Editor’s Note: China’s economy has continued to develop rapidly, and the processes of industrialization and urbanization have been accelerating, driving a sustained and sharp increase in demand for mineral resources and energy. Meanwhile, the mineral resources in the “Eastern Economic Belt”—the heart of China’s economy—have largely reached exhaustion after decades of intensive exploitation. Consequently, the overall industrial layout of China, which has long been shaped by resource orientation, is now facing significant challenges.

　　The Daxing'anling region of Inner Mongolia, which was discovered and developed relatively late, was designated by the State Council and the Ministry of Natural Resources in 2007 as one of the nation’s three key metallogenic belts. This region boasts abundant resources and enjoys significant advantages in terms of technological and economic conditions as well as geographic location. However, its northern section is China’s largest protected area of natural forests, making its ecological significance critically important. So, should we prioritize environmental protection or mining development? In August and September 2009, reporters from China Economic Times conducted two in-depth field visits—one to the Hulunbuir region in the northern part of the Daxing'anling and another to the Chifeng region in the central-southern part—to investigate and interview local authorities about resource exploration and the ecological environment status of the Daxing'anling metallogenic belt.

　　The calls and impulses to develop the mining industry have never ceased in Inner Mongolia’s Daxinganling forest region and the Hulunbuir grasslands.

　　To protect China’s last remaining natural forest barrier, local herders, residents of forest areas, environmentalists, and even some mining experts have never ceased their urgent calls.

　　On the one hand, as the economic benefits driven by mining become increasingly evident, local governments and mining companies are making every effort to explore and develop underground mineral resources. On the other hand, over the years, the ecological environment of forested areas has gradually been damaged: vast stretches of pristine forests have disappeared, natural secondary forests are steadily receding, and desertification is becoming ever more severe. Mining development will inevitably inflict yet another wound on the fragile ecosystem of these forested regions.

　　In September 2009, reporters from China Economic Times conducted an on-site investigation and interview in the Daxing'anling Forest Area of Inner Mongolia. The impulse for mining development.

　　Just shortly before our reporter headed to the forest area for an interview, the Daxing'anling Forestry and Mining Company of Inner Mongolia publicly announced that it had discovered a large polymetallic lead-zinc deposit in the Biliya area of Genhe City, deep within the Daxing'anling forest region. The estimated prospective resource volume of this deposit exceeds 1.75 million tons, with a potential economic value surpassing 15 billion yuan. The Biliya Valley lead-zinc mine in Genhe City falls within the operating area of the Delibul Forestry Industrial Company, which is part of the Inner Mongolia Forest Industry Group. Earlier this year, the mining company invested over 20 million yuan in exploration activities in this area, planning to drill a total of 50,000 meters. To date, 30,000 meters have been completed. Through underground tunnel surveys and borehole drilling, the total length of the identified ore belt has reached approximately 2.3 kilometers, with a width of about 700 meters. The deposit consists of four parallel ore veins of similar orientation, indicating enormous resource potential.

　　This news sent ripples through both the international commodity futures and spot markets, becoming one of the factors contributing to the decline in lead and zinc futures prices. At the same time, the news also energized geological and mineral experts in the Daxinganling region.
The Daxinganling region is one of the three key mineralization belts identified nationwide by the Ministry of Natural Resources following the State Council’s 2006 Decision on Strengthening Geological Work.

　　The Daxing'anling Forest Region in Inner Mongolia is rich in mineral resources. The Daxing'anling Metallogenic Belt and the De'erbu Metallogenic Belt are both located here. The main metallic minerals include lead, zinc, silver, molybdenum, copper, iron, and uranium; non-metallic minerals include limestone, fluorite, marble, and silica. The region enjoys inherent advantages for developing the mining industry.

　　The Inner Mongolia Daxinganling Forestry Administration, also known as the Inner Mongolia Forest Industry Group, manages a forest area of 106,000 square kilometers and employs approximately 200,000 people.

　　“Relying on the forest industry alone can no longer support these people. The logging quotas set by the state are becoming increasingly stringent, and forest resources are dwindling faster and faster. To sustain such a large population and help them achieve moderate prosperity, we must embark on an industrial transformation,” said Professor Liu Jianming, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Sciences who has been conducting field studies in the Greater Khingan Range for over a decade, in an interview with our newspaper’s reporter.

　　Zhang Liang, Deputy General Manager of the Inner Mongolia Forestry Industry Group, told our reporter that the annual income of employees at the Forestry Industry Group is around 10,000 yuan, roughly half the per capita annual income in the Hulunbuir region and lower than the national average.

