Bayan'obo 白云鄂博矿区 •ᠪᠠᠶᠠᠨ ᠣᠪᠣᠭ᠋ᠠ ᠠᠭᠤᠷᠬᠠᠢ ᠶᠢᠨ ᠲᠣᠭᠣᠷᠢᠭ | |
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 Bayan Obo, 2006false colorASTER image by NASA | |
 Location in Baotou | |
  Bayan  Bayan | |
| Coordinates:41°46′58″N109°58′25″E / 41.78278°N 109.97361°E /41.78278; 109.97361 | |
| Country | China |
| Autonomous region | Inner Mongolia |
| Prefecture-level city | Baotou |
| District seat | Tongyang Road Subdistrict |
| Area | |
• Total | 247.89 km2 (95.71 sq mi) |
| Population (2020)[1] | |
• Total | 22,681 |
| • Density | 91/km2 (240/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC+8 (China Standard) |
| Website | www |
| Bayan Obo Mining District | |||||||
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| Chinese name | |||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 白云鄂博矿区 | ||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 白雲鄂博礦區 | ||||||
| Literal meaning | richovoo mining district | ||||||
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| Mongolian name | |||||||
| Mongolian Cyrillic | Баян-Овоо Уурхайн дүүрэг | ||||||
| Mongolian script | ᠪᠠᠶᠠᠨ ᠣᠪᠣᠭ᠋ᠠ ᠠᠭᠤᠷᠬᠠᠢ ᠶᠢᠨ ᠲᠣᠭᠣᠷᠢᠭ | ||||||
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Bayan'obo Mining District (Mongolian:ᠪᠠᠶᠠᠨ ᠣᠪᠣᠭ᠋ᠠ ᠠᠭᠤᠷᠬᠠᠢ ᠶᠢᠨ ᠲᠣᠭᠣᠷᠢᠭ,Chinese:白云鄂博矿区), orBaiyun-Obo orBaiyun'ebo, is a miningdistrict in the west ofInner Mongolia, China. It is under the administration ofBaotou City, the downtown of which is more than 120 kilometres (75 mi) to the south.
The mines north of the town are the largest deposits ofrare-earth elements yet found and, as of 2005, responsible for 45% of global rare-earth element production.[2][3][4]
In the satellite image at right, vegetation appears red, grassland is light brown, rocks are black, and water surfaces are green. Two circular open-pit mines are visible, as well as a number of tailings ponds and tailings piles.[5]
Bayan Obo Mining District is made up of 2subdistricts.
| Name | Simplified Chinese | Hanyu Pinyin | Mongolian (Hudum Script) | Mongolian (Cyrillic) | Administrative division code |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Subdistricts | |||||
| Mining Road Subdistrict | 矿山路街道 | Kuàngshānlù Jiēdào | ᠠᠭᠤᠷᠬᠠᠢ ᠵᠠᠮ ᠤᠨ ᠵᠡᠭᠡᠯᠢ ᠭᠤᠳᠤᠮᠵᠢ | Уурхай замын зээл гудамж | 150206001 |
| Tongyang Road Subdistrict | 通阳道街道 | Tōngyángdào Jiēdào | ᠲᠦᠩ ᠶᠠᠩ ᠵᠠᠮ ᠤᠨ ᠵᠡᠭᠡᠯᠢ ᠭᠤᠳᠤᠮᠵᠢ | Дүн ян замын зээл гудамж | 150206002 |
| Climate data for Bayan Obo, elevation 1,612 m (5,289 ft), (1991–2020 normals) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | −8.2 (17.2) | −3.6 (25.5) | 3.8 (38.8) | 12.4 (54.3) | 19.1 (66.4) | 24.2 (75.6) | 26.5 (79.7) | 24.3 (75.7) | 18.7 (65.7) | 10.7 (51.3) | 0.9 (33.6) | −6.8 (19.8) | 10.2 (50.3) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | −14.3 (6.3) | −10.2 (13.6) | −2.9 (26.8) | 5.7 (42.3) | 12.7 (54.9) | 18.1 (64.6) | 20.6 (69.1) | 18.5 (65.3) | 12.4 (54.3) | 4.1 (39.4) | −5.3 (22.5) | −12.6 (9.3) | 3.9 (39.0) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | −19.0 (−2.2) | −15.2 (4.6) | −8.4 (16.9) | −0.5 (31.1) | 6.1 (43.0) | 12.0 (53.6) | 15.0 (59.0) | 13.2 (55.8) | 7.1 (44.8) | −0.9 (30.4) | −9.9 (14.2) | −17.0 (1.4) | −1.5 (29.4) |
