Northwest China's Gansu Province has significantly strengthened its mineral resource base status by identifying 151 types of minerals and verifying resource reserves for 105 of them, according to a report by the China News Service, citing a senior provincial official.

Wang Xu, vice governor of Gansu, introduced the data at a press conference on Tuesday, noting that Gansu, widely known as China's "hometown of nonferrous metals," ranks first nationwide in reserves of 13 minerals, including nickel, platinum, palladium, and ruthenium. In addition, 51 types of mineral resources in the province rank among the top five in China.

Gansu has been intensifying a new round of strategic mineral exploration breakthroughs in recent years, accelerating the conversion of resource advantages into economic strength and development momentum, Wang said.

During the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25) period, Gansu invested 5.565 billion yuan ($814.75 million) in mineral exploration, leading to the discovery of a hundred-million-ton-level oilfield, a super-large uranium deposit, and 35 medium-sized to large mineral sites including antimony, gold, and magnesium dolomite.

In terms of the commercialization of exploration results, the province transferred 755 mining rights during the period, with a total transaction value of 61.656 billion yuan, driving more than 100 billion yuan in investment and generating more than 300 billion yuan in new industrial output, officials said during the conference.

Gansu's mining sector and related raw material processing industries have maintained annual revenues of more than 700 billion yuan, accounting for roughly two-thirds of the province's large-scale industrial enterprise revenue, with the sector's role as an economic "ballast" becoming increasingly prominent.

On green transformation and high-end upgrading, Wang said that Gansu has promoted coordinated development of resource exploitation and environmental protection, improved standards and evaluation systems for green mining, said Wang, noting that the province has also deployed 2.72 billion yuan in loans, built 194 green mines, and restored 137,500 mu (9,166.67 hectares) of abandoned mining land through ecological rehabilitation.

Gansu has also launched a high-end nonferrous materials development campaign, focusing on building hundred-billion-yuan-level industrial chains in nickel-cobalt and high-quality copper and aluminum processing, upgrading high-end special steel manufacturing, and developing industries in rare, scattered, and rare-earth metals as well as precious metals such as gold, according to the press conference.

Mineral resources are fundamental raw materials for economic development and a key pillar of national economic security, Li Changan, an economist at the University of International Business and Economics, told the Global Times on Wednesday.

On April 29, China's Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) released the latest national mineral resource data, showing that China ranks first globally in reserves of 14 minerals, including rare earths, tungsten, gallium, germanium, and graphite. In 2025, China also led the world in output of 17 minerals, including coal, rare earths, gold, and tellurium, according to the Xinhua News Agency.

Against the backdrop of global supply chain volatility and a complex external environment, advancing self-reliance and controllability in mineral resources is of strategic importance, said Li, adding that the continued expansion of mineral exploration efforts will provide a stronger foundation and strategic safeguard for China's long-term high-quality industrial and economic development.

During the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-30) period, the MNR will continue to advance new rounds of strategic mineral exploration breakthroughs, focusing on key minerals in short supply such as copper, iron, lithium, cobalt, and nickel, while consolidating China's advantages in rare earths, tungsten, and tin, said an official with the ministry's geological exploration and mining management department in a regular press conference in April.