Since the launch of a new round of land resources surveying by the Ministry of Land Resources (MLR) at the beginning of the 21st century increased, and the Chinese government has been increasing investment in domestic geological prospecting. In the survey, China has carried out basic, public and strategic surveys and evaluation on mineral resources in an all-around way across the country, making great breakthroughs in terms of geological prospecting and discovering a number of large and super-large deposits. Although global investment in mineral prospecting declined in 2009 as a result of the financial crisis, China’s investment in basic geological surveys and solid mineral prospecting increased to RMB 27.7 billion, up 17.5% over the previous year. In 2010, the Chinese government again increased its investment in mineral prospecting significantly. Over the next few years, China’s proven mineral reserves are expected to increase, thus providing new bases for production of industrial raw materials in the future.
Major areas for metal mineral prospecting in this geological survey are as follows - the Three River Area (southwestern China), Yarlung Zangbo River, Kunlun Mountain, Tianshan Mountain, Qinling Mountain, Qilian Mountain, Greater Khingan Mountains and Nanling Mountains. The guiding principles of this survey include prospecting for new large and super-large deposits in western China, prospecting for concealed deposits and deep deposits in central and eastern China, and prospecting for deep deposits in traditional mining areas and neighborhoods.
Funding sources for China’s mineral prospecting include the central government (including mineral resources compensation fee), local government (including mineral resources compensation fee), and companies and institutions (including foreign-invested enterprises).
Written by Nicolas Yang