　　Liu Jianming drew an analogy between the forestry region’s economy and that of Zhejiang Province. He pointed out that the forest area under the jurisdiction of the forestry administration is equivalent to the entire area of Zhejiang Province, and in 2008, its total GDP was 2.2 billion yuan. Yet, even a single county in Zhejiang Province has a GDP exceeding 2.2 billion yuan. Therefore, the GDP generated per unit of land area in the Daxinganling forestry region is remarkably low.

　　Li Ming has worked at the Forestry Group for nearly 10 years. He told reporters that since he first started, his salary has never increased—his monthly base salary is just over 1,000 yuan.

　　Liu Jianming pointed out that the forestry group must find ways to shift some of its workforce from the forestry industry to other sectors. “Protective development of the mining industry could be one viable path,” said Liu Jianming.
In 2008, the Inner Mongolia Forest Industry Group initiated the establishment of Inner Mongolia Daxing'anling Forest Industry and Mining Co., Ltd., which is responsible for exploring and developing mineral resources in forest areas. To support the development of its mining industry, the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and Hulunbuir City agreed to transfer 20 exploration rights to the forest area.

　　In addition to the initial exploration that uncovered a large lead-zinc deposit in the Biyali Valley area of Genhe City, the mining company has also confirmed the presence of high-grade primary lead-zinc ore within the Anan Forest Farm mining rights exploration zone in the Alongshan Forestry Bureau area. Furthermore, construction is being expedited on three mineral tunnels in forestry bureaus such as Tuli River and Deerbuer. At Deerbuer Senxin Mining, the mining operations are accelerating, and a beneficiation plant with a daily processing capacity of 1,000 tons has already been completed and put into operation...

　　Transforming and developing the mining industry is not just an initiative of the Daxing'anling Forest Industry Group in Inner Mongolia; the Daxing'anling Forest Industry Company in Heilongjiang and Jilin provinces has also begun shifting its corporate development strategy toward the mining sector.

　　In early 2009, under the guidance of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of Jilin Province, Jilin SenGong Group— which manages the Daxinganling region within Jilin Province— joined forces with Yanbian Hanfeng Mining Group to restructure Jilin Guohua Mining Corporation. Jilin SenGong Group holds a 45% stake in the newly formed company. Exploration site.

　　“The Daxing'anling Mountains serve as an ecological barrier between Northeast and North China, and they represent China’s largest forested region. If large-scale mining development were to pollute the Daxing'anling area, it would pose a significant problem.” — This is the greatest concern across all sectors of society regarding the transformation of the forestry industry.

　　What is the current state of the ecological environment in the Daxinganling Forest Region? To find out, our reporter visited several locations within the Daxinganling Forest Region in Inner Mongolia, including Erguna’s northwestern corner—the site of the last remaining pristine forest in the Daxinganling Mountains—as well as Yakshi and Genhe cities, located deep within the forest region.

　　On September 9 and 10, our reporter traveled to Erguna City, located on the northwest slope of the Greater Khingan Range, and visited in person the exploration site of the Dongwangjun mining area, which is situated on the eastern edge of the Delbur ore-forming belt and the western slope of the Greater Khingan Range ore-forming belt.
　In the early morning, the air in the forest area is fresh and deeply refreshing.

　　There were no established paths—instead, the prospecting company’s vehicles had carved out narrow trails through the forested areas and grasslands. The off-road vehicles roamed freely across the grasslands, while making slow, laborious progress through the forests. After more than an hour, following the rumbling of the geological drilling machinery, we finally located Zhu Guangren, the head of the prospecting company, on a slope in a wooded area.

　　Zhu Guangren is a mineral exploration expert at the Sixth Institute of Geological Exploration. He has been in charge of more than ten mineral exploration projects in forested areas and grasslands, and has spent over 20 years exploring minerals in forested regions, having traversed the entire Daxing'anling Forest Area of Inner Mongolia and the Hulunbuir Grassland.

　　Zhu Guangren introduced that Chengcheng Mining Co., Ltd. is the owner of the exploration rights for this mining area, which covers an exploration area of 20 square kilometers and is being developed in collaboration between the No. 6 Institute of Geological Exploration in Inner Mongolia and two private investors.

　　He led the reporter to a drilling site. The reporter found that, since the drilling machinery and equipment had to be transported in and out of the forest by truck, a road about 2 meters wide had to be cleared. Moreover, to ensure the smooth operation of the machinery, an additional space of roughly 20 square meters also had to be made available.

