According to the Geophysical and Geochemical Survey Institute of Hunan Province, a subsidiary of the Geological Bureau of Hunan Province, it has achieved a major breakthrough in the deep microcrystalline graphite exploration in the Lutang Mine Area of Chenzhou City through innovative application of the geological prospecting theory. After expert review and confirmation, its resource potential can reach that of a super large mineral deposit.

Chenzhou is renowned as the globally renowned “Capital of Microcrystalline Graphite in China”, and its Lutang Mining Area accounts for over 70% of the country's total microcrystalline graphite, whose products have gained international recognition for their excellent quality.

However, after more than ten years of continuous mining and influenced by the open-pit mining of small coal mines in the 1990s, the shallow resources in the mining area have shown signs of depletion.

The Geophysical and Geochemical Survey Institute of Hunan Province has established a structural ore control model through in-depth research on the geological characteristics of the Lutang mining area, and the innovative application of coalfield structure and sequence stratigraphy theory.

And it has taken the lead in proposing the scientific inference that there may be hidden structures and graphite ore bodies below the elevation of plus or minus zero meters in the mining area.

In June 2024, South Graphite Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of China National Building Materials Investment Co., Ltd., launched a verification project. After winning the bid and implementing it, the Geophysical and Geochemical Survey Institute of Hunan Province completed the field work within one year.

It’s been confirmed by experts that there are graphite ore layers. The ore

characteristics have been preliminarily identified. The average graphitization degree of each layer is between 85.75 and 90.9, showing excellent quality.

Peng Shou, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, said, “The scale of this high-quality microcrystalline graphite deposit is equivalent to another Lutang mining area. Under the current situation where shallow resources are increasingly scarce, this discovery is of milestone significance.”

Chinese source: hunantoday