Recently, at the field exchange meeting for the second-level project on mineral exploration prediction in major national mineral concentration areas held in Laizhou, Shandong Province, reporters learned that over the past three years, the project has essentially clarified the regional metallogenic geological conditions and mineral resource characteristics of 34 mineral concentration areas, revealed regional metallogenetic patterns, evaluated regional resource potential, and significantly enhanced the resource security capacity for several key mineral types. Important discoveries have also been made in new areas and for new mineral species. Major progress has been achieved in copper and nickel exploration in the Huili-Huidong mineral concentration area of Sichuan Province; new discoveries have been made in lead-zinc and uranium exploration in the Luoning-Shanxian mineral concentration area of Henan Province; new advances have been made in uranium exploration in the Qingzhangshan mineral concentration area along the central section of the Nanling Mountains in Guangdong Province, tungsten exploration in the Huameiaoa region of Jiangxi Province, tin-polymetallic exploration in the Maodeng mineral concentration area of Inner Mongolia, and gold exploration in the Changba mineral concentration area of Gansu Province—each of these developments has effectively spurred commercial mineral resource exploration efforts by large- and medium-sized mining enterprises.

　　The Huili-Huidong mining district in Sichuan Province is a renowned copper resource base in China. Building on the discovery of the Hongnipo large-scale copper deposit by the project team from 2012 to 2014 in an old mine area, the team has continued its efforts and achieved significant breakthroughs in mineral exploration—expanding into new regions, new stratigraphic horizons, and previously unexplored spatial areas. Previously discovered large-scale copper deposits were all located east of the Jinsha River; this time, however, a sizable copper deposit has also been identified in the Yinchangqing area west of the Jinsha River. In the Lala region, the original ore-bearing strata were confined to the middle and upper parts of the Hekou Group. This time, important progress has been made in the lower strata as well, and the discovery of the Baiyunshan copper deposit has opened up new exploration potential in the lower stratigraphic levels. Meanwhile, both the eastern and southern parts of the former Hongnipo copper deposit had long been covered by thick Quaternary and Jurassic strata, making exploration there unsuccessful until now. Based on the systematic construction of exploration prediction models and comprehensive geophysical and geochemical profiles, the team conducted an exploratory drilling operation and successfully uncovered an industrial-grade copper ore body over 100 meters thick beneath a 400-meter-thick cover layer, marking a major breakthrough in deep exploration within covered areas. Even more encouragingly, based on the latest 1:50,000 stream-sediment survey, the project team has identified one prominent nickel anomaly. Further investigation of this anomaly has delineated five ultramafic rock bodies, all of which exhibit obvious nickel mineralization at their surfaces, including visible nickel oxide mineralization. The discovery of these five ore-bearing rock bodies holds great promise for making significant advances in nickel exploration, suggesting that this region also boasts considerable potential for discovering new mineral resources.

　　In the Luoning-Shanxian mining district of Henan Province, based on an analysis and synthesis of regional metallogenic patterns and the results obtained in 2016, the project team selected the Laoliwan area as a key working zone. A new gold-silver-lead-zinc mineral occurrence of breccia-type explosive origin has been discovered there—a first-ever discovery of an explosive breccia deposit within the Xiaoshan metallogenic belt.

　　Xu Yong, Director of the Development Research Center of the China Geological Survey under the Ministry of Natural Resources (also serving as the Technical Guidance Center for Mineral Exploration under the Ministry of Natural Resources), told reporters that from 2016 to 2018, following a business structure organized around “secondary projects and sub-projects,” the project team deployed and carried out a total of 47 work items across nationally selected mineral-concentrated areas. Among these, 24 were sub-projects focused on mineral exploration prediction in mineral-concentrated areas, and 10 were deep-resource investigation projects. The cumulative investment from central government funds exceeded 190 million yuan, and over the three-year period, a total of 68 specialized geological surveys at a scale of 1:50,000 were conducted.

　　In terms of scientific and technological innovation, the project team has refined the “Theory and Methods for Mineral Exploration Prediction in Prospecting Areas,” providing a solid theoretical and methodological foundation for mineral exploration prediction in ore-concentrated regions. They have also formulated and implemented the “Technical Requirements for Mineral Exploration Prediction in Ore-Concentrated Regions (Trial),” significantly enhancing the systematic nature, standardization, and demonstrative value of mineral exploration prediction projects in these regions. Furthermore, they have completed the “Research on Regional Metallogenic Regularities and Technical Requirements for Mineral Resource Prediction in Ore-Concentrated Regions,” offering operational guidelines for studying metallogenic patterns and conducting mineral resource predictions in such areas. The team innovatively developed the “Data Model for Mineral Exploration Prediction in Ore-Concentrated Regions,” created related application software for this data model, and promoted its widespread adoption, markedly elevating the digitalization, systematization, and standardization of exploration results. Additionally, they have demonstrated and promoted new geophysical and geochemical exploration techniques and refined operational practices, providing crucial technical support for mineral exploration prediction in ore-concentrated regions. Following deliberation by the expert panel, it was unanimously agreed that the project has successfully passed the field acceptance review of the China Geological Survey’s geological survey projects and has been rated as “Excellent.”