxide minerals also need to be separated by magnetic separation and flotation. The density of cassiterite is generally greater than the density of its gangue minerals, gravity separation has become a common method of cassiterite, electric separation and magnetic separation are also used for the selection of tin coarse concentrate, such as magnetic separation can be used for the separation of cassiterite and wolframite, iron minerals, tantalum niobium ore and other minerals, electric separation can be used for the separation of cassiterite and zircon, monazite, scheelite and other minerals, magnetic separation is also used in gravity separation, flotation before the removal of magnetic minerals.
In the actual tin ore beneficiation, the tin grade is low and associated with a variety of useful minerals, cassiterite and its associated useful minerals are similar in density and symbiotic close, in order to improve the cassiterite rate, tin concentrate grade and realize the synthesis of useful ore, it is necessary to combine flotation, magnetic separation and electric separation and other physical methods to form a variety of separation methods combined or metallurgical process.
Modern tin smelting consists of four main production processes: tin concentrate pretreatment, reductive smelting, refining, and soot and slag treatment.
1) Pretreatment: tin ore resources are associated with multi-mineral impurities, some of which will accompany the concentrate into the tin smelter in the form of mixture, eutectic or compound, resulting in the complexity of the tin smelting process and the reduction of the first rate, according to the physical or chemical properties of various impurities in the tin concentrate, the use of roasting, acid leaching and sintering methods, pretreatment is carried out before the concentrate is smelted in the furnace to reduce or remove the impurities of the tin concentrate.
2) Reduction smelting: the oxide of tin (SNO2) is reduced to tin metal, and at the same time, the ash of other gangue components in the tin concentrate and the mixed flux are generated into slag, which is separated from the metal tin, and the products mainly include a crude tin, B crude tin, hard head and slag. The equipment for reduction smelting includes reverberatory furnaces, electric furnaces, blast furnaces, converters and top furnaces (Ausmelt furnaces), among which blast furnaces, converters and reverberatory furnaces are being rapidly eliminated, and electric furnaces are still used, and the Australian furnace technology is relatively advanced.
3) refining: pyrometallurgy and hydrometallurgy (electrolysis) are usually used, in which the pyrometallurgical production capacity is higher, and the metal is not stagnant in the production process for a long time, the backlog of tin is small, and most of the tin smelters at home and abroad are mainly based on pyrometallurgical refining, supplemented by electrolytic refining, and a few use full electrolytic refining. Electrolytic refining can remove most of the impurities in crude tin or crude solder and produce fine tin or fine solder with high purity, which is especially suitable for processing crude tin with secret content and high quality.
2.3 The global cost of tin is rising year by year.
Tin mining has gradually shifted to higher-cost underground vein mining, and the cost of fuel, manpower and environmental protection brought about by inflation has increased year by year, and the global tin production cost has increased year by year. Taking ITA data as an example, the global tin 90% cost quantile was US$19,805 in 2010 and reached US$23,171 in 2022, an increase of 170%。And, as Indonesia's onshore resources are depleted, more and more mining is moving to offshore operations that are highly dependent on fuel costs, raising the tin ore margin, which is expected to reach US$36,290 tonnes in 2030, providing an effective support for the long-term tin**.
3 The output of mainstream countries has declined, and the pattern of resources has been reshaped.
3.1. Tin reserves have declined, and the strategic position has been enhanced.
Global tin reserves are declining, and China has the largest tin reserves. According to USGS data, the global tin reserves in 2021 were about 4.9 million tons, of which China's tin reserves ranked first in the world, accounting for 23%, followed by Indonesia, Myanmar, Australia and Brazil, accounting for % respectively. Global tin reserves are declining, with 4.6 million tonnes of tin at the end of 2022, down 52 million tonnes from 9.6 million tonnes in 200008%。
With the rising global demand for tin ore resources and the few newly discovered tin ore resources, the strategic position of tin has been enhanced. According to the Tin Industry Association**, although the global consumption of tin ore resources is large, compared with other minerals, the global tin ore exploration investment is insufficient, the tin static reserve-production ratio has decreased from 16:1 in 2021 to 15:1 in 2022, and there are fewer newly discovered tin deposits (only 4 tin mines are newly discovered after 1985 among the 70 tin ore exploration and development projects in the world according to the US Geological Survey Bureau), and the guarantee capacity of global tin ore resources is not optimistic. And, tin ore is typically small compared to basic industrial metals, with deposits containing 0between 01-5%.
In 2018, the United States included tin in the list of 35 critical minerals, implementing a policy of only exploration and not mining, and the strategic position of tin has gradually become prominent. In the EU's assessment matrix, tin has a certain economic importance but low risk, and the overall evaluation just falls outside the critical area.
