Strategic equilibrium price analysis and numerical simulation of preponderant high-tech metal mineral resources

Based on exploitation compensation value system of preponderant high-tech metal mineral resources and distortion of pricing mechanism, social utility function was constructed to modify decision utility function of developers, and was extended to Stackelberg production decision model of preponderant high-tech metal mineral resources development. Analyzing the influences on market monopoly, output and price decision-making exerted by altruistic preferences, inequity aversion and sequential reciprocity fairness belief equilibrium, game fairness equilibrium which is significant in experimental economics can be obtained and verified by numerical simulation. In process of strategic pricing, method that uses the variation of producer surplus to measure strategic value from psychological preferences was proposed for the first time and technical support to improve exploitation compensation value system of preponderant metal mineral resources was available.

Challenges and new insights for exploitation of deep underground metal mineral resources

Long-term and continuous large-scale exploitation has increasingly exhausted shallow metal mineral resources,and deep mining has become inevitable.The current global status of deep mining of metal mineral resources was presented,a series of engineering challenges faced by deep mining were systematically analyzed,and some progress and future innovation focus in key engineering technologies,such as the prediction and prevention of rockburst,cooling techniques,rock support techniques,deep hoisting techniques,and several nontraditional deep mining techniques,were highlighted.Meanwhile,new insights into development strategies of deep mining technology were proposed.The integration of these forward-looking key innovative technologies will form the overall framework of an innovative technology system for the deep mining of metal minerals.This technology system will help to achieve safe,efficient,and green exploitation of deep underground metal mineral resources and ensure the sustainable development of the metal mining industry.

Regional Distribution and Sustainable Development Strategy of Mineral Resources in China

This paper summarizes the distribution and production layout of the major mineral resources in China,including coal,iron ore,copper and bauxite,from a national perspective.It also identifies the incompatibility between the mineral resources distribution and regional economic development.Significant issues with China's mineral resource industry cause challenges for the sustainable development of both the mining industry and the national socio-economy.The sustainability of regional mineral resources and the environmental pollution by mining in the western China were also analyzed.Results show that the distribution of China's mineral resources is misaligned with its regional layout of economic development.China's mineral resources have been over-exploited,and the mineral resources production in the eastern China is unsustainable.The continuously expanding production of mineral resources in the western China has heavily endangered the ecological environment.We propose strategies to boost the sustainable development of mineral resources,including measures to accelerate economic development and enhance the sustainability of domestic mineral resources.We also offer suggestions for scientifically planning the mineral resource prospecting and exploitation and regional economic layout,as well as for proactively undertaking industry transfer in the eastern China and raising the environmental benchmark requirements for the mineral industry in the central and western China.

Development and Utilization of the World＇s and China＇s Bulk Mineral Resources and their Supply and Demand Situation in the Next Twenty Years

