Recently, the “China Minmetals’ Pilot Platform for High-Performance Natural Graphite Materials,” established by Minmetals Graphite, a subsidiary of Minmetals Exploration & Development Co., Ltd.(Minemtals Exploration), was successfully selected for the inaugural list of key pilot platforms nurtured by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT). A total of 241 platforms nationwide were approved for the list. 

According to the Guidelines for the Construction of Manufacturing Pilot Platforms (2024 Edition) released by the MIIT, the primary function of a pilot platform is to meet the innovation and development needs of the manufacturing industry, pool various industrial resources, promote the commercialization and application of scientific and technological achievements, and provide professional services and systematic solutions such as technology R&D and commercialization, as well as performance and process improvement, thereby playing a strategic, supporting, and leading role in industrial sci-tech innovation. The “China Minmetals’ Pilot Platform for High-Performance Natural Graphite Materials” focuses on the development of preparation processes for high-performance natural graphite materials and their industrial engineering applications. It is dedicated to tackling long-standing common industry challenges such as low resource utilization rates and low product value-added, and to extending the graphite industrial chain towards high-precision and cutting-edge fields. To date, the platform has conducted over 30 pilot-scale tests, with several of its independently developed technologies reaching an industry-leading level.

In recent years, leveraging its advantages in graphite resources, industrial base, and technological accumulation, Minmetals Exploration has led three national-level and three provincial-level scientific research projects focusing on key common technical challenges in the graphite industry. It has broken through several major technological bottlenecks, and the related achievements have won more than ten awards, including the First Prize of the Heilongjiang Provincial Award for Scientific and Technological Achievement Commercialization and the First Prize for Science and Technology Progress from the China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association.

Moving forward, Minemtals Exploration will take this selection as an opportunity to focus on the verification and maturation of preparation technologies for high-performance graphite materials. It will accelerate the construction of the fluorine-free purification pilot line, the sulfur-free expandable graphite pilot line, and the high-temperature thermochemical continuous purification pilot line, while continuously advancing key technological breakthroughs and the commercialization of scientific achievements.