　　He told reporters that the number of exploration boreholes in a mining area depends on the drilling conditions; generally, one borehole is drilled every 100 to 500 meters. If the area happens to be on a mineralized zone, the number of boreholes will be even greater. Since the mine began exploration in 2007, it has already drilled more than 60 boreholes in the exploration area.

　　Speaking about the damage that mineral exploration causes to the ecological environment, he said that drilling, trenching, and shaft exploration do not cause significant damage to forest vegetation, and all such activities have been approved by the forestry administration.

　　He calculated for the reporters that building a 1,000-meter-long road, 2 meters wide, would require occupying 2 square kilometers of forest land. Compared to the total forest area of 100,000 square kilometers, this proportion is “virtually negligible.” The ongoing tug-of-war between mining and forestry.

　　During interviews with several geological survey units, local governments, and mining companies, our reporter’s biggest takeaway was that the vast majority of respondents complained about the Daxinganling Forest Administration imposing too many restrictions on mineral exploration in forest areas—and these restrictions have become increasingly stringent year after year, to the point where the administration even prohibits geological survey units and mining companies from entering forest areas to conduct exploration.

　　“Environmental protection is a philosophy, while economic development calls for rationality. Right now, we’re placing too much emphasis on this philosophy,” said Sun Hongwei, director of the No. 6 Institute of Geological Exploration in Inner Mongolia, in an interview with our newspaper’s reporter, expressing direct dissatisfaction with some of the restrictions imposed by the Forestry Administration.

　　He said, “The forestry authorities’ claim that they’re protecting the ecosystem and preserving the Daxinganling forest region is, in my view, just an excuse. On a broader level, protecting the ecosystem is indeed the right thing to do. However, we should conduct a detailed assessment of the economic impact of mining on driving economic growth, as well as the actual extent of ecological damage caused by exploration and mining activities. We need to do the math—evaluate whether such investments are truly worthwhile.”

　　According to his account, he had specifically drawn up a plan for geological exploration in the Daxinganling forest region and conducted an economic analysis. If 50 large-scale non-ferrous metal deposits were discovered within the Daxinganling forest region and all 50 mines were developed, each mine would occupy an area of roughly 2 square kilometers. Thus, the total area affected by these 50 mines would exceed 100 square kilometers.

　　“Compared to the forest area of 100,000 square kilometers, 100 square kilometers may seem like a tiny patch—but mining can support over 200,000 forestry workers without requiring them to cut down trees every year,” he said. “At the time, I even suggested that, in order to protect the forests from deforestation, we should speed up our search for mineral resources in the Greater Khingan Range—finding these minerals is precisely about avoiding tree cutting.”

　　He believes that mining—the extraction of non-ferrous metal ores, which is conducted underground—represents the greatest and most promising opportunity for economic development in forested areas, as it causes relatively little damage to the surface.

　　“The only harmful factor is water resource pollution. As long as we introduce some advanced drainage technologies and promptly backfill and reforest the area after development, we can essentially avoid both destruction and pollution,” said Sun Hongwei.

　　“How much harm mining actually causes to the environment—relevant authorities in Heilongjiang Province have conducted a feasibility study and submitted the findings to the State Council,” Professor Liu Jianming told our reporter. “Protective development within forest areas is entirely feasible.”
In early August, Xu Shaoshi, Minister of the Ministry of Natural Resources, stated during an inspection of geological and mineral resource exploration in the Daxinganling region that the region should intensify its efforts in exploring geological and mineral resources. He also put forward the view that “we should pursue development while protecting the environment, and protect the environment while pursuing development.” Ecological concerns remain.

　　Many industry insiders have also raised questions about the view of “protecting while developing, and developing while protecting.”

　　“Actually, from my personal perspective, I don’t support large-scale mineral exploration and development in forest areas,” Zhang Liang, deputy general manager of the Forestry Industry Group, told our reporter. “Our forestry administration is doing everything possible to prevent mining companies from entering forest areas to carry out mining activities. If the state issues a policy mandating the development of mineral resources in forest areas, then we’ll have no choice but to comply.”

　　A mining official from the Bureau of Land and Resources, who has worked in the Daxinganling region for many years, also told our newspaper that digging exploration trenches, building roads, and drilling boreholes will all directly damage vegetation. In the Daxinganling region, wherever trees grow, it is usually on colluvial deposits on mountain slopes—soil layers that are very thin, typically only 20 to 30 centimeters thick.

　　The aforementioned person said, “The environment is extremely fragile—the soil layer rests atop a bed of gravel. Once it’s damaged, it simply cannot be restored. This soil layer has gradually formed over tens of thousands, even millions, of years through weathering.”

