Growing up in a small village in Ganzhou—known as the “Tungsten Capital of the World”—Yan Huashan, now head of the Mineral Processing Engineering Department at Jiangxi University of Science and Technology, has always been close to the land and its minerals. It was this connection that led him to pursue a degree in Mineral Processing Engineering, and after ten years of study through bachelor’s, master’s, and PhD programs, his resolve only grew stronger: he would devote his life to making mining cleaner, smarter, and more sustainable.
A formative experience during an undergraduate internship at a copper mine left a deep mark. Standing before a vast tailings pond—a stark “scar” left by mineral extraction—he asked a veteran worker what would happen when the pond reached capacity. The man shook his head helplessly: “We find another place. The production can’t stop.”
That’s when the idea took root: What if we could turn this waste into value?
During his doctoral studies, Yan joined a national key R&D project focused on large-scale recycling of solid waste from mining operations. The goal was ambitious: repurpose copper tailings as raw material for construction. But experts were skeptical—the sulfur content was simply too high.
Undaunted, Yan and his team identified the core issue: ineffective desulfurization of pyrite during processing. After more than seven months and over a thousand experiments, they finally made a breakthrough. A novel activating agent enabled deep desulfurization of copper tailings, clearing the way for large-scale utilization.
In 2020, a comprehensive processing plant capable of handling 2.5 million tons of copper tailings annually was built at Chengmenshan Copper Mine. What was once considered waste is now a highly sought-after raw material in the building materials market across the Yangtze River Basin.
Looking ahead, Yan and his team remain committed to their mission: “We will continue writing our research papers not only in journals—but across the mines of our nation. With science and technology, we’re helping build a greener, more beautiful China.”
