Recently, a large gold deposit was discovered in Xilaokou Village, Yazi Town, Rushan City, with proven gold reserves nearing 50 tons. The deposit was explored by the No. 6 Geological Team of the Provincial Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources and represents the largest gold deposit ever discovered in the Weihai area. This discovery will further solidify Shandong Province's position as the nation's largest gold production base and make a positive contribution to increasing domestic gold reserves, boosting gold production, and enhancing the country's capacity to secure mineral resources.
　　Gold is an important global strategic mineral resource. Shandong Province boasts abundant gold mineral resources, with its geological reserves ranking first in the country, making it the province with the highest gold production nationwide. Since 2015, the Sixth Team of the Provincial Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources has been conducting exploration within the Xilaokou gold mine area in Rushan City and recently submitted its exploration report. “The newly discovered ore deposit is located northeast of Muniu Mountain and is a concealed deposit,” explained Zhou Mingling, deputy team leader of the Sixth Geological Brigade of the Provincial Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources. “A total of over 250 boreholes have been drilled, with a total drilling footage exceeding 188,000 meters. The ore body is controlled to a maximum depth of nearly 1,200 meters, and the deepest borehole reaches over 1,400 meters.”
　　This deposit is large-scale, with a simple ore type that is easy to mine and process. It is a “Liaoshang-style” pyrite-carbonate vein-type gold deposit, providing a new, exemplary case for the exploration model of “Liaoshang-style” deposits. On March 17, the exploration report passed the expert review of mineral resource reserves organized by the Provincial Department of Natural Resources. The experts attending the review unanimously agreed that this deposit has excellent development potential. Based on a production scale of 2,000 tons of ore per day, the deposit’s service life could exceed 20 years.
　　The exploration and development of mineral resources are vital to the national economy, people’s livelihoods, and national security. From 2011 to 2020, Shandong Province launched a strategic initiative aimed at achieving breakthroughs in mineral exploration. It was among the first regions in China to realize a major breakthrough in deep-level gold exploration with world-class significance, establishing three gold ore fields—Sanshandao, Jiaojia, and Linglong—each capable of producing over a thousand tons of gold. As a result, the Jiaodong region has risen to become the world’s third-largest gold mining area. By the end of 2021, the province’s proven gold reserves totaled 4,512.96 tons, ranking first nationwide and representing an 180% increase compared to ten years earlier. Since last year, Shandong Province has initiated a new round of strategic mineral exploration breakthroughs, focusing on key strategic minerals such as gold, iron, coal, copper, rare earth elements, graphite, and fluorite. The province is also intensifying its exploration efforts and providing enhanced policy support in areas including land use for mining, forestry, and marine activities, as well as fiscal, tax, and financial measures.
　　Currently, Shandong Province has identified 148 types of minerals, with reserves of 93 of these minerals having been confirmed. All 15 key strategic minerals upon which the province’s national economy depends have now been found to have proven reserves. Shandong Province boasts significant advantages both in terms of resource reserves and exploration levels. Zhao Xiaohui, Director of the Provincial Department of Natural Resources, stated that the next step will be to focus on ensuring energy and resource security by launching a new round of strategic mineral exploration breakthrough initiatives. The province will also actively intensify research into geological ore-forming patterns, continuously update its mineral resource “accounts,” consolidate its mineral resource base, and promote green, high-quality development of the mining industry, thereby contributing Shandong’s strength to increasing reserves and production of strategic minerals. (Dazhong Daily)