The earthwork of a beryllium smeltery, believed to be the fifth of its kind in the world, has been completed in Fuyun County in northern Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, northwest China.

Workers are busy installing and testing equipment at the 50-million-yuan (6-million-US dollars) smeltery and operation is scheduled to begin in November. The annual production of the plant is designed at 100 tons of beryllium oxide and 800 tons of beryllium-copper alloy.

Beryllium, also known as metallic glass, is a deoxidizer and additive applicable for producing many kinds of alloys. It is widely used in the fields of electronics, power, petroleum and chemistry.

The beryllium reserve in Fuyun County makes up 70 percent of the total reserve in China. Some 31,300 tons of beryllium ore has been exploited in one mine alone.

Source: Xinhua