China Nonferrous Metallurgy

Beryllium resources in China are primarily occur in association with other minerals， exhibiting poor mineralogical characteristics and low utilization rates. China is rich in beryllium resources， but the resources primarily occur in association with other minerals with poor low grades， resulting in low utilization rates. The overall level of development and utilization remains low. As the market demand for beryllium continues to rise， the country is facing a shortage of beryllium supply. With growing scarcity of beryllium resources and rising prices， China faces an impending beryllium supply shortage of beryllium in the future. The main beryllium ore resources include beryl， phenacite and bertrandite， rare earth ore， chrysoberyl，etc. Beryl， the main source of beryllium production in China， is mostly processed using the traditional sulfuric acid method， which suffers from drawbacks such as long process flow， difficulty in lithium-beryllium separation， high beryllium loss， high energy consumption， and poor economic viability. Although the fluorination method offers advantages such as low energy consumption， less corrosion to equipment， and fewer impurities in the product， it is not suitable for ores with high calcium content. Other leaching processes of beryl include direct acid leaching and alkaline leaching. For bertrandite， the sulfuric acid-solvent extraction method is mainly used to separate beryllium and uranium， but it still requires a high-temperature smelting step； thus， researches focus on eliminating the smelting process through methods such as sulfuric acid curing leaching and high-pressure alkaline leaching with silica solidification. The extraction of beryllium from rare earth ores has poor universality and mostly adopts a “leaching first， separation later” approach. Chrysoberyl has high impurity content and stable crystal structure， and no effective method is currently available. Tailings of tungsten， uranium， fluorite， and other minerals often contain beryllium， which are typically leached with sulfuric acid. Beryllium extraction processes generate large amounts of waste such as fly ash and residue， which still contain high levels of beryllium， which can be directly leached by HF or NaOH. Currently， beryllium extraction processes in China face significant challenges， including misalignment between industrial capabilities and national strategic needs， complex procedures， and low recovery rates. There is an urgent need for coordinated efforts in policy guidance， basic research investment， extraction technology development， and resource expansion to achieve green and efficient development of Chinese beryllium resources.