China discovered a giant mine containing 200 tons of gold and 1 million tons of copper

Geologists discovered that the Tra Dinh ore mine in Anhui province could provide China with an estimated additional 200 tons of gold and one million tons of copper.

SMCP reported on September 2 that the newly discovered Tra Dinh (Chating) polymetallic mine in Tuyen Thanh city, Anhui province has a main ore body about 1.2 km long and 1.1 km wide, while the deeper parts have not yet been fully identified.

According to China's Ministry of Natural Resources, initial estimates show that Tra Dinh mine contains as much copper as many large-scale copper mines, each mine has reserves of more than 500,000 tons. At the same time, the amount of gold in this mine is equivalent to more than 10 large gold mines, each mine has reserves of at least 20 tons. In total, Tra Dinh is capable of containing more than one million tons of copper and 200 tons of gold.

Global Times said the above discovery could pave the way to develop a super-large copper and gold production base in eastern China. Copper and gold are two essential minerals widely used in many key industries of the digital era. Copper's electrical conductivity makes it indispensable for power transmission for power grids, electric vehicles, renewable energy and artificial intelligence (AI) data centers. Meanwhile, gold has many applications in high-end electronics and aerospace. Experts say that Tra Dinh mineral mine not only has advantages in geographical location and infrastructure, but also plays an important role in helping to understand the mineralization mechanism.

Tra Dinh mine is a typical porphyry mine (formed by an intrusive rock mass pushing liquid containing ore into the surrounding rock, creating network-like mineral veins). Currently, this is the largest porphyry copper-gold mine ever identified in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River.

Since the beginning of this year, the exploration team has completed more than 70 drilling rounds in just 4 months, including an exploratory drill hole over 2,000 m deep. The maximum thickness of mineralization in a drill hole exceeds 1,370 m. In addition to copper and gold, Tra Dinh mine also contains many other valuable minerals such as silver and sulfur, which can be fully exploited and used, helping to significantly increase overall resource efficiency.

The Yangtze River Delta region is home to copper smelting, cable manufacturing and new energy industries. However, this region has quite scarce copper and gold resources, most copper concentrates are shipped from western China or imported from abroad, leading to higher transportation costs and making the supply chain vulnerable to disruption.

According to Lin Bin, deputy director of the rare earth prediction and evaluation laboratory at the Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences and head of the exploration team, because it is located in the heart of the Yangtze River Delta, the Tra Dinh mine can help solve the local copper and gold supply shortage, reduce the pressure of long-distance transportation and dependence on imports from abroad, and support the development of new energy industry and advanced manufacturing in the region.

The Tra Dinh mine challenges the traditional geological view that vast volcanic basins are unlikely to host large-scale copper-gold porphyry mines. The discovery also revealed volcanic basins in Xuancheng and Nanling (Anhui province), Lishui and Liyang (Jiangsu province), which have the potential to exist many similar mines.

The exploration team is planning to conduct a 3,000 m deep drilling project to further understand the structure of the porphyry mineralization system and the resource potential deep below the continental volcanic basin.