China : Mining Sites

Uranium Ore Processing/Milling

China has traditionally located its uranium processing facilities (for the production of U308) at or near uranium mines, primarily in Guangdong, Jiangxi, and Hunan Provinces.

According to the IAEA, China has an operable ore processing capacity of 1,200 tons of uranium per year. China has two mining and ore processing facilities in operation: at Hengyang (1,000 tons/year) and Hengjian (200 tons/year); and two closed: at Baimadong and Yining.

URANIUM ORE PROCESSING/MILLING FACILITIES 

 

NAME	LOCATION	COMMENTS
Chenxian uranium mine	Hunan Province (near 105.36E/33.42N)	China's first uranium mine; Soviet-designed; partially operational in September 1960; began full production in September 1962; uses shrinkage stopping mining technique; Soviet-designed and equipped magnetic separator facility for uranium processing was built near the mine
Chongyi	Near Lantian mine	Start-up: 1979; nominal capacity of 120 tons U per year
Guizhou	Guizhou province	Reported uranium ore processing facility
Hengjian (Fuzhou uranium mine)	Fuzhou (Hengjian), Jiangxi Province	One of China's two significant mining and metallurgical sites; also the site of the Hengjian uranium ore processing facility; ore feed, yellowcake (U3O8) product; uses A/IX (acid leaching/ion exchange) process; 200 tons per year capacity; nominal capacity: 300 tons per year; Start-up: 1976
Hengyang Uranium Hydrometallurgy Plant  (Also known as the Hengyang Uranium Water Dressing Plant, Hengyang Uranium Plant, and Hengyang Uranium Processing Mill; formerly known as Plant 414 and later Plant 272)	Hengyang, Hunan Province (112.36E/26.54N)	First large-scale uranium processing and purifying mill; established in 1958; began commercial operation in 1962; 1,100 tons of uranium per year capacity; nominal capacity: 500 tons per year; ore feed, U308 product; uses A/IX (acid leaching/ion exchange) process; built to process ores using magnetic separators; operated by China Nuclear Energy Industry Corporation (CNEIC)
Huxian (?)		Reported uranium ore processing facility
Qinglong		Uranium ore processing; ore feed, yellowcake (U3O8) product; A/IX (acid leaching/ion exchange) process
Quzhou	Zhejiang Province	Uranium hydrometallurgy mill.
Shangrao Hydrometallurgy Plant	Shangrao, Jiangxi Province (117.58E/28.28N)	Uranium hydrometallurgy plant for uranium extraction similar to the plant at Hengyang; commissioned in November 1962; refining of yellowcake (U3O8)
Shao Kuan (?)		Reported uranium ore processing facility
Tengchong		Start-up: 1991; nominal capacity of 20 tons U per year
Tongxian Uranium Mining and Hydro-metallurgy Institute  (Also known as the Uranium Mining and Metallurgical Processing Institute; also known as the Fifth Institute; established in 1958 as the Sixth Institute, but was later renamed.)	Tongxian (116.39E/39.55N), east of Beijing	Development of uranium mining and processing technologies
Uranium Oxide Production Plant		Also known as Plant 2; established on 12 August 1960; Processed the uranium for China's first atomic bomb
Urumqi (?)		Reported uranium ore processing facility
Xifeng	Guizhou Province	Uranium hydrometallurgy mill
Yining		Uranium ore processing facility; ore feed, yellowcake (U3O8) product; start-up: 1970; closed: 1985; 40 tons per year capacity; nominal capacity of 100 tons per year; A/IX (acid leaching/ion exchange) process
Zhuzhou (?)		Reported uranium ore processing facility