Searching For Resources Deep in The Earth - A Record Of Breakthroughs in Prospecting Made By The 271 Geological Team Of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region

At the field drilling site of the Lead-Zinc Mine Resources Reserve Increase Exploration Project in Fozichong Mining Area, Guangxi, drillers are operating the drilling rig enthusiastically, guiding the various components of the machine to link up and driving the drill pipe to continuously advance deep underground...

"The drilling rig has drilled to a depth of 1060.76 meters!" As the driller took out the last core core from the drill barrel, the Fozichong mining area undertaken by the 271 Geological Team of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region (hereinafter referred to as the "271 Team") All 16 boreholes laid out in the lead-zinc resource reserve exploration project have completed their final drilling.

"The lead-zinc ore resource reserve exploration project in Fozichong Mining Area, Cenxi City, Guangxi is the first geological prospecting project in which our team has carried out large-scale deep drilling in a project. It is estimated that the amount of lead-zinc ore that can be added to the mine's resource reserves is 6.11 million tons, with an estimated potential economic value of about 4.2 billion yuan, which can extend the service life of the mine by nearly 15 years. This is the deposit with the best prospecting results of our team in the past 30 years." Ni Zhanxu, deputy captain and chief engineer of the 271 Geological Team, said excitedly .

Resources are needed deep underground

The Fozichong lead-zinc mining area in Cenxi City, Guangxi (hereinafter referred to as the "Fozichong mining area") is located on the northwestern edge of the Yunkai uplift in the union zone of the Yangtze plate and the Cathaysian plate, and in the Guangxi section of the Qinhang metallogenic belt. It is an important large-scale mine in South my country. It is one of the lead-zinc polymetallic ore fields, the largest lead-zinc-silver deposit and a key metal mining area in Guangxi. From north to south, three medium-sized lead-zinc deposits, namely Fozichong, Hesan and Longwan, and numerous mineralization points have been developed in the mining area. The mineralization conditions are superior.

In 2023, the country will comprehensively launch a new round of strategic actions for mineral prospecting breakthroughs, and will successively formulate, issue and implement a series of mining policies to further optimize the business environment in the field of mineral resources and greatly increase the enthusiasm of all parties to carry out mineral prospecting breakthroughs.

Team 271 mobilized elite personnel to establish a project team, making full use of the geological data of the Fozichong mining area accumulated by the team for many years and its rich experience in mineral exploration in the area, and taking advantage of its strong talent and technical advantages to carry out deep geological prospecting for mining enterprises. Provide geological and technical support to understand resource reserves, evaluate prospecting potential, and extend mine service life.

"Based on our previous experience in geological prospecting in this area, and on the basis of fully studying and analyzing the original geological data of the mining area, we divided the mining area into 9 mining sections, formulated corresponding work plans, and predicted for the first time the blank area in the southern part of the mining area. Based on the prospecting potential of the igneous rock coverage area in the Xinsheng ore section, a prospecting model was established, and 16 boreholes were laid out in favorable mineralization sections such as Xinsheng, Foziliao, Shimen West Wing-Longshudong, etc. for deep drilling to reveal and verify." Luo Shiyi, the person in charge of the lead-zinc ore resource reserve exploration project in Fozichong Mining Area, Cenxi City, Guangxi, introduced.

Due to reasons such as the large amount of surface cover, the level of geological work carried out in the Xinsheng mining section has been low in history. During the research, geological technicians found that this ore section and the old ore section belong to the same mineralization system, and believed that it has huge prospecting potential. Therefore, this ore section was selected as the key area of this drilling work for deep exploration and exposure. Thirteen boreholes are deployed in the Xinsheng mine section, with designed hole depths ranging from 950 meters to 1,500 meters, of which 12 holes have a designed depth of more than 1,000 meters. The design depths of the three boreholes laid in the Foziliao and Shimen west wing-Longshudong mining sections are also between 800 meters and 980 meters.

"It is the first time in the history of the 271st Team to carry out 16 kilometers of deep drilling exploration work at the same time in one project, and it is also very rare in mineral exploration work in Guangxi." Mo Ci, deputy chief engineer of the 271st Team According to the student, most metal mine exploration and mining depths in Guangxi are located within 500 meters underground. The geological structural environment deep below 500 meters is complex, the technical equipment requirements are high, and ore prospecting is extremely difficult.

New mineralization theoretical research and deep positioning prediction verification results show that there are many examples of mineralization at depths of 500 meters to 1500 meters underground, indicating that there are mineral resources with huge potential in the deep parts of mainland my country. "The 271st team deployed 16 kilometers of drills at the same time in the Fozichong mining area to seek resources deep underground. They firmly believe that there are large and rich minerals in the kilometers deep in the mining area. This is not only based on the team's knowledge of generations of The geologists have been working hard in the Fozichong mining area for decades and have accumulated confidence in the prospecting results and geological data, which is also the confidence in the technical strength of our geological team members." Ni Zhanxu said.

Drilling thousands of meters deep reveals huge mine

After they carried out relatively sufficient preparations for the preliminary work of the project, the project entered the drilling construction stage. However, the project team had different opinions on where to "drill down" the first borehole, whether to drill one borehole first or to drill two boreholes at the same time. The first opinion proposes that Longwan and Fenghuangchong near the Xinsheng mining section have good prospecting results. Taking into account the extension of the veins, the first drilling in the Xinsheng mining section will be carried out in accordance with the principle of gradual progress, and further drilling will be carried out as appropriate. Follow-up drilling work will be more secure. The second opinion suggested that due to the tight time limit given by the project and the arduous task of prospecting, it was recommended that two drilling wells be constructed at the same time, which would not only save time, but also increase the probability of encountering ore and enhance the confidence of the owner.

