Assessing mineral extraction and trade in China from 1992 to 2015: A comparison of material flow analysis and exergoecological approach

Mineral resources have made great contributions to China's economic development since late 20th century. However, China is also facing many challenges in current days, such as mineral depletion and environmental pollution. In order to identify the main minerals that affect China's mineral capital loss and environmental damage as well as to provide some useful information for the formulation of mineral development policy in China, the exergy replacement costs (ERC) and material flow analysis (MFA) principles are applied. In this paper, we analyze the production and international trade of 28 non-fuel minerals and 3 fossil fuels in China from 1992 to 2015. The results showed that (1) the total loss of mineral capital in China is 5.2 billion tonnes of oil equivalent in the period of 1992–2015, and the main minerals that affect mineral capital loss include coal, limestone, iron ore, aluminum, gypsum, potash, salt and zinc; (2) China appears to be a country of self-sufficient for minerals in mass terms, but it is increasingly dependent on imports of high-quality minerals, especially for non-fuels minerals, such as aluminum; (3) it is necessary to consider the quality of minerals when assessing for international environment burden transfer caused by mining activities; and (4) compared with conventional MFA, the change of China's mineral extraction and trade measured under ERC are more sensitive to changes in mineral development policy. Hence, China should improve resources efficiency by (1) giving priority to the management of coal, iron ore, aluminum, limestone et al. to avoid over-exploitation; (2) expanding the sources of mineral resources imports, especially for high-quality non-fuel minerals; and (3) enhancing the technical research and development to reduce energy consumption throughout the life cycle of mineral resources. •Exergy analysis is used to assess the mineral balance of China.•China is more dependent on imports than perceived with conventional MFA.•Limestone, iron ore, aluminum, gypsum, potash etc., are the main non-fuel minerals that affect China's resource efficiency.•Considering mineral quality can result in better resource efficiency policies.