(4) Discuss the basic experience of geological work development.

Since the establishment of the first national geological survey institution in the world, the development of geological work in various countries has the same development experience, which is hereby put forward for discussion with readers.

1. Geological work is the basic work of national economic and social development.

Industrialization takes mineral resources as the most important material basis. No matter which country and its economic system, economic and social development needs mineral resources as the basis of industrial development. Geological work has made due contributions to solving the problems of mineral resources safety and major engineering construction. Therefore, geological work plays a leading role in economic construction, and at the same time runs through the whole process of construction and extends to many fields of economic and social development. Give full play to the advanced, all-round and wide-ranging service functions of geological work, make it more closely adapt to the needs of economic and social development, and make geological work produce greater vitality under the new historical conditions.

After entering the post-industrialization stage, environmental problems have become more prominent. Developed countries have made structural adjustments in geological work to better meet the needs of economic and social development. Therefore, from the deployment of geological work, we must consider the problems of resources and environment as a whole, solve the problems of mineral resources at the same time, and avoid taking the old road of pre-industrialized countries.

2. The separation of public welfare and commercial geological work is a feature of the market economic system.

Geological work has both the attributes of investigation and socio-economy. Therefore, the development of geological work should not only follow the laws of geological work itself, but also follow the laws of market economy. It is a characteristic of market economy system that public welfare and commercial geological work run separately. Under this system, commercial geological work is operated as an enterprise and developed through profit, thus promoting the national economic development; The commonweal geological work has laid the foundation for the commercial geological work and reduced the risk.

In particular, it should be pointed out that the public welfare and commercial geological work system in western developed countries was formed in the process of exploration and practice of 100 years. When discussing this foreign system, we should pay attention to three points: First, it is mature and effective, at least there is no second system to replace it at present. Second, it is highly internationalized. The mining laws of different countries may be different, but the market model of exploration activities is basically the same, so this commercial exploration system is a global system rather than a national system. Most of the mining companies and exploration companies in market economy countries are global fund-raising and global exploration companies. Only by operating in this mode can we realize the global allocation of exploration elements, especially mineral resources elements. This shows that if a country establishes its own independent commercial exploration system, it is difficult to enter the international mineral exploration market, although this system can operate at home. Third, although the geological work system in the United States is very perfect, it still cannot be said that the US Geological Survey is undertaking purely public welfare tasks. As far as mineral work is concerned, the extent to which geological survey institutions do this depends entirely on the national demand and the degree of state control over the work.

3. Mineral resources exploration has always been an important part of geological work.

From the early stage of industrialization, to the middle stage of industrialization, and then to the post-industrial era, the demand for mineral resources has been very strong all over the world. Taking the United States and other countries as examples, this paper briefly discusses the consumption law of mineral resources in the process of industrialization, so as to explore the development law of geological work in different stages of industrialization. Due to the limitation of data, only the demand for mineral resources in industrialization stage and post-industrialization stage is given here. Figure 2-3 shows the total energy consumption, total output and import volume of the United States from 1947 to 200 1. As can be seen from the figure, the demand for energy in the United States has increased year by year, but in some years, such as 1975, 1982 ~ 1983, it has slightly decreased. The increase is different at different stages. Since the 1980s, energy demand has remained strong.

Figure 2-3 Total Energy Consumption, Total Output and Imports in the United States

(According to the data of the US Geological Survey)

1J=9.485× 10-4 British thermal units.

Figure 2-4 shows the changing trend of average energy consumption intensity in eight countries and developed countries. The consumption intensity here refers to the amount of resources invested in creating unit GDP, which is expressed by the amount of resources consumed by GDP of one million dollars. The intensity of energy consumption varies greatly among countries, but the evolution law is basically the same, that is, it shows a trend from discrete to consistent. From 1960 to 1973, the energy consumption intensity of various countries continued to rise, and then slowly decreased and remained at a high level. After 1973, these countries entered the post-industrialization stage to varying degrees, and the energy consumption intensity decreased.