Bulk mineral resources of iron ores, copper ores, bauxite, lead ores, zinc ores and potassium salt play a pivotal role on the world＇s and China＇s economic development. This study analyzed and predicted their resources base and potential, development and utilization and their world＇s and China＇s supply and demand situation in the future 20 years. The supply and demand of these six bulk mineral products are generally balanced, with a slight surplus, which will guarantee the stability of the international mineral commodity market supply. The six mineral resources （especially iron ores and copper ores） are abundant and have a great potential, and their development and utilization scale will gradually increase. Till the end of 2014, the reserve- production ratio of iron, copper, bauxite, lead, zinc ores and potassium salt was 95 years, 42 years, 100 years, 17 years, 37 years and 170 years, respectively. Except lead ores, the other five types all have reserve-production ratio exceeding 20 years, indicative of a high resources guarantee degree. If the utilization of recycled metals is counted in, the supply of the world＇s six mineral products will exceed the demand in the future twenty years. In 2015-2035, the supply of iron ores, refined copper, primary aluminum, refined lead, zinc and potassium salt will exceed their demand by 0.4-0.7 billion tons （Gt）, 5.0-6.0 million tons （Mt）, 1.1-8.9 Mt, 1.0-2.0 Mt, 1.2-2.0 Mt and 4.8-5.6 Mt, respectively. It is predicted that there is no problem with the supply side of bulk mineral products such as iron ores, but local or structural shortage may occur because of geopolitics, monopoly control, resources nationalism and trade friction. Affected by China＇s compressed industrialized development model, the demand of iron ores （crude steel）, potassium salt, refined lead, refined copper, bauxite （primary aluminum） and zinc will gradually reach their peak in advance. The demand peak of iron ores （crude steel） will reach around 2015, 2016 for potassium salt, 2020 for refined lead, 2021 for bauxite （primary aluminum）, 2022 for refined copper and 2023 for zinc. China＇s demand for iron ores （crude steel）, bauxite （primary aluminum） and zinc in the future 20 years will decline among the world＇s demand, while that for refined copper, refined lead and potassium salt will slightly increase. The demand for bulk mineral products still remains high. In 2015-2035, China＇s accumulative demand for iron ores （crude steel） will be 20.313 Gt （13.429 Gt）, 0.304 Gt for refined copper, 2.466 Gt （0.616 Gt） of bauxite （primary aluminum）, 0.102 Gt of refined lead, 0.138 Gt of zinc and 0.157 Gt of potassium salt, and they account for the world＇s YOY （YOY） accumulative demand of 35.17%, 51.09%, 48.47%, 46.62%, 43.95% and 21.84%, respectively. This proportion is 49.40%, 102.52%, 87.44%, 105.65%, 93.62% and 106.49% of that in 2014, respectively. From the supply side of China＇s bulk mineral resources, it is forecasted that the accumulative supply of primary （mine） mineral products in 2015-2035 is 4.046 Gt of iron ores, 0.591 Gt of copper, 1.129 Gt of bauxite, 63.661 Mt of （mine） lead, 0.109 Gt of （mine） zinc and 0.128 Gt of potassium salt, which accounts for 8.82%, 13.92%, 26.67%, 47.09%, 33.04% and 15.56% of the world＇s predicted YOY production, respectively. With the rapid increase in the smelting capacity of iron and steel and alumina, the rate of capacity utilization for crude steel, refined copper, alumina, primary aluminum and refined lead in 2014 was 72.13%, 83.63%, 74.45%, 70.76% and 72.22%, respectively. During 2000-2014, the rate of capacity utilization for China＇s crude steel and refined copper showed a generally fluctuating decrease, which leads to an insufficient supply of primary mineral products. It is forecasted that the supply insufficiency of iron ores in 2015-2035 is 17.44 Gt, 0.245 Gt of copper in copper concentrates, 1.337 Gt of bauxite, 38.44 Mt of lead in lead concentrates and 29.19 Mt of zinc in zinc concentrates. China has gradually raised the utilization of recycled metals, which has mitigated the insufficient supply of primary metal products to some extent. It is forecasted that in 2015-2035 the accumulative utilization amount of steel scrap （iron ores） is 3.27 Gt （5.08 Gt）, 70.312 Mt of recycled copper, 0.2 Gt of recycled aluminum, 48 Mt of recycled lead and 7.7 Mt of recycled zinc. The analysis on the supply and demand situation of China＇s bulk mineral resources in 2015-2035 suggests that the supply-demand contradiction for these six types of mineral products will decrease, indicative of a generally declining external dependency. If the use of recycled metal amount is counted in, the external dependency of China＇s iron, copper, bauxite, lead, zinc and potassium salt will be 79%, 65%, 26%, 8%, 16% and 18% in 2014, respectively. It is predicted that this external dependency will decrease to 62%, 64%, 20%, -0.93%, 16% and 14% in 2020, respectively, showing an overall decreasing trend. We propose the following suggestions correspondingly. （1） The demand peak of China＇s crude steel and potassium salt will reach during 2015-2023 in succession. Mining transformation should be planned and deployed in advance to deal with the arrival of this demand peak. （2） The supply-demand contradiction of China＇s bulk mineral resources will mitigate in the future 20 years, and the external dependency will decrease accordingly. It is suggested to adjust the mineral resources management policies according to different minerals and regions, and regulate the exploration and development activities. （3） China should further establish and improve the forced mechanism of resolving the smelting overcapacity of steel, refined copper, primary aluminum, lead and zinc to really achieve the goal of ＂reducing excess production capacity＂. （4） In accordance with the national strategic deployment of ＂One Belt One Road＂, China should encourage the excess capacity of steel, copper, alumina and primary aluminum enterprises to transfer to those countries or areas with abundant resources, high energy matching degree and relatively excellent infrastructure. Based on the national conditions, mining condition and geopolitics of the resources countries, we will gradually build steel, copper, aluminum and lead-zinc smelting bases, and potash processing and production bases, which will promote the excess capacity to transfer to the overseas orderly. （5） It is proposed to strengthen the planning and management of renewable resources recycling and to construct industrial base of renewable metal recycling. （6） China should promote the comprehensive development and utilization of paragenetic and associated mineral species to further improve the comprehensive utilization of bulk mineral resources.

