The vast salt lake is full of sights. In recent years, the Chaerhan Salt Lake and Dachaidan Salt Lake, which have been popular all over the country due to their beautiful scenery as "China's Great Salt Lake" and "Emerald Lake", have attracted domestic and foreign tourists to "check in". Thus it has become the new tourism business card of Qinghai Province. However, what few people know is that these rare “salt flats and clear waters” are precious salt lake resources in China. 

It is necessary to combine Qinghai's advantages and resources, implement the innovation-driven development strategy, accelerate the construction of a world-class salt lake industrial base, and create a national clean energy industry highland." On March 7, 2021, when attending the Qinghai delegation of the Fourth Session of the 13th National People’s Congress, General Secretary Xi Jinping drew up a new blueprint for the development of Qinghai salt lake industry and pointed out the direction for the sustainable and healthy development of Qinghai salt lake industry. . 

Facing the great opportunity of building a world-class salt lake industrial base, protecting the ecological environment of the salt lake, developing the salt lake resources efficiently and greenly, and promoting the high-quality development of the salt lake industry are the unwilling choices of Qinghai at present and in the future. 

Salt Lake is an important national strategic resource 

The scientific development and utilization of salt lake resources is related to the sustainable development of China's modern agriculture, new energy, new materials and other industries, and it is related to the improvement of people's livelihood in the ethnic areas in western my country. 

As an important part of natural resources, salt lake resources are rich in inorganic salt resources. Salt lake resources represented by potassium, lithium, magnesium, and boron are widely used in industries such as high-efficiency agriculture, new energy, new materials, information, and environmental protection. 

The leader of the Science and Technology Department of ISL was interviewed by Science and Technology Daily. He introduced that the development and utilization of salt lake resources in the world has a history of about one hundred years, and has successively experienced small-scale development stages, led by physical chemistry, such as rock salt, alkali, and boron, the development stage of small and medium-scale inorganic salts, based on traditional geology and chemistry, and chemical industry research is the core; the large-scale comprehensive development, utilization and deep processing of inorganic salts, based on the interdisciplinary of modern geology, chemistry, chemical engineering, and materials. 

Focusing on Qinghai, a vast land with abundant resources, the salt lake resource endowment here is unique in China. 

He introduced that "Qinghai is the most important area where salt lakes are distributed in China. It is rich in salt resources such as potassium, magnesium, lithium, and boron, and has great potential economic value. There are more than 30 salt lakes in the Qaidam Basin alone, among which are chlorinated. Minerals such as sodium, magnesium chloride, potassium salt, lithium salt, strontium ore, and Glauber's salt are among the top in the country. The salt lake is also rich in boron, bromine, rubidium, cesium and other ingredients." 

Qinghai is an important potash fertilizer production base in China. As one of the three major fertilizers, the production of salt lake potash fertilizer is directly related to the sustainable development of modern agriculture in my country. At the same time, the development and utilization of Qinghai salt lake resources is also related to the development of China's new energy and new materials industries. The development of high-efficiency and clean energy is one of the important means to achieve "carbon peak and carbon neutrality". Lithium and its compounds are used more and more widely in power batteries and energy storage batteries. Salt lake magnesium and boron products also have important applications in the fields of lightweight structural materials, flame-retardant materials, and functional materials. 

Technological innovation empowers the development of salt lake resources 

Qinghai Institute of Salt Lakes, Chinese Academy of Sciences (ISL), located in Xining City, Qinghai Province, is the only scientific research institution in China that specializes in salt lake research and the development and utilization of salt lake resources. Since its establishment in 1965, ISL has completed the investigation and evaluation of China's salt lake resources, and has found out the distribution, types, and resource reserves of China's salt lakes. 

According to the leader of the Science and Technology Department, ISL has established a theoretical system of salt lake chemistry and salt lake geology in my country, laying a solid theoretical foundation for the development and utilization of salt lake resources in China. ISL has comprehensively and systematically carried out the research and development of salt lake potash fertilizer production technology, and made a significant contribution to the start and development of China's salt lake potash fertilizer industry. The research on the stability of the subgrade foundation in the salt lake section of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway ensures the long-term safe operation of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway. The new lithium-magnesium separation process developed in response to the high magnesium-lithium ratio of Qinghai salt lakes solves the world problem of magnesium-lithium separation from salt lake brines with high magnesium-to-lithium ratios, and has made a pioneering contribution to the development of China's salt lake lithium extraction industry. Through ordinary licensing of two companies, the patented technology of salt lake lithium extraction successfully realized the transformation of achievements, and the license fee was 40 million yuan. The formed core technology supports and serves the production capacity of 30,000 tons/year of battery-grade lithium carbonate and 5,000 tons/year of high-purity lithium chloride. By the end of 2020, the company has accumulated sales of 4.2 billion yuan and accumulated profits of 1.9 billion yuan. The market share of Qinghai salt lake lithium products in the international salt lake lithium products is about 20%. 

At the end of the interview, he said that the Qinghai Salt Lake Institute will implement the spirit of General Secretary Xi Jinping's important instructions, strengthen the top-level design of the salt lake industry, recycle the resources of the salt lake, and do a good job in the development and utilization of the salt lake under the premise of protecting the ecological environment. 

Source URL ：http://m.stdaily.com/index/kejixinwen/2021-04/02/content_1104287.shtml