Exploration rights transfer in China up by 194.1% in Jan-Aug

A total of 459 exploration rights were transferred in China in 2023, up by 26.8% YoY, and that in the first eight months of 2024 totaled 868, up by 194.1% YoY, including 528 exploration rights for strategic minerals, surging by 254.4% YoY, as the country steps up efforts in mineral exploration to bolster reserves and production, according to the Ministry of Natural Resources.

Last year, China discovered four 100-million-tonne oil fields and four 100-billion-cubic-meter gas fields, reinforced its advantages of minerals such as tungsten, molybdenum, antimony, crystalline graphite and phosphate, and achieved major breakthroughs in finding minerals like lithium, cobalt and nickel.

In its push for green mineral exploration, China has built more than 1,000 national-level green mines and over 3,100 provincial-level green mines.