In 2022, China's tin resource reserves were 4.6 million tons, down 300,000 tons from 2021. Tin ore in China is mainly produced in the form of co-associated minerals, and there are few deposits of tin as a single mineral, and the resources are mainly concentrated in the Daxinganling-Kangyur Miao metallogenic area, the Sanjiang metallogenic belt, the Kangdian metallogenic area, the old metallogenic area, the Qinchuan-Maguan metallogenic area, the northern Guangxi metallogenic area, the eastern Guidong metallogenic area, the northern Guangdong region of southern Hunan, the metallogenic area of southern Jiangxi and the southeast coastal area. In 2022, primary ore accounted for 95% of the resource reserves, concentrated in Yunnan 358%, Guangxi 181%, Hunan 128%, Jiangxi 110% and Inner Mongolia 86%。In 1991, China decided to list tungsten, tin, antimony, and ionic rare earth minerals as specific minerals for the state to implement protective mining, which greatly reduced the approval of relevant mineral rights.
3.2 Global tin mine production is stable, but the pattern is reshaped.
The global tin mine output is stable around 300,000 tons all year round, but the pattern has been reshaped. According to CRU data, the global tin mine production in 2022 was 3090,000 tons, throughout the period from 2005 to 2022, the global tin ore output basically remained at the level of around 300,000 tons, but the mainstream ** countries are affected by factors such as declining grades and rising costs, and generally show a downward trend, such as China and Indonesia, which are traditional tin ore producersDue to the over-exploitation of tin ore resources in Malaysia, the share of tin ore production has been declining;Bolivia is largely maintained;Africa (DRC, Namibia) has changed the traditional artisanal and small-scale production methods, and continuously improved the mechanization of production, and the output of tin ore production has increased year by year.
Asia is the world's leading tin mining region. In 2022, there are three countries that account for more than 10% of global tin ore production, namely China (26%), Indonesia (23%), and Myanmar (13%), accounting for a total of 62%. Other countries with higher proportions are Peru 9%, DRC 6%, Brazil 6% and Bolivia 6%.
3.3 China's major tin mine production is declining and highly concentrated.
In recent years, China has become more aware of the protection of scarce resources, and the integration of resources to reduce the indiscriminate mining of mining resources, and the decline of private mines has led to a decline in tin mining. China's tin ore production in 2022 is 800,000 tons, a decrease of 0250,000 tons since 2000 1140,000 tons decreased by 340,000 tons. In 2016, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology issued the "Tin Industry Standard Conditions", which stipulates the scale of mines and environmental protection requirements, and some small enterprises cannot meet the mine development standards and environmental protection requirements, and are basically in a state of shutdown, while large mines are relatively small due to relatively standardized management, and the impact is relatively small, and China's tin mine output is gradually concentrated to the head.
China's tin ore production is mainly concentrated in Yunnan, Guangxi, Hunan and Inner Mongolia, accounting for the proportions in 2022. 1% and 85%, the main deposits are Yunnan old tin mine, Yunnan Dulong tin mine, Guangxi Dachang tin mine, Guangxi coral tin mine, Guangxi Shuiyanba tin mine, Hunan Xianghualing tin mine, Hunan Hongqiling tin mine, etc. Among them, Yunnan Gejiu and Guangxi Dachang are the largest and second largest tin deposits in China, respectively, and Huaxi Nonferrous Metals, Tin Industry Co., Ltd. and Yinman Mining are the top three tin ore production enterprises in China, and the total tin ore production is expected to account for 533%。
1) Tin Industry Co., Ltd.: the global tin resource integration leader.
The world's leading tin resources, tin resource reserves of 6670,000 tons, and the amount of tin concentrate converted into metal in 2022 is 240,000 tons.
The company has an integrated whole industrial chain from resources to deep processing, and the resources are mainly distributed in the old and Wenshan areas of Yunnan, with 8 mining rights and 75 mining areas80 square kilometers, of which, in the old mines there are Datun tin mine, old factory mining area, Kafang mining area, in Wenshan mainly Hualian zinc indium.
