On the other hand, although China's iron ore reserves are not low, its grade is generally not high, and China is not only the largest steel producer in the world, but also has a high demand for steel in its own infrastructure. Therefore, we have to import iron ore from Australia, Brazil and other countries all the time. Many people can't help wondering why rich iron ore is mostly distributed in Australia and Brazil, while we are mostly poor iron ore. The reason is to start with the formation of iron ore and land plate.
Endogenous iron ore on the earth, there are two main ways to form iron ore, one is endogenetic iron ore and the other is sedimentary iron ore. Endogenous iron ore, as its name implies, is an endogenously formed iron ore on the earth. This endogenous action can be magmatic movement or gas-water dissolution from various sources. Endogenous iron ore is generally buried deep underground and difficult to mine. Unless it is in areas with strong volcanic movement, geothermal movement and geological tectonic movement, the deposit may move to the shallow surface, but the grade of this shallow iron ore is generally not high. In China, Panzhihua Iron Mine, Maanshan Iron Mine and Baiyunebo Iron Mine are basically endogenetic iron mines.
The deposit of iron ore is the ore-forming material on the surface, which is transported to low-lying areas such as lakes and oceans under the action of wind, glaciers and rivers, and accumulated for a long time. The grade of ore is affected by the comprehensive conditions such as material source, climate, lithofacies and geological structure, so the gap between the rich and the poor of iron ore in different regions is also very large. Most of the proven rich iron ores in the world belong to sedimentary iron ores, such as Shilu Iron Mine in Hainan, China, which is rich in iron ore resources, accounting for 70% of China's rich iron ore reserves. However, many iron mines like Anshan in Liaoning are short of sedimentary iron ore. In this way, the probability of large-scale iron-rich deposits is not high, but Australia is an exception.
Although Australia is the smallest continent in the world, its "age" is not small. According to scientists' speculation, Australia was separated from other continents about 65.438+0.7 billion years ago, but it was combined with other continents in more than 2 billion years. Before drifting, the Australian continent was located on the edge of the continent and belonged to a shallow sea environment. In other words, Australia has received deposits from the mainland for more than 2 billion years, so it has accumulated rich marine iron deposits and formed a large iron ore belt. In the further geological movement, it completed a series of operations such as purification and enrichment.
Marine iron ore VS mainland iron ore was later separated from the Australian mainland and floated to its present position with iron ore. After a long period of dry climate weathering, the iron ore belt is gradually exposed to the surface, so the iron ore in the Australian mainland is not only high in purity, but also easy to mine. Marine sedimentary iron ore accounts for 87% of the world's total, while continental sedimentary iron ore accounts for only 13% of the world's total. Judging from the geology of Australia and Eurasia where China is located, it can be boldly inferred that China was basically located in the center of the continent before drifting, and the formation of iron ore was mainly continental, so the reserves and grade were not optimal.
However, God's creation is fair, and no country in the world has all kinds of minerals. Although China is not rich in iron ore, the contents of tungsten ore and rare earth ore are the highest in the world, so there is no need to be too eccentric.
With the continuous tension between China and Australia this year, many Australian products were subject to tariff increase by China, and Australia, which suffered great economic losses, decided to make up for the losses by raising the price of iron ore.
In 65438+February 1 1 day, the iron ore futures price of Dalian Commodity Exchange rose by nearly 10%, a record high, and exceeded 1000 yuan per ton for the first time, reaching 1042 yuan per ton, compared with/kloc-at the beginning of the year.
The world's total iron ore reserves are about19 billion tons, while Australia's reserves exceed14 of the world's total, reaching 53 billion tons, and about 70% are high-grade ores that can be directly shipped.
China is the largest steel producer in the world. According to the current smelting level, the iron content in iron ore should be at least 20% ~ 30%. In the crust, the content of iron is about 5%. Due to the limitation of mining technology, we can't use a lot of iron. At present, only shallow iron ore in the crust close to the ground can be mined.
