On December 7, the Department of Land and Resources of the Chinese province of Yunnan Province stated that, in geological prospecting activities which started in December 2009, newly-discovered proven reserves of lead-zinc ore exceed 2.2 million mt, new gold ore reserves are more than 1.12 million mt, new proven reserves of copper ore are in excess of 100,000 mt, newly-discovered proven reserves of iron ore are over 300 million mt, while new coal reserves also exceed 300 million mt.
Furthermore, breakthroughs in mineral exploration in some key districts of Yunnan Province may be recorded by the end of this year.