China unearths rich mineral reserves

Substantial breakthroughs in oil, gas and other minerals have been achieved in China's latest round of strategic mineral exploration, a Ministry of Natural Resources official said Tuesday.

Major discoveries include three large coalbed methane fields in the Ordos Basin, located in central-western China, with proven geological reserves exceeding 500 billion cubic meters, according to Xiong Zili, director of the ministry's Geological Exploration Management Department. These reserves account for nearly 70 percent of the country's previously known coalbed methane resources.

China also identified the world's first large-scale, deep-water shallow-layer gas field, which has added over 100 billion cubic meters of proven natural gas reserves. Additionally, 10 new oil fields with reserves exceeding 100 million metric tons and 19 gas fields with reserves of more than 100 billion cubic meters have been discovered, Xiong said.