Delineation of Potential Mineral Resources RegionBased on Geo-anomaly Unit

The geological anomaly unit method (GAUM) is a new way to delineate and evaluate ore finding targets in line with the “geological anomaly ore finding theory”. Comprehensive ore finding information from geological, geochemical and geophysical data is used for quantitative measurement of the “ore forming geological anomaly unit” in this paper. The main procedures are shown as follows: (1) The geo anomalous events associated with gold mineralization are analyzed in Tongshi gold field; (2) The zonation in the concentrated heavy minerals and the stream sediment elements of ore forming geo anomaly are studied in detail; (3) The deep geological structural framework is deduced by means of the synthetic geological interpretation of gravity and magnetic information; (4) The ore controlling geo anomalies and ore anomalies are chosen as the variables of the favorable ore forming indexes that can be used for the quantitative delineation and evaluation of the potential ore forming regions.

Spatial Effect of Mineral Resources Exploitation on Urbanization:A Case Study of Tarim River Basin,Xinjiang,China

Mineral resources exploitation significantly affects the spatial structure and evolutive trend of urbanization in arid areas.In this study,the spatial autocorrelation method and the spatial computation model were used to investigate the spatial impacts of mineral resources excavation and processing on comprehensive level of urbanization in the Tarim River Basin,Xinjiang,China for the years of 2000,2006 and 2008.The results are as follows:1)There was a spatial correlation of the development of mineral resources industry and the comprehensive level of urbanization in 2006 and 2008,with the spatial concentration trend rising significantly in 2006 and decreasing in 2008.2)The patterns of local spatial concentration of mineral resources industry and of the comprehensive level of urbanization were relatively stable,and the two patterns showed signs of spatial correlationship.The higher was the degree of the concentration of mineral resources industry,the stronger was its impact on the spatial clustering of urbanization.3)In 2000, mineral resources excavation and processing had a significant positive impact on the comprehensive level of urbanization in the region but not in its adjacent regions.However,in 2008,mineral resources excavation and processing significantly raised the comprehensive level of urbanization not only in the region but also in its neighboring regions.This research demonstrates that the development of mineral resources industry can strongly affect the trends and spatial patterns of urbanization.

＂Three Rare Mineral Resources＂ and Crystalline Graphite Have Become Prospecting Focuses in China

With the global rise of industries of the new-generation information technology, energy conservation and environmental protection, biotechnology, high-end manufacturing, new materials and clean-energy vehicles, traditional metal materials cannot meet the functional requirements. Consequently, ＂three rare mineral resources＂, regarded as the best altemative for current and future new industries, have received much attention among industrial circles and have become a new focus during the present geological prospecting in China.

Metallic Mineral Resources Assessment and Analysis System Design

This paper presents the aim and the design structure of the metallic mineral resources assessment and analysis system. This system adopts an integrated technique of data warehouse composed of affairs processing layer and analysis application layer. The affairs processing layer includes multiform databases (such as geological database, geophysical database, geochemical database), while the analysis application layer includes data warehouse, online analysis processing and data mining. This paper also presents in detail the data warehouse of the present system and the appropriate spatial analysis methods and models. Finally, this paper presents the prospect of the system.

