bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

moreOnThisArticles

urlAlias

commentCount

sponsorType

authorLocations

authors

paywallTypes

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

socialHeadline

headline

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

publishedDate

additionalInfoBoxes

images

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

createdDate

sponsor

factSheets

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

copyrighted

customTimezone

liveContents

Meredith Chen

China added major gains to its critical mineral reserves and discovered more mineral deposits last year as it ramped up efforts to boost self-reliance and energy security, according to the Ministry of Natural Resources.
Increased investment had led to “significant breakthroughs” in oil and gas exploration, while “substantial progress” was made in mineral resources, resulting in 124 new mineral deposits discovered last year, the ministry said in a report on Tuesday.
In the past year, China saw considerable growth in reserves of strategic minerals such as fluorite and crystalline graphite, the report indicated.
The full annual 2023 assessment of China’s mineral resources has not been made public, but a few details have been released by the ministry and media.


Critical minerals are commodities found in a wide variety of ore deposits that are considered vital to economic or national security and are vulnerable to supply disruption.
In 2021, Beijing launched a 15-year strategy to make “breakthroughs” in mining exploration, aiming to increase reserves and production to boost self-reliance and ensure domestic energy security.
“China is focused on strategically important minerals that are in short supply … vigorously advancing technological innovations, and continuously seeking large, high-quality, and urgently needed mineral deposits,” the ministry said in an article it posted on social media in September.
Reserves of fluorite, also called fluorspar, rose by 24.4 per cent to around 107 million tonnes in 2023, the report on Tuesday said. The mineral – considered critical in several countries including the United States, Australia, and Japan – can be used in the production of semiconductors and electric vehicle batteries.
China’s crystalline graphite reserves grew by 23.9 per cent to more than 100 million tonnes. The raw mineral is essential in several industries including new energy, nuclear energy, military defence, aerospace and photovoltaics.
Chinese investment in mineral exploration grew for a third consecutive year last year, with more than 110 billion yuan (US$15.5 billion) allotted for 2023, according to the report.
In 2023, four new oilfields were discovered in China, each estimated to have more than 100 million tonnes (746 million barrels) of capacity, in addition to four gas fields with a capacity of over 100 billion cubic metres each, the ministry said in September.
Large mineral deposits recently discovered have “further consolidated China’s advantageous position” in antimony, crystalline graphite, tungsten, and molybdenum, “enhancing the resource security necessary for the development of strategic emerging industries”, according to the ministry.
China has also been expanding geological surveys of maritime and oceanic zones, the ministry said on Tuesday.
Chinese President Xi Jinping has repeatedly stressed that the domestic hunt for resources is vital to “the national economy, people’s livelihoods, and national security”. China is a major producer, consumer and trader of mineral-based products.
China aimed to improve its capabilities “to rapidly expand production in extreme situations”, the ministry said.
Reserves of sylvite, commonly used for producing a chemical fertiliser to boost crop quality and yields, and thus considered crucial for food security, grew by 15.3 per cent to more than 332 million tonnes last year.
Over the last year, Beijing has also tightened its grip on critical mineral shipments, including antimony, gallium, germanium and graphite, raising concerns in industries such as semiconductors, electric vehicles and defence, which rely heavily on the materials.
By the end of 2023, reserves of 173 minerals had been discovered in China. According to the ministry, China’s reserves of 45 of those minerals ranked among the highest globally.


China hails mineral finds amid push for security of supply chain, energy and nation

Amid EV row with EU, China to ‘stand on grounds of fair competition’, Mofcom says

China takes aim at energy replacement with plan to rely on renewables, reduce coal use

China fortifies resource security with strategic mineral, energy reserve gains

China energy security

China’s focus on self reliance has produced “significant” gains in the energy and mineral resources, Beijing says. Photo: Xinhua

China’s grip on rare earths undercuts US, Japan and Australia projects

A worker drives a skip loader while working at the site of a rare earth metals mine at Nancheng county, Jiangxi province. Photo: Reuters

A worker walks past sacks of rare earth concentrate waiting to be shipped to Malaysia. Photo: Reuters

US targets China’s rare earths dominance with minerals-security finance network

A wheel-loader operator fills a truck with ore at the MP Materials rare earth mine in Mountain Pass, California. Photo: Reuters

Employees work on an electric-vehicle production line at a factory belonging to Chinese auto company Leapmotor in Jinhua, Zhejiang province, last week. China’s dominance of the EV market has sparked concern in the US. Photo: AFP

US President Joe Biden arrives at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York on Monday to attend the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly. Photo: AP

Ola Electric’s new 4680 lithium-ion battery cells are displayed in a showcase ahead of the company’s IPO launch in Mumbai, India, in July. Lithium-ion batteries are the most popular rechargeable batteries used today. Photo: Reuters

China needs strong mandate to phase out coal by 2045, push clean-energy transition: experts

A worker sorts coal near a mine in Datong, a city in northern Shanxi province. Photo: AFP

Huge chimneys spew smoke at a coal power plant in China. Photo: Shutterstock 

Simon Sharpe, director of S-Curve Economics, a UK-based non-profit research organisation. Photo: UK Solar Summit

Coal unloaded from cargo ships seen at a terminal in Lianyungang, a city in eastern Jiangsu province, on January 22, 2024. Photo: AFP

Two miners walk past a shearer in an underground facility of the Hongliulin Mining Co in northwestern Shaanxi province on April 25, 2023. Photo: AFP

China’s energy playbook success not enough to secure climate goals

A worker sorts coal near a coal mine in Datong, in northern Shanxi province, in November 2021. China has made significant progress in lowering its carbon emissions, but that progress continues to be offset by the growth of the country’s coal sector. Photo: AFP

Canada signals further tariffs on Chinese, batteries, tech and critical minerals

Canada’s Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland holds a news conference in Ottawa, Ontario, in March 202. Photo: Reuters

News

China

Science

Politics

Beijing says drive for self-reliance has led to ‘breakthroughs’ in oil and gas exploration, and progress in ‘urgently needed’ mineral deposits


Beijing says drive for self-reliance has led to ‘breakthroughs’ in oil and gas exploration, and progress in ‘urgently needed’ mineral deposits.
