METHOD FOR DETERMINING INDUSTRIAL KEY INDICATORS FOR THE REASSESSMENT OF POTASSIUM SALT RESOURCES BASED ON EXTERNAL CONDITIONS OF THE MINING AREA

Description

2 Based on the knowledge gained from existing technology, the determination of industrial key performance indicators (KPIs) for potash resources traditionally depends mainly on fixed geological exploration standards and static grade requirements. External development conditions of the mining area, current economic costs, and the adaptability of specific mining methods are not systematically considered.5 This leads to the fact that in areas with poor infrastructure and high mining costs, parts of the resources remain unused due to the rigid KPIs. In old mining areas with declining grades, the original KPIs may no longer be economically viable, but a basis for dynamic downward adjustment is lacking. Furthermore, the traditional method lacks specific evaluation dimensions for particular processes such as the dissolution and conversion of the solid potash ore deposit. The KPIs are not linked to the processes,which results in an overall lack of flexibility and comprehensiveness. This method is therefore no longer able to meet the real requirements of changing resource conditions and refined development and management requirements. For this reason, the present invention proposes a method for determining industrial indicators for the re-evaluation of potash resources based on external boundary conditions of the mining area, in order to solve the existing problems in the prior art. 20 CONTENT OF THE PRESENT INVENTION To solve the aforementioned problems, the present invention aims to propose a method for determining industrial indicators for the re-evaluation of potash resources based on external boundary conditions of the mining area. This method is intended to solve the problem that traditional methods for determining industrial indicators for potash resources depend on static geological indicators and thereby neglect external development conditions,economic costs and the adaptability of mining methods are not fully taken into account, leading to a rigid resource assessment and low utilization efficiency. To achieve the objective of the present invention, the present invention30 is implemented by the following technical solutions: a method for determining industrial indicators for the reassessment of potash resources based on external boundary conditions of the mining area, comprising the following steps: Step 1: Acquiring parameters of the external conditions of the mining area, including road distance, distance to the power grid, distance to water sources35 and supply conditions, and dynamically adapting industrial indicators for BE2026 / 7074 3 the reassessment of the potash resources by checking whether the parameters meet the preset thresholds for the external boundary conditions; Step 2: Acquiring key geological and hydrogeological parameters of the mining area, including a water storage capacity of the aquifer,a deep aquifer base, a chemical type of the brine and a 5 deposit layer of the solid soluble potash ore deposit, and further dynamic adjustment of industrial indicators for the reassessment of the potash resources by checking whether the parameters meet preset thresholds for the geological conditions; and Step 3: back-calculating a KCl content in the brine at break-even point 10 based on the actual production data of the mine, determining minimum industrial indicators for the solid potash ore deposit in combination with the results of dissolution and conversion tests, final output of industrial indicators for the reassessment by integrating the results from Step 1 to Step 3,including a minimum industrial grade and a limit grade 15 for KCl in the reassessment. A further improvement is as follows: in Step 1, the road distance of the mine is defined as the straight-line distance from the center of the mining area to the nearest national or provincial highway; the distance to the power grid is defined as the straight-line distance from the center of the mining area to the nearest power grid; the distance to water sources is defined as the straight-line distance from the center of the mining area to the nearest water source; and the utility conditions refer to whether the mining area has rivers, lakes, or external water conduits that can assist the dissolution and conversion of the solid soluble potassium salt ore deposit in the mining process. 25 A further improvement is as follows: in Step 1, a method for checking whether the parameters meet the preset thresholds for the external conditions is provided.defined as follows: if the following conditions are met simultaneously: the straight-line distance to the national or provincial highway is ≤ 10 km, the distance to the power grid is ≤ 10 km, the distance to the water source is ≤ 50 km, and the mining area has 30 supply conditions that support dissolution and conversion, the minimum industrial content of solid KCl and liquid KCl in the industrial reassessment indicators will be reduced; if any of the conditions are not met, the industrial reassessment indicators will be maintained or increased. A further improvement is as follows: in step 1, the assessment of the 35 supply conditions also includes an assessment of the stability of the water source and the suitability of the water quality, whereby stability is assessed on the basis of a minimum guaranteed flow rate of the supply source or a continuous water supply capacity of the water conduits from historical hydrological data,and the suitability of the water quality is assessed by the level of impurities in the water and their effects on the dissolution and conversion process5. A further improvement is as follows: In Step 2, a method for verifying whether the key geological and hydrogeological parameters meet the geological thresholds is defined as follows: if the water storage capacity of the pressurized brine aquifer reaches a mean or higher value of 10, or only a potential brine deposit is present, or the depth of the aquifer bottom is <200m, or the chemical type of the brine is chloride, or the solid soluble potassium chloride ore deposit is present and is located on the same layer as the potential brine, if one or a combination of these conditions is met, then the minimum industrial content of solid KCl and 15 liquid KCl in the industrial reassessment indicators is reduced; if none of the conditions are met,The original industrial key performance indicators will be retained. A further improvement is as follows: a determination of the chemical type of the brine also includes an analysis of the content of other components besides KCl in the brine and a comprehensive evaluation is carried out in combination with a chemical