China Makes New Progress in Extracting Strategic Minerals from Seawater
Beijing — China has reported new progress in the utilization of seawater and in research related to the extraction of strategic mineral resources contained in it.
A report released on Monday by China’s Ministry of Natural Resources said the country has achieved notable advances in technologies related to the extraction and use of trace elements such as uranium, lithium and deuterium from seawater.
According to the report, China has successfully extracted uranium at the kilogram scale from real ocean environments. Domestic research institutes, universities and enterprises have also made breakthroughs in fundamental theories and key technologies for extracting lithium, uranium, deuterium and other trace elements from seawater.
Global uranium reserves in seawater are estimated at around 4.5 billion tonnes, more than 1,000 times the known land-based reserves. For this reason, technologies for extracting strategic minerals from seawater are considered important for future energy security and resource management.
The report also noted that China’s seawater desalination and multipurpose utilization sector is steadily expanding as a strategic emerging industry.
According to Xiang Wenxi, director of the Institute of Seawater Desalination and Multipurpose Utilization in Tianjin Municipality, China currently has 167 seawater desalination projects with a total capacity of 3.077 million tonnes per day.
The annual volume of seawater used for industrial cooling has reached 193.36 billion tonnes, an increase of 86.4 percent compared with 2020.
Xiang said that during the 15th Five-Year Plan period from 2026 to 2030, China will promote upgrades in related technologies and equipment. The country also plans to build technological reserves for extracting strategic elements from seawater.
The development of seawater multipurpose utilization, mineral extraction and desalination technologies is expected to support China’s water resource management, energy security, industrial modernization and green development.
