China has opened 120 major mines since 1995 at a cost of 23.6
billion yuan (US$2.9 billion), according to the country's first
national report on land resources, published Tuesday.
According to the document, the country unearthed 157 new mineral
varieties by the end of last year. The new findings have boosted
the estimated reserves of China's major minerals.
For example, the estimated reserve of coal is 760 million tons,
while oil, natural gas and iron are respectively 1.1 billion tons,
441.1 billion tons and 102 million tons.
The new supplies will greatly fuel the country's future economic
growth, said Pan Wencan, director of the Planning Department of the
Ministry of
Land and Resources.
The output value of the country's mining industry continued to
increase in 2002 and is expected to reach 508.5 billion yuan
(US$61.4 billion) when figures for the entire nation are
tallied.
Meanwhile, China's domestic production of minerals increased. The
output of crude oil increased to 167 million tons in 2002 from the
previous year's 165 million tons, while figures for 10 major
nonferrous metals increased to 10.21 million tons from 8.83 million
tons.
However, Pan admitted China's mineral resources still cannot
completely meet the demands of the country's fast economic
development.
According to the paper, 30 of the country's 45 major mineral
resources experienced reductions in reserve levels. A report from
the Chinese Academy
of Geological Sciences indicates the 30 minerals include iron,
aluminium ore, manganese and sylvite.
"The country's trade deficit in minerals worsened last year," said
Pan.
He
said apart from copper, the import volumes of other minerals all
increased in 2002. While the imported crude oil reached 69.41
million tons last year, imported iron ores amounted to 112 million
tons.
Pan believed last year's decrease in the import volume of copper
was largely due to the discovery of a rich copper mine in the
eastern Tianshan Mountains in Northwest China's Xinjiang
Uygur Autonomous Region, which is the largest in China and
estimated to have nearly 10 million tons of high-quality copper.
"In addition, more aluminous alloy and stainless steel have been
used instead of copper," he said.
As
one of the biggest copper importers in the world, China imported
about half of its copper in 2001, related statistics indicate.
Imports decreased by 8.4 percent last year.
The report also published some other important facts regarding the
country's land use changes, the development situation of marine
industries, the accomplishment of national geological surveys, and
the progress of the prevention and treatment of such geological
disasters as mudslides.
(China Daily April 4, 2003)