In recent years, Jinchuan Group has stuck to the concept of "lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets," continuously increasing investment to improve production processes in a bid to accelerate the transformation and upgrading of the mining industry and green development.
With the construction of the Jinchuan National Mining Park as a foundation, the company has strengthened its ecological restoration of mines, paving the way for a sustainable development path characterized by high technological content, good economic benefits, low resource consumption, and minimal environmental pollution. These efforts have made a positive contribution to the economic and social development of Gansu province.
About Jinchuan
Jinchuan Group Co., Ltd., a conglomerate owned by the Gansu Provincial People's Government, is engaged in mining, mineral processing, smelting, chemical engineering and intensive processing. Its main products are nickel, copper, cobalt and platinum group metals, non-ferrous metal products from calendaring process, chemicals, non-ferrous metal chemicals, and new materials of non-ferrous metals, etc. As a major player worldwide, Jinchuan Group boasts the world's third largest nickel-copper sulfide deposit, and serves as both China's largest and world's leading nickel and cobalt production base and platinum group metal refining center.
Its output of nickel and cobalt ranked fourth, respectively, in the world; the output of copper ranked fourth in China; the output of platinum group metals ranked first in Asia. Jinchuan Group boasts state-of-the-art equipment and technologies: the nickel flash smelting furnace, the fifth of its kind in the world and the first in Asia; the integrated copper smelting furnace, an invention worldwide; the oxygen-enriched top-submerged lance nickel smelting furnace, the first of its kind in the world; and the mechanized downward back-filling mining method with the world's largest continuous stoping area.
In 2023, Jinchuan Group ranks 289th on the Fortune Global 500 and 85th on 2023 Fortune China 500. With a history of more than six decades, Jinchuan Group has established the annual capacity of producing 200,000 tons of nickel, 1.1 million tons of copper, 17,000 tons of cobalt, 100,000 tons of platinum group metals, 30 tons of gold, 600 tons of silver, 220 tons of selenium and 6 million tons of chemical products.
Baijiazuizi Nickel-Copper Mine
The main ore types of Jinchuan's Baijiazuizi Nickel-Copper Mine are nickel and copper, with a designed production capacity of 12 million tons per year. It is divided into three working areas: Longshou Mine, No.2 Mine Area, and No.3 Mine Area.
In 2011, it was selected as one of the first national green mine pilot units, and in 2019, it was included in the national green mine directory.
During the construction of the green mine, Jinchuan Group put forward the novel concept of "limited resources, green mining, comprehensive utilization, maximizing efficiency, ecological civilization, and harmonious mining area," strictly adhering to the requirements of national green mine construction.
The Baijiazuizi Nickel-Copper Mine integrates the innovation of mining technology, upgrading of equipment, improvement of the working environment, enhancement of management, beautification of the mine site, and development of the employee team throughout the entire process of mineral resource development and utilization, achieving the successful fusion of economic, ecological, and social benefits in resource development and utilization.
Achievements of Green Mine Construction
The comprehensive utilization of mineral resources has achieved remarkable results. The mining recovery rate continues to increase, and the loss and dilution rates of ore have been consistently controlled within 5 percent, ranking in the forefront of similar mines nationwide. Jinchuan has fully developed and utilized its low-grade ore resources, truly "maximizing efficiency" in resource utilization. In 2011, it was designated by the Ministry of Land and Resources and the Ministry of Finance as the "Jinchuan Comprehensive Utilization Demonstration Base for Copper-Nickel Polymetallic Mine Resources in Gansu Province."
The enterprise's technological innovation capabilities continue to improve. Over the past five years, Jinchuan's mines have invested approximately 475 million yuan ($66.04 million) and completed over 100 scientific research and technological transformation projects. The mines have achieved intelligent remote centralized control of their lifting, transportation, and water supply and drainage systems, accelerating the pace of digital mine construction.
In 2013, the projects "Key Technologies and Applications for Efficient Utilization of Complex and Difficult-to-Process Nickel-Cobalt Resources" and "Comprehensive Technology for Continuous Mining of High-Stress Super-Large Nickel Deposits" were awarded first and second prizes for national scientific and technological progress.
The ecological and environmental protection of the mines has achieved remarkable results. Jinchuan Group upholds the environmental protection concept of green, low-carbon, and circular development. It regards environmental protection as a top priority, carries out pollution prevention and control, and implements measures to reduce emissions at the source. With a total investment of nearly 200 million yuan, the mine has carried out the comprehensive governance of the ecological environment, making significant achievements in mine ecological and environmental protection.
The significant achievements of three-dimensional and landscaped mining construction are evident. In 2010, Jinchuan Group invested 268 million yuan to build the Jinchuan National Mining Park, which has since become a splendid nametag for industrial tourism in Jinchang city. Radiating from Jinchuan National Mining Park, the Jinchuan mining area has carried out large-scale afforestation and ecological environment improvement activities. Currently, the greening area of the entire Jinchuan mining area has reached 2.68 million square meters. The three-dimensional and landscaped mining construction has begun to take shape, greatly improving the ecological environment around the mine. The ecological, social, and economic benefits have been fully demonstrated.
The intelligent construction of mines has achieved outstanding results. Relying on the research platform of the "National Key Laboratory for the Comprehensive Utilization of Nickel-Cobalt Resources," Jinchuan Group has conducted comprehensive technological research on the "safe, efficient, and economical mining of low-grade ores and experimental research on advanced technologies and equipment, promoting the development of Jinchuan mines towards automation, intelligence, and information-based mining. 5G + Mine Haulage Trucks, unmanned driving of electric locomotives, remote monitoring and fire warning of underground substations have been achieved.
