China finds huge iron ore deposit

Chinese geologists claim to have found what they say is Asia’s largest iron ore deposit with an estimated reserve of more than 3 billion tons.

The deposit is located underground in Benxi city in northeastern China’s Liaoning province at depths of 1,200 meters (3,937 feet0 to 1,860 meters (6,102 feet0, Xinhua reported, quoting a provincial official.

The deposit covers an area about 2.5 miles long and 1.8 miles wide, said Yu Wenli, head of the province’s bureau of geology resources.

He said the iron ore is a mixture of magnetite and hematite, and the iron content is between 25 percent and 62 percent.

The deposit can be exploited for more than 50 years, he was quoted as saying.

Although we have exploited large amounts of iron deposits over the past several decades in the province, there are still lots of deposits underground awaiting exploration.

Chinese Minister of Land and Resources Xu Shaoshi asked local authorities to start exploitation of the new deposit at the earliest, Xinhua said.