compatibility of the dissolution and conversion process in order to further refine an adjustment range of the industrial key performance indicators. A further improvement is as follows: In step 3, the recording of the actual production data of the mine includes the following: an annual quantity of brine extracted, a quantity of brine pumped into the salt pans, an average 25 KCl content of the brine in the salt pans, a quantity of primary products dried in the salt pans, a quantity of primary products delivered to the processing plants, a production quantity of finished potash fertilizer, a KCl content of the finished potash fertilizer, and total production cost data from brine extraction to finished potash fertilizer.and through statistics and accounting, a database for production efficiency30 is created. A further improvement is as follows: in step 3, a method for back-calculating the KCl content in the brine at the break-even point is defined as follows: based on the production efficiency database, the original KCl content of the brine, which is selected for the salt pans under profitable conditions, is determined by an inverted cost-benefit analysis model35 and used as the main reference for the minimum industrial content, and the inverted cost-benefit analysis model also takes into account the effects of market price fluctuations, capacity utilization, and investments for environmental protection at the break-even point. A further improvement is as follows: in step 3, a method for determining the limit is defined as follows: the KCl content in the old brine of the mine is statistically recorded, and twice this content is set as the limit for KCl; at the same time, the limit is dynamically adjusted.by taking into account the comprehensive utilization benefits and resource utilization potential of other valuable components of the old brine. A further improvement is as follows: for mining areas that have conditions for dissolution and conversion, a method for determining the minimum industrial content for solid KCl is defined as follows: through systematic water solubility tests, the dissolution rate and conversion efficiency of the solid soluble potassium salt ore deposits are determined at different temperatures, concentrations, and flow rates; in combination with an economic analysis, a threshold value for the recoverable content is established; and the industrial indicators for the solid soluble potassium salt ore deposit are optimized by simulating the resource recovery rate under different mining scenarios. The advantageous effects of the present invention are as follows: the present invention overcomes the limitations of traditional resource valuation,which is based exclusively on established geological content limits. Through the development of a three-stage, coupled and comprehensive evaluation system that considers external framework conditions, geological and hydrological characteristics as well as the actual economic viability of production, it enables an intelligent, dynamic adjustment of the industrial key figures. Based on the external infrastructure of the 25 mining area,Depending on geological conditions, production costs, and market factors, the industrial indicators can be scientifically lowered or maintained. This significantly improves the economic utilization of low-grade potash resources in light of the general decline in resource content. At the same time, the evaluation results are aligned with actual mining conditions and processing by incorporating specific tests on dissolution and conversion processes as well as economic back-calculation models. Furthermore, the present invention, through the dynamic correction of the limiting content in conjunction with the resource potential of the old brine, takes into account both resource utilization efficiency and environmental protection, thus providing systematic technical support and precise decision-making for the sustainable development of potash resources. DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING Fig. 1 is a flowchart,that the method for determining industrial key figures5 for the re-evaluation of potash resources based on external boundary conditions of the mining area according to the present invention is illustrated. DETAILED DESCRIPTION The technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention are described in detail and completely below with reference to the attached drawings. Of course, the described embodiments represent only some, but not all, embodiments of the present invention. All further embodiments that become known to a person skilled in the art without inventive step based on the embodiment of the present invention fall within the scope of protection of the present invention. The Qaidam Basin is an important production base for potash salt in China, and its sustainable development and use of resources are of strategic importance for national food security. However, due to years of mining, the potash salt content of the brine has continuously decreased.so that traditional static geological indicators can scientifically support resource assessment and development decision-making. The determination of industrial indicators for potash is based mainly on fixed exploration specifications in both existing technologies and focuses on the geological grade of the resources. Important influencing factors such as the external development conditions of the mining area (e.g., roads, power grids, water sources), the adaptability of the mining processes (e.g., dissolution and conversion), and the current economic viability of production are neglected. This one-dimensional assessment method often leads to large quantities of low-grade resources in mining areas with weak infrastructure or high mining costs being incorrectly classified as economically worthless. At the same time, it is unable toto dynamically and precisely adapt industrial indicators to changing resource conditions in old mining areas. Therefore, it is urgently necessary to establish a method for reassessing potash resources that integrates several factors and has dynamic adaptation capabilities to improve resource utilization and support scientific decision-making and sustainable industrial development. In this embodiment, the "straight-line distance" is calculated using a Geographic Information System (GIS) based on the coordinates of the center of the mining area and the coordinates of the target element.5 It should be noted that the technical means not described in detail in the following embodiments are all means known to those skilled in the art, do not constitute the core of the present invention, and are therefore not explained in more detail. In relation to,

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