Ganzi launches crackdown on illegal mining of mineral resources

Ganzi Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in Sichuan Province recently held a video conference to deploy a special campaign against illegal mining of rare earth, gold, tungsten, sand-gravel, and other mineral resources.

The campaign will proceed in two phases. From June to November, a concentrated investigation and rectification phase will involve comprehensive grid-by-grid inspections across the entire prefecture, coupled with joint law enforcement and a whistleblower reward program. In December, authorities will conduct a review and summary of the operation.

During the video conference, the prefecture's Natural Resources and Planning Bureau, Public Security Bureau, and Water Resources Bureau reported on earlier progress and outlined next steps. They emphasized the need to leverage big data to strengthen the connection between administrative enforcement and criminal justice. The crackdown will focus on rare earth, gold, tungsten, and sand-gravel minerals, with thorough sweeps of mining sites, old adits, abandoned mining areas, closed mines, sand-gravel processing yards, and agricultural or breeding sites. Authorities vow to rigorously combat illegal activities, reinforce corrective measures, and strengthen source controls to ensure the campaign's effectiveness, safeguarding the prefecture's mineral resources and ecological security.