How to balance the supply and demand relationship of tungsten resources?

　　Balancing the supply and demand of tungsten resources requires a four-pronged approach: opening up sources, conserving resources, adjusting the structure, and strengthening the cycle. This should be combined with technological innovation, policy guidance, and global cooperation to build a sustainable resource supply system. Specific strategies are as follows:

　　I. Opening Up Sources: Expanding Resource Supply Channels

　　1. Increase Exploration and Development Efforts

　　Domestic Resource Development: Conduct deep exploration in China's South China tungsten ore districts (such as Ganzhou, Jiangxi and Shizhutuan, Hunan), using 3D geological modeling and drone remote sensing technologies to identify new target areas. For example, deep earth detection in Linxiang, Hunan has discovered new scheelite veins, adding over 100,000 tons of reserves.

　　Overseas Resource Layout: Support Chinese companies in participating in global tungsten mining development (such as the Kingston mine in Australia and the Verkhne-Munsky mine in Russia), acquiring equity reserves through joint ventures and mergers and acquisitions to reduce reliance on a single market. The China Minmetals Corporation's investment in the Huanuni mine in Peru, with an annual production capacity of 5,000 tons of tungsten concentrate, effectively supplements domestic supply.

　　2. Develop Low-Grade Ores and Substitute Resources

　　Low-Grade Ore Utilization: Promote "high-efficiency leaching under normal temperature and pressure" technology to reduce the usable tungsten ore boundary grade from 0.3% to 0.15%. After a mine in Jiangxi applied this technology, the tungsten recovery rate from tailings increased from 10% to 45%, equivalent to adding a medium-sized tungsten mine.

　　Secondary Resource Substitution: Include waste tungsten carbide, tungsten-containing catalysts, etc., in the scope of "urban mining" development and establish a regional recycling network. Sumitomo Electric Industries in Japan, through its "closed-loop recycling system," achieves over 95% regeneration of waste tungsten, saving approximately 2,000 tons of primary tungsten resources annually.

　　II. Resource Conservation: Improving Resource Utilization Efficiency

　　1. Energy Conservation and Emission Reduction Across the Entire Industrial Chain

　　Beneficiation Stage: Promote the "pre-selection and waste disposal + staged grinding + efficient flotation" process to reduce grinding energy consumption by over 30%. After Xinglokeng Tungsten Mine in Fujian adopted this process, the comprehensive beneficiation recovery rate increased from 68% to 82%, saving over 5,000 tons of standard coal annually.

　　Smelting Stage: Using hydrogen reduction to replace the traditional carbon reduction method for producing tungsten powder reduces energy consumption by 40% and eliminates CO₂ emissions. The hydrogen-based reduction furnace developed by Sandvik in Sweden has achieved industrial application, with a single production line reducing CO₂ emissions by approximately 2,000 tons annually.

　　2. Technological Innovation to Reduce Tungsten Consumption

　　Lightweight Material Design: In the aerospace field, using "tungsten alloy gradient materials" to replace pure tungsten components reduces material usage by 20%-30%. For example, after a certain type of aero-engine nozzle uses a tungsten-nickel-iron gradient alloy, the weight is reduced by 25% while performance remains unchanged.

　　Substitute Technology Research and Development: In the cutting tool field, promoting "diamond-tungsten-based composite materials" and using surface coating technology reduces tungsten usage by over 50%. Such tools developed by the Fraunhofer Institute in Germany have a lifespan three times longer than traditional tungsten steel tools.

　　III. Structural Adjustment: Optimizing Industrial and Demand Layout

　　1. Strictly Control Low-End Production Capacity and Focus on High-Value-Added Fields

　　Restricting Exports of Primary Products: Implementing export quotas and tariff adjustments on primary products such as tungsten concentrate and APT to guide production capacity towards deep processing such as cemented carbide and tungsten wire. Since 2023, China has increased the export tariff on tungsten concentrate from 5% to 15%, pushing the domestic deep processing ratio from 60% to 75%.

　　Cultivating Emerging Demand Markets: In the new energy field, focusing on developing high-end applications such as tungsten-based solid-state battery electrodes and nuclear fusion reactor tungsten coatings to enhance the economic value of tungsten resources per unit. The tungsten-lithium-sulfur battery developed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has an energy density 40% higher than traditional lithium batteries, which is expected to open up new demand space.

