(Institute of Mineral Resources, Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences)

The discovery history of Qarhan potassium-magnesium salt deposit in Qaidam basin of Qinghai and brine potassium salt deposit in Luobei depression of Lop Nur in Tarim basin of Xinjiang has been published for many years [1], which has aroused the interest and concern of relevant scholars. So, when China's search for potassium entered the third climax [Academician Zheng Mianping, etc. , "Investigation and Evaluation Project of Potash Resources", 2010; Liu Chenglin et al., National Key Basic Research and Development Plan (973 Plan), "Study on Formation Law and Prediction of Marine Potassium in China Block", 20 1 1), it is necessary to conduct a "Revealing the Discovery History of Potash Minerals in China Salt Lake" to record and commemorate the exploration history of Potash Minerals.

A brief history of the discovery of Qarhan potassium magnesium salt deposit in Qinghai Province

1. Dung Road Construction and Unexpected Discovery of Qarhan Potash Mine

1955, in order to develop the northwest and consolidate the frontier defense of Tibet in new China, President Mao Zedong ordered the renovation of the original simple Qinghai-Tibet highway. When road builders were repairing the section from Dunhuang, Gansu to Golmud, Qinghai, they accidentally found that the salt in the middle section of Chaerhan Salt Beach had a bitter and spicy taste. In order to find out, the 632 exploration team in Qaidam basin sent the salt to the Northwest Geological Bureau for analysis, and found that the K+ content was 0.4%. Zhu Xia, a geologist who works in the central government, pointed out that there may be potassium salt there. From then on, it opened the prelude to the discovery and development of Qarhan potassium magnesium salt deposit in China [1].

2. The role of salt lake scientific investigation team and "Twelve-year plan for scientific development in China" in finding potassium [2]

1956 the establishment of the salt lake scientific investigation team of China academy of sciences and the 1967 scientific and technological development plan formulated by the state have pointed out the direction for the exploration of Chaerhan potassium boron deposit in China and provided technical and policy guarantees.

1) Chemist Liu Gang was appointed as the leader of the expedition, and Yuan Jianqi, an expert in mineral deposits and salt mines, was appointed as the vice captain of the expedition, which ensured the talents and technology [4].

2) Mr. Yuan Jianqi discovered the existence of potassium in Chaka Salt Lake in Qinghai after investigating the northwest salt mine resources in 1946. His article (Yuan Jianqi, 1946) put forward China's idea of prospecting for potassium, and he was the founder of prospecting for potassium deposits in China [1]. In order to develop and utilize the rich potassium, boron and lithium resources in Qaidam area of Qinghai Province, Mr. Liu Gang trained a group of salt lake chemists such as Academician Gao Shiyang for New China.

3) 1957, entrusted by the superior, the Salt Lake Investigation Team of China Academy of Sciences sent Zheng Mianping, who graduated from geology, and Gao Shiyang, who graduated from chemistry department, together with Liu Gang, to enter the Qaidam Basin for the first time with the task of finding potassium and boron. At that time, the dung road had been built and the Chaerhan military airport had been used. They settled down smoothly in the military airport of Chaerhan Salt Lake. Walking one day, Zheng Mianping recalled that there was a glittering crystal salt mine by the roadside, which was identified as carnallite for the future production of potash fertilizer [2].

It is an accidental necessity that they and road builders have discovered the same carnallite mineral in Chaerhan successively. Why? First, there is a way to pass; Second, the country has clearly defined the task of finding potassium and boron from top to bottom, and technicians have been ordered to inspect it. As long as they pay attention and care, they will see carnallite. Zheng Mianping wrote a report and summary for the investigation of Qarhan potash mine, which opened the first page for the exploration of Golmud geological team in Qinghai, the development and production of potash fertilizer in potash fertilizer plant and the geological and physical research carried out by Salt Lake Institute of Chinese Academy of Sciences.

3. Mr. Yuan Jianqi's model of "continental potassium in high mountains and deep basins" and its significance [3]

Mr. Yuan Jianqi mentioned in his speech at 1975 potash training class that around 1956, it is known that the discovery of potash was caused by marine factors. So he laughed at himself and said, 1957 didn't take it to heart to look for potassium in Qarhan terrestrial strata, so when Liu Gang first entered Qaidam in Qinghai with the salt lake investigation team, Mr. Yuan Jianqi didn't take the initiative to ask for it, because he was bound by foreign marine potassium theory, which hindered his behavior. He said modestly that the discovery of Qarhan potassium salt was led by Liu Gang, a chemist with no thinking framework, which touched him greatly. Mr. Yuan Jianqi dared to face the actual results of searching for potassium and went to Chaerhan with Mr. Liu in the following year (1958). Facing the fact of potassium formation in continental salt lakes in China, after years of painstaking research, a relatively novel "alpine deep basin continental potassium model" has been put forward, which has formed an important theoretical basis for finding potassium in continental strata in China and even the world. Mr. Yuan Jianqi's understanding has made great contributions to China's theory of finding potassium in the future.

