On the 9th, reporters learned from China Minmetals Corporation that the company has officially been approved to lead the construction of the National Strategic Rare Metals Mineral Resource Efficient Development Technology Innovation Center (hereinafter referred to as the Rare Metals National Innovation Center). This is the first national innovation center approved for establishment in China’s mineral resources sector, and it holds significant importance for safeguarding national resource security and enhancing industrial control.
　　According to the introduction, the National Center for Innovation in Rare Mineral Resources focuses on ensuring the secure supply of scarce resources, promoting green, intensive, and efficient development of advantageous resources, and achieving independent control over high-end raw materials made from rare metals. The center has deployed key R&D tasks in areas including exploration and evaluation, efficient mining, green separation, clean smelting, preparation of high-end raw materials, recycling, and digitalization and intelligent technologies. This innovation center aims to generate a batch of high-level, landmark, original technological achievements, establish a strategic technical support system for the exploration and development of rare metal mineral resources, and build itself into a national hub for technological R&D and innovation, a gathering place for scientific and technological resources in this field, a leading service platform for industry-specific technological innovation, and an incubator base for advanced industrial technologies.
　　Under the organizational leadership of the Hunan Provincial Government, the National Innovation Center for Rare Minerals is jointly established and led by China Minmetals, in collaboration with Hunan Nonferrous Metals Industry Investment Group, Jiangxi Tungsten Industry, Yunnan Tin Industry, Xinjiang Nonferrous Metals, Mining & Metallurgy Technology, China National Research Institute of Metals, Zhongse (Ningxia) Dongfang, Central South University, Beijing University of Science and Technology, Hunan University, the Institute of Geology at the Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences, and the Institute of Process Engineering at the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
　　China Minmetals stated that, in the next step, the National Center for Innovation in Rare Mineral Resources will leverage the full-industry-chain application scenarios of large-scale metal mining enterprise groups as a platform. Focusing on industry development needs and technical challenges within the sector, the center will integrate scientific and technological resources from universities, research institutes, and enterprises to carry out collaborative research and tackle key technological challenges, thereby smoothing the entire innovation chain—from basic research to industrialization.