The Ministry of Natural Resources said demand for China’s key mineral resources will remain structurally firm during the 15th Five-Year Plan. To secure energy supply and support advanced manufacturing, the ministry will launch a new mineral-exploration breakthrough campaign and implement the national geological mapping program to raise onshore 1:50,000 mapping coverage to 51% and mapping coverage in major metallogenic belts to 66%. It will step up exploration and extraction, organize a large-sca

The Ministry of Natural Resources said demand for China’s key mineral resources will remain structurally firm during the 15th Five-Year Plan. To secure energy supply and support advanced manufacturing, the ministry will launch a new mineral-exploration breakthrough campaign and implement the national geological mapping program to raise onshore 1:50,000 mapping coverage to 51% and mapping coverage in major metallogenic belts to 66%. It will step up exploration and extraction, organize a large-scale mineral-discovery drive focused on scarce minerals — notably oil, iron, copper and aluminium, while also supporting rare earths — deploy priority exploration and mining projects and steadily advance construction of about 300 energy-resource bases. The ministry will push tech innovation to deliver new supply breakthroughs and reactivate existing reserves, and raise the “three rates” (mining recovery rate, ore-processing recovery rate and overall resource-utilization rate).