Recently, the CPC Central Committee and the State Council issued the "Opinions on Accelerating the Promotion of Ecological Civilization Construction," which calls for comprehensively promoting the efficient and conservation-oriented use of resources. The "Industry Standard for Technical Indicators and Calculation Methods for Comprehensive Utilization of Mineral Resources," recently released by the Ministry of Natural Resources, provides a more precise basis for the rational development and utilization of mineral resources as well as for their effective supervision. In this regard, Xu Dachun, Director of the Department of Mineral Resource Reserves at the Ministry of Natural Resources, offered an interpretation.
　　 Unified standards provide an authoritative basis for resource development, utilization, and regulation.
　　“Comprehensive utilization of mineral resources plays a vital role in alleviating resource constraints, protecting the ecological environment, ensuring national economic security, and achieving sustainable development,” said Xu Dachun. Mineral resources not only serve as an essential material foundation for economic and social development but also constitute a key component of ecosystems. During periods of rapid economic growth, driven primarily by scale expansion, massive amounts of mineral resources have been consumed, significantly impacting the ecological environment. As industrialization, informatization, urbanization, and agricultural modernization accelerate, resource bottlenecks are becoming increasingly severe, supply-demand contradictions continue to intensify, and both resource security and environmental carrying capacity are approaching their limits. The 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China and the Third Plenary Session of the 18th Central Committee set forth the ambitious goal of building a moderately prosperous society in all respects, explicitly calling for the establishment of a systematic and comprehensive institutional framework for ecological civilization and the improvement of mechanisms for the conservation and intensive use of mineral resources. The Ministry of Natural Resources has defined its mission as “fulfilling our duties conscientiously to protect natural resources, using them efficiently and intensively, and wholeheartedly safeguarding the rights and interests of the people,” firmly raising the banner of resource conservation and intensive use.
　　“However, for a long time, there have been three major challenges in evaluating and regulating the effectiveness of comprehensive utilization of mineral resources,” Xu Dachun listed. “First, the evaluation is incomplete. Some industries and enterprises, based on their own specific needs, focus solely on either the ‘one-rate’ or the ‘two-rates’ to assess resource utilization efficiency, failing to provide a comprehensive picture of the overall rational use of resources. Second, the evaluation criteria lack uniformity. Most industries and enterprises still rely on indicators such as mining recovery rate, mining dilution rate, and ore dressing recovery rate, while only a few have introduced the comprehensive utilization rate indicator. As a result, different industries find it difficult to communicate effectively with each other. For example, the coal industry previously used ‘gangue content rate’ and ‘washing and beneficiation recovery rate,’ the gold industry employed ‘mining dilution rate and (smelting) recovery rate,’ and the petroleum industry often used ‘recovery rate,’ ‘conversion rate,’ ‘sales rate,’ and ‘efficiency enhancement rate,’ among others. Moreover, each industry and enterprise has its own unique interpretations and calculation methods for these indicators, causing numerous inconveniences in statistical analysis, evaluation, and management. Third, the evaluation criteria lack rigidity. Although various industries and enterprises have set up evaluation indicators, they lack a stringent assessment mechanism and a unified, ‘hard benchmark.’ Consequently, the indicators lack sufficient binding force, and the results of comprehensive resource utilization by mining enterprises remain less than ideal.”
　　“To this end, we have organized relevant institutions to study and develop the ‘Technical Indicators for Comprehensive Utilization of Mineral Resources and Their Calculation Methods,’ standardizing and unifying industry evaluation indicators and improving the evaluation system. This provides an authoritative basis for the rational development and utilization of mineral resources as well as for effective regulatory oversight in the future,” said Xu Dachun. He believes that the introduction of this industry standard is of great significance.
　　

　　“We refer to the mining recovery rate, ore dressing recovery rate, and comprehensive utilization rate as the ‘new three rates.’ The original ‘three rates’ were the mining recovery rate, mining dilution rate, and ore dressing recovery rate,” explained Xu Dachun. He added that the industry standards recently issued provide clear definitions and calculation methods for these new ‘three rates’ indicators.
　　Among the original “three rates,” the mining recovery rate was defined as “the ratio of the amount (reserve) of ore extracted to the total ore reserve mined.” However, the term “ore reserve” used in this definition was not clearly defined and could not be aligned with the classification of mineral resource reserves. Xu Dachun said: “In the new ‘three rates,’ we have combined the requirements for managing mineral resource reserves and adopted ‘the mineral resource reserves consumed during the current period’ as the benchmark for calculation. We have standardized the definition as follows: ‘The percentage of pure ore (resource reserve) extracted during the current period relative to the mineral resource reserves consumed during the same period.’”
　　“The concept of mineral processing recovery rate enjoys industry-wide consensus, though definitions vary slightly depending on the source. Most definitions simply refer to ‘useful components.’” Xu Dachun explained that this standard specifies that “useful constituents” can include “minerals or elements,” and defines the mineral processing recovery rate as “the percentage of the mass of a particular useful constituent in the concentrate relative to the mass of that same useful constituent in the feed ore.”
　　The comprehensive utilization rate is a newly added indicator in the new “Three Rates,” replacing the former “mining dilution rate” from the old “Three Rates.” Xu Dachun explained that the original “mining dilution rate” was an ore-quality indicator primarily used to evaluate mining processes and economic benefits. To highlight the comprehensive utilization of mineral resources, the comprehensive utilization rate has been introduced as two separate indicators: “comprehensive utilization rate of co-associated minerals” and “comprehensive utilization rate of mineral resources.” In terms of calculation methods, two approaches— the mass method and the price method—are adopted depending on the complexity of the mineral composition. When there are significant differences in value among mineral components, using the mass method for evaluation becomes clearly unreasonable. In such cases, equivalent grade is introduced: the grades of co-associated components are converted into the grades of the primary mineral components based on their price ratios, and then the calculation is performed. This approach reflects the degree to which the potential value of useful components in the currently consumed mineral resource reserves has been realized. Simply put, it measures how much of the ore’s potential value has actually been utilized—in other words, the higher the actual utilization rate, the greater the degree of comprehensive utilization.
