China's Shanxi Province will invest RMB 500 million ($79 million) in prospecting for mineral resources in 2012, according to Chinese news site People's Daily Online.
In 2011, Shanxi Province invested RMB 590 million ($93 million) in prospecting for mineral resources in a total of 80 projects. These projects covered 19.667 billion mt of coal, 128 million mt of iron ore, 6,323 mt of copper and 535 million mt of dolomite rock, among other mineral resources.