Analysis of latest tungsten market from Chinatungsten Online

Chinese tungsten prices maintained stability at the beginning of the week. The second-instance trial of Fanya case was settled last Friday on July 26, 2019. The industry was worried about stockpiles of 431.95 tons of tungsten and 29,651 tons of ammonium paratungstate(APT). So the current market pattern would remain unchanged in the short term.

The China molybdenum prices showed an overall rise in the market on good performance of transactions. In the molybdenum concentrate market, with the increase of government supervision and the increase of overhaul of mainstream mining enterprises, the production capacity has been released slowly. Many holders said that they have sold out of stock, and prices have continued to increase slightly. 

Rare earth market quotation in China: domestic rare earth price

The overall performance of Chinese rare earth market was relatively flat, and the game between buyers and sellers was fierce. The enquiry has increased compared with the previous one, and the trading atmosphere has improved slightly. 

Hong Kong media said that a team of Chinese scientists has developed a new method, which they said can greatly reduce the time to extract rare earth from ore, while reducing industrial pollution.

According to the Hong Kong "South China Morning Post" website reported on May 31, the extraction of trace metals is difficult and takes several days to complete, but researchers at a Chinese Academy of Sciences research institute in Fujian said they found a way, can reduce the refining time to a few minutes.

Sun Xiaoqi, the leader of the research team, said that this is a major progress. He said: "This may lead to a technological revolution in the rare earth industry." According to Sun Xiaoqi, the standard method for extracting rare earths from ore is to immerse them in toxic chemical solutions to separate useful elements, a process that takes a week.

However, using the new materials developed by Sun Xiaoqi's research group, useful elements can be separated at an unprecedented speed and efficiency.

According to the report, under the microscope, the new phenoxycarboxylic acid extractant contains numerous solid particles with a diameter of only a few microns. When this extractant is mixed with fine particles of rare earth ore, a process called "extraction-precipitation" begins.

Sun Xiaoqi said: "This work can be completed in 20 minutes." He said that this method can also be used to extract rare earth from mining waste rock and even obtain a certain amount of rare earth from leached waste.

Sun Xiaoqi said that the new extraction method can not only reduce pollution, but also reduce production costs.

He said: "We are making this extraction process into a large-scale application phase." According to reports, some rare earth producers have completed relevant industrial tests. There are still some problems, such as how to produce extractants on a large scale and improve existing equipment in rare earth refineries, but Sun Xiaoqi said that they have received government support.

He said: "The government attaches great importance to the rare earth industry, and our research has been supported by stable and adequate funding."