Figure 2-4 Trend of Energy Consumption Intensity in Major Developed Countries

(According to Wang et al., 2002)

Figure 2-5 shows the relationship between consumption and output of major metals (copper, zinc, iron and aluminum) in the United States from 1900 to 2002. Judging from the consumption of copper and zinc, it is very similar. Although there are ups and downs, it can be roughly divided into three stages. The first stage is from 1900 to 1932. At this stage, the consumption of copper and zinc in the United States increased steadily, but the growth rate was relatively slow and fluctuated greatly, mainly due to the increase in demand for mineral products during the First World War. By the early 1930s, due to the economic crisis, the demand for metal minerals in the United States dropped sharply. From 1933 to 1976, it is another period of steady increase, with an average increase slightly larger than that of the previous stage and reaching a higher peak. Among them, the second world war caused a sharp increase in metal consumption. From 1977 to 2003, it entered a new stage. The remarkable feature of this stage is that the consumption of copper and zinc has a new cycle, and the consumption of zinc has declined. The consumption change of iron also showed three similar stages, but from 1980, the demand for iron was relatively stable and at a low consumption level. In terms of aluminum consumption, from 1946, although there are ups and downs, it is generally in an upward process.

In terms of output, the output and consumption of various metals generally increase simultaneously. Before the 1960s, the output of major metals in the United States could basically meet the consumer demand, but since the 1940s, copper has been difficult to meet the demand in the United States. After the 1970s, the domestic production of these metals in the United States dropped sharply. After 1990s, the output of zinc and iron was at a stable low level.

At the same time, due to the implementation of the global mineral resources strategy, the United States has more opportunities to obtain mineral resources through foreign imports or overseas development, thus reducing its domestic metal production. In fact, the factors affecting the relationship between metal production and consumption in the United States are complex. For example, in 1965, a large number of porphyry copper mines were discovered and mined in the United States, which increased the copper production in the United States. The application of solvent extraction electrodeposition technology has greatly improved the output of copper. In the past 20 years, after implementing the global mineral resources strategy, the United States has made strategic reserves of strategic mineral resources such as oil, which is also one of the influencing factors.

Figure 2-5 Evolution of Consumption and Output of Major Metals in the United States with Time

From the perspective of consumption intensity, the consumption intensity of copper in the United States reached its peak in the 1920s, and then plummeted and stabilized in the 1990s. The consumption intensity trends of steel and zinc are consistent, with zinc reaching its peak in the mid-11930 s and steel reaching its peak in the early11940 s. The consumption intensity of aluminum reached its peak in the late 1970s, then declined rapidly, and then rose rapidly after 1990s (Figure 2-6).

Fig. 2-6 100 shows the changing trend of consumption intensity of major metals in the United States.

(quoted from Wang, 2002)

1973 after the "oil crisis", countries all over the world pay more attention to energy conservation and improve energy utilization. After developed countries 1973, the intensity of energy consumption has a great relationship with this.

After entering the post-industrialization stage, there is still a strong demand for mineral resources in the economic and social development of developed countries represented by the United States. Only because of the progress of science and technology, the consumption of mineral resources per unit GDP has declined (Figure 2-6), but the change of energy consumption has been steadily increasing. Therefore, mineral exploration has always been an important part of geological work. Although environmental geological survey and evaluation have been paid more and more attention in recent years due to the prominent environmental problems, it has not affected the status of mineral exploration at all.

4. Relying on scientific and technological progress to improve the level of geological work.

With the progress of science and technology, geological work has expanded the work connotation, shortened the work cycle, changed the service mode, greatly improved the level of geological work and promoted the transformation from traditional geological work to modern geological work.

The application of high technology, first of all, is the application and development of remote sensing technology, which provides a regional geological survey technology with rapid coverage, repeated observation and research, and broad vision. The application of this technology can greatly improve the work efficiency of geological mapping, especially in remote areas with very difficult working conditions; Secondly, the application of information technology, the whole process of geological mapping from information collection, management to service is informationized, which greatly shortens the cycle of geological map publication and revision, and can realize on-demand mapping; Third, the development and application of modern geophysical and geochemical exploration technology has expanded the depth and breadth of geological survey and greatly shortened the prospecting period (Figure 2-2). The application of modern high technology enables us to conduct marine geological survey, explore and develop marine mineral resources, and explore, develop and utilize non-traditional mineral resources.