As of the end of 2022, the company's retained resources of various metals: ore volume 26.5 billion tonnes with 66 tonnes of tin70,000 tons, 119 copper metal360,000 tons, lead metal volume 9690,000 tons, 383 zinc710,000 tons, 2,548 tons of silver, 5,082 tons of indium, tin and indium resources ranked first in China. Among them, the average grade of tin in the old factory mining area is 052%, card room 067%, Hualian Zinc Indium Tongman Industrial Mine 057%。
In 2022, the company's tin concentrate production will be discounted by 240,000 metal tons, tin ingot output 7670,000 tons. The company's smelting capacity is mainly distributed in Wenshan Zinc Indium, Copper Branch and Tin Branch, with a tin smelting capacity of 80,000 tons per year and a tin production capacity of 410,000 tons per year, tin chemical production capacity of 240,000 tons per year, copper cathode production capacity of 12With an annual capacity of 50,000 tons, a zinc smelting capacity of 100,000 tons, a die-cast zinc alloy capacity of 30,000 tons per year, and an indium smelting capacity of 60 tons, the company's tin output has ranked first in the world for 17 consecutive years since 2005. In 2022, the company's tin ingot output is 7670,000 tons, accounting for 47% of China's refined tin output78%, 2254%, in the absolute leading position;Self-produced tin ore 3440,000 metal tons, taking into account the waste disposal, tin ore mining, processing rate and smelting process losses, according to the company's announcement of tin ingot raw material self-sufficiency rate converted concentrate output 240,000 metal tons.
2) Huaxi Nonferrous Metals: Fengfeng Mine Tin is a rare tin-rich polymetallic ore in the world.
The only listed non-ferrous metal enterprise in Guangxi, with tin resource reserves of 2470,000 tons. The company has two main mining rights and five prospecting rights, the mining project is partially outsourced to contractors, and the smelting end is mainly commissioned processing, and the products mainly include tin ingots, zinc ingots, silver ingots and lead-antimony concentrates. At present, the core mine assets are two underground mines, Tongkeng Mine and Gaofeng Mine, which correspond to Chehe and Bari concentrators respectively, producing finished tin concentrate, zinc concentrate, lead concentrate, etc., and the tailings are discharged into the company's Xiachehe tailings pond.
The total reserves of tin, zinc and antimony in the company's two major mining rights have been reached. 1 and 2160,000 tons, equity reserves. 10,000 tons. Among them, the peak mine is a rare tin rich polymetallic ore body in the world, and the main mineral proved + controlled + inferred ore resources are 936300,000 tons, 13 tin metal50,000 tonnes at an average grade of 144%, excellent resource endowment;The Tongkeng mine includes the Tongkeng tin mining area, the Changpo tin-lead-zinc mining area and the placer tin mining area, and the deposit is rich in 16 useful components such as tin, zinc, lead, antimony, sulfur, indium, silver, etc., and the resource reserves within the mining license and prospecting rights are tin 1110,000 tonnes with a tin grade of 0339% with a primary ore grade of 045%。
In 2020, the company produced 8,152 tons of tin concentrate (4,837 tons at Chehe concentrator and 3,315 tons at Bari concentrator) and 6,785 tons of equityIn 2021-2022, due to accidents, production decreased to 1,680 tons (782 tons in Chehe and 899 tons in Bari) in 2022H1, with an attributable volume of 1,310 tons.
3) Industrial Yintin: Technological upgrading is expected to meet the outbreak of production capacity.
The silver tin resource leader started again, and the tin resource reserves were 19560,000 tons. Yinman Mine is located in Balagar Gaole Town, Xilin Gol League, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, and is one of the main mines acquired by the Company in 2016, with a resource of 5,868 as of the end of 2022860,000 tonnes of lead-zinc-silver ore, copper-tin-silver-zinc ore and other associated ores, with metal reserves of 8,599 tonnes of silver and 70 tonnes of zinc560,000 tons, tin 19560,000 tons, 988 tons of indium. Among them, the average grade of copper, tin, silver and zinc ore reached 1954g t, tin average grade 074%。In addition, according to the company's current prospecting work, the deep rock mass in the Yinman mining area contains ore, and there is a good prospect for prospecting in the deep part, and it has the geological conditions for forming porphyry deposits. In 2018, the highest production of Yinman tin concentrate reached 0580,000 tons, after a continuous decline due to sudden safety accidents, the output will gradually recover to 0 in 2022250,000 tons.
The selected grade improvement is superimposed on technological upgrading, and 2023 will welcome the first year of production capacity explosion. At present, the mining scale of the mine is 1.65 million tons per year, and the nature of the proposed ore will be tin-rich and low-sulfur raw ore from 2023, and the grade of the main variety of tin will be 06%-0.7% to 1%-12%。At the same time, in order to solve the key problems of Yinman Mining cassiterite particle size, fragility, and low rate, the company will carry out technical transformation in June 2023, and after the completion of the technical transformation, the company's selected grade will be significantly improved, and at the same time, the first rate of tin will be improved, and the cost of beneficiation will be reduced, and the annualized production capacity of 168 tons of silver and 1 tin in a single quarter in 2023Q4530,000 tons, zinc 1330,000 tons, antimony 0140,000 tons. The company is expected to invest 1.8 billion yuan to build the second phase of Yinman, with a construction period of two years, and is expected to complete the construction in 2026, with a total mining capacity of 2.97 million tons per year in the first and second phases.
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