China has released global reserve assessment data for 13 types of mineral resources.

The Global Mineral Resource Strategic Research Center of China's Ministry of Natural Resources and the China Geological Survey released the "Global Mineral Resource Reserve Assessment Report 2023" on the 8th. The report assessed global reserves of 13 mineral resources as of the end of 2021.

The report builds upon the previously released "Global Lithium, Cobalt, Nickel, Tin, Potash Mineral Resource Reserve Assessment Report" from 2021 and adds eight additional minerals, including iron, manganese, chromium, copper, aluminum, lead, zinc, and phosphate. It also updates the data for lithium, cobalt, nickel, tin, and potash, providing a comprehensive assessment of global reserves for these 13 mineral resources. The report collected data from over 20,000 mining projects in more than 150 countries worldwide. It standardized and adjusted the data from different reserve systems and national disclosures according to uniform criteria, resulting in reliable and credible global mineral resource reserve assessment data.

The release of this report enriches the globally recognized reserve assessment system developed by China with independent intellectual property rights, contributing to the promotion of global mining cooperation.

According to the data in the report, the global iron ore reserves are 164.3 billion tons, with resources totaling 5.828 billion tons. The global manganese ore reserves are 2.034 billion tons, with resources totaling 8.073 billion tons. The global chromite ore reserves are 2.042 billion tons, with resources totaling 4.301 billion tons. The global copper ore reserves are 82.163 million tons, with resources totaling 191.961 million tons. The global bauxite reserves are 15.3 billion tons, with resources totaling 43.2 billion tons. The global lead ore reserves are 75.47 million tons, with resources totaling 27.466 million tons. The global zinc ore reserves are 22.567 million tons, with resources totaling 63.578 million tons, and so on.

The report indicates that there are abundant reserves of iron, manganese, chromium, aluminum, phosphate, potash, and lithium resources globally, while the guarantee level for tin, lead, zinc, nickel, cobalt, copper, and other resources is relatively low, requiring further exploration efforts and increased investment. The proportion of these 13 mineral resources in China's global reserves varies significantly. Among them, tin, lead, zinc, and manganese account for over 10% of global resources, making them advantageous minerals, while the global proportion of the other nine mineral resources is relatively low, categorizing them as scarce minerals.

The China Geological Survey plans to complete the global reserve assessment for 40 key minerals during the 14th Five-Year Plan period and regularly release assessment reports to provide authoritative global mineral reserve data.