A large gold mine with 100 tons of deposits and the life of 80 years has been discovered in Tongbo county, Central China's Henan Province.
Authorities from the Department of Land and Resources of Henan found the gold mine during the exploration for metal mines in Tongbo in mid-September, news site cnr.cn reported Sunday.
The mine is estimated to contain some 100 tons of gold and 120 tons of silver. Other mineral resources such as alkali, lead and zinc have also been discovered at the county, the report said.
According to a Wechat account named "Caijinren" under the China Gold News, the exploration program only involved an investment of 80 million yuan ($11.9 million), and its potential economic return is estimated at 25 billion yuan.
The Bureau of Geo-exploration and Mineral Development of Henan Province predicts that the area has potential to find 200 to 250 tons of gold and 5,000 tons of silver, which will make it the third major gold exploration base in Henan, cnr.cn reported.
Meanwhile, authorities in Northwest China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region announced Sunday that a large lead and zinc deposit, allegedly China's largest, has been discovered in Xinjiang, the Xinhua News Agency reported Sunday.
According to Xinhua, the deposit, with reserves of nearly 19 million tons, is located 5,500 meters above sea level in Hotan county in southern Xinjiang, according to the regional geological and mining bureau.
By 2015, China has 1,265 gold mines with total deposits of 4,265 tons, the seventh-largest in the world, while the country's lead and zinc deposits amount to 3,572 tons and 9,384 tons respectively, the world's fourth-largest, according to chinamining.cn, a trade media website.
A report released by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in 2013 said China has become the world's largest consumer of primary materials, including minerals and metal ore, with domestic material consumption levels four times that of the U.S.
