On September 29, the national special project for establishing a technical standards system for mineral resource reserves was officially launched. This is the largest scientific research project in China’s mineral resource reserve field since the founding of the People’s Republic of China, and it has been designated as one of the key tasks of the Ministry of Natural Resources for 2015.

　　The primary tasks of this special project are: to revise and improve China’s classification of reserves for oil, natural gas, and solid mineral resources; to refine the classification and grading of groundwater resources; and to update the general guidelines for geological exploration standards. The project aims to strengthen the technical standard foundation for mineral resource reserves, address key and difficult issues, and develop management measures for industrial indicators of ore deposits as well as recommendations for the application of general industrial indicators for ore deposits. It will also revise and formulate a set of geological exploration standards and technical requirements for minerals, and establish and revise comprehensive exploration and evaluation requirements and indicator systems for coexisting and associated minerals. The implementation period of this special project is from 2015 to 2018. Ten sub-projects have been established, including “Research on the General Guidelines for Classification of Mineral Resource Reserves and Exploration Standards,” “Basic Research on Technical Standards for Mineral Resource Reserves,” “Research on the Application of Industrial Indicators for Ore Deposits,” “Research on the Formulation and Revision of Geological Exploration Standards for Minerals,” “Research on Technical Requirements and Procedures for Mineral Geological Exploration,” “Research on Comprehensive Exploration and Evaluation of Coexisting and Associated Minerals,” and “Research on the Preparation of Mineral Resource Reserve Reports and Procedures for Reviewing Mineral Resource Reserves.” A total of 69 research topics have been identified under these sub-projects. This year, 25 research topics will be launched.

　　It is reported that China’s current technical standards for mineral resource reserves are no longer aligned with the new requirements of ecological civilization development, as well as those pertaining to mineral exploration, development, and management. These standards suffer from shortcomings such as insufficient completeness and perfection, industrial criteria for ore deposits failing to meet the demands of the market economy, long-term neglect and absence of technical standards for mine reserve management, and inadequate alignment and mutual recognition with international technical standards. There is an urgent need to systematically develop a national technical standard system for mineral resource reserves that reflects Chinese characteristics, is tailored to China’s national conditions, and facilitates seamless integration with international standards.