Chinese mining authorities have reportedly discovered a new mine believed to contain as much as 100 tons of gold in Henan Province.
Experts from Henan's Department of Land and Resources announced the discovery of the mine during the exploration for metal deposits in the Tong area of the province in mid-September, Best China News reported.
Based pm the data gathered by the province's Bureau of Geo-exploration and Mineral Development, the region is estimated to have as much as 200 to 250 tons of gold, estimated tie around 25 billion yuan ($3.75 billion).
The exploration program for the area reportedly cost only 80 million yuan ($11.9 million). The mine is expected to have a service life of around 80 years.
China currently has 1,265 gold mines in operation, with a total deposit estimated at around 4,265 tons, making it the seventh largest gold deposit in the world.
Aside from gold, the new Henan mine is also believed to contain around 120 tons of silver, with the whole area said to have as much as 5,000 tons of silver. Other mineral deposits, including lead, zinc, and alkali metals, have also been reported.
Meanwhile, authorities from the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in Northern China has also announced the discovery of a new lead and zinc deposit in the region. The new find is estimated to contain 19 million in reserves of the metal, believed to be the largest in China, the Global Times reported.
The newfound deposits will augment the country's current lead deposits of 3,527 tons and 9,384 tons of zinc. China's deposits for the two metals are believed to be the fourth largest in the world.
In a report by the United Nations Environmental Programme in 2013, China has outranked the United States as the biggest consumer of metal ores and minerals, as well as other primary materials, with the country's domestic use being four times as large as that of the U.S.