Beryllium resources in the United States: According to a report released by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) as early as 2015, the global proven beryllium resources at that time exceeded 80,000 tons, and 65% of the beryllium resources were non-granite crystalline rocks distributed in the United States. . Among them, the areas of Gold Hill and Spor Mountain in Utah, USA, and the Seward Peninsula in western Alaska are the areas where beryllium resources are concentrated in the United States. In the 21st century, global beryllium production has increased significantly. According to data released by the US Geological Survey in 2015, the global beryllium mine production was 270 tons, and the United States accounted for 89% (240 tons). China was the second largest producer at that time, but its output was still not comparable to the United States.

China’s beryllium resources: The world’s largest beryllium mine has been discovered in Xinjiang, my country. Previously, the distribution of beryllium resources in China was mainly concentrated in the four provinces of Xinjiang, Sichuan, Yunnan and Inner Mongolia. The proven reserves of beryllium were mainly associated minerals, mainly associated with lithium, tantalum-niobium ores (accounting for 48%), and secondly associated with rare earth minerals. (27%) or associated with tungsten (20%). In addition, there are still a small amount associated with molybdenum, tin, lead and zinc and non-metallic minerals. Although there are many single mineral deposits of beryllium, they are small in scale and account for less than 1% of the total reserves.

Pit No. 3, Keketuohai, Xinjiang: The main types of beryllium deposits in my country are granite pegmatite type, hydrothermal vein type and granite (including alkaline granite) type. The granite pegmatite type is the most important type of beryllium ore, accounting for about half of the total domestic reserves. It is mainly produced in Xinjiang, Sichuan, Yunnan and other places. These deposits are mostly distributed in the trough fold belt, and the metallogenic age is between Between 180 and 391Ma. Granite pegmatite deposits often appear as dense areas where several pegmatite dikes gather. For example, in the Altay pegmatite area, Xinjiang, there are more than 100,000 pegmatite dikes known, gathered in more than 39 dense areas. Pegmatite veins appear in groups in the mining area, the ore body is complex in shape, and the beryllium-bearing mineral is beryl. Because the mineral crystal is coarse, easy to mine and select, and the ore deposits are widely distributed, it is the most important industrial mining type of beryllium ore in my country.

Among the beryllium ore types, the granite pegmatite-type beryllium ore has the most potential for prospecting in my country. In the two rare metal metallogenic belts of Altay and West Kunlun in Xinjiang, tens of thousands of square kilometers of metallogenic prospective areas have been divided. There are nearly 100,000 crystal veins.

To sum up, from the perspective of development and utilization, my country’s beryllium ore resources have the following three outstanding characteristics:

1. my country’s beryllium ore resources are relatively concentrated, which is conducive to development and utilization. my country’s beryllium industrial reserves are concentrated in the Keketuohai Mine in Xinjiang, accounting for 80% of the national industrial reserves;

2. The ore grade is low, and there are few rich ore in the proven reserves. The BeO grade of pegmatite beryllium ore mined abroad is above 0.1%, while that in my country is below 0.1%, which has a direct impact on the beneficiation cost of domestic beryllium concentrate.

3. The industrial reserves of beryllium account for a small proportion of the retained reserves, and the reserves need to be upgraded. In 2015, my country’s identified resource reserves (BeO) were 574,000 tons, of which the basic reserves were 39,000 tons, ranking second in the world.

Beryllium resources in Russia: Russia’s Sverdlovsk region has started a systematic geological and economic evaluation of the only emerald beryllium mine “Malyinsky Mine”. “Maliyink Mine” is under the jurisdiction of РТ-Капитал Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of the Russian state-owned enterprise “Rostec”. Mineral assessment work for the mine is scheduled to be completed by March 2021.

The Maliinsky mine, located near the village of Mareshova, belongs to Russia’s national strategic resources. The last reserve assessment was completed after the geological exploration in 1992. The information on this mine has now been updated. The new work has yielded extensive data on reserves of beryl, beryllium oxide and other associated components.

Maliinsky Mine is one of the four largest beryl beryllium mines in the world and the only beryl beryllium mine in Russia. Beryl produced from this mine is unique and rare in the world and is often included in national gem and precious metal repositories. Each year, the Maliinsky mine processes about 94,000 tons of ore, producing 150 kilograms of emeralds, 2.5 kilograms of alexandrite (alexandrite), and five tons of more than beryl.

The United States used to be the world’s main supplier, but the situation has changed. According to the statistics of Chatham House, as early as 2016, the top five exporters of beryllium products in the world were: Madagascar (208 tons), Switzerland (197 tons), Ethiopia (84 tons), Slovenia (69 tons), Germany (51 tons); global importers are China (293 tons), Australia (197 tons), Belgium (66 tons), Spain (47 tons) and Malaysia (10 tons) .

The main suppliers of beryllium materials in the United States are: Kazakhstan, Japan, Brazil, the United Kingdom and France. From 2013 to 2016, Kazakhstan accounted for 47% of the United States’ import share, Japan accounted for 14%, Brazil accounted for 8%, and the United Kingdom accounted for 8% %, and other countries accounted for 23%. The main exporters of U.S. beryllium products are Malaysia, China and Japan. According to Materion, beryllium copper alloys account for about 85 percent of U.S. beryllium product exports.