　　Our reporter has visited the Daxinganling forest region many times. This time, upon revisiting the region, we found that significant changes have taken place. The area of forest has dwindled considerably; most of the pristine forests have been destroyed, and even the natural secondary forests are in decline. In some areas, desertification by stone has become rampant, with exposed rubble and severe soil erosion. Some experts predict that if the vegetation in the Daxinganling region continues to be damaged, the phenomenon of stone desertification there will become even more severe than in the southern regions.

　　Most notably, the Daxinganling Forest Region serves as a vital water source for the Erguna River, Nenjiang River, Heilongjiang River, and Songhua River. It is the origin of 779 rivers—both large and small—belonging to the two major river systems, the Nenjiang and Erguna Rivers. This region has consistently played an important role in conserving water resources, protecting soil, sequestering carbon and producing oxygen, purifying the environment, and safeguarding ecological diversity.

　　In 2007, during an inspection tour of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, President Hu Jintao called for “protecting the lush forests of the Greater Khingan Range and making contributions to building a vital ecological barrier in northern China.”

　　In the Yakeshi and Hailar areas, our reporter randomly interviewed many residents and local people living in the forest regions. Their views were remarkably consistent: they believe that entering forest areas to explore for minerals and develop mining operations will undoubtedly harm the ecological environment of the Greater Khingan Mountains forest region.

　　Among them, a staff member who has lived in the Yakeshi Forest Area for generations told a reporter: “When mining starts, government leaders can boast about their achievements, and mining bosses rake in huge profits—but for us ordinary people, who have lived in the forest area for generations, there’s absolutely no benefit. The forests are destroyed, and it’s up to us to replant them. And when the air and water become polluted, once again, it’s we forest residents who have to bear the brunt.” Is this a scar that tears open the natural barrier?

　　“Mining—a Sword of Damocles—hangs ominously over the Daxing’anling forest region in Inner Mongolia; no one knows when it might fall,” said an industry insider.

　　The industry generally believes that the Daxinganling forest region sustains China’s already highly fragile ecological lifeline. Although it boasts abundant mineral resources, it is not suitable for large-scale mining development.

　　“Once the breach in nature’s natural barrier is opened, even the best ecological environment will collapse and be destroyed over the years to come,” said the aforementioned person.

　　“Mining in forested areas tends to disturb the environment, and the direct damage may not become apparent right away. A once pristine, uninhabited forest area—suddenly with roads built in, machinery brought in, and houses constructed—will inevitably see human activities disrupt the ecosystem,” Lü Jingfeng, the mining official at the Keqiketeng Banner Bureau of Land and Resources, told reporters.

　　“Exploring for and mining nonferrous metals doesn't require large land areas, but the disruption they cause to the environment and ecosystems is immeasurable. Soil erosion, landslides, and mudslides—each mine pit and shaft—is like a scar on the human body, constantly posing threats to the fragile forest ecosystem,” he said.

　　Wei Jiangtian (pseudonym), an entrepreneur who has long been concerned about China’s ecological and environmental protection, was chatting with a reporter when he heard that the Daxinganling forest region was planning to develop mining. Extremely excited, he said: “Future generations and history will judge this move as utterly absurd—and it will inevitably bring about painful lessons.”

　　“We should resist the current economic development model, which involves the massive consumption of resources and energy. Where lies our way forward? Are we really so eager to dig up every last bit of underground resources?” Zhang Liang expressed dissatisfaction with the remarks recently made by some economists and geological experts. “They weren’t born in forest regions or raised there; they simply don’t understand what this forest means to our country and our nation.”

　　“Rapid economic development has given Chinese people a sense of complacency when it comes to protecting the ecological environment,” Wei Jiangtian said with emotion. “The large-scale exploitation of underground mineral resources is bound to harm us in the long run. For every gain, there’s bound to be a loss—just as when humanity takes something from nature, nature will eventually exact a price from humanity. This principle has actually been prevalent throughout the historical development of Chinese society.”

　　Even some local officials in charge of mining believe that China is left with only this one natural barrier, and to go ahead and mine it—“causing destruction”—is simply a crime.

　　“Our hope as people living in the forest region—and the development strategy of the Forestry Industry Group—is to become a specialized agency dedicated to forest conservation, ensuring that the Inner Mongolia Daxinganling Forest Region, whose intangible value currently stands at 40 billion yuan, continues to appreciate in worth.” This is the promise made by Zhang Liang, the “regulator” of the forest region.