China sees major progress in latest round of mineral exploration
2025-01-16 16:05:22 [Print]
China has made significant progress in its latest round of strategic mineral exploration campaign launched in 2021, the start of the 14th Five-Year Plan period, according to the Ministry of Natural Resources.
In 2024, the ministry issued a plan for the transfer of exploration rights to local authorities for the first time. More than 1,400 exploration blocks for strategic minerals were provided for the whole year, hitting a new high in the past decade. Approximately 400 billion yuan (54.56 billion U.S. dollars) has been invested in mineral exploration to date since 2021, and the annual investment exceeded 100 billion yuan (13.64 billion U.S. dollars) for two years in a row in 2023 and 2024.
China has made significant breakthroughs in the exploration of bulk minerals such as copper, aluminum, and iron, leading to substantial increases in resource reserves. copper resources in Xizang Autonomous Region alone exceed 100 million tonnes, which is expected to become a world-class copper resource base. The exploration campaign also uncovered 53 million tonnes of bauxite in Guizhou, an estimated 108 million tonnes of bauxite and 144,500 tonnes of gallium in Shanxi, 1.7 billion tonnes of iron ore in Anshan-Benxi, and 2.76 billion tonnes of phosphate rock in the Yangchang-Mangbu region in Yunnan.
China has also made significant strides in exploration of minerals related to strategic emerging industries such as lithium, zirconium, hafnium, and rare earths. The newly discovered West Kunlun-Songpan-Ganzi world-class spodumene type lithium metallogenic belt is estimated to host 30 million tonnes of lithium resources. A one-million-tonne lithium deposit has been identified in Yangjiang, Sichuan, which is believed to be the largest lithium-bearing pegmatite deposit ever discovered in Asia. The Qinghai-Tibet region has become the world's third largest salt lake lithium resource base, with more than 10 million tonnes of lepidolite lithium ore resources newly found. In 2024, China's lithium resources increased by over 30 percent. About 85,000 tonnes of zircon resources and over 1,000 tonnes of hafnium resources were newly discovered. In addition, 1.02 million tonnes of rare earth resources have been newly discovered in Xishan, Shandong, with another 4.96 million tonnes uncovered in Liangshan, Sichuan. A massive ion-absorbed rare earth deposit has been unearthed in Yunnan and is expected to become the biggest heavy rare earth mine in China.
The country also achieved significant increases in mineral resources including tungsten, molybdenum, antimony, fluorite and graphite, further strengthening its resource advantages.
In 2024, the ministry issued a plan for the transfer of exploration rights to local authorities for the first time. More than 1,400 exploration blocks for strategic minerals were provided for the whole year, hitting a new high in the past decade. Approximately 400 billion yuan (54.56 billion U.S. dollars) has been invested in mineral exploration to date since 2021, and the annual investment exceeded 100 billion yuan (13.64 billion U.S. dollars) for two years in a row in 2023 and 2024.
China has made significant breakthroughs in the exploration of bulk minerals such as copper, aluminum, and iron, leading to substantial increases in resource reserves. copper resources in Xizang Autonomous Region alone exceed 100 million tonnes, which is expected to become a world-class copper resource base. The exploration campaign also uncovered 53 million tonnes of bauxite in Guizhou, an estimated 108 million tonnes of bauxite and 144,500 tonnes of gallium in Shanxi, 1.7 billion tonnes of iron ore in Anshan-Benxi, and 2.76 billion tonnes of phosphate rock in the Yangchang-Mangbu region in Yunnan.
China has also made significant strides in exploration of minerals related to strategic emerging industries such as lithium, zirconium, hafnium, and rare earths. The newly discovered West Kunlun-Songpan-Ganzi world-class spodumene type lithium metallogenic belt is estimated to host 30 million tonnes of lithium resources. A one-million-tonne lithium deposit has been identified in Yangjiang, Sichuan, which is believed to be the largest lithium-bearing pegmatite deposit ever discovered in Asia. The Qinghai-Tibet region has become the world's third largest salt lake lithium resource base, with more than 10 million tonnes of lepidolite lithium ore resources newly found. In 2024, China's lithium resources increased by over 30 percent. About 85,000 tonnes of zircon resources and over 1,000 tonnes of hafnium resources were newly discovered. In addition, 1.02 million tonnes of rare earth resources have been newly discovered in Xishan, Shandong, with another 4.96 million tonnes uncovered in Liangshan, Sichuan. A massive ion-absorbed rare earth deposit has been unearthed in Yunnan and is expected to become the biggest heavy rare earth mine in China.
The country also achieved significant increases in mineral resources including tungsten, molybdenum, antimony, fluorite and graphite, further strengthening its resource advantages.
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