New Discovery - A New Super-large Rare Earth Deposit Has Been Discovered In Yunnan Province

Under the strong support of the Ministry of Finance, the Chinese Geological Survey of the Ministry of Natural Resources discovered a super-large scale ion-adsorbed rare earth mine in the Honghe area of Yunnan Province, with potential resources of 1.15 million tons, among which more than 470,000 tons of key rare earth elements such as praseodymium, neodymium, dysprosium and terbium were found. This is the first ion-adsorbed rare earth mine since 1969 in Jiangxi Province. Another major breakthrough in ion-adsorbed rare earth prospecting in China is expected to become the largest medium-heavy rare earth deposit in China, which is of great significance for consolidating China's rare earth resource advantages and improving the rare earth industry chain, and further consolidating China's strategic advantages in the field of medium-heavy rare earth resources.

The ion-adsorbed rare earth ore discovered this time is mainly medium and heavy rare earth ore. China is rich in light rare earth resources, mainly distributed in Bayan Obo in Inner Mongolia and Yaping in Sichuan, but the medium and heavy rare earth resources are relatively scarce, and the application fields are more extensive. They are essential key raw materials for electric vehicles, new energy, national defense and security, and are key metals for the development of high-tech industries.

By combining geological survey with scientific research, the China Geological Survey has established a national geochemical benchmark network through more than 10 years of work, obtained massive geochemical data, made important breakthroughs in prospecting theory and exploration technology, filled the gap in the geochemical exploration technology of ion-adsorption rare earth minerals, and established a rapid, accurate and green exploration technology system. It is of great reference significance for other medium-heavy rare earth rich areas in China to achieve rapid breakthrough in prospecting.