Natural resources
Datong has mineral resources such as coal, cement limestone, graphite, flux dolomite, kaolinite, phlogopite, basalt, marble, and refractory clay.
Coal resources: Datong City is located in the northeast of the Datong Coalfield, and its coal resources are part of the geological concept of the "Datong Coalfield". The coal-bearing strata in Datong City are Jurassic Datong Formation, Carboniferous Taiyuan Formation and Shanxi Formation. The coal-bearing area of ??the Jurassic Datong Formation in the city reaches 540 square kilometers, with retained reserves of 5.87 billion tons and cumulative proven reserves of 6.55 billion tons. Currently, this part of the coal industry is largely mined on a large scale. Most of the Carboniferous coals have only been surveyed, and the level of exploration is not high. The cumulative proven reserves are 11.7 billion tons. This type of coal has higher ash content and is far inferior in quality to Jurassic coal. It belongs to the gas coal category.
Graphite resources: This mineral is buried in the Jining Group strata of the pre-Paleozoic era. It is a sedimentary metamorphic type and is the only one in the province. It is distributed in Hongcibao and Liumudi in the north of the city. They belong to the same mineralization belt, with total proven reserves of graphite ore of 51.623 million tons, containing 2.247 million tons of graphite. Among them, Hongcibao has 39.133 million tons of graphite ore reserves on the table, containing 1.63 million tons of graphite. The average carbon content is 3-4, and the highest is more than 10. There are reserves of graphite ore of 12.484 million tons within the six acres of land, containing 617,000 tons of graphite, with an average carbon content of 4.9. They are all rich ore types.
Cement limestone resources: Mainly produced in the marine strata of the Upper Cambrian, with total reserves of 215.176 million tons, mainly distributed in the Qifengshan mining area and Langergou mining area, with simple hydrogeological conditions. Mining on a large scale.
Flux limestone resources: stored in the middle and upper Cambrian strata, it is a layered marine sedimentary deposit with a cumulative proven reserve of 70.192 million tons, distributed in the western area of ????Kouquan.
Flux dolomite resources: mainly produced in the Lower Ordovician strata, with stable layers, large scale, and good quality, and are mostly second-grade products. The burial is shallow and the geological conditions are simple, which is very conducive to open-pit mining. Cumulative proven reserves are 53.53 million tons.
Kaolinite resources: stored in the coal-bearing strata of the Carboniferous Permian, and produced with coal. The kaolinite in this city has large reserves, stable layers and few impurities. It is a high-quality additive raw material for ceramic production. At present, the level of exploration is very low and it is only mined as an associated mine of coal mines.
Basalt is produced in the late Tertiary strata, with proven reserves of 174.2435 million cubic meters, of which 6.443 million cubic meters are in Gushan District and 167.8 million cubic meters in Sierliang District.
Forest resources: Before liberation, the city’s forest coverage rate was only 2.5. After liberation, forestry has developed greatly through active artificial construction. At present, there are 420,000 acres of forest in Datong City, mainly concentrated in the Cailiang Mountains in the northeast. There are also scattered forests in other areas, all of which are artificial forests, but Datong City is still a Shaolin area.
Grassland resources: The city's Mupo grassland area is 480,331 acres, accounting for 15.3% of the city's total land area and about half of the cultivated land area. Among them, there are about 269,875 acres of large grasslands with an area of ??more than 300 acres, accounting for 8.6% of the city's total land area; scattered small patches of grassland with an area of ??less than 300 acres (referring to villages, fields, watersides, and roadsides in farming areas). There are 210,456 acres of grassland on all sides, accounting for 6.7 of the city's total land area. Large areas of grassland are mainly distributed in mountainous areas and some riverbanks, and are important bases for the development of animal husbandry production. The sheep from Datong Taoist priests are famous because the grass they eat contains many medicinal materials, so the mutton is fat and tender without any smell.
Wild plant resources: Datong City is a steppe vegetation type, so there are relatively few plant species, but wild plants still have great potential to be tapped. A large number of grasses of the family Gramineae and Legumes are high-quality forage for the development of animal husbandry, and wild medicinal plants such as ephedra and licorice have great economic value. There are also many ornamental wild flowers and plants growing in the mountainous areas, such as dianthus, mountain peony, delphinium, wild chrysanthemum, aster, tangerine grass, yellow thorn rose, etc.
Seabuckthorn, a widely distributed wild shrub of the Elaeaceae family, is not only a pioneer shrub in desert afforestation, but also contains 250 kinds of natural compounds in its small orange pearl-like fruits. Its morphological characteristics, physiological activity and application value are significantly different from plants in low altitude areas, and it is rarely polluted by the environment. Its vitamin C content is two to three times that of the rhesus monkey, which is known as the "King of Vitamin C", and can reach a maximum of 1900 mg/100 g. As early as more than a thousand years ago, my country used sea buckthorn as an important Tibetan medicine to treat coronary heart disease, dermatitis, bedsores, keratitis, gynecological vitiligo, etc. Later, it was discovered that the various active ingredients contained in sea buckthorn can effectively prevent the harm caused by weight loss to the human body; they are also good skin nutrients and have obvious anti-radiation effects. Therefore, the juice, oil, and essence extracted from sea buckthorn , has been incorporated into astronauts’ food abroad, and is also used as a nutritional additive for high-end cosmetics.
