Chinese geologists claim to have discovered a record-smashing 1,000-tonne deposit of gold in the country’s northeast, following last year’s find of over $80bn (£63bn) worth of the precious metal.
Researchers say China’s advanced mineral prospecting technology is facilitating the discovery of these massive deposits, which are among the largest in the world.
Gold enables countries to protect their economies amid global financial fluctuation and is also used in the development of batteries and electronics.
While China is the world’s largest gold producer, with an output reaching nearly 380 tonnes by 2024, its proven gold deposits are still behind those of South Africa and Australia.
Discoveries, such as the latest one in the northeastern province of Liaoning, could help the country maintain its competition in gold production.
However, many experts are sceptical about the accuracy of the recent estimates and raise doubts about the quality and mineability of these new deposits.
But China maintains that these are “easy to mine” sites with a high gold recovery rate.
Local news reports claim that the deposit site stretches over 3kmfrom east to west and more than 2.5km from north to south, SCMP reported.
Details of the Liaoning gold deposit discovery were recently published in the journal China Mining Magazine.
This comes days after November’s report of geologists finding an estimated $80bn (£63bn) worth of gold at the Wangu goldfield in Wunan province.
Hunan’s Geological Bureau said it discovered 40 veins on rocks filled with gold, around a mile deep into the ground.
The Bureau said these veins could hold 300 tonnes of gold with more reserves likely at greater depths.
In all, it said there could be over 1,000 tonnes of gold at the site.
Following the discovery, the Hunan Provincial Geological Institute said the find was “significant in helping safeguard the country’s resource security”.
But geologists, including those at the World Gold Council, have called for independent verification and further drilling to confirm these estimates, adding that it could also take years to bring these deposits into production.
These discoveries also bring to focus China’s advancements in gold prospecting technology, experts say.
“Important progress has been made in prospecting, exploration and deposit research,” the team behind the latest discovery wrote.
“In the new round of exploration in 2024, the exploration method of combining general and detailed exploration was adopted. At present, all construction drilling holes have found ore,” it said.