Iron-bearing rocks are weathered and disintegrated, and the iron inside is oxidized into iron oxide. During the paleogeological history of 500-600 million years ago, they gradually deposited and accumulated, and in the process of accumulation, these deposited iron ores weathered under the action of high temperature and high pressure in the crust, further enriching iron and forming iron-rich iron ores with high iron content.
Australia is rich in mineral resources, which is related to the local special geological structure and geological environment: Australia has long-term stable geological structure and ancient strata, and there has been no strong geological movement for hundreds of millions of years, which is conducive to the long-term accumulation and enrichment of minerals.
The proven iron ore deposits in Australia are mainly distributed in two regions: Pilbara region and the central and western regions. The iron ore in Pilbara area includes low-phosphorus and high-phosphorus Brookman ore, Malanba ore and riverbed ore. , mainly high grade iron ore; The iron ore in the central and western regions is mainly low-grade magnetite, a small amount of hematite and mixed ore.
Iron ore was formed in the oldest period in the history of the earth, because at that time the crust was thin, there were many deep cracks in the strata and frequent volcanic eruptions. With the eruption of magma, magma with high iron content deep in the mantle erupted, creating conditions for the formation of large iron mines.
The rocks in Pilbara area are called "Hamersley Group", which were formed by chemical deposition after the stage of paleovolcanism and clastic deposition. The Hammersley Formation is about 2.5km thick, and the main iron-bearing mineral is hematite, which is low in phosphorus and hard. The iron grade is usually above 64%, and the phosphorus content is about 0.05%.
The annual output of iron ore in Australia exceeds1.800 million tons, ranking second in the world after Brazil. The existing iron ore producers in Australia include RioTinto, BHP Billiton and FMG.
At the end of 1990s, 85% of Australia's iron ore market was in Asia, and now it has grown to nearly 100%. The proportion of Japanese imports of Australian iron ore is 56.20%, South Korea is close to 70%, and China is 6 1.09%. It can be seen that the dependence of several Asian economic powers on Australian iron ore is increasing.
Iron and steel industry is a national basic industry, and iron ore is the main raw material of iron and steel industry, and its stable supply is an important guarantee for the healthy development of iron and steel industry. Due to the innate gap of resources, the cost of China's iron ore enterprises is much higher than that of the major iron ore exporting countries in the world, and there is also a certain gap in scale strength, profitability and development ability.
Rio Tinto, Australia's largest mining company, has operations all over the world. In 20 14 years, Rio Tinto's sales profit was104.6 billion USD, of which iron ore sales profit was 8 1 100 billion USD, accounting for 77.5% of the total profit. At present, the reserves of Rio Tinto's developed and undeveloped mines are 5.549 billion tons, with an average iron grade of 63.2%. The production cost of iron ore has dropped from $23.9/ton in 20 12 to 19.5/ton, and it is even expected to reach 17/ton, with huge profit margin.
However, Australian iron ore prices cannot be stuck in China for a long time. Baowu Group, the largest steel producer in China, has planned to invest in iron ore in Guinea, Africa. It is expected to start production in 2025, which will greatly ease China's dependence on Australian iron ore. In the long run, as China improves the utilization rate of iron resources and implements measures such as diversification of supply, Australia will not be able to "delay" for long.
For Australia, more than 83% of its iron ore is exported to China, which means that their country is absolutely highly dependent on iron ore exports. China needs Australian iron ore, and Australian iron ore also needs China. The two sides are interdependent. The iron ore trade with China is also very important to the Australian economy, and it is unlikely that Australia will really not sell iron ore to China. Who else can I sell it to?
In fact, whether it is trade friction or other factors, the fluctuation of resource prices is a normal phenomenon in the market economy, so we don't have to worry too much. I remember that in 20 18, the price of iron ore in China continued to fall under the influence of factors such as de-capacity of the steel industry. Didn't Australia increase the supply of iron ore, hoping to make up for the loss? We really don't have to worry too much.
