The importance and use of the four major non-metallic minerals quartz, graphite, fluorite and pyrophyllite
Almost all strategic emerging industries are more or less related to non-metallic minerals and their products, especially in the new material industry, graphite, fluorite, pyrophyllite, quartz and their products play an irreplaceable and important supporting role. Non-metallic minerals such as graphite and fluorite are listed as “strategic minerals” or “key minerals” by China, Japan, Australia and other countries, and the United States is listed as “crisis minerals”.
1. High-purity quartz
High-purity quartz has excellent physical and chemical properties. High-purity quartz sand is mainly used in industries such as quartz glass and integrated circuits. Its high-end products are widely used in new-generation information technology, high-end equipment manufacturing, new materials and other industries. Quartz has always existed as a material of strategic importance, and since World War II, the electronic components of communication telephones and military wireless telephones have been made of quartz. The globally recognized high-purity and ultra-high-purity quartz raw materials are an important foundation for today’s high-tech products and a necessary condition for the sustainable development of a country’s high-tech products. In Germany, ultra-high-purity quartz raw materials have been listed as strategic materials and the export has been restricted.
Application of High Purity Quartz in Strategic Emerging Industries:
A new generation of information technology; High-end equipment manufacturing; New materials; New energy.
2. Graphite
Graphite has always been an indispensable and important strategic resource for the development of military and modern industries. Graphite is mainly used in the production of lithium-ion battery anode materials, new power batteries, super capacitors, etc. in the new energy automobile industry; in the new energy industry, it is mainly used in the production of solar cells. , Wind power energy storage batteries; in the high-end equipment manufacturing industry, it is mainly used to produce sealing materials and neutron moderators; in the new generation of information technology industries, it is used to produce high energy storage, key electronic materials, etc. The development and utilization of graphene has raised the use of graphite to a new level. In the future, graphite and its products will be widely used in aerospace satellites, smart phones, tablet computers, hybrid vehicles, electric vehicles, solar cells and other fields, becoming a strategic emerging material. China, Japan, the European Union, India, the United Kingdom, Australia, OECD and other countries have successively issued industrial policies on the development of graphite, which regard graphite as a “key mineral” or “strategic mineral”, and the United States lists graphite as a “crisis mineral”.
Application of graphite in strategic emerging industries:
High-end equipment manufacturing; New energy; New energy vehicles; New generation information technology; New material field; Biology.
3. Fluorite
Fluorite, also known as fluorite, is mainly composed of calcium fluoride (CaF2). Fluorite is a world-class scarce resource similar to rare earth. China, the United States, the European Union, Japan and other countries all list fluorite as a “strategic mineral” or “key mineral”, and the United States lists fluorite as a “crisis mineral”. Fluorite is a fluorine raw material, and fluorine-containing materials are one of the new chemical materials. Fluorine chemical products have high performance and high added value. In addition to being widely used in industrial sectors and daily life, its products and materials are also widely used in strategic emerging industries such as new energy, biology, energy conservation and environmental protection, and new energy vehicles. technology industry.
Application of Fluorite in Strategic Emerging Industries:
New energy; New energy vehicles; Biology; Energy saving and environmental protection; New material.
4. Pyrophyllite
Pyrophyllite is a layered silicate mineral with chemical stability, low thermal expansion, low thermal conductivity, low electrical conductivity, high insulation, high melting point, and good corrosion resistance. Pyrophyllite is one of the important raw materials for the production of functional ceramics (superhard ceramics, ultrahigh piezoelectric ceramics), green new refractories, high-performance glass fibers, superhard materials (synthetic diamond), etc. blade) materials and new functional materials.
Application of pyrophyllite in strategic emerging industries:
High-end equipment manufacturing; new energy; new material; biology.