Biotech key to unlock mineral resources value

This work aims to describe the history of biometallurgy in China,introduce the development and application of biometallurgy technologies in exploitation of mineral resources,and identify the main challenges and future directions.Although the earliest biometallurgy activities in China were documented in 6th−7th century BC,fundamental research and biometallurgy applications started relatively late in this country.Rapid development,from phenotypic to genotypic characterization of biometallurgy microorganisms,as well as from theoretical to practical applications,has been made in China since the 1950s.The integrated applications of biometallurgy technology in copper,gold,and uranium extraction ensured China’s economic reserves of strategic mineral resources.Developing more efficient microorganisms and strengthening the micro-interface reactions will be an effective way to improve the biometallurgy efficiency.Biometallurgy technologies can also be adapted to recovery of valuable metal from marine minerals and e-wastes and environmental protection including carbon sequestration and heavy metal polluted soil/sediment bioremediation.

GIS—A Tool to Change Traditional Way of Mineral Resources Appraisal

Because of the wide application of digital spatial information technology to geology, a large spatial database in geology, geophysics, geochemistry and remote sensing is constructed, resulting in a change in conditions, methods and targets of mineral resources appraisal (MRA). In this paper, the difference between the GIS base MRA and the traditional MRA is studied.

Genetic Modeling of GIS-Based Cell Clusters and Its Application in Mineral Resources Prediction

This paper presents a synthetic analysis method for multi sourced g eo logical data from geographic information system (GIS). In the previous practices of mineral resources prediction, a usually adopted methodology has been sta tistical analysis of cells delimitated based on thoughts of random sampling. Tha t might lead to insufficient utilization of local spatial information, for a cel l is treated as a point without internal structure. We now take “cell clusters ”, i. e. , spatial associations of cells, as basic units of statistics, thus th e spatial configuration information of geological variables is easier to be dete cted and utilized, and the accuracy and reliability of prediction are improved. We build a linear multi discriminating model for the clusters via genetic algor ithm. Both the right judgment rates and the in class vs. between class distan ce ratios are considered to form the evolutional adaptive values of the populati on. An application of the method in gold mineral resources prediction in east Xi njiang, China is presented.

Examination of Resource Curse Hypothesis: Mineral Resources Exploitation and Economic Growth in Xinjiang Autonomous Region

The mineral resources exploitation stage and the economic growth rate are various in different regions of Xinjiang Autonomous region. Using the method of location quotient, this paper identifies and classifies the intensive regions of three types of mineral resources, known as coal, oil and natural gas, respectively. The intensive regions of economic growth were also identified, according to the rate of per capita GDP growth at prefecture, autonomous prefecture and city. The relationships between different mineral resources and economic growth are different, for example, the relationship between economic growth and coal resource is positive, while the relationship between economic growth and oil resource, or natural gas resource is negative. This study empirically examines the effects of natural resources on economic growth of Xinjiang. The results show that whilst natural resources have a positive impact on growth, and can make a negative impact on growth through the transmission channels, such as investment, manufacture, human capital, and scientific and technologic innovation. Moreover, it studies the transmission channels, that is, the effect of natural resources on the other explanatory variables, and calculates the indirect effect of natural resources on growth for each transmission channel, and comprehensive effects of natural resources on growth. The calculated result of comprehensive effects indicates that the positive direct effects of natural resources on growth are shown to outweigh the negative indirect effect of Xinjiang autonomous region.

Application of Transient Electromagnetic Method with Multi-Radiation Field Sources in Deep Edge Mineral Resources Exploration

In recent years,in order to meet the practical needs of deep edge mine detection with large depth and high precision,transient electromagnetic method(TEM)near emission source detection mode has become an international advanced method(Xue et al.,2020).

Theory and Method of Mineral Resource Prediction Based on Synthetic Information

Metallogenic prognosis of synthetic information uses the geological body and the mineral resource body as a statistical unit to interpret synthetically the information of geology, geophysics, geochemistry and remote sensing from the evolution of geology and puts all the information into one entire system by drawing up digitalized interpretation maps of the synthetic information. On such basis, different grades and types of mineral resource prospecting models and predictive models of synthetic information can be established. Hence, a new integrated prediction system will be formed of metallogenic prognosis (qualitative prediction), mineral resources statistic prediction (determining targets) and mineral resources prediction (determining resources amount).

