Anhui province to Boost Mineral Search in 12th Five-Year

Bureau of Geology and Mineral Exploration of Anhui province Thursday announced the province's iron ore output has totalled 260 million tonnes since 2006.

Over the past five years, the province has discovered up to 260 million tonnes of iron ore, 500,000 tonnes of copper, 600,000 tonnes of molybdenum, 200,000 tonnes of tungsten and 2 million tonnes of lead and zinc.

Stretching across three first-level geotectonic units- North China landmass, Dabie Mountain fold belt and Yangtze River landmass, Anhui province is rich in mineral resources with 477 medium and large deposits discovered holding 158 mineral products, 91 of which are proven resources. It ranks 10th in China in terms of recoverable deposits.

The said province is ramping up its mineral exploration efforts during the 11th Five-Year Plan period(2006-2010).

In 2007, the discovery of an iron ore in Lujiang county was listed by Geological Society of China as one of the ten annual prospecting achievements.

A tungsten ore was found a year later in Qimen, Huangshan city, marking the first step toward searching for minerals in South Anhui.

2009 saw the discovery of a 200 billion-yuan molybdenum deposit in Jinzhai county.

"Over the next five years, we intend to launch more mineral exploration projects at home while seeking no less cooperation with overseas counterparts,"said a bureau source.