Glittering Elements

More than 60 years ago, Jinchuan Group in Jinchang, Northwest China’s Gansu province, kicked off its nickel business with malachite, a green mineral of copper, discovered in the Gobi Desert. After decades of effort, the group is now a Fortune Global 500 company featuring competitive production and processing methods of nonferrous metals. Between 2011-21, Jinchuan produced 1.79 million metric tons of nickel; 8.81 million tons of copper; 110,000 tons of cobalt; and 43 tons of platinum group metals. As a forerunner in nickel and cobalt production and in the extraction of PGM, Jinchuan has a cornucopia of nonferrous metal products. Here, we have published stories about the group’s development and describe some major nonferrous metals that Jinchuan produces, illustrating these metallic elements’ applications and their roles in the national economy, people’s daily lives, and the national defense industry as well as science and technology.