Abstract:
Fluorine is widely used in modern industry, and important fluorine-containing minerals include fluorite, fluorapatite, etc. However, previous studies have mostly focused on a single fluorite, lacking a comprehensive discussion of fluorine resources. This paper summarizes the important new progress made by China in resource exploration, extraction, and supply in the past 10 years from the perspective of the fluorine industry chain. The research shows that as the traditional world’s largest producer and consumer of fluorite, China’s development pattern of fluorite resources has undergone significant changes. Through exploration of fluorite and phosphate ore, hundreds of millions of tons of fluoride resources have been added in the past decade. Breakthroughs have been made in the beneficiation technology of fluorite, which is co-associated with polymetallic, rare earth, and non-metallic minerals, and more than 100 million tons of fluorite resources have been revitalized. The utilization of low-grade fluorine resources associated with phosphate ore has been achieved, and the production capacity of hydrogen fluoride by fluorosilicic acid method is the largest in the world. China is the world’s leading supplier of fluorite raw materials and primary fluorite products. Since 2018, it has become a net importer of fluorite, with exports of hydrogen fluoride being 16 to 25 times its imports. Analysis of the supply situation of fluorine resources in China, it is believed that: ① the supply pattern of fluoride resources in China has gradually shifted from being dominated by single fluorite to being jointly supplied by single fluorite, co-associated fluorite, and phosphate ore. ② The scale of single fluorite mining in China has steadily increased, and the recovery technology and scale of associated fluorite mines are world leading. ③ The development and utilization of co-associated ore fluorine resources in China is characterized by extending the industrial chain and has a high technological threshold. ④ The supply characteristics of fluoride resources in China are the import of primary mineral products and the processing and export of primary chemical products, still being a net exporter of fluorine resources. ⑤ Actively adjust the development structure of fluorine resources and transfer them downstream of the industrial chain. This paper provides new ideas and directions for the development and protection of China’s fluorine resources and strategic minerals such as fluorite and phosphate in China.