Wang Min, vice minister of Land and Resources, said yesterday at the China Mining 2007 Conference that the country has recently found several potential prospecting areas and mineral deposits.

He said that the Chinese mining industry has fundamentally strengthened geologic survey and recourse appraisement procedures and also organized various potential prospecting evaluations for oil, natural gas, coal, iron, copper and aluminum.

The Bureau of the China Geological Survey disclosed that it has found quite a few potential prospecting areas and mineral deposits around the Brahmaputra River, as well as along three rivers in southwest China (Jinsha River, Lancang River and Nujiang River), and near Nanling Mountain and Tianshan Mountain.

Wang Min said that many important findings were also discovered during other commercial mine explorations. Two oil fields with over 100 million tons of oil were found respectively in Dongnanbao in Hebei Province and Jiyuan in Shaanxi Province. Gas fields holding over 100 billion cubic meters of gas have been located in Sichuan Province, Shaanxi Province and the South China Sea. Four coalmines with over one billion tons of coal were found in Inner Mongolia and Gansu. Iron mine reserves were also discovered in Hebei, Liaoning, Shandong, Henan, Anhui and Hainan provinces.

He also revealed that a nearly exhausted mine was revived via newly found resources; on average, mines usually are worked for twelve years. The energy crisis has in effect been alleviated. The Central Geological Exploration Foundation has set up 126 projects and altogether 570 million yuan (US$77 million) has been invested. 

China Mining Conference is Asia's premier mining conference and exhibition event, hosted by China's Ministry of Land & Resources. China Mining 2007 is being held at the International Convention Center in Beijing from November 13-15, 2007.

Government officials from more than 30 countries, representatives from more than 400 International Companies and experts and scholars from related fields in finance, trade and science are attending the conference. During the conference leaders from both Chinese and foreign mining industries will present and discuss new developments, investment policies and programs for the Chinese mining industry. Topics cover the entire mining value chain - from equipment and technology to modern exploration techniques and financing.

(China.org.cn by Chen Lin November 14, 2007)