Revised Stratigraphy and Mineral Resources of Balochistan Basin, Pakistan: An Update

The Balochistan basin is located on the south western part of Balochistan Province and also Pakistan. Balochistan super basin is subdivided into northern Balochistan (Pishin basin or Kakar Kohorasan basin represented as back arc basin), central Balochistan (Chagai-Raskoh-Wazhdad Magmatic arc and Hamuns-Inter arc basin) and southern Balochistan (Makran Siahan basin) basins. Balochistan basin consists of Cretaceous to recent sediments, diverse igneous rocks and low grade metamorphics. Balochistan basin is a leading basin which consists of very significant mineral deposits especially copper and gold deposits. These mineral resources need to be developed for the development of areas, province and Pakistan. During previous half century a lot of geological work has been done in Balochistan basin. Here the revised stratigraphic set up and its mineral resources with an update are being presented.

Ore-bearing Formations and Mineral Resource Prospects of the Peripheral Areas of the Tarim Block

The tectonic development of the Tarim block has experienced four stages, i. e. Earth's core accretion and block formation in the Precambrian, margin splitting, opening-closing and piecing up in the Early Palaeozoic, rift formation and plate unification in the Late Palaeozoic, and basin-mountain coupling and landform shaping in the Meso-Cenozoic, forming six ore-bearing formations and ore deposits of various genetic types in the Tianshan Mountains, Kunlun Mountains and Altun Mountains. In the peripheral areas of Tarim there are four giant intercontinental metallogenic belts passing through, the Central Tianshan and southwestern Tianshan belts in the former USSR and the Qinling-Qilian-Kunlun and Palaeo-Tethys belts in China. According to the macro-analysis on the nearly one thousand known deposits (occurrences) and geophysical-geochemical anomalies, and the information from reconnaissance in some areas, the region has very good prospects for mineral resources. Some of the metallogenic belts may well become the reserve bases for exploration of mineral resources in China.

Development of a power control system for AUVs probing for underwater mineral resources

Valuable mineral resources are widely distributed throughout the seabed. autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) are preferable to remotely-operated vehicles (ROVs) when probing for such mineral resources as the extensive exploration area makes it difficult to maintain contact with operators. AUVs depend on batteries, so their power consumption should be reduced to extend exploration time. Power for conventional marine instrument systems is incorporated in their waterproof sealing. External intermittent control of this power source until termination of exploration is challenging due to limitations imposed by the underwater environment. Thus, the AUV must have a power control system that can improve performance and maximize use of battery capacity. The authors developed such a power control system with a three-step algorithm. It automatically detects underwater operational states and can limit power, effectively decreasing power consumption by about 15%.

Mineral Resource Science in China:Review and perspective

Mineral resources are essential to prosperity and security of modern societies.How mineral resources can guar-antee sustainable development of economy in countries,especially those developing countries,has long been a focus of attention of international communities.This paper provides a comprehensive summary for major ad-vance of the research on mineral resources in past decades,and proposes some key issues regarding ore-forming mechanism,exploration and utilization of major and critical mineral resources.On the basis of these aspects,we also identify four priority science issues to be addressed in the future,including(1)mechanism of both metal circulation and extremely high concentration,(2)theories and technologies of prospecting deep-earth resources,(3)investigation of mineral resources in seafloor and polar regions,and(4)efficient,clean and recycling utiliza-tion of mineral resources.It can be expected that new advances in these four issues would tremendously promote the innovation of mineral resource science,and provide scientific and technologic support to meet the demand of mineral resources for human activities and the harmonious development of both mineral-resource exploration and ecological restoration.

Priority-sequence of mineral resources' development and utilization based on grey relational analysis method

Generally, the sequence decision of the development and utilization of Chinese mineral resources is based on national and provincial overall plan of the mineral resources. Such plan usually cannot reflect the relative size of the suitability of the development and utilization of mineral resources. To solve the problem, the paper has selected the gift condition, the market condition, the technological condition,socio-economic condition and environmental condition as the starting-points to analyze the influential factors of the priority-sequence of mineral resources' development and utilization. The above 5 conditions are further specified into 9 evaluative indicators to establish an evaluation indicator system. At last,we propose a decision model of the priority sequence based on grey relational analysis method, and figure out the observation objects by the suitability index of development. Finally, the mineral resources of a certain province in China were analyzed as an example. The calculation results indicate that silver(2.0057), coal(1.9955), zinc(1.9442), cement limestone(1.9077), solvent limestone(1.5624) and other minerals in the province are suitable for development and utilization.