In 20 19, China's steel output reached 996 million tons, accounting for more than half of the world's total output, ranking first in the world. From high-speed railways to large ships to sea-crossing bridges, this nearly1000 million tons of steel has cast China's dream of "infrastructure frenzy" and solved the employment problem of hundreds of thousands of workers. However, behind these prosperity indicators is China's heavy dependence on imported Australian iron ore.
According to statistics, China imports about 654.38 billion tons of iron ore every year, of which 665 million tons come from Australia, accounting for more than 60% of its purchases.
With the deterioration of China-Australia relations, Australia sacrificed iron ore as a killer weapon in the trade war. Since June 5438+February, the price of Australian iron ore exported to China has increased from 540 yuan in the first half of the year to 1000 yuan, an increase of almost1000%.
However, in the face of Australia's malicious price increase, as the world's largest iron ore importer, we would rather endure huge price increase pressure and seriously damage our own interests than "kill Australia's iron ore". Why is this?
The reason is that Australia has the best and most abundant iron ore on earth.
According to statistics, the total proven iron ore reserves in the world are about 654.38+09 billion tons, and Australia's reserves exceed 25% of the global total, reaching 53 billion tons, of which 70% are high-grade ores that can be directly shipped.
Australia exports 1 0.70 billion tons of iron ore every year, almost monopolizing 66% of the world's iron ore exports, with an export value of10.70 billion Australian dollars, making it the largest iron ore exporter in the world.
So, why is Australia so rich in iron ore? In this article, the webmaster will talk to you about this topic.
The formation of iron ore is mainly divided into two types, one is the sedimentary deposit formed on the surface, and most iron ores are of this type, and the other is the endogenetic deposit formed by magma and hydrothermal solution in the earth.
2.3 billion years ago, the oxygen content in the earth's atmosphere was much lower than now, and the sulfur content in seawater was also very low, so iron existed in seawater in the form of ferrous ions.
By about 2.3 billion years ago, the oxygen content in the earth's atmosphere rose to about half of its current level. At this time, ferrous ions are no longer stable, but are deposited with silica and carbonate to form banded magnetite. Moreover, with the weathering process of the surface, a large amount of iron is transported to the ocean, which makes the iron content in coastal waters and lakes often higher than that in the ocean.
However, Australia was in a shallow sea environment for a long time in the early stage of earth evolution, forming rich banded magnetite.
About 500-600 million years ago, banded magnetite was further enriched by long-term weathering, metasomatism reaction with water and other fluids and metamorphism, forming a series of iron-rich iron ores with high iron content.
In addition, the Australian mainland is very stable and there is no large-scale orogeny, which is conducive to the long-term accumulation and enrichment of minerals. These iron-rich mines are still intact after billions of years.
Someone asked, what about our own iron ore reserves? In fact, our iron ore reserves are not low, accounting for 12.3% of the global reserves, ranking first in the world.
However, for three reasons, our iron ore is difficult to meet the demand of steelmaking.
First, the quality of our iron ore is average (except for a few rich ores, the quantity is very small), and the taste is generally 33%, while foreign imports are generally above 55%, and the quality is really poor.
Second, the iron ore plants with better quality in China are all buried deep underground, so it is extremely difficult to explore and mine, and the cost is also very high. Only the mining cost has reached the price of $0/50 per ton of iron ore purchased from Australia, and it also faces the consequences of destroying the natural environment.
Thirdly, domestic iron ore contains a large number of impurities, some of which contain rare earth elements such as vanadium and titanium, so the burden of blast furnace application is heavy and the comprehensive application cost is high.
Therefore, on the whole, it is more cost-effective to import from abroad, mainly Australia.
Iron ore is the cornerstone of industrialization for the rise of any powerful country.
From Britain's industrial revolution to Germany's catch-up, from the revival of European countries, to the hegemony of the United States, and then to the rise of China, steel production indicators have always been regarded as the report card of industrialization.
