China's copper ore reserves rank sixth in the world, and the amount of copper resources controlled overseas is reached1.800 million tonsHowever, China still has to import copper concentrate every year25 million tons, which accounts for half of the world's copper production. So why is there such a shortage of copper in our country, and is not enough copper for us to use?
CopperIt is an important industrial metal, which is used in clean energy, industry and automobiles, especially China's carbon peak and carbon neutrality goals, which also means that more electricity is needed to replace fossil energy consumption. Like copper, as a non-ferrous metal with conductive properties second only to silver, it is of course indispensable in the development of clean energy and electrification in China.
The data shows that the average amount of copper used in renewable energy systems exceeds that of conventional power generation systems8-12 times, where photovoltaic power is used about per megawatt4 tonscopper, and the amount of copper per megawatt used by wind turbines can be reached6 tons
According to the China Electricity Council, China will increase the installed capacity of photovoltaics in 2024171 gigawatts, the new installed capacity of wind power is expected to be about89 gigawattsAccording to the calculations, our country will use copper in these two items alone121.80,000 tons。In addition, in China's industrial field, the demand for copper is about1.3 million tons, plus due to the wear and tear of electromechanical equipment, it will increase every year3.40,000 tonscopper consumption.
Finally, the development of new energy vehicles, plug-in vehicles and pure electric vehicles use copper respectively60kgwith83kgBy 2025, the copper consumption of charging piles and new energy vehicles will reach55.750,000 tonsThe average annual copper consumption of new energy vehicles can be reached290,000 tons
You must know that China's copper production in 2022 is not enough2 million tonsThis has led to the fact that China has to import a large number of raw materials such as copper concentrate, blister copper, and refined copper to make up for the domestic supply and demand gap. So China's copper ore reserves are the sixth in the world, can't they meet domestic demand?
According to data from the Ministry of Natural Resources, as of the end of 2021, China's proven copper reserves were:34.95 million tons, ranking sixth in the world, but what makes people helpless is that our country's mineral depositsPoor quality, many poor ores, and few rich ores, the average grade of copper ore in China is, not even as much as the level of South American copper slag, and the grade of our country is inThe above copper reserves only account for the total copper reserves
And secondly, it isThere are few large mines and it is difficult to mineAt present, China's copper ore reserves are more than 2.5 million tons of deposits, only Jiangxi Dexing copper mine, ** Duolong copper mine, Jinchuan copper nickel mine, etc., but most of these minerals are located in hilly areas, mining is difficult, economic value is low, only about 25% of the mine has a certain profitability.
Among them, the largest copper reserves are the most abundant, and the area of the Duolong mine area has reached an astonishing level33.40,000 square kilometers, a total of copper metal has been proven1349.20,000 tonsIt is the first world-class super copper ore concentration in China, and the average grade can be reached, which shows its high value.
But the biggest problem with mining isEnvironmental protectionThe vicinity of the Duolong mining area is one of the largest nature reserves on the Qinghai-Tibet PlateauQinghai-Tibet Highway areaThere are many unique landforms such as meadows, lakes, permafrost, glaciers and snow peaks, as well as nationally protected animals such as snow leopards and black-necked cranes.
If it is mined, not onlyIt will cause damage to water sources and land, and possiblyLeads to the decline of biodiversity and the degradation of ecosystems, the consequences will be unimaginable. For example, in 2022, illegal mining of grassland sand and gravel in Naquseni District led to the loss of transplantation and restoration value of part of the stripped turf layer, which seriously damaged the ecological environment of alpine grassland. It is not difficult to understand that China obviously has a lot of copper ore but still has to import a large amount of it.