[Ferro-Alloys.com] A major breakthrough in manganese exploration has been achieved in Maowanli, Southwest China's Sichuan Province, where geologists have confirmed 6.067 million tons of manganese ore within just one square kilometer of space, China Media Group (CMG) reported on Wednesday.

Manganese is a critical strategic mineral, primarily used in steel industry and other fields.

According to the CMG, after a long period of exploration, the Maowanli project explored 4.628 million tons of manganese ore inferred resources within the survey area. Additionally, geologists estimated another 1.439 million tons in an unexplored area adjacent to the southern mining region, bringing the total inferred reserves to 6.067 million tons.

Remarkably, within just 1 square kilometer in Maowanli, the project team discovered over 6 million tons of manganese ore resources. The single ore body reached a medium-sized scale, resolving the perplexities and challenges that had plagued manganese ore exploration in the northwestern Sichuan region for over 50 years, thereby expanding the ore's prospecting potential in the area, the report said.

Between 2011 and 2020, China launched the mineral exploration breakthrough action. During the period, the country added 10.1 billion tons of petroleum resources and 6.85 trillion cubic meters of natural gas resources. The effort led to the discovery of 17 oilfields with reserves exceeding 100 million tons and 21 gas fields with reserves surpassing 100 billion cubic meters.

Additionally, China expanded its mineral reserve by adding 526.8 billion tons of coal and 3.49 million tons of nickel resources, establishing 32 new non-oil and gas resource bases, CMG reported.

Despite the achievements of the mineral exploration breakthrough initiatives, some key mineral resources still exhibit high external dependence. Therefore, the Ministry of Natural Resources, in collaboration with relevant departments, has jointly organized and implemented a new round of mineral exploration breakthrough actions, aiming to enhance China's self-sufficiency capacity in energy and mineral resources, safeguarding national economic security and strategic needs.

China's latest mineral exploration efforts have yielded impressive results, CMG reported on February 14. Among them, a total of 10 large-scale or above uranium deposits were identified, with significant growth in reserves of 12 mineral resources, including copper, gold, gallium, germanium, and indium.

China has also achieved significant breakthroughs in strategic minerals exploration, including lithium, zirconium, hafnium, helium, and rare-earth elements. This provides strong resource protection for the industrial chain and supply chain security of China's new energy, new materials, aerospace and aviation and other emerging industries, the report said.

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• [Editor:tianyawei]