Geological characteristics and analysis of known and undiscovered graphite resources of China.

Graphite is one of the most essential non-metallic minerals with a wide variety of uses, and is an important commodity used in the emerging industry of China. Graphite is sourced from 170 mine areas in China from 25 provinces. This contribution is on a study of 15 regions in China with known graphite resources based on the spatial and temporal analyses of the regional metamorphic, contact metamorphic, and hydrothermal types of graphite. The knowledge gained on the metallogenesis of graphite in China is used to develop a model for choosing prospective regions for graphite, and to target areas for detailed exploration. It outlined 28 prediction areas with predicted graphite resources of about 1.63 billion tonnes to a maximum depth of 500 m in the Heilongjiang, Jilin, Liaoning, Shandong, Inner Mongolia and Hunan provinces. And of these, the predicted flake graphite resources in the Heilongjiang Province has been totalling almost a billion tonnes representing almost 60% of China’s graphite resource. As a result of this study, it is concluded that graphite has been formed during restricted periods of time, with the regional metamorphic type being the main style present in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]