At the kickoff conference for geological assistance to Xinjiang held on April 22, it was reported that from 2022 to 2024, Xinjiang granted mining rights totaling 146, 227, and 558 respectively—ranking first nationwide for three consecutive years. The corresponding revenue from these grants reached 14.46 billion yuan, 23.26 billion yuan, and 29 billion yuan, respectively, signaling a booming market for the transfer of mining rights.

Xinjiang is located at the heart of the Central Asian orogenic belt and straddles two major mineralization domains—the ancient Paleo-Asian and Tethyan realms. The “Asian Gold Belt” extends into the southwestern Tian Shan Mountains, and 16 of the country’s 32 key mineralized zones are situated within Xinjiang’s borders. Xinjiang is a globally significant concentration area for energy and mineral resources and a hub for ultra-large-scale metal deposits. It serves as the nation’s primary battleground for geological exploration and is widely regarded as the region most promising to achieve the “greatest breakthroughs.” Xinjiang boasts a comprehensive array of mineral resources, with 154 identified mineral species—88% of the nation’s total 174 species—including the newly discovered high-purity quartz recently announced by the state. The region has substantial proven reserves; among the 36 strategic minerals, Xinjiang holds reserves for 30, 21 of which enjoy comparative advantages. In terms of exploration investment, Xinjiang has actively established a diversified investment model involving government funding and participation from social capital: fiscal expenditures on mineral exploration have increased year by year—from 150 million yuan in 2023 to 500 million yuan in 2024 and 917 million yuan in 2025, leveraging an additional 32.35 billion yuan in investment from various social entities. The scope of bidding for geological exploration projects has been comprehensively expanded; in 2024 and 2025, all 263 geologic exploration projects funded by Xinjiang’s fiscal budget were open to nationwide bidding. As of now, the number of participating entities and personnel engaged in mineral exploration across Xinjiang has grown from 74 companies and 6,000 individuals in 2022 to 286 companies and 15,000 individuals in 2024.

“Xinjiang boasts a vast territorial area and immense potential for mineral exploration. The average proven reserves rate for major metallic minerals stands at less than 20%, and the proven reserves rates for several strategic minerals—including copper, lithium, manganese, nickel, cobalt, and antimony—are particularly low. Many promising exploration leads remain unverified, leaving ample room for further exploration and development. We sincerely look forward to welcoming geological professionals from across the country to join us in this exciting quest for mineral resources,” said Sun Jizhou, Party Secretary and Deputy Director of the Department of Natural Resources of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, extending a warm invitation to geologists nationwide.

In recent years, under the guidance of the Ministry of Natural Resources and the China Geological Survey, and with assistance from neighboring provinces, Xinjiang has established 18 large-scale resource bases, including the Altyn lithium base with reserves of over one million tons, the Hami Weiyaya-Niumaoquan iron base with reserves of over 100 million tons, the Shanshan Nanhu Gobi-Queiling copper-molybdenum base with reserves of over one million tons, and others. In areas such as the northern margin of the Chaiwobao Depression in Urumqi City, local technological forces have achieved a historic breakthrough—from having nothing at all—to successfully conducting oil and gas exploration. As a result, Xinjiang has amassed major mineral discoveries of super-large scale, including lithium, gold, ilmenite-titanium, antimony, and fluorite. Moreover, new high-purity quartz deposits of Grade 4N8 have been discovered in the Altay and Bazhou regions, and a super-large zircon-hafnium deposit has been newly identified in the Aksu region, making significant contributions by Xinjiang to national resource security.