　　Xu Dachun pointed out that the new “three-rate” indicators have two prominent features. First, they cover the entire process of mineral resource development. Mineral resource development primarily includes stages such as mining, ore dressing, and the treatment and utilization of waste rock and tailings. The mining recovery rate mainly evaluates the effectiveness of resource extraction and utilization in the mining process. The ore dressing recovery rate primarily assesses the effectiveness of resource recovery and utilization in the ore-dressing process. The comprehensive utilization rate of co-associated minerals mainly evaluates the effectiveness of utilizing co-associated minerals during the mining and ore-dressing operations. The overall utilization rate of mineral resources evaluates the effectiveness of utilizing all valuable components—both from the primary minerals and co-associated minerals—throughout the entire mining and ore-dressing process. As for the treatment and utilization of waste rock and tailings, their utilization rates directly reflect the corresponding utilization effects. Second, these indicators highlight resource utilization efficiency as the core focus. The mining recovery rate reflects the efficiency with which reserves mobilized during the mining stage are utilized. The ore dressing recovery rate reflects the efficiency with which the raw ore fed into the ore-dressing stage is utilized. The comprehensive utilization rate, meanwhile, reflects the efficiency of utilizing the primary minerals, co-associated minerals, waste rock, and tailings.
　　“The new and old ‘three rates’ differ, but this does not mean the new ‘three rates’ negate the old ones,” said Xu Dachun. The new ‘three rates’ are universal evaluation indicators applicable across all industries and enterprises. Beyond these, other indicators from the old ‘three rates’ that previously reflected specific mineral types or industry characteristics can still be used as before.
　　 The “three-rate” indicators set a “red line” for enterprises to delineate when developing and utilizing mineral resources.
　　Regarding the applicability of the standard, Xu Dachun pointed out that, first, the standard has already achieved broad consensus. The standard was jointly developed under the organizational guidance of the Department of Mineral Resource Reserves of the Ministry of Natural Resources, led by the Zhengzhou Institute of Comprehensive Utilization of Mineral Resources of the China Geological Survey, Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences, and in collaboration with the China Metallurgical Mining Enterprises Association, the China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association, the China Gold Association, the China Chemical Mining Association, and the China Non-Metallic Minerals Industry Association. Throughout the standard-setting process, opinions and suggestions were extensively solicited from research institutes, design organizations, mining enterprises, industry associations, and provincial-level natural resources authorities. After numerous revisions, refinements, and expert reviews, the standard was finally finalized.
　　Moreover, after the standard was established, the technical indicators for the comprehensive utilization of mineral resources were calculated according to this standard. Following trial use by mining enterprises, the calculation process proved to be convenient, and the resulting data received unanimous approval from the enterprises, accurately reflecting the actual conditions of mineral resource exploration and development by these enterprises. After being tested by relevant associations and research institutes, the industry statistical results obtained through these calculations matched real-world data closely, effectively capturing the current industry level. Furthermore, after verification and trial use by the departments responsible for land and resource management, the “three rates” results calculated for individual mines as well as the industry-wide results for different mineral types all aligned with macro-level statistical data, providing an accurate reflection of China’s current status and level in the development and utilization of mineral resources. “The trial-use results demonstrate that the calculation methods for each indicator in this standard are reasonable, consistent with China’s actual mineral resource development practices, and fully applicable to mining production and management,” said Xu Dachun.
　　Xu Dachun explained that technical indicator standards represent the general, overarching guidelines for evaluating comprehensive resource utilization. In contrast, the “three-rate” indicator requirements for the rational development and utilization of specific mineral types are concrete and specialized regulations that build upon these general standards and serve as their practical implementation. To promote the rational development and utilization of mineral resources, the Ministry of Natural Resources has conducted research on the “three-rate” indicators for major mineral types and has already released such requirements for 20 minerals, including coal, gold, copper, lead, and zinc. “We plan to further strengthen our research on the ‘three-rate’ indicators for bulk minerals, with the aim of establishing a comprehensive system of ‘three-rate’ indicators for China’s key minerals and setting ‘red lines’ for mining enterprises’ development and utilization of mineral resources. Mining enterprises will calculate their ‘three-rate’ indicators according to these standards and compare the results against the established ‘red lines,’ using this comparison as the primary basis for evaluating and regulating the rational development and utilization of mineral resources by mining enterprises. Moreover, this approach will enable comparative evaluations among enterprises, mineral types, industries, and regions.”
　　From “industry standards” to “indicator requirements,” mining enterprises have clarified the direction for the exploration and utilization of mineral resources, while the competent authorities for land and resource management have identified key regulatory priorities and established a basis for performance evaluation, thereby standardizing the management of the “three rates.” Xu Dachun said, “We will further refine our regulatory mechanisms. At the source, we will rigorously review mine designs and development plans, rejecting those that fail to meet the required indicators. In process management, we will incorporate the ‘three rates’ indicators into public information disclosure, strengthening social oversight. Mining enterprises whose ‘three rates’ fail to meet the standards will face restrictions or be denied procedures for extending, transferring, or modifying their mining rights, thus encouraging these enterprises to place greater emphasis on the protection, rational development, and comprehensive utilization of mineral resources.”