Evaluationonthecurrentstatusandcomprehensive utilizationprospectofassociated cobaltresourcesin theMiddle.LowerYangtzeRiverValleymetallogenicbelt

CobaltisacriticalmineralresourcethatisextremelyscarceinChina.Mostofthereportedcobaltresourcesinour country'sdepositsareproducedinassociatedforms,soitisnecessarytoestimatetheassociatedcobaltresourcesandevaluatetheir comprehensiveutilizationprospects.Cobaltiscommonlyassociatedwithirondeposits,copperdeposits,andpyritedepositsinthe MiddleandLowerReachesoftheYangtzeRivermetallogenicbelt,butresearchonthecharacteristicsanddifferencesofcobalt resourcesindifferenttypesofdeposits,theamountandavailabilityofcobaltresources,etc.,hasnotbeenconducted.Currently,the comprehensiveutilizationlevelofmostmines'associatedcobaltisrelativelylow,andcobaltresourcesarewastedseverely.Thisarticle comprehensivelycollectsandsummarizesrelevantresearchdataontheMiddleandLowerReachesoftheYangtzeRivermetallogenic beltinrecentyears,systematicallysummarizestheoccurrencestatesofcobaltindifferenttypesofdeposits,clarifiestheenrichment characteristicsofcobaltinvarioustypesofdeposits,estimatestheassociatedcobaltresources,andevaluatestheavailabilityof associatedcobalt. Theresearchresultsshow thatthemaincobalt.bearingmineralsinirondepositsandpyritedepositsinthe metallogenicbeltarepyrite,withasmallamountofmagnetite,pyrrhotite,etc.Themaincobalt.bearingmineralsincopperdepositsare pyriteandchalcopyrite,withasmallamountofmagnetite,bornite,etc.Independentcobaltmineralshavebeenreportedinalltypesof deposits,mainlyincludingskutterudite,cobaltite,loellingite,nickeliferouspyrite,cobaltianpyrite,arsenopyrite,etc.Cobalthasbeen enrichedtovaryingdegreesiniron,copper,andpyritedeposits,withthesilicon.calciumtypeirondeposithavingthehighestcobalt enrichment,reachingtheassociatedcobaltboundarygradeoverall; thecobaltinthesilicon.calcium typecopperdepositmostly approachesorreachestheassociatedcobaltboundarygrade,withafewnotreachingtheassociatedcobaltboundarygrade;thecobalt enrichmentislowinthemagnetite.typeirondeposit,theporphyry.typecopperdeposit,andthesilicon.calcium andporphyry.type pyritedeposits,andgenerallydoesnotreachtheassociatedcobaltboundarygrade.Theassociatedcobaltresourcesinthemetallogenic beltareabundantandhavetheresourceconditionsfortheformationofmediumtolargecobaltdeposits.Thepreliminaryestimatedscale oflargedepositsisthree(Chengchao,Tieshan,andLuohe),andthescaleofmediumdepositsistwenty.two(Longqiao,Zhuchong, Baixiangshan,Jinshandian,Anqing,Wushan,Chengmenshan,Fengshandong,Tonglushan,Tongshankou,Dabaizhuang,Xinqiao, Nihe,Gaocun,Meishan,Heshangqiao,Gushan,Shaxi,Chating,Yaojialing,Dongguashan,andHuangtun).Theassociatedcobalt resourceswithgoodcomprehensiveutilizationprospectsareapproximately108000tons,andtheassociatedcobaltresourceswitha certaincomprehensiveutilizationprospectareapproximately46000tons,whichcanbeusedaspotentialreplacementsfortheassociated cobaltresourcesofapproximately125000tonsinthefuture.Themaindepositsinthemetallogenicbeltcanobtainsulfurconcentrate withcobaltcontentgreaterthan0.20% throughmagneticseparationandflotation,andcanobtainconverterslagwithcobaltcontentof