In addition to the above wild plant resources, Datong also has some wild animal resources. Due to urban development, dense population and changes in the ecological environment, wild animals either migrate or decrease, especially rare animals. According to surveys, there are more than 100 kinds of terrestrial vertebrates in Datong City, including about 70 species of birds and 24 species of mammals. Those with a larger number and greater economic value include weasels, grass rabbits, etc.; those with a smaller number and greater economic value include caddis, wolves, foxes, badgers, etc.; those with a larger number but low individual economic value include cadavers. , feral pigeons, sparrows and various wild mice; animals with potential for development and utilization that have not yet been taken seriously include zokors and various chickens and birds.
Water resources
The total local water resources in Datong City are 142 million square meters, and the per capita water resources are only 111 cubic meters, which is about 9% of the national per capita water resources. Resources are very scarce.
The city’s current water use situation is: industrial and domestic water accounts for 80%, and agricultural water accounts for 20%. Although the water resources development and utilization rate has reached 67.5, the annual water shortage is still more than 20 million cubic meters. To this end, during the "Seventh Five-Year Plan" period, 135 water-saving projects were renovated and built, with an annual water-saving capacity of 29 million tons. In the five years of the "Seventh Five-Year Plan", the city planned to draw 587.4 million tons of water, and the actual water use was 526.82 million tons, with a total water saving of 60.58 million tons, which is equivalent to the municipal water company's annual water supply. Water consumption per 10,000 yuan of output value dropped from 297 tons in 1985 to 210 tons in 1990, a decrease of 29.3. The industrial water reuse rate has increased from 58.1 in 1985 to 71.3 in 1990.
Datong City adopts the policy of equal emphasis on reducing expenditures and increasing revenue. On the basis of strengthening the awareness of water conservation and taking various measures to improve the reuse rate, Datong City has carried out the work of diverting the Cetian Reservoir and the Yellow River Shuiji City. To finally solve the "water shortage" problem.
The geographical location of Datong Coalfield is about 113゜7′ east longitude and about 40゜4′ north latitude. It spans Datong, Youyu, Pinglu, Zuoyun, Shuozhou and other cities and counties, and is roughly a rectangle. It runs from northeast to southwest, 85 kilometers long and 30 kilometers wide, with a total area of ??1,827 square kilometers and total coal reserves of 71.8 billion tons. Among them, Datong City occupies a coal-bearing area of ??632 square kilometers, with cumulative proven reserves of 37.6 billion tons.
There are two coal series in Datong Coalfield: Jurassic coal series and Carboniferous-Permian coal series. The Jurassic coal series was originally formed in the depression basin in the late Indosinian movement. Later, due to the influence of the Yanshan and Himalayan movements, it was involved in the Neocathaysian polygonal structure and is a single weakly caking coal. There are 18 minable coal seams in the Jurassic Coal Measures and Carboniferous Permian Coal Measures. Among them, there are 15 minable coal seams in the Jurassic Coal Measures and 3 minable coal seams in the Carboniferous Permian Coal Measures. The total thickness of the two is 26 meters, equivalent to the height of a seven-story building.
Datong Coalfield not only has large reserves, but also has good coal quality. The Jurassic coal system being mined is the best thermal coal and is known as "the world's finest thermal coal". It has five major characteristics: First, it has strong firepower. Ordinary coal has a calorific value of only 5,000 to 6,000 kcal per kilogram and can only boil 9 to 10 kilograms of water; Datong Jurassic coal has a calorific value of about 8,000 kcal per kilogram and can boil 9 to 10 kilograms of water. Boil 11~12kg of water.
The second is low ash content. Generally, the ash content of coal is 10-20, that is, 10-20 kilograms of ash will be left after every 100 kilograms of coal is burned. The ash content of Datong Jurassic coal is only 5-8, that is, every 100 kilograms of coal. After burning, there are only 5 to 8 pounds of ash. The third is that there are few impurities such as sulfur and phosphorus. The sulfur content of Datong Jurassic coal is less than 1 and the phosphorus content is only 0.29. The fourth is high volatile matter. The volatile matter content of Datong Jurassic coal is between 30 and 34. It is easy to ignite when used as fuel, suitable for making coal gas, and is a good raw material for processing and converting into coal chemical products. The fifth is high hardness. Hard coal is difficult to mine, but transportation, especially long-distance transportation, is very convenient. Datong's high-quality coal has been famous for a long time. In the past, coal merchants in Beijing and Tianjin used "Kouquan Big Block" as a trademark to attract customers. Now Datong coal is an indispensable industrial raw material for national construction.
In addition, Datong Coalfield also has excellent mining conditions. First of all, its coal seam is very close to the surface. Generally, you only need to dig down 60 to 100 meters to find the coal. The deepest part does not exceed 400 meters. Therefore, the well construction is fast and the investment is low. Second, the inclination of the coal seam is small, and the general inclination is around 5, which is convenient for mechanical mining. Third, the roof is hard, and the roof rocks are mostly hard colloid rocks. In some places, the roof rocks have not fallen off even after decades of mining. Fourth, the amount of gas is small. Fifth, there is little groundwater. Generally, the water inflow volume in mines is about 6 to 7 tons per minute, or even more. The water inflow volume in Datong Coal Mine does not exceed 1 ton, so drainage equipment can be saved.