Second, a brief history of the discovery of brine potash deposits in Luobei Depression, Lop Nur, Xinjiang [1]

The situation of potassium prospecting in China around 1. 1995

1955 forty years later, the geological industry under the planned economy experienced a great shock of system reform and transformation, and all geological industries were once left out in the cold and landslide. Although 1984 launched the climax of the second round of potash exploration research in Qaidam Basin, the goal of doubling potash resources from 2× 108t was achieved, and a number of salt lake potash resources, such as Kunteyi, were discovered in the north and northwest of Qaidam Basin, and no progress has been made since then. However, in recent 40 years, China's population has increased sharply, and the trend of potassium deficiency in agricultural land has intensified, and the ability to protect potassium resources has become increasingly insufficient. At this time, many major potash mines have been discovered in the world, such as Thailand, Laos and Central Asia, which are adjacent to China, and the Dead Sea. China's theory of potassium poverty, as well as the withdrawal and atrophy of the potassium prospecting team, make the prospect of potassium prospecting in China very pessimistic.

2. China third generation female geologist Wang Sikao and looking for potassium [4]

1) After completing the second round of research on potassium prospecting in salt lakes in Qaidam Basin, Wang Youli and his colleagues discovered many potassium lakes. Why hasn't a large potash mine been found in Tarim Basin, Xinjiang, which is separated from another mountain (Altun Mountain)? When she noticed the connection between the two basins, she targeted her research on finding potassium in Luobei Depression in Lop Nur.

2) Lop Nur is a huge and peculiar lake, because it has been the only way of the famous ancient Silk Road since ancient times. Due to the war and the disharmony between human production and life and nature, Lop Nur Oasis disappeared and became a terrible devil's land called "the sea of death" in modern times. Peng, a famous scientist of China Academy of Sciences, was ruthlessly swallowed up by Lop Nur during his scientific investigation, and his whereabouts are still unknown, leaving a horrible and bizarre legend.

3)/kloc-During the period from 0/9 to the 20th century, many Chinese and foreign explorers, adventurers and scientists visited the Tarim Basin and the surrounding areas of Lop Nur, and found important archaeological discoveries and research results on biology, environment and climate in Loulan ancient site, and also found the characteristics of potassium-rich land sporadically. On the periphery of Lop Nur area, the team led by Team 1 of Xinjiang Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources (1989) and Professor Cai Keqin of China Geo University (1990) successively discovered four small-scale rock salt potash deposits and mineralization in the north-south of Guangxi, the iron ore bay, the east of Lop Nur and Dawadi, and found the first nitrate-type "small" in Shanshan area in China. From 1980s to early 1990s, researchers such as Mr. Hu Dongsheng (1988) from Salt Lake Institute of Chinese Academy of Sciences and Mr. Li Tingqi (1987, 1988, 19 1) from Remote Sensing Center of Ministry of Geology and Minerals used advanced interpretation methods of aerial remote sensing images. Academician Zheng Mianping (1990) conducted a survey of potassium prospecting in Dalhu area of Lop Nur, and the study pointed out that Lop Nur also has a prospect of potassium prospecting.

4) Wang knocked on the door of potassium salt in Luobei sag of Lop Nur and slept for ten thousand years. After many twists and turns from 65438 to 0995, Wang Jianli visited many respected geological experts with his experience, vision and mission of finding potassium for the country and the people. Wang Youli's confidence and determination to find potassium touched the leaders of these senior experts, and finally gave her 65,438+10,000 yuan to knock on the door of the second salt lake potash mine in China. But the leaders were worried that Lop Nur, which was very sinister, had no way out, especially the nameless Luobei depression at that time. This is a very dry lake, and it is also a lake of old age death.