After decades of development, China's steel output has soared year by year, ranking first in the world for many years. However, due to the poor quality of iron ore in China, China needs huge funds for iron ore import every year.
In addition, China's infrastructure achievements in recent years are all based on reinforced concrete. "In the infrastructure recovery policy after the epidemic, the iron ore behind the steel is definitely the fatal door for China".
Therefore, it is a pity that we are stuck in the industrial spire-chip manufacturing and other fields, as well as the import of raw materials such as iron ore and industrial tower foundation.
Why are there so many iron mines in Australia? Iron ore is one of the most widely distributed and abundant mineral resources in the world. It is distributed in seven continents, and there are huge amounts of iron and manganese deposits on the seabed. However, the spatial distribution of iron ore on land is extremely unbalanced. In the top ten countries, iron ore reserves account for more than 80% of the global total reserves. Among them, Australia is far ahead of other countries with150 billion tons of resources, accounting for about 18% of the global total reserves, and the quality of iron ore in Australia is also very good. Although China is rich in iron ore reserves, its overall quality is much worse than that of Australia. Some netizens may ask, as a country with a large area, why does Australia have so many high-quality iron ore?
From the formation process, iron ore can be mainly divided into two categories, namely primary iron ore and sedimentary iron ore. Among them, primary iron ore began to accumulate when the earth was born. After the formation of the sun in the solar system, the interstellar matter that was not attracted by the great gravity of the sun began to slowly gather in the orbit around the sun under the influence of the wind of the sun and the gravity between the interstellar matter, and then continued to absorb the remaining light matter, eventually forming solid and gaseous planets. Because the original interstellar matter comes from the supernova explosion at the end of the last star's life, it contains a certain amount of heavy elements, including iron and manganese, which is why these two substances exist simultaneously in the planet's core.
Generally speaking, with the gradual subsidence of heavy elements, they are buried deep under the surface of the planet. But for a planet whose core is still active, such as the earth, violent geological activities, such as earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and large-scale vertical migration of magma, may bring iron from underground to the shallow crust or even the surface and enrich it to form iron ore. However, the exploitable reserves of iron ore formed by this magma migration are generally small, with many impurities and often low grade. For example, many iron mines in southwest and central China are of this type.
There is also a kind of iron ore, sedimentary iron ore, which is accumulated under the long-term weathering, erosion, transportation and deposition of surface rocks. At the same time, a large number of microorganisms absorb carbon dioxide, release free oxygen, and combine with volcanic eruption materials. When the iron ore layer is formed, siliceous layer, carbonate layer and dolomite layer will also be formed. If weathering or hot water leaching of endogenetic magma or high temperature and high pressure metamorphism occur in the later stage, the deposited iron ore can be further enriched, and the taste of iron will be obviously improved, even reaching 50%-60%, forming rich ore.
From the above analysis, it can be seen that on the one hand, the birth of iron-rich ore is mainly sedimentation, on the other hand, it is bound to be "optimized" by sedimentary layers. Therefore, after a long period of marine deposition and continuous intense geological activities, the probability of forming iron-rich deposits in such areas is relatively high. However, in most parts of China, the proportion of continental deposits was very high during the Pan-continental period, and the history of microbial absorption, decomposition and deposition was not long enough. Only in Hainan and its vicinity can this feature be satisfied. Now, we have only found abundant high-grade iron ore in Hainan, which just confirms this speculation. Based on this, it is speculated that there may still be large-scale iron ore-rich deposits on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau in China, but it is not because of geographical conditions.
Australia, on the other hand, has been combined with Pangu for 2 billion years and is on the edge of the continent, with perfect long-term marine sedimentary conditions. Under the joint action of marine microorganisms, submarine volcanic eruption and other geological processes, many iron ore belts have been formed. Later, in the process of continental separation, after at least tens of millions of years of intense geological movement, iron ore deposits experienced a series of re-decomposition, re-enrichment and re-enrichment. Later, under the wind erosion, the buried depth of these iron ores gradually decreased, even exposed to the surface, becoming the most easily mined deposits.
