The China Geological Survey said on Friday that it has found a super-large uranium ore deposit that will boost the nation’s uranium reserves and improve resource supply security.
China has increased uranium marketing around the country since 2021 after finding a super-large uranium ore deposit in the Ordos Basin’s Jingchuan region. The CGS, a division of the Ministry of Natural Resources, claims that the basin, which is situated in central-western China, is abundant in coal, petroleum, natural gas, and coalbed methane.
“There may be aeolian sandstone formations above in many basins in China where there is oil and coal underground, indicating the potential for finding new deposits, possibly leading to the discovery of large or even super-large uranium deposits for China,” said Jin Ruoshi, Chief Uranium Scientist at the CGS.
According to Jin, the new kind of uranium deposits has benefits like low mining costs, little pollution, and enormous deposit scales, just like traditional uranium deposits supported by sandstone.
The finding is the world’s first ultra-large uranium deposit discovered in an area primarily composed of aeolian sandstone. These types of formations are also common in China’s other petroleum-rich regions, including the Tarim, Junggar, and Songliao basins.
China’s ranking has risen from sixth to second place due to its advancements in lithium exploration, which have increased its global share of lithium reserves from 6 to 16.5%. This has changed how lithium resources are distributed globally, providing a strong basis for China’s new energy sector to grow quickly.
Furthermore, China is the third-largest salt lake lithium resource hub in the world, behind the “lithium triangle” of Argentina, Bolivia, and Chile in South America and the western United States, with freshly discovered salt lake lithium deposits totaling over 14 million tons.