5) The significance of innovating two-stage [carbonate, sulfate (potassium)] glauberite potassium formation and storage theory. After Wang Youli's research group entered the "Luobei concave land" (named and used by Wang Youli), it encountered the challenge of an old three-stage potassium formation theory. The reason is that when Li began to investigate the surface, he saw glauberite, secondary gypsum and halite, which had just reached the second stage of sulfate. Can there be industrial potassium brine or consolidated potassium ore in such a huge amount of glauberite sedimentary salt lake? There are two possibilities. According to the normal three-stage [carbonate, sulfate, halite (potassium)] potassium formation theory, it will be impossible to form a large-scale potash mine. Some potash experts were skeptical from the beginning, saying that there was little hope for further discovery of potassium. This is the same clue as the discovery of potassium salt in the Qarhan continental basin. Professor Yuan Jianqi also hesitated-can a potash deposit be formed on the mainland? However, Professor Yuan Jianqi also broke the traditional theoretical framework of marine potassium formation, boldly investigated and summarized the law of Qarhan potassium formation, and finally innovatively put forward the model and theory of China's continental "mountain deep basin" potassium formation. On the premise of respecting geological facts, only when scientists creatively put forward a new model of potassium prospecting and potassium formation in time can there be hope for prospecting.

6) Wang Shuli and Liu Chenglin innovatively put forward the two-stage theory of potassium formation, and finally put forward the migration model of mountain deep basin (Wang Mili, 2005) and the formation and storage model of potassium in confined water wall (Liu Chenglin et al., 2006, 2009), which were applied to the investigation and study of brine potassium deposit in Luobei Depression of Lop Nur, making the potassium prospecting in Luobei Depression in China enter a further prospecting stage. In Luobei Depression, extra-large brine potash deposit has been successfully discovered, with a general survey reserve of about 2.5× 108t (Wang Youli et al., 200 1), and associated polyhalite deposit, large-scale glauberite and sulfate brine potash deposit of 500 billion yuan have been discovered.

7) During the period of 1995 ~ 2005, members of Wang Youli's research group made selfless and unpaid contributions to the local government and people, and transformed the potash mine in Luobei Depression of Lop Nur into a large-scale potash mine as soon as possible. At this time, both the reserves of potash mines and the output of millions of tons of high-quality potassium sulfate produced by mines in China have doubled again. In 2009, the completion of the potash mine of Guotouluo Potash Company in Lop Nur eased the severe situation of potash fertilizer in China, and the self-sufficiency rate of potash fertilizer increased from 10% to about 30%.

Throughout the discovery history of potash deposits in China Salt Lake, we can see the extraordinary course of potash and potash in China from scratch and from scratch, and maybe you will benefit a lot from it. We have noticed that Liu Chenglin (2009) pointed out in the article Evaluation and Demonstration Project of Potash Ore Prospecting in the Basin that the breakthrough of potassium prospecting in Lop Nur is not only related to the accumulation of previous data, but also related to the experience and theoretical application of potassium prospecting in Qaidam. However, lop Nur potash deposit is a new type of potash deposit, which is different from that in Qaidam basin. Therefore, it is the key to break through the traditional theoretical understanding and study and develop the theory of continental potassium in Lop Nur.

At present, potassium minerals, thin potassium beds and even small-scale potassium minerals have been found in the salt-bearing systems of many basins in China. However, it is still unclear whether large-super large potash deposits can be found and where to look for them in the basin. This situation is somewhat similar to Lop Nur before 1995. In recent years, we have chosen Kuqa basin to carry out a new round of potassium prospecting, but the geological conditions in Kuqa basin are very different from those in Lop Nur. Therefore, according to the actual geological environment, we put forward a new understanding of the formation of potassium and the idea of prospecting, and made some preliminary progress (Liu Chenglin et al., 2008 ~ 20 1 1).

In a word, the investigation and study of potassium salt moved from Qaidam basin to Lop Nur and then to Kuqa basin. In the process of mining area transfer and knowledge change, we constantly learn and absorb various potassium formation theories at home and abroad, and learn from various prospecting technologies and methods, so that the potassium prospecting work has been continuously upgraded to a new level.

The author sincerely hopes that the potash fertilizer industry in China will develop in an orderly way in theoretical innovation and development.

There are still many documents in this paper that have not been listed one by one, and I would like to express my apologies and thanks to the relevant authors.

refer to

[1] Xuan Zhiqiang. Review and prospect of potash fertilizer in China Salt Lake in the past 50 years. Salt Lake Research [J], 2000,8 (1): 58 ~ 62.

[2] Hu Yadong, et al. Outline of commemorating Mr. Liu's centenary birthday [M]. Beijing: Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, etc. , 2004

[3] Yuan Jianqi. Selected Papers on Salt Geology by Professor Yuan Jianqi [M]. Beijing: College Press, 1989

[4] Pang Tianshu. Together with Loulan: Looking for the Lost Lop Nur [M]. Beijing: Xinhua Publishing House, 2007