During the first half of 2025, the country discovered 38 new mineral deposits, an increase of more than 30% year-on-year. Among them, significant breakthroughs were made in the exploration of strategic metals such as uranium, rubidium, gold, cobalt, and manganese, with a batch of large, super-large, and ultra-super-large mineral deposits newly discovered.
According to data released on July 10 by the Office of the New Round of Strategic Action for Mineral Exploration Breakthrough of the Ministry of Natural Resources, these new discoveries include the province's first ultra-large uranium deposit found in Heilongjiang Province; in Xinglong County, Hebei Province, an additional 3.37 million tons of rubidium resources were added, reaching ultra-large scale, further consolidating China's advantage in rubidium resources; in Longhua County, Hebei Province, an additional 27,000 tons of cobalt resources were added, reaching large scale; in Songtao Miao Autonomous County, Guizhou Province, an additional 22.85 million tons of manganese resources were added, reaching large scale; in Tekesi County, Xinjiang, an additional 81 tons of gold resources were added, with cumulative proven reserves approaching 100 tons, reaching ultra-large scale.
Outside of well-known uranium, gold, cobalt, and manganese, rubidium is a rare metal element widely used in high-tech fields such as aerospace, national defense and military industry, information technology, biomedicine, and new energy. Rubidium has relatively low melting and boiling points, which could potentially convert thermal energy directly into electrical energy.
According to preliminary statistics, the total investment in non-oil and gas mineral exploration across the country in the first half of the year reached 6.993 billion yuan, an increase of 23.9% year-on-year. Among them, social capital investment was 3.359 billion yuan, an increase of 28.2%, accounting for 48.0% of the total mineral exploration investment, indicating that enterprises' enthusiasm for investing in mineral exploration is constantly increasing; central and local government funds amounted to 3.634 billion yuan, an increase of 20.1%. From the perspective of mineral types, the investment in the exploration of tin, bauxite, tungsten, copper, and phosphorus increased by more than 50% year-on-year. Since the beginning of this year, the natural resources department has further increased the supply of prospecting rights, and 318 prospecting rights for strategic minerals were issued in the first half of the year. (Reporter Wang Libin)
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