| Averageprecipitation mm (inches) | 2.0 (0.08) | 2.6 (0.10) | 5.5 (0.22) | 6.5 (0.26) | 20.3 (0.80) | 34.6 (1.36) | 66.0 (2.60) | 58.0 (2.28) | 35.0 (1.38) | 10.3 (0.41) | 4.4 (0.17) | 2.0 (0.08) | 247.2 (9.74) |
| Average precipitation days(≥ 0.1 mm) | 3.6 | 3.3 | 4.4 | 3.1 | 5.6 | 9.3 | 11.6 | 9.6 | 6.9 | 3.5 | 3.9 | 3.4 | 68.2 |
| Average snowy days | 5.8 | 5.5 | 5.8 | 3.1 | 1.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.3 | 2.9 | 5.7 | 6.7 | 36.9 |
| Averagerelative humidity (%) | 63 | 54 | 42 | 34 | 37 | 45 | 53 | 56 | 54 | 50 | 58 | 63 | 51 |
| Mean monthlysunshine hours | 235.4 | 234.2 | 281.0 | 298.5 | 323.0 | 305.4 | 303.5 | 298.0 | 272.6 | 267.7 | 227.0 | 220.1 | 3,266.4 |
| Percentagepossible sunshine | 79 | 78 | 75 | 74 | 72 | 67 | 67 | 71 | 74 | 79 | 78 | 78 | 74 |
| Source:China Meteorological Administration[6][7] | |||||||||||||
China produced about 81,000 tons of rare-earth metals in 2001; the number jumped to about 120,000 by 2006. According to the Chinese Society of Rare Earths, 9,600 to 12,000 cubic metres (340,000 to 420,000 cubic feet) of waste gas—containing dust concentrate, hydrofluoric acid, sulfur dioxide, and sulfuric acid—are released with every ton of rare metals that are mined. Approximately 75 m3 (2,600 cu ft) of acidic wastewater, plus about a ton of radioactive waste residue are also produced.[5]
Very large rare-earth elements (REE) Fe-Nb deposit (Bayan-Obo type), discovered as an iron deposit in 1927. REE minerals were discovered in 1936, andniobium-bearing ores in the late 1950s. Reserves are estimated at more than 40 million tons of REE minerals grading at 3–5.4% REE (70% of world's known REE reserves), 1 million tons of Nb2O5 and 470 million tons of iron. The deposit also contains an estimated 130 million tons offluorite.
Bayan'obo is the world's largest known REE deposit.[8] The fluorite content of the ores also makes it the world's largest fluorite deposit.
The deposit occurs in an east–west trendingMesoproterozoic rift zone along the northern margin of theSino-Korean Craton. Host strata are quartzite, slate, limestone, and dolomite. Dolomite is the main host rock. The orebodies are stratiform and lenticular, with masses, bands, layers, veins, and disseminations. Besides clear features ofhydrothermal mineralization, the deposit also exhibits Mg, Fe, Na and Fmetasomatism. Sm-Ndmonazite isochron age forbastnaesite andriebeckite is 1200 to 1300 Ma, whereas Th-Pb and Sm-Nd age of Ba-REE-F carbonates andaeschynite is 474 to 402 Ma.[9]