　　2. Regional Supply-Demand Balance Strategy

　　Regional Restructuring of Production Capacity: Constructing "tungsten industrial clusters" in major producing areas such as Jiangxi and Hunan to reduce costs through centralized smelting and shared recycling facilities. After the Ganzhou Rare Earth Tungsten Industrial Base integrated more than 30 small and medium-sized enterprises, the unit APT production cost decreased by 12%, and pollutant emissions decreased by 50%.

　　Demand-Side Guidance: Implementing production capacity replacement for high tungsten-consuming industries (such as ordinary tool manufacturing) and encouraging enterprises to transform to low tungsten-consuming precision manufacturing. The EU, through the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), levies a tax of 60 euros per ton on imported high tungsten-consuming products, forcing industrial chain upgrades.

　　IV. Strengthening the Cycle: Building a Closed-Loop Recycling System

　　1. Improve Recycling Networks and Standards

　　Establish an Extended Producer Responsibility System: Requiring cemented carbide tool manufacturers to be responsible for recycling old products. For example, Zhuzhou Cemented Carbide Group has established an "online recycling platform + offline service network" system, recycling over 3,000 tons of waste tungsten annually, accounting for 30% of domestic recycling volume.

　　Develop Unified Recycling Standards: Implementing ISO 14001 and other environmental management systems to standardize waste tungsten classification (such as tungsten carbide and tungsten oxide waste) and testing methods to avoid affecting the quality of regenerated tungsten due to impurity mixing.

　　2. Innovative Recycling Technologies

　　Microwave-Assisted Regeneration Technology: Using microwave selective heating characteristics to quickly separate tungsten and cobalt in waste cemented carbide, with a recovery rate exceeding 99% and energy consumption reduced by 50%. Toshiba in Japan has applied this technology to the regeneration of waste cutting tools, reducing processing costs by 30% compared to traditional wet methods.

　　Plasma Melting Technology: Melting waste tungsten materials at high temperatures using plasma in an inert atmosphere to directly produce high-purity tungsten alloy ingots, suitable for processing complex waste materials (such as tungsten-containing electronic waste). Elementum 3D in the US has a production capacity of 500 kilograms per hour with this technology.

　　V. Global Cooperation: Strengthening Supply Chain Resilience

　　1. Establish an International Resource Alliance

　　Promoting the construction of a "circle of friends" for tungsten resources: China can cooperate with major producing countries such as Russia and Canada to establish a "Global Tungsten Industry Cooperation Organization" to coordinate production capacity, stabilize prices, and jointly combat illegal mining. In 2024, China, Russia, and Australia reached a preliminary consensus on establishing a tungsten resource data sharing mechanism.

　　Participating in international standard setting: Leading the development of the "Guidelines for Responsible Tungsten Supply Chains", incorporating ESG indicators (such as mine environmental protection and labor rights) into trade rules, and squeezing the market space of illegal tungsten mines in Africa. The EU's Critical Raw Materials Act requires that all imported tungsten must meet sustainability standards by 2030.

　　2. Strategic Reserve and Futures Market Construction

　　Expanding the scale of national reserves: China can increase its tungsten reserves from the current 50,000 tons (approximately 6 months of consumption) to 100,000 tons, establishing a "government reserve + enterprise commercial reserve" tiered system to cope with supply chain disruption risks.

　　Developing tungsten futures trading: Launching tungsten concentrate futures contracts on the Shanghai Futures Exchange to use price discovery functions to mitigate market fluctuations. The London Metal Exchange (LME) plans to launch tungsten futures contracts in 2025, attracting global investors to participate in pricing.

　　Summary: Balancing Model and Implementation Path

　　The balance of tungsten resource supply and demand requires the construction of a "three-dimensional collaborative model":

　　Technological dimension: Focusing on green smelting, efficient recycling, and material substitution to break through resource utilization bottlenecks;

　　Policy dimension: Guiding the industry towards high-end transformation through tools such as production capacity control, export management, and carbon pricing;

　　Market dimension: Enhancing supply and demand elasticity through global supply chain cooperation and futures markets.

　　Through the above measures, it is expected to achieve the goal of "basic balance of tungsten resource supply and demand, significant improvement in utilization rate, and significant reduction in environmental load" before 2030, providing sustainable resource support for strategic industries such as high-end manufacturing and energy transformation.