BEIJING -
China will place an emphasis on prospecting
energy-bearing minerals and non-conventional
energies in the future, especially oil and gas,
coal, uranium and CBM (coal-bed methanol).
According to the decision on geological
work made recently by the State Council, China
will give priority to the prospecting of oil-and
gas-bearing basins in Bohai Bay, Songliao, Tarim
and Ordus. For coal, China will speed up the
survey on large-scale coal bases in Shaanxi province, Shanxi province, and Shandong and Anhui provinces. In
addition, the country will beef up its efforts in
prospecting new uranium
mines, and carry on the prospecting and evaluation
of such non-conventional energy sources as CBM,
oil shale, oil sands and natural gas hydrates.
As for non-energy minerals, China will
continue to stress prospecting for such minerals
as iron, copper, aluminum, zinc, manganese,
nickel, tungsten, tin, sylvite, and gold; and the
prospecting of metallogenic belts in such key
areas as the Sanjiang Area (Jinsha River, Lancang
River, Nujiang River) in southwest China, along
the Brahmaputra in the Tibet Autonomous Region,
Tianshan Mountains, Nanling Mountains, and Da
Hinggan Mountains. China will also encourage
commercial prospecting in order to establish a
group of mineral bases.
