Sichuan: Create Upgraded Vanadium and Titanium Rare Earth



Sichuan: Create Upgraded Vanadium and Titanium Rare Earth

Since the Panxi National Strategic Resources Innovation and Development Experimental Zone was established, targets have been set concerning the development & comprehensive utilization of vanadium and titanium rare earth resources and extension & integration of industrial chain. With the promotion of relevant measures, listed companies in Sichuan – Pangang Group Vanadium Titanium & Resources Co., Ltd. and Chengdu Galaxy Magnets Co., Ltd. are expected to benefit from it.

According to Pangang Group Vanadium Titanium & Resources Co., Ltd., the Panxi region where the company’s headquarters is located contains tens of billions tons of vanadium-titanium magnetite resource, which guarantees the company obvious advantages in resources. Upon autonomous research and development, the company has gathered a good many proprietary technologies with independent intellectual property, and forged a team of multi-disciplinary and multi-level scientific research talents that enjoys huge advantage in the field of vanadium and titanium development.

The company also has advantages in production. It has the world’s leading technologies and varieties in vanadium industry. It is the largest titanium raw material production base and an important titanium dioxide and titanium sponge manufacturer in China boasting a range of products including vanadium pentoxide, medium ferrovanadium, high ferrovanadium, vanadium trioxide, vanadium nitrogen alloy, titanium concentrate, high titanium slag and titanium sponge.

The 2016 Mid-year Report shows that Pangang Group Vanadium Titanium & Resources has recorded a comprehensive production and marketing rate of 98.52%. Among that, titanium dioxide export reached 15,485 tons and ferrovanadium export 1,858 tons; export sales was 49.28 million US dollars. Key projects have achieved steady progress. Chongqing Titanium Industry Co., Ltd. has a sulfuric acid method titanium dioxide relocation project to be completed and put into production; the 15,000 tons/year chlorination method titanium dioxide Panzhihua (Phase I) project is also to be completed and put into production.

Chengdu Galaxy Magnets, currently engaged in the R&D, design, production and sale of the new-generation rare earth permanent magnet – bonded NdFeB rare earth magnet parts and components will also benefit from the innovation and development of rare earth resources in Panxi. The company’s major investment projects – “high-precision, high-purity hard disk bonded NdFeB magnet expansion project” and “high-performance automotive bonded NdFeB magnet expansion project” have passed acceptance check and achieved the capacity targets of increasing 600 and 200 tons per year respectively.

Despite a continuous declining trend seen in the selling prices of some rare earth products, investment institutions continue to show strong interests in rare earth resources. In the “Listed Companies’ Visits” event recently held in Sichuan Province, China Minmetals Rare Earth Co., Ltd. and other listed companies and investment institutions carried out field visit and research at the Liangshan Prefecture Mianning County Rare Earth Industrial Park under Sichuan Wankaifeng Rare Earth New Energy Technology Co., Ltd. At the signing ceremony, China Minmetals signed a strategic cooperation agreement with Liangshan Prefecture Government on promoting the rare earth industry development in the region.

“We’ve established a rare earth separation production line in the industry downstream. Our hydrogen storage power battery can be used for BEVs and hybrid vehicles and other new energy vehicles, solar power and hydroelectric power storage, as well as special military power.” Senior management of Waikaifeng Rare Earth said.

Public information shows that founded in 2010, Wankaifeng Rare Earth is located in Mianning County Rare Earth Industrial Park, Sichuan. The company has a rare earth mining area of 0.5 square kilometers, proven reserves of 1.37 million tons and prospective reserves of 3 million tons, a gold exploration area of 19.61 square kilometers, copper exploration area of 14.6 square kilometers, as well as accumulated investment of more than 30 billion. Wankaifeng Rare Earth currently boasts the most complete rare earth industrial chain in China, with a hydrogen storage battery project listed as one of the 56 key projects in Sichuan Province. “Comprehensive utilization of rare earth resources requires huge investment. Relying solely on one’s own accumulation is tantamount to a drop in the bucket – we must leverage the multi-level capital market.” According to senior management of Wankaifeng, the company formulated the development strategy of “based on resource, supported by technology, giving full play to the characteristics and advantages of rare earth resources in Mianning, in order to create innovative application base of rare earth resources and build industry-leading high-tech enterprises” aiming at “new energy and new materials” as development goals, and conducted whole industry chain integration of rare earth in Mianning.