China will spend 30 billion yuan ($4.5 billion) searching for domestic mineral deposits over the next five years in a bid to lessen its reliance on imported products, state media said Sunday.
The government will launch the exploration project in 21 provinces, the official Xinhua news agency quoted Wang Min, vice minister of land and resources, as saying.
Chinese scientists have already discovered more than 900 separate locations with mineral deposits over the past 12 years, the report said.
Five of these could hold five billion tonnes of iron ore, and up to 38.5 million tonnes of copper ore reserves have been discovered in three different areas of China.
"We believe China has great potential for mineral exploration" based on these discoveries, Wang was quoted as saying.
Over the next five years, China should import less than 75 per cent of its copper consumption and less than 50 per cent of its iron ore consumption, the report quoted Chen Renyi of the China Geological Survey as saying.
China to spend $4.5 billion on domestic mineral exploration
China will spend $4.5 billion searching for domestic mineral deposits over the next five years in a bid to lessen its reliance on imported products, state media said.
Source: AFP
