BEIJING, Sept. 1 (Xinhua) -- China has made a major breakthrough in copper and gold exploration in the eastern province of Anhui, discovering a deposit that could become a large-scale resource base and bolster the country's capacity to secure key mineral supplies.
Photo: CCTV
The Chating copper-gold deposit, located in Xuancheng City, sits in the Nanling-Xuancheng copper-gold district within the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River metallogenic belt, the Ministry of Natural Resources said on Tuesday.
Located in the heart of the Yangtze River Delta, the Chating copper-gold deposit is a recently discovered concealed porphyry deposit beneath volcanic cover, with the potential to reach super-large scale, according to the ministry.
The main ore body measures about 1.2 kilometers in length and 1.1 kilometers in width, with the maximum apparent thickness encountered in a single borehole reaching 1,371 meters.
Preliminary estimates suggest the deposit's potential copper resources exceed the scale of several large copper mines, while its gold resources could surpass the equivalent of more than 10 large gold mines.
Drilling has yet to fully penetrate the deeper sections of the ore body, leaving considerable room for upward revision of resource estimates. Associated silver and sulfur resources could also be recovered and utilized.
If developed, the deposit is expected to become a super-large copper-gold production base in east China, the ministry said.
Anhui's natural resources authorities began funding and organizing general surveys of the Chating area in 2008, with a survey report submitted in 2018.
In September 2025, the exploration right for the Chating copper polymetallic prospect was offered through a public listing. Tibet Yulong Copper Co., Ltd. secured the right the following month for 8.6 billion yuan (about 1.27 billion U.S. dollars). The company then stepped up exploration investment and completed nearly 100,000 meters of drilling within four months, the ministry said.
The Chating discovery is part of a broader upswing in mineral exploration across China. During the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-2025), the country identified 398 new large and medium-sized strategic mineral deposits, including oil and gas fields, with historic breakthroughs in bulk minerals such as copper, gold and potash, the ministry added.
China is also stepping up efforts to expand its domestic copper resource base. Under an implementation plan for high-quality development of the copper industry for 2025-2027, the country aims to increase its copper ore reserves by 5 percent to 10 percent by 2027.
The plan calls for intensified exploration in key copper metallogenic belts, the addition of more copper reserves available for development, the development of copper resource bases in key regions, and the construction of a number of new large and medium-sized copper mines.
Similar efforts are moving forward in the gold sector. Under an implementation plan for high-quality development of the gold industry for 2025-2027, China's gold resources are expected to increase by 5 percent to 10 percent during the period, while gold and silver output will grow by more than 5 percent.
The plan also calls for stepped-up geological exploration in key western areas and in the deep and peripheral zones of existing large and medium-sized mines. The copper-gold polymetallic resource area along the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River is listed among the plan's key exploration regions.