Each of the two opinions has its own considerations. The members of the project team expressed their opinions at the discussion meeting, and no one could convince the other. Finally, through searching from top to bottom, internal and external comparisons, and repeated analysis, we came up with specific target locations for prospecting breakthroughs and drilling points for layout verification. The team leaders made a decision to create a blank area with no working basis in the southern part of the mining rights of Fozichong Mine - -The first borehole of the project was drilled in the Xinsheng mining section, with a designed depth of 1,000 meters.

"When the first drill hole in the Xinsheng ore section drilled from 513.90 meters to 523.05 meters, the first layer of lead-zinc ore was exposed, and the thickness of the ore body was 5.85 meters; at 694.65 meters to 715.15 meters, a thick ore body was exposed , the thickness of the ore body reaches 13.09 meters, the overall color is cyan-turquoise, the alteration is very strong, skarnization is obvious, and dense massive lead-zinc ore can be seen locally." Luo Shiyi said excitedly, who was responsible for cataloging the technology of the drill core at that time The staff were very excited. The ore body thickness and ore grade were the thickest and the ore grade was relatively high among the Fozichong geological prospecting projects carried out by the 271 Team.

Ore is found in every hole, and it is a thick, large and rich ore body. The data revealed by the first drill hole undoubtedly proves that the project has uncovered thick and rich ore bodies deep in the volcanic rock coverage area, making a major prospecting breakthrough and opening up a new prospect for the mining area.

Members of the project team were deeply excited when the news came. The project owner immediately convened personnel to deploy and study the next step of drilling work, and decided to concentrate all drilling efforts on the Xinsheng mining section and fully launch drilling work.

"Drilling in the Xinsheng ore section revealed a thick ore body with a maximum thickness of 28.93 meters. The amount of new (controlled + inferred) lead-zinc ore is 1.931 million tons. The grade of local lead-zinc ore is high, and massive lead-zinc ores can be seen. body……"

"Drilling in the Shimen West Wing-Longshudong ore section revealed 5 layers of ore bodies, all of which are dominated by sphalerite. Among them, the thickness of No. 41 ore body reached 2.22 meters..."

"The project has completed a total of more than 17,700 meters of core drilling. 14 of the 16 drill holes designed and constructed have exposed ore bodies, and the remaining two have revealed mineralization information."

Although it is hard work to search for thousands of pounds, you will only get gold after blowing all the sand. Successful reports of breakthroughs in ore prospecting in the Fozichong Deep Zone came one after another, inspiring the spirit of the project team members, saying, "No matter how much you pay, it's worth it."

The perseverance of generations of geologists

Team 271 is a professional geological exploration unit mainly engaged in mineral resource exploration in northern Guangxi, northeastern Guangxi, eastern Guangxi, and southeastern Guangxi. Over the past 60 years since its establishment, the team has successively discovered many large and medium-sized deposits of tungsten, tin, niobium, tantalum, lead, zinc, gold, etc., and submitted the Limu tungsten tin tantalum niobium polymetallic deposit in Gongcheng County, Guangxi, and submitted the tin, tungsten , tantalum, and niobium reserves all reach large scale.

In the past 20 years, several generations of geologists from Team 271 have been cultivating deep in the Fozichong mining area and in the surrounding Longwan, Fenghuangchong and other mining areas. They have dug roads in the mountains, built bridges over water, and traveled long distances, covering the entire mining field. , achieved breakthroughs again and again on the road of finding big ores, good ores, and rich ores, leaving a wealth of basic geological data and fruitful prospecting results for the team and the Fozichong mining area, using the wisdom of geologists and force proved that the mineralization range of Fozichong area is wider and deeper, and there is great potential for carrying out geological prospecting work in this area.

To achieve breakthroughs in prospecting and improve resource support capabilities, in addition to relying on the rich geological data and accumulated experience left by our predecessors, talent is the key. As a veteran geological survey unit, Team 271 knows this well. "When we mobilized elite soldiers to form a lead-zinc resource reserve exploration project team in Fozichong Mining District, Cenxi City, Guangxi, we arranged experienced experts and masters born in the 1960s and 1970s as technical consultants or guides. With the young generation of geological team members born in the '80s' as the backbone of the prospecting breakthrough, and the young geological team members born in the '90s' as the reserve force, we will focus on cultivating them to form a talent training pattern of 'olds leading new ones' and 'passing on to help', allowing people of different ages to Technical talents at all levels can give full play to their respective advantages in their work, and can achieve the purpose of passing on the firepower, training and cultivating talents, and promote the rapid improvement of the business capabilities and work experience of young geological team members." Ni Zhanxu introduced.

At the same time, the team has also arranged for experienced old experts and masters to be stationed in the project team to work side by side with the geological team members, to conduct research and analysis of new problems and new situations encountered during the project advancement, and to resolve doubts and confusions as soon as possible. . Use the rest time at night to review the day's work, or organize online and offline learning and training. Through the close combination of practice + theory, the geological team members' ability to independently analyze and deal with problems in field practice has been improved.

Chen Ning, Secretary of the Party Committee and Captain of the 271st Team, said: "'Prospecting for minerals to serve the country' is the belief that our team has always upheld, and it is also the inexhaustible driving force that guides us to continue to make breakthroughs on the road of finding big and good mines. We will fully Give full play to the main role of geological exploration units, promote deep exploration, precise investigation and technical research, and contribute to a new round of prospecting breakthroughs."

The warm sun breaks through the clouds and pours on the high valley floor of Fozichong Mining Area, coating the green pine forest with a layer of golden light, reflecting the resolute faces and vigorous figures of the geologists, and the earth immediately pulls out slender figures. The shadow of them - they walked on the steep and muddy but very familiar mountain trails in the mining area, with sonorous steps, rushing towards the next "battlefield".