science

Xikuangshan Mine

Xikuangshan Mine is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Xikuangshan Mine rather than just read about it. In short: Xikuangshan mine (simplified Chinese: 锡矿山; traditional Chinese: 錫礦山; pinyin: Xīkuàngshān) in Lengshuijiang, Hunan, China, contains the world's largest known deposit of antimony (Sb). It is unique in that there is a large deposit of stibnite (Sb2S3) in a layer of Devonian limestone.

Key takeaways

Xikuangshan Mine belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Xikuangshan Mine to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Xikuangshan Mine from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Xikuangshan mine (simplified Chinese: 锡矿山; traditional Chinese: 錫礦山; pinyin: Xīkuàngshān) in Lengshuijiang, Hunan, China, contains the world's largest known deposit of antimony (Sb). It is unique in that there is a large deposit of stibnite (Sb2S3) in a layer of Devonian limestone. There are three mineral beds which are between 2.5 and 8 m thick which are folded in an anticline that plunges to the south-west. The total mineralised area of the mine has a surface extent of 14 km2. There are two different units at the mine, the northern one produces mixed oxide and sulfide such as stibiconite (Sb3O6(OH)) and the southern one produces stibnite. Ore is concentrated and refined on site in a refinery with a capacity of 10,000 tonnes of antimony per year.

History

A tin mine is thought to have been opened on the site in 1521. The mine's approximate average annual antimony production from 1892 to 1929 was 12,500 tonnes; from 1949 to 1981, it was 5,500 tonnes; in 1981, it was 15,500 tonnes.

Reserves In 1981, reserves at the Xikuangshan deposit amounted to 10,000,000 tonnes of ore that contained 2 to 3 percent antimony (200-300,000 tonnes of antimony), at the time geologists thought that there may be more in the area. By 2002 the estimated size of the deposit was 2,110,000 tonnes of pure antimony. The ore is composed of quartz, calcite, stibnite and some pyrite.

Formation Using samarium–neodymium dating, it has been estimated that the deposit formed during the late Jurassic – early Cretaceous period (around 145 million years ago).

Water pollution In April 2010 it was reported that antimony levels in water near the mine were as high as 11 parts per million, a thousand times those found in uncontaminated water. The antimony was found to be in the V oxidation state, believed to be the least dangerous aqueous form (antimony can have a I, III or V oxidation state). The environmental effects of this high level of the rare metalloid are poorly understood and are currently under investigation by a team from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Indiana University Bloomington and the University of Alberta.

References

External links Photograph of a ~1 m stibnite crystal from Xikuangshan mine Archived 2016-03-03 at the Wayback Machine (dead link 24 March 2019) Report of high antimony V in water near the mine Mine location Google Maps

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Xikuangshan Mine

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Xikuangshan Mine claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Xikuangshan Mine before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Xikuangshan Mine ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Xikuangshan Mine

In research: Xikuangshan Mine appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Xikuangshan Mine in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Xikuangshan Mine is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Antimony mines, Lengshuijiang, Mines in Hunan, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Xikuangshan Mine outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Xikuangshan Mine in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Xikuangshan Mine means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Xikuangshan Mine out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Xikuangshan Mine in simple terms?

Why does Xikuangshan Mine matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Xikuangshan Mine?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Xikuangshan Mine.