Baiyin in Gansu Province was an important base producing non-ferrous metals in China. This region contains extensive mineral resources characterized by large quantities of ores containing copper, lead, zinc, and iron, with attendant gold, silver and a small quantity of platinoids. A number of very large industrial enterprises were formed for lead zinc, copper, and polymetallic extraction in the 1970s. During a few decades of intensive development metallurgical industries soon occupied a very wide area. Ther...