A key national project was recently launched in Baotou city, located in North China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region.

The Bayan Obo Multi Metal Resources Green and Efficient Development and Utilization Integration Demonstration project – a 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25) national key R&D project – was launched by iron and steel producer Baogang Group, which is based in Baotou. 

A demonstration meeting was convened at the event and experts – including members of the Chinese Academy of Engineering – offered opinions on the submitted materials, project and implementation plans, organization and management systems and the budget.

The group unanimously agreed to approve the demonstration, taking the project to the implementation stage.

Baogang Group's super large Bayan Obo polymetallic deposit is seen as being a treasure house of rare strategic resources in the world. Its rare earth reserves rank it first in the world and its niobium, fluorite and other resources rank first in China.

The implementation of the project will exploit huge quantities of fluorite, niobium and other resources, achieve low-energy consumption in rare earth smelting, as well as commit the group to green and efficient development.

To this end, the project intends to focus on solving a series of scientific and technical problems – forming a solution that combines geology, mineral processing, metallurgy and environment.

It's expected that the plan's implementation will realize the technical upgrading of iron, rare earth, fluorite treatment and rare earth smelting processes – as well as provide a technological breakthrough for niobium treatment.

It will also help transform the mine into a resource operation, with exploration, clean metallurgy and high-value utilization – and help the project achieve its objectives.