Similar to the history of Australia, India and Brazil are also rich in iron ore, with an average of more than 50%. This result is caused by the simultaneous promotion of marine sedimentary environment, continuous mineral deposition and geological movement. Although the grade of iron ore in China is not very high, its total reserves are not bad. In addition, China has a vast territory, rich natural resources, diverse landforms and different degrees of geological activities. There are about 50 kinds of dominant minerals (few in other countries), especially rare earth, bentonite, titanium, tungsten and antimony, which rank first in the world.
Faced with Australian provocation, China decided to take counter-measures with tariff weapons. Australians who suffered losses did not reflect on their actions, but decided to lose Sang Yu, win the East Corner, and make up for the losses with the price increase of iron ore. Talking about things with iron ore is a common strategy used by Australians, which is very effective and hits China's soft spot very accurately.
China's economy goes on two legs, one is export and the other is domestic investment. Affected by the epidemic, foreign markets have shrunk, and the engine for promoting China's economic development is insufficient. The burden of China's rapid and sound economic development is more on domestic investment.
All kinds of infrastructure are the main force of domestic investment. As an infrastructure enthusiast, there is a large demand for steel every year. Unfortunately, China's iron ore reserves are not low, but generally the grade is low. The most famous rich mine in China is Shilu Iron Mine, which was originally unknown. His popularity is supported by several novels that this group of people wore to the Ming Dynasty!
Australia is one of the countries with the richest iron ore in the world, with large reserves and very high grade, so we have to import a lot of iron ore from Australia and Brazil to meet the needs of domestic infrastructure.
China wants to build infrastructure, and Australia is a hurdle that we can't get around. Then we have a question, why are rich iron ores mostly distributed in Australia and Brazil, while our country is full of poor iron ores?
This matter has to start with the formation of iron ore and the earth plate!
It is said that there are two main ways of iron ore on the earth, one is endogenous and the other is sedimentary iron ore. The so-called endogenous iron ore is the endogenous action of the earth to form iron ore.
The two-stage differentiation of this kind of iron ore is very serious, either because it is deeply buried and cannot be mined by current scientific and technological means, or because of crustal movement, the deposit moves to the surface and is relatively easy to mine, but the problem comes again, and the grade of this kind of iron ore is generally not high.
Deposited iron ore is on the surface, and ore-forming materials are transported to low-lying areas such as lakes and oceans for deposition and accumulation under the long-term action of various natural forces. This kind of iron ore is also a very big gap between the rich and the poor! Shilu Iron Mine in Hainan, China is a sedimentary iron mine, and there are many poor sedimentary iron mines in China.
Therefore, the probability that the deposited iron ore is rich in iron ore is not too high. But then again, most of the proven rich iron ores in the world are of this sedimentary type.
So why is Australia rich in iron ore?
I have to say that Australia is blessed. Although Australia is a small continent, it is not young. According to the theory of plate movement, Australia was separated from other continents 65.438+0.7 billion years ago, but before that, it was closely linked with other continents for more than 2 billion years.
During this time, the Australian mainland has always belonged to the remote area of the whole continent, just like a foot reaching out to the ocean! Here, Australia's land has fully accepted the gift of the mainland for more than two billion years, accumulated rich marine iron deposits, and combined with a series of geological movements, formed a large number of iron-rich mines here.
With the passage of time, the Australian mainland drifted to its present position with iron ore, and the iron ore belt gradually emerged on the surface after thousands of years of climate drying, so the iron ore in Australia is not only high in purity, but also quite difficult to mine.
However, it suddenly occurred to me that our Qinghai-Tibet Plateau used to be said to be a sea. With the drastic geological changes, it gradually rose to become the roof of the world, quite similar to the Australian mainland. So, can we use our brains in Tibet? Maybe we'll find something important!