A press conference is held by the Ministry of Natural Resources on January 14, 2025. The event focuses on the significant achievements of the new round of mineral exploration breakthrough strategic actions. Photo: Lin Xiaoyi/GT

The Ministry of Natural Resources announced on Tuesday that driven by a new round of strategic initiatives aimed at breakthroughs in mineral exploration, China has achieved a series of significant breakthroughs in mineral discovery. These developments have markedly improved the domestic security of critical and scarce minerals, as well as strategic emerging minerals. 

As a result of these advancements, China's self-sufficiency in essential minerals has significantly increased, reinforcing the foundation for energy resource security and bolstering the nation's capacity to address risks and challenges in the energy and resource sectors, the Global Times learned from the press conference the ministry held on Tuesday. 

Xiong Zili, director of the Geological Exploration and Management Department of the Ministry of Natural Resources introduced at the press conference that 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 record high in the past decade.

Data released by the ministry indicates that in 2024, China achieved a series of new breakthroughs in energy exploration. The exploration and development of deep coal bed gas entered a fast track with the proved geological reserves exceeding 500 billion cubic meters. For example, the country discovered the world's first ultra-deepwater, ultra-shallow large gas field, with newly confirmed geological reserves of natural gas exceeding 100 billion cubic meters. Additionally, 10 oil fields with a production capacity of over 100 million tons and 19 gas fields with a capacity of over 100 billion cubic meters were newly discovered in the country. 

At the same time, China's uranium mineral resources significantly increased, with the discovery of 10 large uranium deposits, including a super-large uranium mine found in Jingchuan, Northwest China's Gansu Province.

China is the world's largest manufacturing country and also the largest producer and consumer of mineral resources, with bulk minerals serving as the foundation of its manufacturing sector. In recent years, China has made significant breakthroughs in the exploration of bulk minerals such as copper, aluminum, and iron, leading to substantial increases in resource reserves, Xiong said, citing that it is predicted that copper resources in Southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region alone exceed 100 million tons, which is expected to become a world-class copper resource base.

In recent years, China has also made significant breakthroughs in minerals related to strategic emerging industries such as lithium, zirconium, hafnium, helium, and rare earths, providing strong resource support for the security of the supply chain in these strategic emerging fields. 

"In 2024, China's lithium resources increased by over 30 percent, making the country a 'stabilizer' in the international lithium market," Xiong said.

Xiong also pointed out that China has newly discovered 85,000 tons of zircon resources and over 1,000 tons of hafnium resources, laying an important resource foundation for industries such as electronics, nuclear energy, aerospace, and healthcare.