China has made significant strides in mineral exploration this year, discovering over 80 new mineral deposits and boosting proven geological reserves by roughly 2.5 billion metric tonnes of ore equivalent, up about 20 percent year on year, the China Mining Association said on Thursday.
According to the association's newly-released annual report on China's mining industry, around 70 percent of the newly-discovered mineral sites are expected to hold medium or large deposits.
China has been at the forefront of global lithium exploration, with its share of world lithium reserves expected to hit around 20 percent, said the report.
China's bauxite reserves are expected to grow by roughly 300 million metric tonnes, coal reserves by about 12 billion metric tonnes, crude oil reserves by more than one billion metric tonnes. Reserves of other key minerals, including tungsten, tin, and phosphate, are projected to grow by 25 percent year on year.
"These new reserves can ease the pressure on China's mineral imports and help optimize China's mineral structure. Now the strategic minerals account for over 40 percent of the total. The growth rate of strategic emerging minerals has reached over 50 percent, far outpacing the traditional ones, which provides high-quality feedstock for the mining-industry chain and pushes forward the shift from resource dependence to value-driven growth," said Cheng Liwei, head of the China Mining Association.
China discovers over 80 new mineral deposit sites in 2025
