China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region has announced its geological exploration targets for 2012.
Accordingly, in 2012 the Xinjiang region will focus its mining exploration efforts on three main areas, namely, Mount Tianshan, the Altai mountains and the Kunlun mountains. Newly-added reserve targets in Xinjiang for the given year include 1 billion mt of iron ore, 3 million mt of copper-nickel ore, 4 million mt of lead-zinc ore, 100,000 mt of tungsten-tin ore and 40 mt of gold.